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Solved
Nighthawk R7000 flashing white power led
I made the mistake of updating my firmware and now my router is unusable. My router is a nighthawk R7000. I am currently running windows 10 on my desktop. I logged into the router and click on update firmware to the latest version. It was taking a while, then it restarted and started flashing the white power LED. I was waiting an hour and a half before giving up. I restarted the router with no change. I have tried the reset button with out any success. The reset button does nothing if i hold it down for 8 seconds or 1 minute. I have tried disconnecting the power from in for a few minutes with out success. I have tried Netgears "support" page that shows how to install new firmware. It only gives support for windows xp and 7. I tried following it the best I could but tftp-i is not a command for the cmd. Another page recommended that I use tftp2 however that did not help either. Is there a way for me to save it or did Netgear fry it?
I found a step by step forum that worked for me. I had tried tftp on my computer as well as tftp2 that was recommended by another forum. This other forum recommended using tftp -i on however what I didn't know was that you have to first enable/install software in windows for it to work. The forum I mention is "https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/SOLVED-Steps-for-debrick-unresponsive-R7000-softbricked/td-p/414034". Thank you for helping me fix the firmware problem.
9 Replies
There is one other reset option that you could try:
- Press reset for 30 seconds
- Keep pressing reset while removing power
- Keep pressing reset for another 30 seconds while apply power
You referred to TFTP. Did you read this?
How to upload firmware to a NETGEAR router using TFTP | Answer | NETGEAR Support
There is nothing in there to suggest that it won't work in Windows 10. The date on it is in the era of Windows 10.
Thank you for giving me another option sadly though, it didn't work. I followed your instructions for resetting it. This time the reset switch did seem to restart the router. When i let up on the switch it seems to boot up then start flashing the white power led at me like before. The article you linked is the one I tried. Every attempt to run the tftp2 I just get the error "unable to get responses from the server." I can ping the router using cmd. I have tried the default password as well as my current password.
If you can ping the router you may have a chance of saving it you will need to reflash its firmware netgear has the instructions on its https://www.netgear.com/support/ link.
Follow the directions as lay out if you lose the lan ports as access point to the router you will be forced to use a serial cable connected to routers main board.
I am having the exact same issue. I have tried the reset button, the 30 second reset button reccomended in this thread. I have tried tftp through the command line and it seems like it is working and restarts the router but as soon as it boots its back to flashing the power led. I also tried using tftp2 as outlined in this article, this one just comes up with a "unable to get responses from the server" error. I can ping the router just fine but nothing else. Wonder if there is a problem with the newest firmware for this model.
Any ideas?
I found a step by step forum that worked for me. I had tried tftp on my computer as well as tftp2 that was recommended by another forum. This other forum recommended using tftp -i on however what I didn't know was that you have to first enable/install software in windows for it to work. The forum I mention is "https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/SOLVED-Steps-for-debrick-unresponsive-R7000-softbricked/td-p/414034". Thank you for helping me fix the firmware problem.
Excellent.
Netgear needs to write a better KnowledgeBase article on how to fix this issue.
Fortunately, now that this is flagged as Solved it might help later victims.
