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Forum Discussion
peter11742
Dec 07, 2016Luminary
R8500 bricked
Hi All. This is my first report. I purchased on purpose the above router on Ebay. I can not register it Serial 4DG65B7G019C5 it is used like mint. The reason i found it is the best range router an...
- Dec 16, 2016
This is my final procedure after I fixed the second router r8500.
1) J4 connector pins : 1 2 3 4 pins are visable by looking the motherboard and they are located in the front view.
and j4 mark is located next to #1 pin. 1 gets green color, 2 gets white color, 3 gets green color, 4 is not connected.
2) open the bottom cover by removing the 6 tork screws.
Take the cover half way out so you can see the j4 plug and plug the serial cable.Turn on the router.
3) Start Putty let it run for a minite or so and start sending control c commands until you will see CFE.
4) on CFE type nvram erase you will see a 0 as an answer.
5) On CFE type tftpd you will get tftpd server ready ::
6) go on comand mode dos cmd>tfttp -i 192.168.1.1 put C:\r85.chk
r85.chk will be your old firmware located on the c:\ main directory
7) Now you will see a blue led on the #1 port flickering comminicating.
8) if what you did is correct then you will get from dos and putty file tranfered successful.
9) Now hold the reset button with a pin and turn the power off.
10) with the pin on reset turn power on and waight for 3 reboots let the pin go.
11) waight for 2 minutes you will see many led's comunicating and final the main led will be normal.
12) The router is now ready to be configuerd.
13) The network name and password is located on the white paper top right or at the bottom of the router.
I did 2 units the first one it took 1 week the second one it .5 hour.
Good luck.
peter11742
Alabama62
Aug 21, 2017Guide
It is a matter of timing. I had to try multiple times before I had any success. Start immediately and continue all throughout the boot up. I wish I had a better answer but it is just timing the break in the boot up sequence.
peter11742
Aug 23, 2017Luminary
Hi.
Please verify that your J4 connector has only 3 wires connected.
#4 RED wire is cut. GRN=#1 White=#2 Black=#3 #1 is located on the tag J4 Mark
Puty shoud work if the plug is inserted properly.
Configure your TCP/IPV4 to 192.168.1.10 on your computer with the connection properties.
Start with 30/30/30 and continue with puty and let it run for 2 minutes then cntr c and get cfe.
CFE you must eraze it nvram erase and get 0 type tftpd and follow the putty screen will say tftpd server ready.
Then go with the dos comand CMD>tftp - 192.168.1.1 put your oldest netgear file.chk
You will get if all is correct from dos and putty file transferred sucesfull.
This should work I did 6 units and they all work with the old sofware with out any problems.
Use a laptop so you do not have to worry about your settings later.
Good luck post your problem again if you have still problems.
Peter.
- Fahad1982Aug 26, 2017AspirantJust did the same as described as here above but it's not working from me.
Dos says file transfer completed in 106 seconds.
Then putty starts with a long list of text and signs.
After this all the r8500 reboots and reboots just starting with the message "checking crc" and loading...this repeats every minute.
The amber/orange light stays solid after reset.
What am i doing wrong? - Alabama62Aug 26, 2017Guide
When I did this I experimented with the baud rate until it worked. I can't remember now the rate that worked for me but that was the key when it did not seem to be working correctly. Once you have verified your physical wiring connection is correct for your dongle or adapter and you find the correct baud rate for a good connection you should have success. It took a lot of trial and error for me so don't give up.
- Fahad1982Aug 26, 2017AspirantThe wiring is correct on the J4 connector.
Putty is working fine and the baudrate is set to 115200.
When i turn the r8500 on i press on ctrl-c.
CFE is working...nvram erase says 0 so that's ok.
After this i type tftpd and got the message server ready.
In dos i do tfttp -i 192.168.1.1 put r85.chk (renamed it to a short filename)
In dos i got the message file transfer completed in 106 seconds and total bytes.
Now putty starts with al long list.
Don't know how long this takes but the last time i let it go for 20 minutes to be sure that i don't interrupt anything.
After this i hold the reset button and switch off...then i turn the r8500 on still holding reset and let it reboot 3 to 4 times and let the reset button go.
After this i still got a solid amber/orange light and the antennas have blue light.
Looks like this is the right procedure but not working for me. - Fahad1982Aug 26, 2017AspirantTried with the initial firmware V1.0.0.28_1.0.15 and says transfer completed in 100 seconds.
Now putty is starting and again got some text and everytime starts with Checking crc.
How long does this take or is it faulty? - peter11742Aug 27, 2017Luminary
Repeat the procedure by changing the IP on your loptop.
Configure your ethernent connection on your loptop to TCP/IPV4 to 192.168.1.10
It shold work after the putty and dos message gets file transfered.
After the message restart the netgear and wait for the green light to come give it a good time to reset on it's own.
Let us know how it works.
Peter
- Fahad1982Aug 28, 2017AspirantOk thanks i will try again later this week.
Dos shows me the message of transfer completed...but putty just start with a long list showing but never says completed.
So maybe there is the problem putty never says completed? - Fahad1982Aug 28, 2017AspirantTried with this settings bu no luck.
Still get the message checking crc and it's starting with the same lust every 20 seconds and afain checking crc.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h223/awesome1982/20170828_153023.jpg - peter11742Sep 05, 2017Luminary
I saw your report gives you smram error.
This you get when your smram is corrupted.
I know you tried 50/50/50 if this did not help then you are out of luck.
You must replace the smram and it is not an easy task.
My last question will be what window are you using?. Try a different computer with win 10 or 7.
Sorry.
Peter11742
- Fahad1982Sep 06, 2017AspirantAt the moment i'm using win 7 but i will try again on another laptop with win 10.
I didn't used the 30/30/30 method yet because everything worked for me except the last step in putty after transferring the file. - peter11742Sep 06, 2017Luminary
Hi.
I use win 10 it worked for me at alltimes.
Putty likes win 10 and it works good and fast on i7 laptop.
Godd luck.
peter11742
- pulplayrSep 29, 2017Aspirant
Hello,
I am trying to fix my brothers netgear router. He bought it on Ebay from an unscrupulous seller. It is stuck in the boot loop, power light changes between amber and white. I have been trying to follow the suggestions posted in this thread, but I have a problem. I set the LAN Ip address to 192.168.1.10 and the gateway to 192.168.1.1
Using a USB to TTL adapter, with control c, I can get the CFE. I did nvram erase, and get "command status = 0" . When I type tftpd I get "Start TFTP Server" and on the line below I get "Reading : :" . Your posts said I should get a message saying ready. I tried using a dos command CMD>tftp -i 192.168.1.1 put C:\r8500.chk . When I hit enter the dos cursor drops down 1 line and just flashes. There is no command prompt or message, just a flashing cursor. I have tried leaving it like that for an hour with no change. When I look at PuTTY, there is the same message "reading : :" , with a green cursor. I am connected by the USB to TTL (green-white-black), and from my ethernet on computer to the LAN 6 on the router. In PuTTY, i have set serial, 115200 speed, and com3. I have tried slower speeds, but get garbled text. I have also tried changing ports on the router, but nothing changes. If You know what I'm doing wrong, Please Help. Thanks, Doug
- peter11742Oct 01, 2017Luminary
Hi.
Before you try to fix the unit try the 30/30/30 reset.
Then try the procedure.
You should get from both dos and putty "file transfered."
Are you using win 10 ?. if not try to use it.
Good luck.
peter11742
- pulplayrOct 02, 2017Aspirant
Hello,
Thank you for the response. I am new to the site, and might not be using the right procedures for posting. If so, I apologize. I have tried the 30/30/30 reboot, and I get the same thing. I run Putty and get the CFE prompt. I type tftpd and get the message "reading : :", should it say ready? I run the dos command and the dos cursor drops to the beginning of the next line and flashes. No message or prompt. The PuTTY screen does not change. I have tried to leave it like that for several hours , and nothing changes.
In working with this I have noticed a couple of things that might help, if you know what they indicate.1. When I am running PuTTY and press the reset button, it does not interupt the boot cycles. Shouldn't it do the same as power off, and restart the cycle? Is it possible that the reset button is not working?
2. After I do nvram erase, and tftpt in PuTTY, I tried using tftp2 to transfer. It starts uploading gets about 2/3 of the progress bar, and then retries. and repeats the same 2/3 of the upload.
I really appreciate an help you can give me. Thanks, Doug - peter11742Oct 02, 2017Luminary
Hi.
Putty should respond after reading. "TFTPD server ready."
You do not get the above, putty is not functioning.
Only after tftpd server ready you go to the dos program and finish it's commands
Good luck.
peter11742