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Tftp reflash?
I have an r6700v2 which has become bricked after a firmware update. I had updated using the Android app and it never came back. The power light remains amber, and the Ethernet Port lights up which ...
- I still don't know why following the instructions didn't work, but I found this old post:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/General-WiFi-Routers-Non/Guide-How-to-quot-unbrick-quot-your-WGR614v9-after-a-bad/td-p/153385
With it started up and sound with the orange light of uselessness solid, I held in the reset button for 30 seconds as directed in the above post. During this process, suddenly it came to life. It lost all of my settings but was now running the latest firmware and the web interface is working. I was able to plug in my wireless settings and reconnect the cable modem. I had to reboot the modern and router a few times before it actually gave me a working internet connection, but now all is well. So hopefully someone will come across this post and have the solution more quickly than I did. These really are great routers. It would just be nice if someone created a troubleshooting decision tree that got users straight to an appropriate answer instead of having to resort to the Google, attempt, and pray method. I'm not sure if the firmware got there by my tftp attempts or if this is the version the app was originally updating to and it was just resetting the settings that ultimately fixed it. IDC. Good luck to anyone dealing with a brick. It's frustrating, but at least in my case, the fix was easy once I tried the right thing.
> [...] (the file gets pushed, but the router doesn't do anything).
Which "the file"?
> [...] Why isn't the tftp recovery process working?
The non-psychics in your audience know approximately nothing about
how you're doing this "the tftp recovery process".
> [...] Why the hell can't we use the USB port to reflash a bricked
> unit? [...]
Implementing a TFTP server is very easy (and it occupies very little
space). How, exactly, would you implement some scheme to "use the USB
port to reflash" anything? Which file system would your USB storage
device use? How would the proper file be located on it? Using a USB
interface to some foreign file system would require much more
programming, and determining any kind of progress/success/failure status
would be more difficult, too. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any
new/different recovery scheme to be offered.
https://kb.netgear.com/000059634/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-Windows-TFTP
Following the official instructions provided by Netgear. How else would anyone attempt to do this? Perhaps you think that I'm the psychic one who would just guess what the procedure should be?
I've seen everything from TVs to Android devices to cars that can load firmware off of USB storage. The format can be whatever is simplest to implement. Just distribute an image that can be written to a flash drive using any computer if it's too heavy to implement the ability to read a file system.
As for the image, the file I'm using is the latest firmware from the downloads page, unzipped. Filename is R6700v2-V1.2.0.62_1.0.1.img
I tried third party tftp client software first, and then also the official one included with Windows 7. The only thing I can think to try that I haven't yet is to try to use my Linux machine instead of Windows which I don't really trust but I tried for the sake of convenience. I doubt this will make a difference because I'm following the instructions exactly and they're written with a Windows client in mind. What makes no sense to me is that there appears to be a tftp server running when it's not in flash mode but not when it is. Though the lights would suggest that perhaps the Ethernet is connecting only when I don't hold the reset button. I'm not sure where the file goes when it's uploaded via tftp, but it gives the correct responses for the client to report success. If I hold reset and wait for the flashing light (10 or more flashes before releasing reset as per the instructions) then the tftp command eventually times out. I set the Ethernet up as static on the Windows client exactly per the referenced instructions.
Bottom line is I'm following the official instructions precisely as written and I'm not getting the desired result. Is there anything else to try, or am I stuck buying a new router, which leaves me with the dilemma of whether I want to buy another nighthawk in the future knowing that it will work great but could get bricked during a routine upgrade using the official app.
Following the official instructions provided by Netgear. How else would anyone attempt to do this? Perhaps you think that I'm the psychic one who would just guess what the procedure should be?
I've seen everything from TVs to Android devices to cars that can load firmware off of USB storage. The format can be whatever is simplest to implement. Just distribute an image that can be written to a flash drive using any computer if it's too heavy to implement the ability to read a file system.
As for the image, the file I'm using is the latest firmware from the downloads page, unzipped. Filename is R6700v2-V1.2.0.62_1.0.1.img
I tried third party tftp client software first, and then also the official one included with Windows 7. The only thing I can think to try that I haven't yet is to try to use my Linux machine instead of Windows which I don't really trust but I tried for the sake of convenience. I doubt this will make a difference because I'm following the instructions exactly and they're written with a Windows client in mind. What makes no sense to me is that there appears to be a tftp server running when it's not in flash mode but not when it is. Though the lights would suggest that perhaps the Ethernet is connecting only when I don't hold the reset button. I'm not sure where the file goes when it's uploaded via tftp, but it gives the correct responses for the client to report success. If I hold reset and wait for the flashing light (10 or more flashes before releasing reset as per the instructions) then the tftp command eventually times out. I set the Ethernet up as static on the Windows client exactly per the referenced instructions.
Bottom line is I'm following the official instructions precisely as written and I'm not getting the desired result. Is there anything else to try, or am I stuck buying a new router, which leaves me with the dilemma of whether I want to buy another nighthawk in the future knowing that it will work great but could get bricked during a routine upgrade using the official app.