Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[tekkiegrrl]

Hi All,

I've owned the Rev A DIR-655 for years and have loved it, but recently it started acting up. I have a complicated setup saved as a gateway settings file (.gws).  I decided to purchase a new DIR-655 for the ease of importing my settings without having to manually setup again, however, much to my dismay, the new file format for the configuration settings on the Rev B is not .gws but rather .bin.  The .gws file will not import. I tried changing the file extension to .bin with hopes it might import but no luck. I also found the utility which decrypts the .gws file into .xml and used those values to manually re-enter the settings into the Rev B router, but my port forwarding is not working the same.  I was wondering if there is any utility to convert the .gws file to the .bin file in order to import into the Rev B router, or if not, can I still purchase the Rev A model somewhere. The online shops I've checked do not list the hardware version.  Thanks in advance.

[FurryNutz]

You'll probably have to do a side by side comparison with both routers running if you have a spare PC to connect to the Rev A and you'll have to manually re-enter and configure the Rev B router. Once you have Rev B router setup and working, save off the config to file.

You sure the saved configuration file is a .bin file and not gws?
Your not getting a window popup message on where to save the file are you?
You should see a window popup, it should auto-save to the browsers default location.
Most Dlink routers I've dealt with usually save the file extension to .gws always.
However, there are probably differences between Rev A and B to probably effect a reason for this change in file extension and not being able to import from Rev A to B.

Sometimes you just gotta bit the bullet and start from scratch. 

[tekkiegrrl]

Thanks for the input. I actually did go through the process of hooking up old router (Rev A), doing screen shots of each config page, and manually setting up on new router (Rev B), and with the same settings, port forwarding and virtual servers were not functioning properly. 

As for saving the file, there is no prompt from within either router to choose a file extension, it is automatically saved as either .gws or .bin.  It only lets you choose where to save the file, but not what file type.

I had called tech support a few days back, and became very frustrated. The rep kept telling me there was no such file extension as .gws, that their routers only used .bin.  He kept insinuating I did something wrong in saving the file, and eventually I told him thanks for his lack of help and confidence in my technical abilities. 

If anyone else has additional suggestions, I'm all ears! Thanks!

[FurryNutz]

If you don't seem to get anywhere with this, I would try PM both moderators on here and see if they can help you out.

[thecreator]

Hi All,

I've owned the Rev A DIR-655 for years and have loved it, but recently it started acting up. I have a complicated setup saved as a gateway settings file (.gws).  I decided to purchase a new DIR-655 for the ease of importing my settings without having to manually setup again, however, much to my dismay, the new file format for the configuration settings on the Rev B is not .gws but rather .bin.  The .gws file will not import. I tried changing the file extension to .bin with hopes it might import but no luck. I also found the utility which decrypts the .gws file into .xml and used those values to manually re-enter the settings into the Rev B router, but my port forwarding is not working the same.  I was wondering if there is any utility to convert the .gws file to the .bin file in order to import into the Rev B router, or if not, can I still purchase the Rev A model somewhere. The online shops I've checked do not list the hardware version.  Thanks in advance.

Hi tekkiegrrl,

You can't import the settings from one Router to another Router, given changes in Firmware as well as Hardware Revisions.

You need to manually enter the settings.

Also you can't pick how to save the file. You need to go with the default extension for importing back into the same Router.

[tcutler]

I bought the DIR-825a about 2 years ago and it recently started to give me problems. I had modified a lot of the configuration such as virtual server port etc so I saved multiple config files and was able to restore them without any issue.

Since I got my new DIR-825 router yesterday, it's rev B and that config file won't read. Called different levels of support and they all told me I'm out of luck !!  I brought back my modem so I didn't take screen shots of the config.

To the DLink product Manager and development team, did it ever occur to you that just maybe your customers upgrade their devices ??  Did you ever think that it's a little ridiculous that I can't restore a config file for the SAME model number ??

Yes you told me the hardware and firmware are different, but the screen and menu options are exactly the same.

I own a lot of D-Link equipment and it rarely goes down, but when I see stupidity like this, I affects my trust in D-Link.

Does a GWS viewer or something exist that would allow me to read the file properly ?

[thecreator]

I bought the DIR-825a about 2 years ago and it recently started to give me problems. I had modified a lot of the configuration such as virtual server port etc so I saved multiple config files and was able to restore them without any issue.

Since I got my new DIR-825 router yesterday, it's rev B and that config file won't read. Called different levels of support and they all told me I'm out of luck !!  I brought back my modem so I didn't take screen shots of the config.

To the DLink product Manager and development team, did it ever occur to you that just maybe your customers upgrade their devices ??  Did you ever think that it's a little ridiculous that I can't restore a config file for the SAME model number ??

Yes you told me the hardware and firmware are different, but the screen and menu options are exactly the same.

I own a lot of D-Link equipment and it rarely goes down, but when I see stupidity like this, I affects my trust in D-Link.

Does a GWS viewer or something exist that would allow me to read the file properly ?

Hi tcutler,

No, that I am aware of. However, the screen and some menu options are the same throughout the D-Link Line, but the chips inside of each are different.

That's why you can't restore one from the other.

[FurryNutz]

There are differences between Rev A and B routers. Also be aware that Rev A routers don't support IPv6. So there are some UI features that differ from A and B routers. Yes generally these routers are about the same, however features and coding dictate how they are designed and developed. There are processes in place that review configuration files and hardware when updating firmware and configuration files. These are in place to protect the hardware from being mis-configured in this way.

It's recommended that you configure the Rev B router from scratch and then onces thats done, save the configuration to file for that router safe. If you still have the Rev A router, it still could be useful as well as an AP.

Also please post in the DIR-825 forum. There is a forum for this model router there.
DIR-825 Forum

Thank you.