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onebreathric's avatar
onebreathric
Aspirant
May 26, 2022

Netgear R7200 Bricked

Hi, I made the mistake of flashing my router with OpenWRT firmware, not being happy with the change (it worked, but didn't like it), and attempting to revert back to the stock firmware for my device. The install was interrupted and now my router is not accessible through the telnet portal.

 

I tried flashing through TFTP connection, but the Power LED stays solid orange while the output ethernet port to my computer blinks every 3sec (off) and approx 18sec (on). I tried the factory reset button for 30sec, and the power LED flashes, but does not recognize the output ethernet port to my computer. I've also tried resetting and turning the device on/off many, MANY times.

 

The TFTP command through the Command Prompt gives an error message of "Connect request failed". TFTP feature was enabled in the Control Panel. 

 

I also tried using Tftpd64, but this was idle for +30min, so I canceled the upload.

 

Any ideas on how to reset the router? Should I reset it and let it figure itself out, or turn it off/on and let it go for a while? Everything I'm finding online seems like the router should reboot within 20-30 seconds or less.

5 Replies

  • plemans's avatar
    plemans
    Guru - Experienced User
    May 26, 2022

    I'd check on the ddwrt forums. They might have their own recovery option. and if it was interrupted, it could still be running their firmware. 

    • labatt's avatar
      labatt
      Mentor
      May 27, 2022

      He said OpenWRT not DD-WRT, so going to DD-WRT is not the fix. OpenWRT would be the place, IMHO.

      • onebreathric's avatar
        onebreathric
        Aspirant
        May 27, 2022

        Thank you. My problem is that the router is not fully powering on and not able to complete the factory reset. All instructions I've found online explain to either hold the reset button for 7 seconds (netgear) or 30 seconds (misc forums).

         

        I was on the phone with Netgear yesterday where we tried to hold the reset button for 90 seconds and unplugged the power cord ever 30 sec intervals. This still didn't work.

         

        I'm not confident that OpenWRT will be able to help since I can't get a TFTP connection to work at all. I have a saved draft of this post on their site as well, so maybe I'll send it and see what they think.

         

        I already bought a new one off amazon and will probably start looking for someone to recycle this one.

         

        Thanks again regardless of it not working out.