AC-3100 no web or wifi

[WQ6N]

I have a AC-3100 that I was using to extend the wifi network. The primary wifi router is a AC5300. Both are running the Merlin Firmware:380.65_2

The wifi ports on the AC-3100 stopped working after 3 weeks so I tried a reboot. Once the reboot was done the web interface no longer worked. I did setup a SSH interface which still works. It appears that the web interface has not started (no httpds listed using 'ps').

The factory reset does not work. Neither will the 30-30-30 reset. Tried the ASUS recovery that it kept saying that the router was not in recovery mode (which it was).

Is there a CLI to launch the web interface? Or a way to reset the router? I did try and get a listener running with: 'httpds -s -p <port>-i br0' which does create a ssl certificate and listening port. Tried to login using the full path /www/Main_Login.asp but the router did not like the commands.

Right now, it is a expensive router without the wifi capability that I cannot recover. Idea's?

 

[WQ6N]

Is there a tftp firmware upload procedure that one can follow? From what I have read, since the ASUS Recovery is not working, this seems to be the vetted process.

 

[TonyH]

Is there a tftp firmware upload procedure that one can follow? From what I have read, since the ASUS Recovery is not working, this seems to be the vetted process.

Can you ping the router? Then maybe possible.

 

[Blinkyz]

30-30-30 reset

The Famous urban legend of the 30-30-30 to hard reset with Asuswrt or Rmerlin, dont work

You want to clear nvram and all settings?
** Press the WPS button, then turn on the router. Wait about 10 seconds(led will flash rapidly), then release the WPS button,wait 3 min and reconfig.

And for the recovery Tool its like this, all steps are important :
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1030652/

 

[Xentrk]

Is there a tftp firmware upload procedure that one can follow? From what I have read, since the ASUS Recovery is not working, this seems to be the vetted process.

I used the tftp process documented on dd-wrt wiki on the first ASUS router I had to flash Merlin cuz nothing else worked. I have a hunch the ASUS recovery method is tftp. Use merlin FW and not dd-wrt FW though. Steps 1 thru 11 are your friend.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Asus_TFTP_Flash

If I recall, I had to enable tftp on my Win 10 laptop. A google search will tell you how to do this.

 

[WQ6N]

The Famous urban legend of the 30-30-30 to hard reset with Asuswrt or Rmerlin, dont work

You want to clear nvram and all settings?
** Press the WPS button, then turn on the router. Wait about 10 seconds(led will flash rapidly), then release the WPS button,wait 3 min and reconfig.

And for the recovery Tool its like this, all steps are important :
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1030652/

Clearing the NVRAM did the trick. The web admin console is back along with both wifi ports. Excellent advice and wish to say thank you. I will make sure to note this in my commands listing.
Now I can stop the RMA. Wonder what corrupted the NVRAM in the first place? Will have to keep an eye on it.

 

[WQ6N]

Can you ping the router? Then maybe possible.

Hi TonyH, yes, I had full SSH into the console. Which also means that I could SCP as needed. Good thing the forum came to the rescue just in the nick of time.

 

[WQ6N]

The Famous urban legend of the 30-30-30 to hard reset with Asuswrt or Rmerlin, dont work

You want to clear nvram and all settings?
** Press the WPS button, then turn on the router. Wait about 10 seconds(led will flash rapidly), then release the WPS button,wait 3 min and reconfig.

And for the recovery Tool its like this, all steps are important :
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1030652/

Maybe the second time is a charm? Right after I re-configured the router: Access Point mod, HTTPS and SSH it went right back into a no wifi or web state. Think I will redo the firmware before making any changes. Round 2

 

[WQ6N]

Maybe the second time is a charm? Right after I re-configured the router: Access Point mod, HTTPS and SSH it went right back into a no wifi or web state. Think I will redo the firmware before making any changes. Round 2

No Joy, I may have missed it but the banner on the top of the wizard configuration page is stating that this is not a ASUS device, but not always. (Which it is). This may be the root of the problem.
I can now at least upload fresh firmware. Crossing fingers...and toes

 

[WQ6N]

I used the tftp process documented on dd-wrt wiki on the first ASUS router I had to flash Merlin cuz nothing else worked. I have a hunch the ASUS recovery method is tftp. Use merlin FW and not dd-wrt FW though. Steps 1 thru 11 are your friend.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Asus_TFTP_Flash

If I recall, I had to enable tftp on my Win 10 laptop. A google search will tell you how to do this.

All efforts that I tried did fail. However following the TFTP process allowed me to upload a new image. The WAP is up and running. Thank you.

 

[Xentrk]

All efforts that I tried did fail. However following the TFTP process allowed me to upload a new image. The WAP is up and running. Thank you.

That's good to know. It worked very well for me when nothing else did. I did not have an issue with the other two AC88U's I purchased afterwards.

 

[WQ6N]

All efforts that I tried did fail. However following the TFTP process allowed me to upload a new image. The WAP is up and running. Thank you.

Well... once again I spoke to soon. The TFTP process has allowed me to shift between stock firmware and RMerlin firmware. In both cases neither radio port is operational. I can configure both radio ports using the web interface and all appears good but the radio interface appears not to be broadcasting (I am not hiding the SSID). At least I am back to the original problem where the router is working in the AP mode and anything connected to the wired interface works but neither radio _2g nor _5g are functional.

With that said, it appears to be a hardware problem within the unit. This was purchased as a refurbished unit that is supposed to be still under the 90 day warranty. We shall see as I am working the RMA.

The one positive thing is that I did learn quite a bit (.e.g. NVRAM and firmware recovery). I am wondering if there is a list of sequences that can be applied besides holding either the Reset or WPS buttons during power cycling?

Here is a list of 'ps' commands, while in AP mode, from both Stock and RMerlin firmware's once the system is up:

RT-AC3100 Stock firmware 'ps' output:

PID USER VSZ STAT COMMAND
1 admin 6264 S /sbin/preinit
2 admin 0 SW [kthreadd]
3 admin 0 SW [ksoftirqd/0]
4 admin 0 SW [kworker/0:0]
5 admin 0 SW [kworker/u:0]
6 admin 0 SW [migration/0]
7 admin 0 SW [migration/1]
8 admin 0 SW [kworker/1:0]
9 admin 0 SW [ksoftirqd/1]
10 admin 0 SW< [khelper]
11 admin 0 SW [kworker/u:1]
53 admin 0 SW [sync_supers]
55 admin 0 SW [bdi-default]
56 admin 0 SW< [kblockd]
111 admin 0 SW [kswapd0]
158 admin 0 SW [fsnotify_mark]
166 admin 0 SW< [crypto]
240 admin 0 SW [mtdblock0]
245 admin 0 SW [mtdblock1]
250 admin 0 SW [mtdblock2]
255 admin 0 SW [mtdblock3]
277 admin 0 SW [kworker/0:1]
280 admin 0 SW [mtdblock4]
283 admin 0 SW [kworker/1:1]
285 admin 664 S hotplug2 --persistent --no-coldplug
497 admin 6248 S console
499 admin 1504 S /bin/sh
508 admin 0 SWN [jffs2_gcd_mtd4]
512 admin 1488 S /sbin/syslogd -m 0 -S -O /tmp/syslog.log -s 256 -l 6
514 admin 1488 S /sbin/klogd -c 5
588 admin 6256 S /sbin/wanduck
591 admin 984 S protect_srv
596 admin 984 S protect_srv
597 admin 984 S protect_srv
602 admin 1192 S dropbear -p 3626 -a
630 admin 6256 S wpsaide
632 admin 1524 S nas
637 admin 1072 S /usr/sbin/dhd_monitor
5494 admin 2052 S avahi-daemon: running [RT-AC3100-9950.local]
5495 admin 6604 S httpds -s -p <port>
5497 admin 1500 S crond
5498 admin 1216 S /usr/sbin/infosvr br0
5499 admin 6296 S watchdog
5500 admin 6256 S sw_devled
5504 admin 6256 S ots
5507 admin 1196 S lld2d br0
5523 admin 6256 S disk_monitor
5524 admin 6256 S bwdpi_check
5525 admin 6256 S erp_monitor
5545 admin 0 SW [khubd]
5712 admin 6256 S usbled
5713 admin 2252 S u2ec
5714 admin 1288 S lpd
5715 admin 2252 S u2ec
5716 admin 2252 S u2ec
6075 admin 1464 S networkmap
6083 admin 1260 S dropbear -p <port> -a
6084 admin 1504 S -sh
6087 admin 1492 R ps
13607 admin 6256 S ntp
13620 admin 1504 S udhcpc -i br0 -p /var/run/udhcpc_lan.pid -s /tmp/udhcpc_lan


RT-AC3100 ASUSWRT RMerlin firmware 380.65_4 'ps' command:

PID USER VSZ STAT COMMAND
1 admin 6340 S /sbin/preinit
2 admin 0 SW [kthreadd]
3 admin 0 SW [ksoftirqd/0]
4 admin 0 SW [kworker/0:0]
5 admin 0 SW [kworker/u:0]
6 admin 0 SW [migration/0]
7 admin 0 SW [migration/1]
8 admin 0 SW [kworker/1:0]
9 admin 0 SW [ksoftirqd/1]
10 admin 0 SW< [khelper]
11 admin 0 SW [kworker/u:1]
59 admin 0 SW [sync_supers]
61 admin 0 SW [bdi-default]
62 admin 0 SW< [kblockd]
117 admin 0 SW [kswapd0]
164 admin 0 SW [fsnotify_mark]
172 admin 0 SW< [crypto]
246 admin 0 SW [mtdblock0]
251 admin 0 SW [mtdblock1]
256 admin 0 SW [mtdblock2]
261 admin 0 SW [mtdblock3]
287 admin 0 SW [kworker/0:1]
290 admin 0 SW [mtdblock4]
293 admin 0 SW [kworker/1:1]
295 admin 664 S hotplug2 --persistent --no-coldplug
485 admin 6324 S console
487 admin 1404 S /bin/sh
492 admin 0 SWN [jffs2_gcd_mtd4]
496 admin 1396 S /sbin/syslogd -m 0 -S -O /tmp/syslog.log -s 256 -l 7
498 admin 1400 S /sbin/klogd -c 5
557 admin 0 Z [udhcpc]
558 admin 6332 S /sbin/wanduck
567 admin 1068 S dropbear -p <port> -j -k
590 admin 0 Z [wps_monitor]
591 admin 6332 S wpsaide
593 admin 1532 S nas
594 admin 1080 S /usr/sbin/dhd_monitor
595 admin 21872 D /usr/sbin/acsd
11853 admin 1136 S dropbear -p <port> -j -k
23568 admin 6332 S ntp
23574 admin 0 Z [miniupnpc]
23576 admin 0 Z [udhcpc_lan]
23577 admin 1472 S networkmap
23591 admin 1412 S udhcpc -i br0 -p /var/run/udhcpc_lan.pid -s /tmp/udhcpc_lan -H RT-AC3100-0000
24303 admin 1408 S -sh
25152 admin 0 Z [sh]
25156 admin 0 Z [sh]
25448 admin 1400 R ps
25449 admin 0 SW [kworker/u:0]

 

[WQ6N]

Screen Lock out. Anyone have a work around this error? SSH does work to the console.

 

[Blinkyz]

First time i see this ,sorry
Have you tried with the official fw from asus?

 

[WQ6N]

Yes, I have tried both RMerlin and the latest ASUS AC3100 .trx
Both have no wifi or web interface once I shift over (hard boot) from the 192.168.1.1 to the dynamic IP associated with the AP mode. The wired routing associated with the AP mode works fine. Waiting for a RMA authorization for a replacement. Darn thing only lasted 35 days. (but it was a good 35 days and everything worked like a charm).

 

[WQ6N]

I found this old thread with the same error message

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/error-message-on-rt-ac87u-log-in-screen.28412/

Excellent find!

I am also thinking, since this was one of over 600 "refurbished" units that Newegg is selling, that the components may not be from ASUS (forgery or fake components). Just a suspicion at this point. In my case both radio ports are dead.

 

[Xentrk]

Excellent find!

I am also thinking, since this was one of over 600 "refurbished" units that Newegg is selling, that the components may not be from ASUS (forgery or fake components). Just a suspicion at this point. In my case both radio ports are dead.

Best to RMA it as you plan. As one of my friends used to say "you can't polish a turd".

 

[john9527]

Screen Lock out. Anyone have a work around this error? SSH does work to the console.

“Note: the router you are using is not an ASUS device or has not been authorised by ASUS. ASUSWRT might not work properly on this device.”
There are two conditions to generate that message.....
- It checks where the page was called from. So I suspect you can't go directly to that page via
192.168.1.1/Main_Login.asp
You have to start from a simple 192.168.1.1
- It does a 'model check', but the code that does it is in a closed source binary, so I can't see what it actually checks.

 

[WQ6N]

“Note: the router you are using is not an ASUS device or has not been authorised by ASUS. ASUSWRT might not work properly on this device.”
There are two conditions to generate that message.....
- It checks where the page was called from. So I suspect you can't go directly to that page via
192.168.1.1/Main_Login.asp
You have to start from a simple 192.168.1.1
- It does a 'model check', but the code that does it is in a closed source binary, so I can't see what it actually checks.

Under stand both. In the AP mode I have the primary router providing a dynamic IP. Guess I could make it static but either way. I was unable to access other than SSH. This is water under the bridge since neither of the radio ports are operational. Seems that the seller only warranties for 30 days. So I have to go through another layer to their vendor to get the 90 day warranty RMA.
Cloning is a huge problem. The reason for Supply Chain Resource Management oversight. If "they" can clone a Cisco router module then a ASUS module is probably fair game. Right now, it is just a suspicion.

 

[RMerlin]

Cloning is a huge problem. The reason for Supply Chain Resource Management oversight. If "they" can clone a Cisco router module then a ASUS module is probably fair game. Right now, it is just a suspicion.

It's not to protect against cloning, it's to protect against people running Asus software on hardware from other manufacturers.