Methods of NVRAM reset

[David Arnstein]

I have read Merlin's FAQ regarding NVRAM reset. I would like to confirm that all methods of NVRAM reset are the same.

I have a stubborn problem with my RT-AC68P. I have done the reset that happens by holding down the reset button on the back of the router for 5 seconds. Many times, sigh.

If I ssh into the router and manually erase the NVRAM partition in FLASH, will a deeper cleaning be achieved?

 

[Hawk]

I have read Merlin's FAQ regarding NVRAM reset. I would like to confirm that all methods of NVRAM reset are the same.

I have a stubborn problem with my RT-AC68P. I have done the reset that happens by holding down the reset button on the back of the router for 5 seconds. Many times, sigh.

If I ssh into the router and manually erase the NVRAM partition in FLASH, will a deeper cleaning be achieved?

Turn off router and hold WPS button and turn on router while holding WPS buttom till power light start flashes, turn off router and wait 30 second, you can release wps button for time being and do same again you will notice light start flashing much sooner and then let go of wps button.

It will erase all nvram variables, reset from scratch.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Why do some people make this so complicated. Simply hold the indented reset button for 15 seconds and let the router reboot. Also you can as mentioned turn the router off hold down the WPS button while powering on the router hold that button until the power light starts flashing then release the WPS button and let the router boot up. NvRam has been cleared and the router is factory reset.

 

[Nullity]

Why do some people make this so complicated. Simply hold the indented reset button for 15 seconds and let the router reboot. Also you can as mentioned turn the router off hold down the WPS button while powering on the router hold that button until the power light starts flashing then release the WPS button and let the router boot up. NvRam has been cleared and the router is factory reset.

K, you just confused me.

I gave up on the peculiarities of when to press what.

CLI or the "Restore Factory Defaults" button in the GUI are my preference. More straightforward, in my unfounded opinion.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Dont be confused some people think clearing nvram is some huge process it is not there a several ways to do it. But the easiest is just to hold the indented reset button on the back of the router for 15 seconds and let it reboot done.

 

[Nullity]

Dont be confused some people think clearing nvram is some huge process it is not there a several ways to do it. But the easiest is just to hold the indented reset button on the back of the router for 15 seconds and let it reboot done.

Press reset while booting and you get recovery mode. Press it while running and you get an nvram reset. Press WPS while booting and you get nvram reset. Press WPS while running and you could get a few things. One slip while pressing the button could cause completely different things to happen, with no confirmation or acknowledgement...

Or, just mtd-erase.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

LOL you make it sound like rocket science..

 

[Brian John]

Is there anything wrong with just resetting via the web UI? Does that not do an NVRAM reset?

 

[David Arnstein]

Why do some people make this so complicated. Simply hold the indented reset button for 15 seconds and let the router reboot. Also you can as mentioned turn the router off hold down the WPS button while powering on the router hold that button until the power light starts flashing then release the WPS button and let the router boot up. NvRam has been cleared and the router is factory reset.

The reason that I am making this so complicated is that I cannot get my RT-AC68P to function correctly. See thread http://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac68p-cannot-modify-settings.28205/ if you care.

I need to know if there is any deeper cleaning method than "holding down the indented reset button for 15 seconds." I have done that MANY times.

My problems got worse last night. I bought a second RT-AC68P from Best Buy and it is now in the same failure mode as my other RT-AC68P. My best guess is that by restoring a .CFG file to these routers, I have corrupted some form of persistent storage inside. Now I need to clean things out in the most thorough way possible.

 

[Nullity]

...
My best guess is that by restoring a .CFG file to these routers, I have corrupted some form of persistent storage inside. Now I need to clean things out in the most thorough way possible.

There is your problem. Once you have upgraded and Factory Defaulted, do not restore an old config.

You must re-config manually or use the User NVRAM Save/Restore Utility.

 

[David Arnstein]

There is your problem. Once you have upgraded and Factory Defaulted, do not restore an old config.

You must re-config manually or use the User NVRAM Save/Restore Utility.

Nullity, I appreciate your time on this. My issue is that after I have performed a "holding down the indented reset button for 15 seconds" reset, and after I begin entering my desired settings into the web GUI of the router, the problem I documented in http://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac68p-cannot-modify-settings.28205/ returns! Believe me, I have learned to not restore an old config file. But I have already done some damage that I am, as yet, unable to reverse. To two routers yet!

 

[Nullity]

Nullity, I appreciate your time on this. My issue is that after I have performed a "holding down the indented reset button for 15 seconds" reset, and after I begin entering my desired settings into the web GUI of the router, the problem I documented in http://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac68p-cannot-modify-settings.28205/ returns! Believe me, I have learned to not restore an old config file. But I have already done some damage that I am, as yet, unable to reverse. To two routers yet!

Oh. Hmm. Have you tried erasing nvram via commnand line?

mtd-erase something something, or mtd-erase2 maybe? I think you run that then manually power-off the device. You will have to find the command yourself though, I am not 100% sure what the cmd is.

 

[john9527]

Nullity, I appreciate your time on this. My issue is that after I have performed a "holding down the indented reset button for 15 seconds" reset, and after I begin entering my desired settings into the web GUI of the router, the problem I documented in http://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac68p-cannot-modify-settings.28205/ returns! Believe me, I have learned to not restore an old config file. But I have already done some damage that I am, as yet, unable to reverse. To two routers yet!

I'd try the WPS reset method first. I know that all methods are supposed to be the same, but anecdotally for me at least, that has seemed to work the best.

But for your problem, I'd first try downleveling the code (maybe to a .55 release). In recent levels ASUS added a lot of checks (probably for security) on the logon tokens when changing between router web pages. Maybe a bug there.

 

[msb]

To two routers yet!

To rule out web browser issues, reset the router and use a different computer to reconfigure the router.

 

[Nullity]

To rule out web browser issues, reset the router and use a different computer to reconfigure the router.

Following this advice, sometimes my browser would have stubborn cache, and I would have had to use the Private Browsing feature to avoid using the cached info.

 

[David Arnstein]

To rule out web browser issues, reset the router and use a different computer to reconfigure the router.

MSB, you are almost certainly correct. Last night, I tried three different browsers Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. All three failed, but Safari allowed me to change settings once. So there is almost certainly a browser issue.

I connected to the router with an Ubuntu Linux machine that I use very rarely. It worked flawlessly!

The three browsers on my main computer behaved similarly. Perhaps the reason is that over the years, I have customized all of them to suit myself.

I will try to isolate the browser issue.

 

[john9527]

The three browsers on my main computer behaved similarly. Perhaps the reason is that over the years, I have customized all of them to suit myself.

Good new piece of data....

One thing to check, I'm pretty sure the router is also using cookies to save info. Do you have a very restrictive cookie policy set?