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Forum Discussion
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...
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.
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.
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.
I spoke too soon. So apparantaly Netgear doesn't consider "Canada" to be part of North America. I can't select the Country Canada and therefore can't select a Province. I tried moving through anyways and was given an TN shipping address.I'm likely going to pay more in shipping and duties than this this is even worth. Terrible!!!