Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 18:18 Post subject: WNDR3700v2 bricked?
I tried upgrading the firmware on my router this morning and after I recieved the message that it successfully updated, I rebooted the router only to find that I could no longer get an IP address.
I've done the 30/30/30 reset to no avail. I've changed my IP to a static address and attempted to ping the router with no success.
The router turns on fine, although the wireless lights are not coming on. Is there anything else I can try?
edit: Ok, I know now that I CAN do a recovery flash using the tftp method, and that timing does matter. Doing a continual ping of the router while it's in recovery mode only yields TTL=64. As I understand it, the window of opportunity comes when that is 100 which does not appear at any time during the boot process of the router.
Some have suggested using a switch inbetween the computer and router, however I don't have one available to me. Is there another workaround?
Before the upgrade the IP was 192.168.1.1. When in recovery mode, that's the IP I get a response from when doing a ping. I have tried 192.168.0.1 as well but that does not work. The website doesn't come up at all, either in recovery mode or if the router has been started normally.
Yes. I manually set my IP to the 192.168.1.x subnet, and I am not able to access the site when the router is booted normally or in recovery mode. The only time I get a ping response is in recovery mode.
I tried the recovery in both recovery mode and normal boot-up mode, and both times it came back saying that the router was not responding and that this "may indicate the router does not need to be recovered"
At this point I think it might be officially bricked. Any other suggestions?
1. power on and all the lights would turn on normally
2. after boot only 2 lights were on - power and 1 lan cable
2. webpage wouldn't load
3. not pingable
4. turn off and back on, and eventually it's pingable for about 3 seconds.
*You could try to TFTP during those 3 seconds, but it probably won't work.*
Researching tons led me to these steps:
1. Do another 30/30/30 until the power light flashes green kinda rapidly.
2. Click the "Upgrade" button on the TFTP program.
3. Watch a video or youtube for at least 15 minutes, let it do it's thing, and come back to a working router.
Thanks for the reply. What TFTP program are you using? Mine doesn't seem to have an 'upgrade' button. I basically turn it on and then I need to use the command line to do the transfer.
Also, did you use the stock .img file from the vendor, or did you use the ddwrt firmware?
This page mentions the Recovery Mode.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=79802
I did it wrong, apparently - you're supposed to hold the reset button down for 45sec, not a 30/30/30 - but it worked anyway? *shrug*
Ok, yep I've tried the TFTP method of updating the image to both the stock image, and the ddwrt image, and nothing happens. it just says "Transfer successful" and the green light on my router continues to blink green.
Joined: 06 Feb 2010 Posts: 7401 Location: Little Rock
Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 14:05 Post subject:
After the success message on the TFTP, you have to give the router up to 6 minutes to re-program itself, when it is finished, the led will stop blinking. Then you should be able to access it @ 192.168.1.1 _________________ Wireless N Config | Linking Routers | DD-WRT Wiki | DD-WRT Builds | Peacock - Broadcom FAQ
I left the router alone for 2 hours after the success message. When I came back, it was still blinking.
The cause of this, I believe, is when I did a web update to the firmware, I did not select "reset to defaults" before hitting the upgrade button. (that, and I did not do the 30/30/30 prior to the update)
Joined: 06 Feb 2010 Posts: 7401 Location: Little Rock
Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 14:16 Post subject:
Yes it can brick the device, especially if you went from a much older build to a newer build. Say you had an old build on there and you were trying to upgrade to a much newer build, and the newer build had alot of changes added to it, such as wireless driver upgrades and kernel upgrades (which has been fairly common lately amongst Atheros dd-wrt builds), then yes you very much need to 'reset to defaults' when flashing. _________________ Wireless N Config | Linking Routers | DD-WRT Wiki | DD-WRT Builds | Peacock - Broadcom FAQ