AC68u rev E1 board rev 1.90 issue

[bogdan31]

as said in the title ... I have a "AC68u rev E1 board rev 1.90" was running merlin's last 380.67 beta2
my issue started yesterday when I decided to remake my settings and try new wifi settings out....
so I factory resetted the router from the web admin....
after reboot router was stuck with usb 2.0 led and no power led.

nothing I tried worked so far tried to hold reset button to cfe recovery not working....
tried holding wps button to reset nvram not working ....
I opened the router up and tried the serial uart port no output....

from what I have gathered here.... the cfe bootloader is damaged? but how I never touched it... all I did was factory reset from web admin....
any chance the nvram is stuck somehow? seen it happen when I was on ddwrt once... only way to get it running was serial at that time... it was preventing cfe to run properly no wps or reset buttons worked...

any suggestions? help please...

 

[MarCoMLXXV]

Have you tried the firmware restoration tool?
https://www.asus.com/us/support/Download/11/2/0/103/svItyTHFccLwnprr/45/

 

[bogdan31]

Tried doesnt work....

 

[bogdan31]

no one ?

 

[MarCoMLXXV]

From what I've read it's nearly impossible to brick an Asus Router. Have you tried getting in Recovery Mode? It can take some tries, but you should manage eventually.

Have you read the info (and followed the links) in this post: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac68u-bricked-during-firmware-update.29627/ ?

 

[Blinkyz]

no one ?

Are you sure you followed the steps?
WPS:
If your router fails to boot due to corrupted/invalid nvram settings, then you will have to turn off the router, press the WPS button , then turn on the router. Wait about 15 seconds, then release the WPS button.
Restoration tool:
https://www.asus.com/en/support/FAQ/1000814

 

[bogdan31]

Stays like this no matter what i do

 

[bogdan31]

Bump?

 

[RMerlin]

From what I recall, if the power LED does not turn on, it usually indicates that the router is failing to load its bootloader. If you didn't change the bootloader then this looks like a hardware failure.

 

[bogdan31]

Maybe the bootloader got corrupted... I do have a backup fo the bootloader.... I'll try to reprogram the flash anything i should know aboit the nand reprogram? Or its just standard nand reprograming....?

 

[RMerlin]

Maybe the bootloader got corrupted... I do have a backup fo the bootloader.... I'll try to reprogram the flash anything i should know aboit the nand reprogram? Or its just standard nand reprograming....?

You'll need JTAG to reprogram the bootloader. I don't know if that CPU is supported yet by any public JTAG product.

 

[bogdan31]

Ill just reprogram the nand the old fashion way desoldering hope it works reprgraming with the rpi.... I have done so in the past just not this s34 nand