TP-Link Archer C9 Brick Fix (Revert To Stock Possibly)

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jhult
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 19 Feb 2016
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 2:27    Post subject: Reply with quote
First, I flashed 02-17-2016-r29114. Could not get my WAN to work. Then I flashed to 02-15-2016-r29085. Still could not get my WAN to work.

Then I tried to use TFTP to flash back to stock. Could not get TFTP to work.

Finally, I flashed ArcherC9RevertToStock via the DD-WRT web interface. This got me back to stock. I then upgraded to the latest C9 v1 stock firmware Archer C9_V1_150916.

I will stay on stock for now (which seems to work well).
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NoOneBR
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 12 May 2009
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 21:43    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hi everyone!

I'm not sure what is happening with my Archer C9 router.

I bought the router and installed it with success. After a few days, the router stopped working. I tried to restart then with success. A few day latter, it stopped working again, but now it won't start up.

When I turn on the router, all light becomes blue and continues on during all day long. I tried to reset, without success.

I opened the case and plugged my USBtoTTL adapter according to Archer C9 wiki (rx on tx, tx on rx and ground with ground)

Now, with all cables connected, when I turn on the router, a get blue light on power LED and orange light on Internet (Web) LED, but there are no messages or texts displayed on Putty (no data transfer according to TTL lights).

Anyone have any recommendations or instructions to help me with this router!?
badr.ghatasheh
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 18 Feb 2016
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 20:34    Post subject: Reply with quote
Can this be applied to Archer C8v1 ? if so, how can I acquire the files needed for it?
kivv
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 28 Feb 2016
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 16:59    Post subject: Reply with quote
NoOneBR wrote:
Hi everyone!

I'm not sure what is happening with my Archer C9 router.

I bought the router and installed it with success. After a few days, the router stopped working. I tried to restart then with success. A few day latter, it stopped working again, but now it won't start up.

When I turn on the router, all light becomes blue and continues on during all day long. I tried to reset, without success.

I opened the case and plugged my USBtoTTL adapter according to Archer C9 wiki (rx on tx, tx on rx and ground with ground)

Now, with all cables connected, when I turn on the router, a get blue light on power LED and orange light on Internet (Web) LED, but there are no messages or texts displayed on Putty (no data transfer according to TTL lights).

Anyone have any recommendations or instructions to help me with this router!?


Hi.
If you've already double checked that you plugged all he wires properly, then you may try this method:
1. unplug GND.
2. start router.
3. After a few seconds connect GND.

I don't know whether it is safe or not. But it works with my router.


Last edited by kivv on Sun Feb 28, 2016 17:22; edited 2 times in total
kivv
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 28 Feb 2016
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 17:19    Post subject: Reply with quote
crosney wrote:
derickz wrote:

1. download the firmware from office websit.
2. unzip, changed its name to ArcherC9v1_tp_recovery.bin
3. put it into the tftp folder.
4. set the network ip as 192.168.0.66
5. power off c9, how the rest power on, hole it until you see the tftp uploading file to the system.
6. wait about 120 seconds.
7. good luck.


Is there any other trick to getting this working? I started off with the most recent ddwrt (01-02-2016-r28647) after downgrading to the Archer_C9_V1_150302 tplink firmware. Router would not boot after this and would show all lights on for a few seconds, followed by them all being off for about 10 seconds, then repeating this pattern.

I can send new firmware to the router via the tftp method above, but nothing seems to get it back to a working state - still the same all lights on then off sequence. I've tried the tplink firmware I downgraded to, the most recent version, and the dec-24th version of ddwrt, which some people reported as working in the other Archer C9 thread.



I have the same problem. Console terminal shows this:
Quote:
Key type encrypted registered
Northstar brcmnand NAND Flash Controller driver, Version 0.1 (c) Broadcom Inc. 2012
brcmnand: found no supported devices
SQUASHFS error: lzma returned unexpected result 0x1
SQUASHFS error: Unable to read cache block [c1ff6e:b93]
SQUASHFS error: Unable to read inode [c1ff6e:b93]
VFS: Cannot open root device "1f02" or unknown-block(31,2): error -19
Please append a correct "root=" boot option; here are the available partitions:
1f00 256 mtdblock0 (driver?)
1f01 16064 mtdblock1 (driver?)
1f02 12480 mtdblock2 (driver?)
1f03 1536 mtdblock3 (driver?)
1f04 64 mtdblock4 (driver?)
1f05 64 mtdblock5 (driver?)
Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(31,2)
CPU1: stopping


When I am trying to send stock firmware or ddwrt firmware via tftf i see this:
Quote:

Reading 192.168.0.66:ArcherC9v1_tp_recovery.bin: Done. 14381945 bytes read
Reading Partition Table from NVRAM ... OK
Parsing Partition Table ... OK
file_len:14381945
[Error]sysmgr_proinfo_buildStruct():00496 @ should be 2 args (1).
[Error]sysmgr_proinfo_buildStruct():00496 @ should be 2 args (1).
[Error]sysmgr_proinfo_buildStruct():00496 @ should be 2 args (1).
[Error]sysmgr_proinfo_buildStruct():00496 @ should be 2 args (1).
[Error]sysmgr_cfg_checkSupportList():00867 @ ArcherC9 NOT Match.
Firmwave not supports, check failed.
[NM_Error](nm_checkUpdateContent) 00743: the firmware is not for this model
[NM_Error](nm_buildUpgradeStruct) 00834: checkUpdateContent failed.
check firmware error!


Also I tried to send firmware from this post http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1003479#1003479
And there was another error
Quote:

Reading 192.168.0.66:ArcherC9v1_tp_recovery.bin: Done. 15007744 bytes read
Reading Partition Table from NVRAM ... OK
Parsing Partition Table ... OK
The file's length is bad(buf:84406476 fileLen1212437040)
Loader:raw Filesys:raw Dev:flash0.os File: Options:(null)
Loading: .. 1455320 bytes read
Entry at 0x00008000
Closing network.

Seems that router doesn't react when I am trying to send ctrl-c during boot process.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
rkboni
DD-WRT User


Joined: 04 Mar 2016
Posts: 51

PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:15    Post subject: Thanks for the recovery images and help! Reply with quote
Kiof wrote:
Heinzek wrote:
Kiof wrote:

I cannot go back to the original firmware with TFTP. If I try I got the stupid router with no wifi, no webaccess and so on. But I can go back to ddwrt and its working there porperly.


Power LED fast blinking?

This is because partition "radio base" is damaged.
You can repair this partition on DD-Wrt:

1. Login in to DD-WRT config page.
2. Go to Services - Secure Shell - SSHd > Enable
3. On Windows install WinSCP - https://winscp.net/eng/download.php
4. Connect to 192.168.1.1 using SCP protocol. Login root, password is the same for webinterface.
5. Download and extract archive: https://mega.nz/#!gRJQAZZC!MfnW31l-qP2Qkpy1wOrfiSi6R4Vasa9UDUiZ2rrOAmg
6. Copy file radio.bin to /tmp/ directory on router.
7. Open Terminal ( CTRL + T) and Enter command: mtd write /tmp/radio.bin nvram_cfe
8. Click Execute and wait 3 sec and click close.
9. Turn off router.
10. Use recovery to go back to factory firmware.


Thanks! I dont know how it was done but I am back to original now.

I did what you wrote BUT I got this failure note during execution:
"/tmp$ mtd write /tmp/radio.bin nvram_cfe
Unlocking nvram_cfe ...
Could not unlock MTD device: nvram_cfe
nvram_cfe: Not supported
Writing from /tmp/radio.bin to nvram_cfe ... [ ][e][w][w][w][w]"

Despite the failure I followed through your steps and I am back to original firmware.

Thanks both of you: chrisdmc and Heinzek! Your are expert and very helpful!


I'd like to second the thanks to all in this thread, but doubly so to the folks who prepped the recovery files. After spending way too many hours attempting to get my C9 working without luck, I was ready to return the thing to Amazon except for the fact that I'd flashed DD-WRT on it as probably step 3 in my failed attempt to set it up as an AP, I was way too tired to want to think about the whole reboot-then-TFTP dance.

Fortunately, the recover-to-stock files took care of all of that _and_ let me restore the messed up MAC addrs to the right values.

Cheers, all!

PS: And it turns out that most of my issues with getting the C9 connected to my network appear to have been the fault of my primary router (a several year old Buffalo WHR-HP-G300N running the vendor-supplied DD-WRT version), where the Wireless MAC filter applied more generally to all bridge/LAN port traffic as well. Who would have thunk!
Maxi348
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 08 Mar 2016
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 18:01    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have a problem, i have brick(?) my Archor C9 and i don't know what i'm right now doing. The Power LED ist instantly blinking and i can't flash stock or dd-wrt with TFTPD. I don't know what i'm doing wrong or i must buy the UART?

#edit
i can ping 192.168.0.1
s3r0t0n1n
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 15 Nov 2011
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2016 9:12    Post subject: Reply with quote
TL;DR;
All the lights on my router stay on. I can put it in recovery and only the WPS icon stays on but it won't load the firmware from TFTP.

I am running OSX (sadly no Windows device to test) and using the TFTP server included in the OS.

What can i do?

Long story:
Sadly, I managed to brick my router (I think). I installed the latest DD-WRT (r29218) over the latest TP-Link firmware (150916). Everything went smooth, but I wanted to revert to stock.

I tried to webflash all the stocks from the TP-Link website but it didn't work. After that i tried to flash using a method i found on different websites (mtd -r write original_firmware.bin linux) but it said "failed to mount linux" (or something similar) and i ended up with all the lights turned on.

I can put the router in recovery mode by holding the WPS/Reset button for 10-15 seconds when the router boots, all the lights go off excepting the WPS one. I can ping 192.168.0.86 but no matter what firmware i try (original firmware, the one posted in the first pages, dd-wrt etc.), it won't flash. Any ideas?

What can i do? I don't want to open the router since i have 0 experience with JTAG and so + the router is still under warranty.
s3r0t0n1n
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 15 Nov 2011
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2016 11:24    Post subject: Reply with quote
FIxed it. There was a problem with the permissions on the tftpboot folder. Running:
sudo chmod a+rwx /private/tftpboot
sudo chmod a+rwx /private/tftpboot/*

Fixed the issue
albyzor
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 27 Feb 2016
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 17:45    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hey i went back using ddwrt-to-factory.bin from here on archer c9 and it worked. The only thing now is that my mac chanced. I want to know if i can use the hex editor on an official tplink firmware to chance my mac. If not i want to know if i can use the firmware i used to go back again now that i use the official latest firmware. Thx in advance :d
albyzor
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 27 Feb 2016
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 18:23    Post subject: Reply with quote
i never used a hex editor Smile but i've managed to make all the changes now, dunno didnt do it the first time but eh now i know more than yesterday i guess xD. Still i want to know if i can use it directly from the latest tplink firmware or i have to go back to ddwrt and use it to go back to stock again.
Surjj
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 24 Mar 2016
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 12:37    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hello folks,

I've made a mistake or two and I'm homing to get a little guidance. I flashed an Archer C9 V1 with factory firmware v150122.bin

Afterwards, I disabled both wifi radios, factory reset the device, and flashed the latest beta (03-22-2016-r29316)

It rebooting, came up, and I started configuring. After a few minutes I discovered that my wireless AC speeds were low, my PC failed to even be able to see the 5Ghz adapter (previously worked like a charm at nearly full speed), and my MACs had changed. At this point I decided to go back.

I attempted to flash back to stock (oldorgArcherC9_v1_tprecovery.bin) from the DDWRT webgui which completed and the router rebooted. Nothing appeared to have changed.

I setup a TFTP server, set my the local IP to 192.168.0.66, and put the router into recovery mode. I attempted the same flash via TFTP. The router flashes, reboots, and then blinks the power light at me. At this point I have no web interface but still have access to the router's recovery mode (as indicated by the light patter after holding reset for 5 seconds)

I've already failed direction following spectacularly by this point, so naturally I panicked and made it worse. I used the TFTP method again to push a different firmware (neworgArcherC9v1_tp_recovery) which completed and the router rebooted.

Now, when the router is plugged in, all the lights are on for a moment, then the power light blinks slowly a few times and then rapidly. I am unable to access the web interface, or put the router into recovery mode. The router does assign IPs via LAN but the WLAN is totally offline. I performed a ping-t on the router and power cycled it, while the router is replying, all replies have a TTL of 64. What if anything should I do to try and recover this thing? I've read this and multiple other threads regarding DDWRT troubleshooting and the Archer C9 and I think the evidence points to my having messed up a few partitions and needing at attempt a serial/UART recovery method.

I have a PDF with instructions on the UART recovery process (file is attached in a post by the user "reroute" http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=981282) but I'm unsure if this information is currently still good. I'm also working from a Windows10 desktop. Will it matter greatly which kind of UART I buy? Since I have saved the WAN MAC and LAN MAC of the router (in a text file), is it possible to restore those in some way?

I would GREATLY appreciate any help you can provide
xpact
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 25 Jan 2010
Posts: 15

PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2016 8:07    Post subject: Reply with quote
albyzor wrote:
Hey i went back using ddwrt-to-factory.bin from here on archer c9 and it worked. The only thing now is that my mac chanced. I want to know if i can use the hex editor on an official tplink firmware to chance my mac. If not i want to know if i can use the firmware i used to go back again now that i use the official latest firmware. Thx in advance :d


Where did you get the dd-wrt_to_factory.bin file?

Is it legit. I think it should be stripped and modified for the MAC.

_________________
===========================
ActionTek MI424WR v D dd-wrt
D-Link DIR 300 Rev B dd-wrt
Linksys WRT3200acm StockOS
Linksys NSLU2 v2 OpenWrt
Linksys WRT54GS v2 dd-wrt
Linksys WRT54GS v5 dd-wrt
TP-Link Archer C9 v1 dd-wrt
TP-Link WR1043ND v1.6 OpenWrt
TP-Link WR841N v8 OpenWrt
MikroTik hAP ac RouterOS
Xeon2k8
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 11 Feb 2016
Posts: 1288

PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2016 9:08    Post subject: Reply with quote
xpact wrote:
albyzor wrote:
Hey i went back using ddwrt-to-factory.bin from here on archer c9 and it worked. The only thing now is that my mac chanced. I want to know if i can use the hex editor on an official tplink firmware to chance my mac. If not i want to know if i can use the firmware i used to go back again now that i use the official latest firmware. Thx in advance :d


Where did you get the dd-wrt_to_factory.bin file?

Is it legit. I think it should be stripped and modified for the MAC.


It's on this thread.
pepperoni
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 14 Sep 2015
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 21:45    Post subject: Archer C9 Revert to Stock Reply with quote
a1smith wrote:
chrisdmc wrote:
Latest DD-WRT firmware (01/25/2016) no longer overwrites TP-Link partitions, try first to revert to stock using TFTP method!

EDIT: The image is only for Archer c9 v1.

For Archer C9 I have modified 12.bin image from @Heinzek to make it flash from DD-WRT web interface.

WARNING: Wait until somebody that have open the router case and has UART, have flash it and confirms that it works! Otherwise you could end-up with a bricked router.

WARNING: The image will overwrite default MAC and Pin on your router, to restore them you will have to modify the image in same way I have posted instructions for Costco US Archer C1900 (black case) or in the worst case flash the 'default-mac' and 'pin' partitions from CFE with correct data.

To validate the image works as expected:

1. Extract ddwrt-to-factory.bin from the attached zip and flash it from DD-WRT web interface as you would normally flash a DD-WRT update image (webflash.bin). Wait until DD-WRT reboots the router.
2. After DD-WRT reboots the router, do a hard-reset by pressing the reset button for around 30secs or until all the lights turn on.
3. Once in TP-Link web interface, flash the router with an official firmware. It should work.
4. Try to flash the official firmware by using TFTP (instructions by @Heinzek - page 2).


I successfully flashed my TP-Link Archer C9 v1 back to stock firmware using your file. I updated the MAC, PIN, and CRC in the file. Here are a few comments to help out others.

The router MAC and PIN in the file are the original Heinzek values, not the values you mention in the C1900 post. I'm listing the values in the file to prevent confusion and so people can confirm they are updating the correct locations.

Router MAC: 14 CC 20 D1 DC AA
WPA key/WPS pin: 79342513 (37 39 33 34 32 35 31 33 in hex)

The CRC value in the file is 0D 28 7D 83.

Here is my router flash history. I did a factory reset using GUI before flashing to DD-WRT.

    1. Original TP-Link Firmware (firmware version 3.17.0, build 20150514, release 70681n)
    2. reset to factory defaults via GUI
    3. DD-WRT 12-24-2015-r28598
    4. DD-WRT 02-01-2016-r29002
    5. DD-WRT 12-24-2015-r28598
    6. reset to factory defaults via GUI
    7. revert to stock firmware via DD-WRT GUI (firmware version 3.16.28, build 20141112, release 46311n)
    8. flash to latest TP-Link firmware via GUI (firmware version 3.17.0, build 20150514, release 70681n)

Some other details:
- I never turned on jffs2 so I didn't clear any nvram this way.
- I never used 'erase nvram' command.
- From telnet, dmesg command after DD-WRT boot was showing 'Northstar Prototype' as hardware. This was probably due to DD-WRT firmware before 1/25/16 overwriting product info.
- I didn't confirm TFTP flash works (step 4 above) but the other two flashes worked without any problems.


Must be doing something wrong !!

1. Started with stock Archer C9_V1_150916
2. Reset to factory defaults via GUI
3. DD-WRT 03-25-2016 -r29546
4. DD-WRT 03-28-2016 -r29362
5. DD-WRT 04-05-2016 -r29409
6. Reset to factory defaults via GUI
7. Extracted the ddwrt-to-factory.bin file from the zip and changed the MAC, PIN & CRC as directed.
8. Flashed it (ddwrt-to-factory.bin) from DD-WRT web interface as you would normally flash a DD-WRT update image.
9. After DD-WRT reboots the router, did a hard-reset by pressing the reset button for around 30 secs or until all the lights turn on.
10. It's still shows DD-WRT, but I flash the original Archer C9_V1_150916 from GUI.
11. The flash says it's successfully, but comes back up to DD-WRT 04-05-2016 -r29409.
12. Here's where you tell me what I'm doing wrong !

Thanks guys !
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