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AC68U - testing faulty hardware

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PlayaSucia

Occasional Visitor
I have an AC68U that went though lightning strike last year and the blue lan port stopped working. But I was still able to use it both in bridge mode and as an wireless AI node successfully. I recently updated the firmware on it and now it won't boot up. When I power it on I only get a steady blue power light, none of the other status lights flash at all. I opened it up to look at the board and didn't' see anything burned.

I don't have much hope but was wondering if there were any tricks I can try to resurrect it before sending it off to the recycler?
 
Did you upgrade the firmware or managed to kill the router by flashing an incorrect firmware?
I upgraded through the web interface and I also upgraded another router at the same time and that one worked fine.

I am able to get it into recovery mode but I can't connect with the recovery software. I think the yellow ethernet ports aren't responsive. After the lightning strike the blue lan port was bad but the yellow ports and everything else worked fine (in media bridge mode and as a wireless AI node). So I think something in the firmware restore process got hung up causing it to fail. I was looking on the board to see if there was anything burned or damaged that I might be able to replace but I didn't see anything. Its not a big loss if I can't fix it but I wanted to give it a try.

Is there a way to flash the firmware through the usb?
 
You're connecting to the wrong port.

[Wireless Router] How to use Rescue Mode (Firmware Restoration)? | Official Support | ASUS Global

Be sure you're using the LAN ports and an IP range that the router expects.

Either 192.168.1.xxx, 192.168.50.xxx, etc.

It's not possible to flash the firmware through the USB unless you have ssh capabilities (and right now, it doesn't seem you do). And more importantly, even if you did, it is not recommended. The most dangerous way to flash firmware onto the router (all internal checks are bypassed), and the wrong file, or an extra space/character (etc.) in the command can brick your router for good.
 
I followed the rescue mode directions a couple of times and set up TCP/IPv4 but the recovery software still couldn't connect. I'll try it again with a different ip range to see if that works. I'd be willing to try the usb method as a last resort. Is there a guide on how to do it?

On the board there are some filters behind the lan ports. Is there a way to test them with a multimeter? I think they are the most likely fault point. Maybe I can find a replacement on Mouser or somewhere.

EaHcn8j.jpg
 
Keep in mind a lightning strike will damage components, mostly beyond repair but if they still work they may become a fire hazard which most insurance won't cover (when they find out).
 

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