Build from source

This repository contains the HH71VM source delta, build configuration, and the disposable autobuild implementation. Generated firmware and packages are published in immutable GitHub Releases, not committed to Git.

Release artifacts

Use the latest production flash bundle for installation. For reproducibility, open the exact tagged Release and retain its SHA256SUMS, release.json, source-lock.json, build.config, build-environment.json, source-delta.tar.gz, upstream-buildsystem.tar.gz, and upstream-sources.tar.gz.

release.json binds every asset hash to the source commit, workflow run, kernel ABI, signing key, and immutable feed URL. source-lock.json records the upstream revisions and downloaded source hashes used by that build.

Pinned upstream revisions

The build is based on OpenWrt 19.07 and Linux 4.14.275. The target architecture is mipsel_24kc.

HH71VM delta

openwrt-feed/ contains:

• the rtkmipsel/rtl8197f target and HH71VM board support;
• RTL8197F BSP, UART, PCIe, GPIO, USB-mux, and SPI-NOR integration;
• the Realtek rtknet Ethernet/switch port and external-PHY setup;
• the Realtek rtl8192cd Wi-Fi port for RTL8197FS and RTL8812FE;
• UCI/netifd integration for both Wi-Fi radios;
• Qualcomm RNDIS WAN and modem-control integration;
• LuCI modem pages, HH71VM theme, and iwinfo compatibility patches;
• the carrier SIM lock backend, the optional modem tools, the SMS-to-Telegram forwarder, and the experimental Xray packages;
• image construction scripts and the captured build configuration.

Vendor-source provenance

The main donor sources were obtained from manufacturer-published GPL source archives:

The radio firmware data files are included in the vendor source trees in the form supplied by the vendor and were not modified.

Rebuild the images

The original environment was Ubuntu 22.04 under WSL. OpenWrt 19.07 build scripts still rely on Python 2 in parts of the configuration flow, so newer distributions may need additional compatibility work.

Do not inherit Windows search paths into the build. The configuration fixes the kernel identity to openwrt@build. The CA bundle and mbedTLS transport are explicitly selected to preserve the previous image's HTTPS dependencies rather than relying on files left in an incremental rootfs. WireGuard is selected as a separate kernel package (=m), not added to the base image.

Compare final SHA-256 values with the exact tagged Release before claiming reproduction.

git clone https://git.openwrt.org/openwrt/openwrt.git
cd openwrt
git checkout 1da2e82c1182a3fd681da5760be96821213afadd

./scripts/feeds update packages luci
git -C feeds/packages checkout 6df6880800397ab3821572c6c5ad18e300374d9e
git -C feeds/luci checkout f25285a6c26e8776f153994704710cb8e51fad91
./scripts/feeds install -a

From the parent directory containing this repository and the OpenWrt checkout:

rsync -a --delete \
  hh71vm-openwrt/openwrt-feed/target/linux/rtkmipsel/ \
  openwrt/target/linux/rtkmipsel/

rsync -a \
  hh71vm-openwrt/openwrt-feed/package/ \
  openwrt/package/

sh hh71vm-openwrt/openwrt-feed/scripts/prepare-build-host.sh openwrt
cp hh71vm-openwrt/openwrt-feed/build.config openwrt/.config
cd openwrt
make defconfig
env -i HOME="$HOME" PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin \
  SHELL=/bin/bash LANG=C.UTF-8 make -j"$(nproc)"

The build produces all three artifacts under bin/targets/rtkmipsel/rtl8197f/:

Verify them:

The installed build_dir/target-mipsel_24kc_musl/root-rtkmipsel/usr/sbin/xtables-legacy-multi must be a MIPS ELF executable, never a libtool shell wrapper. For an incremental package repair, run make package/install before make target/install to refresh the image rootfs. Inspect the executable again inside both SquashFS images and the RAM initramfs.

sha256sum bin/targets/rtkmipsel/rtl8197f/*.bin

Compare every generated file with the tagged Release SHA256SUMS, not only the RAM image.

If a clean build differs, preserve both manifests, the final .config, tool versions, and the complete build log before changing source. Do not claim a reproduced build until the cause of the difference is understood.

Build and use the kernel packages

The full make -j"$(nproc)" command above builds the target's kernel modules and their dependencies as installable .ipk files. They are written to:

bin/targets/rtkmipsel/rtl8197f/packages/

After a kernel or rtl8192cd source change, rebuild the target before collecting packages:

make target/linux/compile -j"$(nproc)" V=s
make package/index

Keep the entire dependency set together. OpenWrt kernel packages embed an exact kernel ABI dependency, so a kmod-*.ipk from another build must not be mixed with this image. Autobuild publishes the complete dependency closure, signed index, and packages-bundle.zip in the same immutable Release as the images.

The optional modem controls, the SMS forwarder and Xray are selected as modules (=m) in build.config, so a normal build also produces their backends and LuCI applications as .ipk files. Two of this port's packages are selected =y instead and land inside the image: hh71vm-ipt-ipopt (since 2026-09-16, so a hand-written iptables -j TTL rule works without installing anything) and hh71vm-simlock (pulled in by the modem application). The source directories are:

package/utils/modem-extra-tools/               module
package/luci/applications/luci-app-modem-extra-tools/   module
package/utils/sms-to-telegram/                 module
package/luci/applications/luci-app-sms-to-telegram/     module
package/net/xray-core/                         module, experimental
package/luci/applications/luci-app-hh71vm-xray/         module, experimental
package/utils/hh71vm-ipt-ipopt/                in the image
package/utils/hh71vm-simlock/                  in the image

The unified workflow builds these packages from source in the same buildroot as the image. Do not recreate the retired manual package snapshot or commit generated IPKs to Git.

The ARM helper executables are included with their C sources and verified by files/helpers.sha256 during the OpenWrt package build. To regenerate them, run sh build-helper.sh in package/utils/modem-extra-tools/ with arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc, arm-linux-gnueabi-strip and a host C compiler available. Run the backend's mocked tests with lua5.1 tests/unit.lua files in that directory.

The supported deployment is described in the flash installation guide. Runtime coverage and remaining limitations are recorded in known issues.

License map

Files retain their upstream notices and licenses. See LICENSING.md for the repository-level map. This document records provenance and build state; it is not legal advice.