Configuring a DTA 310/BVA8051 for Asterisk

At the thrift store today I scored an 8x8 DTA310 ATA brand new in the box for $7. It came with proprietary firmware for use with an VoIP provider that doesn’t even exist anymore, with no way to even configure the SIP settings. Strike one.
Thanks to the trusty internet, I was able to determine that the actual manufacturer of the hardware was a company called Leadtek, they called it a BVA8051, and their firmware was unlocked. Unfortunately, they haven’t manufactured it for about 10 years, and no longer offered the firmware on their website. Strike two!
Back to the trusty internet I went, scouring Google for answers. Lo and behold, I found the firmware online!
I had to actually downgrade the firmware to an earlier version of 8x8’s firmware before I could then upgrade it to the Leadtek firmware, but I managed to install the unlocked Leadtek firmware.
I set up an extension, entered the appropriate SIP connection information into the ATA and… it wouldn’t register despite my best efforts. Strike three! (or so I thought)
Turns out that the SIP password is limited to 20 characters. I couldn’t tell that when I was cutting and pasting the secret from the FreePBX GUI, since it was replacing the entered characters with dots. I had spent HOURS looking for answers online, changing untold configuration settings both in the ATA and in the extension setup in FreePBX, and it turned out to be a d%^n 20 character password limit in the device. :rage:
I deleted the extension and created a new one with default settings and chopped the newly created secret back to the first 20 characters, and hardware reset the ATA (I had made so many changes trying to make it work, I lost track of what the defaults were!).
Logged into the ATA, entered my SIP information including the chopped off 20 character secret, and BOOM! Registered and ready to go.
If anyone has one of these devices or finds one cheap and wants to use it with Asterisk, that’s the answer. I have both the 8x8 firmware needed to install the Leadtek firmware, and the latest Leadtek firmware if anyone finds them useful. I know this is an old piece of hardware and not something that would even see use in a professional environment, but perhaps someone like me looking for a cheap ATA to add another analog phone to their home network might find them of value.
Note that if you are dealing with the 8x8 DTA 310, be sure and install the 8x8 firmware BEFORE trying to install the Leadtek firmware, or you stand a pretty good chance of BRICKING the device forever.

Nice - I love Info like this!

Thanks.

You’re welcome! I know how much time I spent researching and tinkering to make such a relatively simple thing work, and I just want to save other people the same grief I went through!