[RT-AC66U] Issues flashing brand new router - HELP

[Asbjørn Olling]

Hi all,

TL;DR: I have a brand new RT-AC66U, that I am trying to firmware flash. It seemed to go right during the flashing, but now I can't access it at all. I've tried flashing it a number of times, with different firmwares, and I get the exact same error.

Here's what I do to flash it:

• Reset NVRAM (hold wps while booting)
  
• Boot into recovery (hold reset while booting)
• Flash .trx using the restoration utility from Asus, over ethernet
  
• Wait for it to reboot for a while as instructed (but it never actually does - the longest I've waited is ~16 hours)
• Reset NVRAM again
• Try to connect - with no results

Here's how the router reacts to the different stages:

• NVRAM reset reacts as expected.
• Recovery mode seems to work as expected (rescue utilty completes upload w/ no errors)
• When booted normally: Power LED is constantly on, Ethernet LEDs on according to connected cables (blinking w/ attempted traffic), no Wifi LEDs or anything else.
• It seems that I don't get an IP when I connect over ethernet. I definitely can't access 192.168.1.1, or run an nmap scan on any range.

This happens no matter what firmware I try to flash (I've tried Shibby tomato, Advanced Tomato, and Stock from ASUS). I've tried re-flashing maybe 5-10 times at this point.

I have not set a static IP on the machine I try to connect with, but I'm pretty sure that the different builds I've tried all have DHCP enabled by default. And shouldn't the WiFi LEDs also turn on?

My leading theories at this point are:

• I just need to be patient after flashing. I read some guy in another forum saying that it actually took his router 14 hours to reboot after flashing. Is it possible that I am stopping the upgrade process by power cycling it (after several hours)?
  
• The recovery process is just shirtty and weird, and I need to try using the web utility and/or tftp upload (for whatever black-magic reason).

I'm beginning to get really nervous about my new router - any help / input / advice at all is really appreciated!

 

[st3v3n]

Goodness, 14 to 16 hours would stress anyone, but unless you have the router unplugged from power, if it doesn't reboot after 15 minutes, I'd have concerns. Did the router behave normally when you first purchased it, turned it on and tested it for operation out of the box? What version of FW did it come with? Did you try flashing RMerlin, or what FW did you begin flashing to when the router refused to finish booting?

If you followed Asus's instructions and/or the wiki to the letter, it's possible the router has issues. It's tough to brick one of these but if you had a corrupted file, that might explain it; I'm sure you checked your files hashes on all the FW you tried to flash?

This is a suggestion, but you might try a variation on the factory reset, before trying once more to replace the same stock Asus FW it came with

This is from the wiki for RMerlin but should work with Asus router;

https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/FAQ

For what it's worth;
Turn the router off then remove the power cord as well as the Ethernet cable going from the router to to the modem, then allow the router to sit several hours or even overnight. If you're using a PC, you can set a static IP if you like, but check your local area Ethernet IpV4 connection in the machine is set to discover your connection IP/Gateway automatically. It seems you've been able to follow the process on your monitor so you should be seeing everything as it happens, when it happens. You can always set a static IP on the following attempt if this doesn't work.

Plug the Ethernet cable from your PC into LAN port 1 on your router, or you can leave it disconnected until you're sure the router has fully reset itself, as long as you don't forget to plug it back in. Plenty of time to plug the router back into the modem later on if you're successful.

Be certain the router power button is still off, then plug the power cord back into the router, depress and hold the WPS button in, and keep it held in while turning the power back on to the router be sure to keep the WPS button depressed, even after you see that the router is beginning to cycle, but don't let the WPS button go yet. After 5 to 30 seconds, or perhaps more, (try be patient), you'll see all of the LEDs flash more or less in unison to let you know when the router has finished clearing itself and is then beginning to boot; that's when you can finally release the WPS button, and wait for however long it takes for the router to finish resetting itself. Once when one of our routers got wonky, I had to hold the WPS button in for almost a full minute until the router suddenly cleared, then watched almost 5 to 7 minutes after I released the WPS button before it finally reached a recoverable state; you'll know it when you see it.

It shouldn't take longer than 5-15 minutes for the router to get to where you can work with it, so be sure to have a fresh browser window and your software waiting. You should either see the the Asus -mini-recovery window come up on your monitor or you may even be lucky enough you can try entering 192.168.1.1, and see the Asus GUI appear; cross your fingers. If this doesn't work, or you can't log in or recover the FW, try resetting the router normally once again. If you aren't successful after a couple of more tries, and the router still refuses to achieve a recoverable state, you may want to consider returning the router where you purchased it, if you're within your grace period. As long as you have all of your papers, receipt and the router looks as new, you can ask for an exchange or refund.

Sometimes it's just a defective unit. If you haven't searched the RMerlin forums, look for instances where other members have had unusual FW loading/factory-reset experiences. I hope this is helpful. Good luck and re-post. Cheers.