New unit, restore settings

[DrTeeth]

My unit went funky the other night, the 2.4GHz radio would only stay lit for about 5-10 seconds at a time. This happened over ten times so contacted Amazon and got a new unit.

I wanted to upgrade to the Merlin's release that I was using previously and restore a backup that I took last night.

First, is there an easy way to bypass the setting up wizard on a new unit's first boot? I managed to do that using my browser's history to get to one of the config pages - but there must be an easier way.

Second, the backup did not save all settings. I changed my wireless locale from the EU to GB - quite kosher as I am in GB. These setting were not saved in the backup and had to be applied from fresh. I did do an 'nvram commit' when originally applying them. Makes me wonder what other things the backup does not backup.

FWIW, got a B1 with a 1.0.1.3 CFE.

 

[jlake]

Hey dr teeth,

For best results, reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure from scratch.

I tried the backup/restore feature once on this router and the router acted funky. Obviously that's a pretty small sample size.

But possibly that was what was wrong with the router that you returned to amazon. Maybe had you reconfigured it from scratch, it would have been fine?

 

[DrTeeth]

The router was already at factory defaults - it was brand new and straight out of the box. Also, it came with 270 series firmware - the same one of Merlin's that I used. No need to reconfigure from scratch in this case. It is that palaver that has stopped me upgrading the firmware to the latest builds - the thought of reconfiguring <shudder>.

I will take loads of screenshots so I have the info to hand when I do the leap. TBH, I just wanted to get the new beast up and running as quickly as possible.

Thanks for your reply,

DrT

 

[jlake]

So I take it you never reset the other router to factory defaults and reconfigured it from scratch as a troubleshooting step? For me, that's just troubleshooting 101.

I guess if Asus and amazon keep replacing your routers for free, there's no incentive for you to reconfigure from scratch.

No wonder profit margins are so low with home networking stuff.

 

[DrTeeth]

Hi,

I am interested in your logic. I am not trying to be 'funny' or sarcastic, but that is how I come across and would like to reassure you that is not where I am coming from.

I did not reset the router to factory defaults and would not think to. It would not be the first thing I would try. I would flash with the same firmware and try to configure the radios again. TBH - radio stays lit for 5-10 secs = hardware in my book and a warranty replacement needed as it will happen again. Too much manual tweaking done and would onky do it if it were a guaranteed fix.

Anyway, totally necessary as it turned out as the radio was working all day. I am not the sort of person to strip an engine to trace a misfire - there are many, easier and more common reasons for that.

The only way I could see myself doing a factory reset is if I upgraded to a new generation. I would probably not do a full reset before flashing, but would *deffo* do it if I encountered any strangeness.

 

[RogerSC]

There's no guarantees that a new router as you get it is purely at "factory defaults". I never trust that nvram on a router is cleared unless I've done it myself, but's that's likely just me.

So for myself, I would clear the nvram before initially entering my settings on a new router if I wasn't planning on upgrading the shipping firmware, which is usually the first thing that I have to do. In the case of an immediate upgrade for a new router, I would clear the nvram after the upgrade for sure, to know that I was starting from a clean slate. Then if anything comes up, I can be pretty sure it's either bad hardware or something that I did with my settings.

This is nothing like stripping an engine to find a small mechanical problem. A good auto analogy doesn't come to mind immediately, probably since I don't work on my own car engines *smile*, but it only takes just a few seconds to clear the nvram, no matter how you do it. And it removes a whole class of problems from the playing field.

It is, as with most all things, your personal choice, of course. I do this from experience, because I find that in the end it often saves me time and frustration.

Glad things are working out for you.

 

[TonyH]

Hmmm,
Configuring a router from scratch takes ~10 mins. tops. Back up or no back up it is not a big deal. If in trouble-shooting mode, one has to be in known state to start with which is
factory default settings. From there do things one at a time keeping the log otherwise one can go around loops or keep repeating a thing or two already tried and done.

 

[RMerlin]

My unit went funky the other night, the 2.4GHz radio would only stay lit for about 5-10 seconds at a time. This happened over ten times so contacted Amazon and got a new unit.

I wanted to upgrade to the Merlin's release that I was using previously and restore a backup that I took last night.

Second, the backup did not save all settings. I changed my wireless locale from the EU to GB - quite kosher as I am in GB. These setting were not saved in the backup and had to be applied from fresh. I did do an 'nvram commit' when originally applying them. Makes me wonder what other things the backup does not backup.

if you were running an older version, that's normal. There was a known encoding issue that was only resolved with 3.0.0.4.372.30 (see the changelog for details).

 

[DrTeeth]

@ RogerSC

Thank you for your thoughts. Will do in future.

DrT

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
I play with OBD II diagnostic tools on our cars too, LOL! I can even hack the engine control CPU to a degree. There are drivers and vehicle operators. There are PnP folks and tinkers knowing what they are upto with all this electronics gadgets.

 

[DrTeeth]

Hi,
I play with OBD II diagnostic tools on our cars too, LOL! I can even hack the engine control CPU to a degree. There are drivers and vehicle operators. There are PnP folks and tinkers knowing what they are upto with all this electronics gadgets.

Don't forget all those in the middle working their way up the knowledge chain.