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GWestlund's avatar
GWestlund
Aspirant
Jun 29, 2023
Solved

AC3000 RBR50 Corrupt Firmware

I have a 5 year old AC3000 with a router (RBR50) and two satellites (RBS50).  I came home from town and booted my computer  (Windows 10) and had not Internet (wired).  I quickly narrowed it down to t...
  • CrimpOn's avatar
    Jun 29, 2023

    This could indeed be your opportunity to go shopping for a new WiFi system.

     

    In desperation, some  users have been able to 'flash' the firmware directly to the router using TFTP (or a variation called mnrpflash):

    https://github.com/jclehner/nmrpflash 

    https://kb.netgear.com/000059633/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-TFTP-client 

     

    My own personal experience was unusual.  In my opinion (and only my opinion), when the router is first turned on, it goes through a rather elaborate sequence of events (taking about two minutes), which finally results in a working system.  There is a point where the system waits for a second or two to see if another computer will attempt to make a TFTP connection and load firmware onto the router.  Try one second too soon or one second too late, and the connection will fail.  (That may be how nmrpflash is different than TFTP for Windows.)

     

    I tried five time and failed every time. After getting out the Big Hammer, I thought, "what else do I have to do right this minute?" and tried again.  Try six worked!

     

    Flashing the router is not trivial.

    • Disconnecting it and the computer from everything else
    • Setting up a Static IP on the computer
    • Having the TFTP or nmrpflash application open and ready
    • Having the firmware image unzipped and ready.
    • etc. etc.

    It has worked. Maybe it will for you as well.  (Since I purchased a used RBR50 on eBay as a spare, I have not needed to flash firmware again!)