Hello Asus users,
I recently got an RT-N66U router. Even though it seems hard to render the device unusable, I somehow managed to do it. This is what happened: After setting it up with the Asuswrt-Merlin firmware (3.0.0.4.270.26b) installed and connected to my laptop, I wanted to connect it by wire to my desktop pc. The problem here was, that the desktop didn't establish any connection, eventhough this was no problem just minutes before with my old router (WRT54GL). Installing the latest driver for the network card on the desktop didn't change the situation. I decided to also do an update on the router side and to install the latest firmware on the N66U (Asuswrt 3.0.0.4.354 from the Asus website (non-Merlin). Also no changes in connectivity there. Putting a switch between router and desktop pc resolved the issue. After getting in contact with the network card supplier, the problem was that the network card isn't supporting the IEEE802.3az specification of the router. The network card of my laptop obviously does.
Anyhow, after figuring out that there was no problem concerning the router firmware, I went back to the Merlin built because of its better functionality. Before upgrading to the newer Asuswrt built, I saved a config file for all my settings which I had done in the Merlin-built. Everything what follows was done with a direct cable connection between the laptop and the N66U. Under the administration tab where I previously saved the settings, I uploaded the cfg file and the router displayed that it will reboot with the changed settings in 60 sec. Unfortunately this never happened. I tried to refresh the web GUI, but it wasn't accessible anymore. After a reboot of the router, I still couldn't get in into the web GUI. Windows displayed in the task bar an "unidentified network" and also the Asus discovery utility wasn't able to find the router. By putting the router into recovery mode (hold reset button while plugging in the power cord), I was able to get to the mini CFE webserver site, after I manually attributed an IP to the laptop (192.168.1.xx) in the subnet 255.255.255.0 with the router IP (192.168.1.1) as standard gateway. Deleting the NVRam from there and rebooting or deleting the NVRam with help of the WPS button didn't change anything. I also installed again the original firmware built with the help of the Asus restoration tool, which runs successfully through the whole process, but after rebooting the router it seems to be trapped in a boot loop (router reboots 3 times). The three active LEDs are power, WAN and the LAN port and I always can get to mini CFE webserver, but this is it for now.
Do you maybe got ideas how to get out of that misery? If a corrupt config file can set the router in such a state, this feature in the administration tab shouldn't be there or need to get major revisions at least. Thanks for all your held and advices!
I recently got an RT-N66U router. Even though it seems hard to render the device unusable, I somehow managed to do it. This is what happened: After setting it up with the Asuswrt-Merlin firmware (3.0.0.4.270.26b) installed and connected to my laptop, I wanted to connect it by wire to my desktop pc. The problem here was, that the desktop didn't establish any connection, eventhough this was no problem just minutes before with my old router (WRT54GL). Installing the latest driver for the network card on the desktop didn't change the situation. I decided to also do an update on the router side and to install the latest firmware on the N66U (Asuswrt 3.0.0.4.354 from the Asus website (non-Merlin). Also no changes in connectivity there. Putting a switch between router and desktop pc resolved the issue. After getting in contact with the network card supplier, the problem was that the network card isn't supporting the IEEE802.3az specification of the router. The network card of my laptop obviously does.
Anyhow, after figuring out that there was no problem concerning the router firmware, I went back to the Merlin built because of its better functionality. Before upgrading to the newer Asuswrt built, I saved a config file for all my settings which I had done in the Merlin-built. Everything what follows was done with a direct cable connection between the laptop and the N66U. Under the administration tab where I previously saved the settings, I uploaded the cfg file and the router displayed that it will reboot with the changed settings in 60 sec. Unfortunately this never happened. I tried to refresh the web GUI, but it wasn't accessible anymore. After a reboot of the router, I still couldn't get in into the web GUI. Windows displayed in the task bar an "unidentified network" and also the Asus discovery utility wasn't able to find the router. By putting the router into recovery mode (hold reset button while plugging in the power cord), I was able to get to the mini CFE webserver site, after I manually attributed an IP to the laptop (192.168.1.xx) in the subnet 255.255.255.0 with the router IP (192.168.1.1) as standard gateway. Deleting the NVRam from there and rebooting or deleting the NVRam with help of the WPS button didn't change anything. I also installed again the original firmware built with the help of the Asus restoration tool, which runs successfully through the whole process, but after rebooting the router it seems to be trapped in a boot loop (router reboots 3 times). The three active LEDs are power, WAN and the LAN port and I always can get to mini CFE webserver, but this is it for now.
Do you maybe got ideas how to get out of that misery? If a corrupt config file can set the router in such a state, this feature in the administration tab shouldn't be there or need to get major revisions at least. Thanks for all your held and advices!