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Forum Discussion

mccabc13's avatar
mccabc13
Aspirant
Oct 19, 2020

R6400 crashed during firmware update bricked itself

Is there any way to fix this? the power light is white and flashing. I cant reinstall the firmware because its not connecting to my pc on a wired connection. it just has a red light on whatever ether...
antinode's avatar
antinode
Guru
Oct 19, 2020

> Model: R6400|AC1750 Smart WiFi Router

 

   Is that accurate?  R6400 or R6400v2?  Look for "Model" on the product
label.  Firmware version (if known)?  Connected to what?

 

> [...] the power light is white and flashing. [...]

 

   You may be a candidate for the TFTP recovery scheme.  See, for
example:

 

      https://community.netgear.com/t5/x/x/m-p/1622096#M102004

 

> [...] I cant reinstall the firmware because its not connecting to my
> pc on a wired connection. [...]


   "can[']t" is not a useful problem description.  It does not say what
you did.  It does not say what happened when you did it.  As usual,
showing actual actions (commands) with their actual results (error
messages, LED indicators, ...) can be more helpful than vague
descriptions or interpretations.  "because" is open to dispute.  What's
your evidence?

 

> [...] it just has a red light on whatever ethernet port i plug it
> into. [...]

 

   "red" or "amber"?  An amber port-status LED is hardly fatal.

 

   Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your (actual) model number,
and look for Documentation.  Get the User Manual.  Read.  Look for the
LED descriptions and "Troubleshoot".  Further reading might not hurt,
either.

 

> [...] so [...]


   See "because", above.

 

> [...] i cant assign a ststic ip address and reinstall firmware.

 

   How, exactly, does any LED color stop you from configuring the IP
parameters on the Ethernet interface on your (unspecified) computer in
any way you might wish?

 

 

   Note: "cant" is a word, different from "can't".

  • wcalifas's avatar
    wcalifas
    Prodigy
    Oct 20, 2020

    You need to install the firmware manually with tftp method since it bricked itself. Look up on youtube, how to debrick a router and you also need to download the firmware you want to install on it with tftp.

     

    • michaelkenward's avatar
      michaelkenward
      Guru - Experienced User
      Oct 20, 2020

      wcalifas is spot on about looking in Youtube.

       

      There is more severe, recovery reset, that you could try first:

      • Press reset for 30 seconds
      • Keep pressing reset while removing power
      • Keep pressing reset for another 30 seconds while apply power

       

      If it works, you may be able to use the usual method to flash the firmware again.

       

      Download the latest firmware for your device – or an older version if that is what you want – and read the Release Notes for how to install it.

       

      If that fails, you are into TFTP country.


      How to upload firmware to a NETGEAR router using Windows TFTP | Answer | NETGEAR Support

       

      This also explains how to tell Windows to use TFTP on your PC.

       

      The good news is that TFTP has rescued many a dead device.

      • emike79's avatar
        emike79
        Aspirant
        Dec 04, 2020

        I have the R6400v2 router and I have the exact same issue.

        Happened yesterday basically after updating firmware through the routers web interface which looked like it finished but the router never came back.

         

        I'm successfuly able to reset the router and use the TFTP to flash the latest firmware which transmitts in about 100 seconds with zero errors. The power light keeps flashing amber well past this firmware flash and never stops (I have waited as long as 20 min).

        The router remains pingable but the web interface is never reachable.

         

        Called Netgear support - who first said my 90 day support is expired, then they sent me to technican anyways who was quickly convinced that the router should go through RMA but said I'm out of hardware warranty. But then she put me on hold for a while and came back and said she'll RMA anyways after speaking to a supervisor.

         

        Anyways - interesting ordeal. Good on Netgear for supporting the product but honestly, quality is really suffering. I'm very disappointed with this product. Unfortuantly, it is one of very few models that supports Disney Circle for parental control and that is the ONLY reason I bought it.

         

        PS> The version that bricked the router is the latest as of Dec 3rd 2020 - I wasn't paying attention through thwe web interface. However, when the router didn't get back online I looked for the latest version which is R6400v2-V1.0.4.102_10.0.75 and it did not work. I tried one older version and that did not work either.

         

        PS2> Netgear support did not offer any advice on how I might be able to resovle this.