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Bricked R6400 won't let me interrupt loop from putty

SebastianH
Aspirant

Bricked R6400 won't let me interrupt loop from putty

Hi,

 

My R6400 wifi router keeps looping in startup. (It happened after a power cycle from all my gear)

Using a CP2102 USB-UART cable and Putty i managed to see what was going on inside the router.

Usually you can break this router startup into CFE-prompt and do a tftp session to recover firmware.

But now it is impossible to break the loop in Putty. I'm not sure what to do next.

Attached is the output from my putty session.

(another strange behaviour: The router will not startup connected with the PC-USB_UART cable/First i have to power on Router and after that connect the USB to the PC etc)

Maybe someone of this community understands whats going on and can help me?

Thanks for your time!

 

Regards,

Sebastian

 

Model: R6400|AC1750 Smart WiFi Router
Message 1 of 6
olympos1625
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Bricked R6400 won't let me interrupt loop from putty

Hi SebastianH,

 

Welcome to NETGEAR Community!

 

Thank you for reaching out. May we know what are the LEDs on the router? Is the power LED blinking white? Have you followed the steps on this link https://kb.netgear.com/000059634/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-Windows-TFTP

 

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you need further assistance. 

 

Regards,

 

Oliver

Community Team

Message 2 of 6
SebastianH
Aspirant

Re: Bricked R6400 won't let me interrupt loop from putty

Hi Oliver, thanks for your reply!

I’m familiar with the firmware flashing procedure. Thanks for the link. The problem is I can’t get the device into flashing mode. The LEDs are blinking in a certain sequence corresponding with the boot phase which seems to be infinite and I cannot interrupt (using Putty). Unfortunately i can’t attach a video with the blinking LEDs sequence. Any chance this can be resolved? Or is the device really bricked?

Regards,
Sebastian
Model: R6400|AC1750 Smart WiFi Router
Message 3 of 6
antinode
Guru

Re: Bricked R6400 won't let me interrupt loop from putty

> [...] it is impossible to break the loop in Putty. [...]

 

   You know this because you did everything possible in PuTTY?  I'd
expect that to take a _very_ long time.

 

> [...] I cannot interrupt (using Putty).

 

   "impossible" or "cannot" is not a useful problem description.  It
does not say what you did. It does not say what happened when you did
it.  As usual, showing actual actions (commands) with their actual
results (error messages, LED indicators, ...) can be more helpful than
vague descriptions or interpretations.

 

   You _might_ actually know what you're doing, but that's not obvious
from your problem description.

Message 4 of 6
SebastianH
Aspirant

Re: Bricked R6400 won't let me interrupt loop from putty

Dear Antinode,

Thank you for your reply!
Probably we’re not speaking the same language here. I’m not a technician that is drilled with problem describing routines. I’m a customer with a broken WiFi router who is trying to get some help because ‘internet how to’s’ are giving no result anymore. These we’re my steps:

1. Power on WiFi router
2. All the LEDs are blinking in a certain sequence and keep doing that till Power Off.
3. Tried reset button in different ways. No changes.
4. Open up the router
5. Connect a USB-UART cable to PC
6. Power On Router
7. Startup Putty with the corresponding com-port and settings. Nothing on the screen
8. Power Off Router
9. Disconnect USB cable
10. Power On Router
11. Connect USB cable
12. Startup Putty
13. See on Putty screen startup sequence Router. (Output Putty in first attachment)
14. On PC tried to interrupt boot sequence with Ctrl-C, Ctrl-insert, special BREAK-command Putty.
Tried this very often and many times in different moments in sequence.
15. Eventually gave up and ask for help in this community where I hope to find some nice people who can give me a good advice.

Thank you.

Regards,
Sebastian

Model: R6400|AC1750 Smart WiFi Router
Message 5 of 6
olympos1625
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Bricked R6400 won't let me interrupt loop from putty

Hi SebastianH,

 

Thank you for all the information that you have provided. It seems that the router got bricked for some reason. How long do you have the device? Please DM us the serial number of the router.

 

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you need further assistance. 

 

Regards,

 

Oliver

Community Team

 

 

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