Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 14:28 Post subject: Hard reset killed my device?
Hello,
I have an older router, the WRT54-GL v1.1. I've installed dd-wrt before on different routers, so I didn't expect this to happen:
The router was working with the stock firmware, and I wanted to install dd-wrt. As a first step I did a hard reset (as instructed 30-30-30), after which I couldn't access the GUI config page on 192.168.1.1. Strange. I did a power cycle, tried to restart several times, but nothing helped. Ping was still working, so I proceeded to try the TFTP method to flash it. The power LED was blinking. Before doing so, I did a last try of hard reset, as instructed. This made it worse, as I lost the ping to it. The device is not responding.
Any idea what happened, and if there's any hope, or should I just give it to my dog as a chewie-toy?
I recalled something about this in the Peacock thread...
Murrkf wrote:
HARD RESETS USUALLY DON'T WORK WITH STOCK FIRMWARE!
Note: WRT54GS v1.1, GS v2, and GS2.1 models can brick after a hard reset no matter how it is done.
...but nope that's for the GS, not GL.
However, I suspect your voltage regulator input and output capacitors may have been be failing, and the hard reset just finished them off. I recently had a GS v1.1 fail and found its caps (rated 25v) had failed, w/no visible sign. I replaced them, but was it too late; would power up into recovery mode, but the CPU would shut it down (the time dependent on input voltage, and bypassing the regulator circuit didn't help much). It used an unregulated power supply rated 12v@1A, but was 17.8 volts open circuit.
"Hmm, I thought," I should probably check the various other old WRT's I have in service. Sure enough, 2 GL v1.1's also had a definitely falling input cap (and these were rated 16v). Once removed, the others tested okay (capacitance in range, and ESR <= 0.10 ohms), so I just replaced the one for now on them.
Finally, a GS v6 tested fine, but I replaced its input cap (25v) anyway. It used a regulated 12v@0.5A supply; 12.5v open.
That said, you should try a serial or JTAG cable; see the Peacock thread.
I recalled something about this in the Peacock thread...
Murrkf wrote:
HARD RESETS USUALLY DON'T WORK WITH STOCK FIRMWARE!
Note: WRT54GS v1.1, GS v2, and GS2.1 models can brick after a hard reset no matter how it is done.
...but nope that's for the GS, not GL.
However, I suspect your voltage regulator input and output capacitors may have been be failing, and the hard reset just finished them off. I recently had a GS v1.1 fail and found its caps (rated 25v) had failed, w/no visible sign. I replaced them, but was it too late; would power up into recovery mode, but the CPU would shut it down (the time dependent on input voltage, and bypassing the regulator circuit didn't help much). It used an unregulated power supply rated 12v@1A, but was 17.8 volts open circuit.
"Hmm, I thought," I should probably check the various other old WRT's I have in service. Sure enough, 2 GL v1.1's also had a definitely falling input cap (and these were rated 16v). Once removed, the others tested okay (capacitance in range, and ESR <= 0.10 ohms), so I just replaced the one for now on them.
Finally, a GS v6 tested fine, but I replaced its input cap (25v) anyway. It used a regulated 12v@0.5A supply; 12.5v open.
That said, you should try a serial or JTAG cable; see the Peacock thread.
I've read that part also in the peacock thread, and to be fair the information available is overwhelming, confusing and often contradictory. If you read the wiki page, and router model page, the peacock page, you will get different image file and different instructions. I think the hard reset wasn't a mistake to do, if I read the instructions, but somehow it killed it. I don't think I will bother with JTAG, it's overcomplicated for me. If there's no other solution I can try, then I will sadly throw it out .
A hard reset did not kill that router. I have one and have hard reset it many many times. Perhaps hardware failure coincided with the reset, but the process is proper for that router. Proper recovery steps are at note 6 of the peacock, and those steps would tell you if it has suffered hardware failure. If it hasn't, it is fixable, but not by the pin short method mentioned above. _________________ SIG:
I'm trying to teach you to fish, not give you a fish. If you just want a fish, wait for a fisherman who hands them out. I'm more of a fishing instructor.
LOM: "If you show that you have not bothered to read the forum announcements or to follow the advices in them then the level of help available for you will drop substantially, also known as Murrkf's law.."
A hard reset did not kill that router. I have one and have hard reset it many many times. Perhaps hardware failure coincided with the reset, but the process is proper for that router. Proper recovery steps are at note 6 of the peacock, and those steps would tell you if it has suffered hardware failure. If it hasn't, it is fixable, but not by the pin short method mentioned above.
All the recovery methods I've seen require some sort of response from the router. Mine doesn't respond to pings at all. Tried different types of hard resets, TFTP, tools, but nothing did anything. The power led is blinking, even if I press the reset, it doesn't change its behavior, it's just blinking.
I'm only saying that the reset broke it, because it was working exactly before I did the 30-30-30, and it was still responding to ping exactly before I did the second 30-30-30. So I don't know what else to try.
Another thought; have you tried a different ethernet cable or LAN port?
The GL I used to replace the dead GS, I found that LAN port 1 didn't work, but coincided with me having changed the 'use WAN as LAN' option, so didn't pay attention to it. But then when changing its input cap, I noticed the surface mount components by port 1 were fried...then I remembered that I took it out of service because my sister's DSL modem got hit by lightning (the replacement modem had wifi built-in). So the lightning also took out port 1, & I hadn't realized it. Explained some of the troubleshooting problems I had with my nephew though, after they replaced the DSL modem.
Another thought; have you tried a different ethernet cable or LAN port?
The GL I used to replace the dead GS, I found that LAN port 1 didn't work, but coincided with me having changed the 'use WAN as LAN' option, so didn't pay attention to it. But then when changing its input cap, I noticed the surface mount components by port 1 were fried...then I remembered that I took it out of service because my sister's DSL modem got hit by lightning (the replacement modem had wifi built-in). So the lightning also took out port 1, & I hadn't realized it. Explained some of the troubleshooting problems I had with my nephew though, after they replaced the DSL modem.
You might need a cable to fix it, as explained in note 6. But if a router suddenly stops working it is often hardware failure. _________________ SIG:
I'm trying to teach you to fish, not give you a fish. If you just want a fish, wait for a fisherman who hands them out. I'm more of a fishing instructor.
LOM: "If you show that you have not bothered to read the forum announcements or to follow the advices in them then the level of help available for you will drop substantially, also known as Murrkf's law.."
It used an unregulated power supply rated 12v@1A, but was 17.8 volts open circuit.
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