Finally "bricked" my WRT310n, looking for some gui

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dvs
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:29    Post subject: Finally "bricked" my WRT310n, looking for some gui Reply with quote
I've been lurking around and have been using DD-WRT for quite awhile now and have gotten off lucky in the "testing".

Anywhoo, I finally got bit, through my own stupidity.

I downloaded and flashed Eko's "VINT" (have been using "NEWD") 11536 to the router and after the 30/30/30 wound up with the router in the current state.

- after the 30/30/30 the power led and led for the connected lan cable stayed on constantly (good sign)
- it's non-responsive to pings to 192.168.1.1 (bad sign)
- I can't access the webgui at 192.168.1.1 (bad sign)

After reading Peacock's thread I found out that I was able to get responsive pings right after plugging in the router (yaaaay!!), so there was short lived hope.

I followed instructions (including changing the network port to 10mbs and half-duplex) and tftp's eko's 11296 to the router, flash said it was successful and waited the 10 min.

Results:

- pings during the flash and while the power was still plugged into the router, was responsive.
- power led was continuously flashing

After longer than 10min. I power cycled (unplugged and replugged) the router and it reverted back to stage one as described above.

I've tried tftp'ing the original linksys firmware with no success. It almost appears that the tftp did NOT work. It only took a few seconds to tftp the firmware over.

I've currently ordered a jtag off of eBay.

Now I'm going off to do some reading about how to disassemble and use the jtag when it arrives.

Any other suggestions from the guru's out there? I'm relatively new to the whole troubleshooting and unbricking process so any constructive guidance would be welcome.
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freonchill
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:04    Post subject: Reply with quote
did you use the dos tftp or the linksys tftp gui program (that has retry)?
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dvs
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:33    Post subject: Reply with quote
I used the one that was linked in the Peacock thread, tftp2.exe. It's windows based, so no dos command line.
Donny
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:52    Post subject: Reply with quote
With tftp, timing is everything. It can take many tries. Follow redhawks instructions at note 11 of the peacock thread. Don't use Vint...use newd 11296 Mini.
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Shawn360
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:27    Post subject: Reply with quote
First do a 30/30/30 hard reset.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Hard_reset_or_30/30/30

Then try tftp this build of DD-WRT.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/v24-sp1/Consumer/Linksys/WRT310N/dd-wrt.v24_mini_wrt310n.bin
dvs
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Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 18

PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 12:18    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks guys, I had forgotten to mention that I had attempted to flash the 11296 mini version.

Agreed timing is everything. A little trick that I read about and works great is to do a continuous ping and once you get a reply hit the upgrade button on the tftp. Eliminates the guessing on when to tftp.

I'll try with the wrt310n specific mini version tonight after work.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Update: I just did this and it looks like there's still no luck. Power LED continues to flash and it only took a few seconds to do the tftp which seems kind of odd. Usually flashes take a couple of minutes.
Donny
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 13:21    Post subject: Reply with quote
dvs wrote:
Agreed timing is everything. A little trick that I read about and works great is to do a continuous ping and once you get a reply hit the upgrade button on the tftp. Eliminates the guessing on when to tftp.


This can be too late. Also, I am not familiar with your router, but mine only take a few seconds to tftp....not minutes.

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dvs
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 18:15    Post subject: Reply with quote
Donny wrote:
This can be too late. Also, I am not familiar with your router, but mine only take a few seconds to tftp....not minutes.


Ahhh, good to know. The minutes that I was referring to was doing a firmware upgrade from the router's webgui. I was thinking that the tftp wasn't really doing anything if it only took a few seconds. Glad to hear experiences from the real world.

Out of curiosity, does the dos tftp referred to in freonchill's post have higher success rate?

On a slightly different thought, just throwing it out there. It appears that when the tftp says that it's successful, I can get ping the router at 192.168.1.1 until I power cycle it. I still can't access the webqui, but I'm wondering if there is anything I can try now that I'm getting a responsive ping. For example, I've read about using telnet but not exactly sure what I can do with it yet..... further reading to commence tonight.


Last edited by dvs on Tue Feb 17, 2009 18:22; edited 1 time in total
Donny
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 18:19    Post subject: Reply with quote
Is it possible that your firmware has tftp properly? Try to telnet in and see what happens. Use a static IP on your computer.

AND...you do have to wait minutes after the successful flash for the router to re-write settings....

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dvs
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Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 18:26    Post subject: Reply with quote
Donny wrote:
Is it possible that your firmware has tftp properly? Try to telnet in and see what happens. Use a static IP on your computer.

AND...you do have to wait minutes after the successful flash for the router to re-write settings....


LOL, you posted up while I was posting.

OK, forgive my newbieness, but I still have lot's of reading and organizing what I read, is there a couple of commands and expected results I can try?

BTW, yes, I have waited around 10 min this morning. I left it powered on so when I get home from work, I'll see how it's behaving. ie. is the power led still flashing. If it is, normally, when I power cycle it, it returns to the pre-tftp state (non-responsive to pings, etc.)

techcafe wrote:
if the unit is powering-up while the reset button is being depressed (reset button held down before power is applied), then the router will (c) enter admin mode and wait for a tftp upload of new code. furthermore, in the (c) powering-up scenario, the power LED will blink rapidly (continuously), indicating that the unit is in admin mode and awaiting a tftp (firmware) upload. in admin mode, it should also be pingable at the default address of 192.168.1.1, but an http firmware upload is not possible.


Hey found this little tidbit while reading through the peacock thread. It may eliminate this whole timing issue if it's in fact true. Seems like this is the state I'm in when I interrupt the power up sequence with an tftp.....hmmmmm.... may be worth a try when I get home.
Donny
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 19:24    Post subject: Reply with quote
When you do a ping response, what is the response you get? (Looking for the ttl= number)
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dvs
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 23:23    Post subject: Reply with quote
Donny wrote:
When you do a ping response, what is the response you get? (Looking for the ttl= number)


Just got back in tonight. I had performed the flash of the mini build this morning and the power led is still flashing.

ttl=100
Donny
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 23:57    Post subject: Reply with quote
Re download another version and try again. Ttl=100 means it is waiting for a firmware flash. Try one of the other stable builds from the peacock thread sticky.
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dvs
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:30    Post subject: WooooHoooo!!!! Reply with quote
As the title implies, it's ALIVE!!!!!

Thanks for all your help especially Donny.

You were right it was all about the timing of the tftp.

OK, here's what finally worked.

Based on my post above, pressing the reset button while plugging in the power will put the router into a state where it's ready and waiting for the tftp.

Here's the symptoms that you'll see.

1. Perform a continuous ping on 192.168.1.1 using "ping -t 192.168.1.1 -w 10". You'll see something like "Destination Host Unreachable" because you haven't yet plugged in the router.
2. Press and hold the reset button and plug in the router. You'll see response on the ping (ttl=100)and the power LED should start and continue flashing.
3. Let go of the reset button. The power LED should continue flashing and you should continue to get ping response. If it doesn't, unplug the router and repeat step 1&2, this time hold the reset button a bit longer (approx. 5 sec.)

Now the router is in a state to receive a tftp at your leisure.

This worked on my WRT310N, I presume that it'll also work on other Linksys routers.

Perhaps we can add this to the Peacock thread because there are alot of posts where people tftp unsuccessfully, presumably due to the incorrect timing of starting the tftp. Their results would be the same as mine, with a success message on the tftp but the power LED would continuously flash until the cows come home, then when they give up in ultimate frustration and power cycle the router hoping for miracels, they still wind up with a non-working router.

This will avoid the timing issue and make a whole lot of peeps much happier.


Last edited by dvs on Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:33; edited 1 time in total
Donny
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:23    Post subject: Reply with quote
Couple of points. You were able to put your router in a management mode. Not sure if all routers will do this, but it is good to know.

When you ping and get ttl=100, you are getting a response from the bootloader. That means there is no firmware on to respond.

When there is firmware installed, you should get a ttl=64.

If you get destination host unreachable, this suggests that you are not on the same subnet as your router, and need to set the subnet manually.

If you get hardware error, this means your router is not attached.

If you get a timeout, this means you are getting no response. You cannot tftp if you do not have a ping response. Sometimes, when you power cycle or do a hard reset (or do the procedure to put the router into management mode, as you did), you can then tftp the router. But sometimes, when there is a problem you will get timeouts, and then get a few ping responses of ttl=100, then get timeouts.

If tftp is not started just as these ttl=100 start, it will sometimes not properly upload. You have to try again and again, anticipating the right time. This can take many many times in order to get this right. It can be frustrating.

The peacock thread has now been linked to this thread. If people wish to add addtional information on the timing of tftp, I hope it will be alright to add it to this thread.

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