[Solved] RT-AC3100 Reboots every 110 seconds

[sheltonfilms]

So last week I lost all communication with my router. No internet and couldn't access my router page (btw stock firmware).

Only light that was on was the power button. But every 110 seconds (almost on the dot) both wifi channel lights come on and the WAN light comes on (Red due to everything else being unplugged).
When I ping the unit I get no response until this small window of when the 3 other leds come on. Then I get ping responses for about 5 seconds. I can even get to the router admin page but I only have a 5 second window to do anything.

I tried NVRAM reset by pressing the WPS button. Was able to get the rapid flash.

Tried using the firmware restoration tool (in recovery mode). It uploaded fine and goes to 3% of restoration before saying successful. BTW I get successful pings all the time when in restoration mode.

Tried TFTP same result. Also tried every combination of letting it wait an hour before rebooting, letting it set without power, etc.

Last night I finally got serial access to the board using an old arduino. Tried "NVRAM erase" in console and still same result.

It appears that the unit is booting up but it gets to a certain point and just restarts. Usually I get to the line " vlan1: cmd-14: operation not supported" or I get a little bit futher to these lines:

"disk_monitor: wait_second=86400...
disk_monitor: Pause..."



Added note:
My internet did get blocked with a redirect page from my ISP mentioning they detected port scanning from my network. I know correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation but it did occur within a couple hours of each other.

If I need to provide a specific log of the serial output I can provide that when I get home.

 

[sheltonfilms]

So I tried Merlin on it tonight just to see what would happen and I got the same thing.

I've attached the serial ouputs of booting it up 4 times to show the area where it just restarts. At this point the WAN light stays solid and stays there, just like when it first starts up. Output stops and hangs because of leaving the serial connection intact.

Seems to be hanging more often around: "[bwdpi check] starting..."

 

[sheltonfilms]

SOLVED! I feel like a horse's butt after this ordeal.

So I kept scratching my head on why it just kept rebooting and at different times. Near same area of code just a different line each time. All the last few lines of code match what others have posted on the internet so no errors/output that was out of the ordinary.

So I read before about checking the adapters and sure enough I was getting 12V from the adapter (multimeter) where the router says it uses 19V.

Heres the kicker: the adapter said 12V on it. What the heck?

Went over to where my router and modem is normally located and there is a 19V ASUS router adapter plugged into the cable modem. The one that I kept messing with was for the cable modem.

When we got the block message from the ISP I told the wife to unplug everything until I get home. Once home I asked her to plug everything back in. Well wires got crossed, and because of the issue I removed the router and just grabbed the adapter that was connected to it.

So the 12V adapter that I was using was giving it enough juice to power up the router for the initial boot but once it got to one area of the code, I believe it pulled so much amperage it pulled down the voltage even lower and it cut off the router and started the reboots.

In the end it's fixed and I learned a lot along the way.

LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE AND CHECK YOUR ADAPTER FIRST.

At least now I don't have to RMA it and I'm glad I didn't as they would get it and say there is nothing wrong with it.

 

[CaptainSTX]

One trick I use is to use colored tape on the plug and also I put a piece of tape of the same color by the jack where it plugs in. Then even if my wife has to manipulate wire she can understand blue-blue, red-red, etc.

It is helpful when you are dealing with a web of wires and avoids mistakes when everyone is yelling at you that the net is down fix it.

 

[sheltonfilms]

One trick I use is to use colored tape on the plug and also I put a piece of tape of the same color by the jack where it plugs in. Then even if my wife has to manipulate wire she can understand blue-blue, red-red, etc.

It is helpful when you are dealing with a web of wires and avoids mistakes when everyone is yelling at you that the net is down fix it.

Pretty darn good idea.