If you have installed OpenWrt Backfire on your TP-Link TL-WR1043ND and want to restore the factory firmware than this guide is for you.

Software on router before

Software on router after

Host operation system is Fedora 19 (64 bit).
If you are not using Fedora 19, you should virtualize it:
Installing Fedora 19 (64 bit) in VirtualBox

I presume that you can communicate with your router.

Preparations

1. Go to TP-Link Support site: http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/
   Click “TL- WR1043ND” (it’s in the 300Mbps Wireless N group)
   
2. Read the warning message and click “If you have read the above notice, please click here to find hardware version.“
3. My router is V1 because “Model: TL-WR1043ND Ver: 1.6” written on its back
   Click “TL-WR1043ND V1”
   
4. Download the firmware by clicking “TL-WR1043ND_v1_130428”
   Warning: Do NOT download an other firmware version because in case of TP-Link there may be different steps to take.
   If it doesn’t work here is a copy of it one my site: TL-WR1043ND_v1_130428.zip
   
5. Decompress the firmware

    $ unzip TL-WR1043ND_v1_130428.zip

6. Check firmware checksum

    $ sha1sum wr1043nv1_en_3_13_13_up_boot\(130428\).bin

   It should return:
   25c3c2bd86dba8bd4c68489489e28e580560bf6c wr1043nv1_en_3_13_13_up_boot(130428).bin

7. This firmware version also contains the boot code so we have to strip it first

    $ dd if=wr1043nv1_en_3_13_13_up_boot\(130428\).bin of=wr1043nd_v1_correct.bin skip=257 bs=512

8. Check the corrected firmware checksum

    $ sha1sum wr1043nd_v1_correct.bin

   It should return:
   6899d121113c92d93a20ae7b308bc06a3295aba0  wr1043nd_v1_correct.bin

Firmware update

1. Copy this file in the router

    $ scp wr1043nd_v1_correct.bin root@192.168.1.2:/tmp/

   Note: My router IP address is 192.168.1.2, change it to your router IP address in all commands

2. Login to your router

    $ ssh root@192.168.1.2

   Enter your password.

3. Write the firmware to flash

   root@OpenWrt:~# mtd -r write /tmp/wr1043nd_v1_correct.bin firmware

   

4. Wait until “Rebooting …” appears
   Note: If you have configured your router as an OpenFlow switch before using my guide than you have to pull out the LAN cable from WAN port now and plug into a LAN port (eg. LAN1).
5. Go to http://192.168.1.1 in your browser
   

   user:	admin
   password:	admin

   Press Enter

   
   

Congratulation! You have just restored the original firmware.