What's new

Fast Blink during RT-N66R Update

  • SNBForums Code of Conduct

    SNBForums is a community for everyone, no matter what their level of experience.

    Please be tolerant and patient of others, especially newcomers. We are all here to share and learn!

    The rules are simple: Be patient, be nice, be helpful or be gone!

trevlix

New Around Here
I have an Asus RT-N66R router with the Asuswrt-Merlin on it (don't remember which version). I saw I was sorely out of date for my firmware, so I decided to update it this morning. I'm having the same issues that many others have posted where its not coming back up. This is what I've done:

1. Tried to flash it with the Asus stock firmware and the latest stable merlin.
2. Wait 2 hours (once - other times it has been at most 40 mins)
3. Clear the nvram (holding down WPS) before I do anything.
4. I've done this through the Asus recovery tool and the web interface.
5. Read through multiple troubleshooting threads on this and other sites.

What happens is the router will take the firmware and site at a steady power light for a while. After about 7 or 8 mins, it will go to a fast blink. Then I let it sit and nothing. I can get back to the recovery web interface to upload firmware but still happens.

Some questions:

1. What does the fast blink mean? Other Asus routers say it means WPS is configuring, but I can't confirm that for the N66R.
2. Is the fast blink supposed to happen?
3. Is it likely I just need to let it sit for a long time and see what happens?

Thanks!
 
So I got this figured out and working.

I suspect the fast blink means the firmware was unable to be loaded correctly, as after leaving it alone overnight I got nowhere.

I followed the instructions posted by Bartek in this thread and some hints from here. I did make some modifications to the process though. The following is essentially what I did:

1. Turned off router
2. Unplugged all cords from router except to my PC, and set my PC to a static IP address.
3. Cleared the nvram on the router following the instructions at bottom of this page.
4. Powered off router.
5. Restarted the router into recovery mode by holding reset when I powered it on.
6. Connected to the web interface and clicked on "Clear NVRAM".
6a. This takes you to a URL that ends in something like "nvram+erase". I changed it to "nvram+commit" and hit enter.
7. Uploaded the firmware using TFTP instead of the web interface or the ASUS recovery tool.
8. Waited 4 hours.
9. After the wait the power button was steady on. I turned the router off.
10. I then cleared the NVRAM by holding the WPS button down, turning the router on, and waiting about 45 seconds before I let go of the button. The router then rebooted itself and came up.

A couple things I had to do differently than I was trying before:

- I think that for some reason the web interface and ASUS tool were not applying the firmware correctly. When I would use them, the router would slow blink for about 7 or 8 minutes, then start fast blinking. When I uploaded with TFTP, it never did that.

- I was not holding the WPS button down long enough. Everything I read said 30 seconds, but that was either not long enough or I was not counting correctly. I finally got a timer and waited for it to hit 35-45 seconds before I let go.

Hope this helps someone in the future!
 

Latest threads

Sign Up For SNBForums Daily Digest

Get an update of what's new every day delivered to your mailbox. Sign up here!
Top