The following method will enable a Cisco Aironet Autonomous Access Points to be converted into Lightwright mode by flashing the code. I have tested this on c1252 model but the same method should work as long as the models are supported by Cisco.
Download the recovery image and place it in the TFTP Server.
c1250-rcvk9w8-tar.152-4.JB6.tar
Remove the trailing .tar from the image filename, it should look something like the following.
c1250-rcvk9w8-tar.152-4.JB6
Set the Laptop IP Address as follows…
IP Address: 10.0.0.5
Subnet Mask: 255.255.248.0
Default Gateway: 10.0.0.10
Once you are in RAMON format flash: and set the IP Address on the AP as the following.
ap: set IP_ADDR 10.0.0.5
ap: set NETMASK 255.255.248.0
ap: set DEFAULT_ROUTER 10.0.0.10
ap: tftp_init
Issue the following command on the AP to transfer the file from the TFTP Server to Flash
Use the following command to find the exact location of the image.
Directory of flash:/
2 -rwx 404 env_vars
3 -rwx 264 info
4 drwx 448 c1250-rcvk9w8-mx
12 -rwx 264 info.ver
26989568 bytes available (4879360 bytes used)
Set the boot image and reboot the Access Point.
ap: boot
Once booted into the LWAP image, setup the IP Addresses of the Controller
AP#lwapp ap ip default-gateway
AP#lwapp ap controller ip address
AP#lwapp ap hostname
Now the AP should be able to join the controller.