Nighthark X8 AC5300 - Several Blinking Lights (Not working at all)

[ivan_pinatti]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to find some help to fix the problem the router. I've researched everywhere but couldn't find a problem similar to this one. 

One day it simply stopped working and started blinking in a weird pattern (I am posting a video of it as well);

• White color
  • 2.4 GHZ, 5GHZ¹, 5GHZ², USB¹, and USB²
• Kinda pink
  • Ports 1, 2, and 3, the Internet port and the power led
• Blue in the antennas

Before the problem it was running fine for the past 3 years.

The firmware was the latest (I don't recall the exact number), but it was the latest available till 2021 September.

It doesn't connect through the cable and it keeps resetting itself (looks like it)

I've tried so far:

1. Pressing Reset in the back for 1 minute while powered on
2. Turn the power off, holding the Reset button, turning on while still pressing Reset for a minute
3. Changing the power source (same voltage and amperage)
4. Plugging several diferent ports though a 100mbps OR 1000 mbps computer

[ivan_pinatti]

No one!? 😞

[FURRYe38]

What Firmware version is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

What does the user manual say for the LEDs? 

What channels are you using? Auto? Try Auto and 48 on 5Ghz. Or try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Traffic Meter.

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update?

Have you tried this version of FW yet? 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/New-R8500-Firmware-Version-1-0-2-158-Release...

[ivan_pinatti]

Answers in italic and blue

What Firmware version is currently loaded? I don't know since the router is completely inaccessible. 
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? It is not connected to anything and blinks the same

What does the user manual say for the LEDs? It doesn't

What channels are you using? Auto? Try Auto and 48 on 5Ghz. Or try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many? None, the router doesn't show any Wifi networks and the cable also doesn't work.

Try disabling the following and see:
Armor, Circle, Traffic Meter. I can't as the system doesn't boot up.

Has a factory reset and setup from scratch been performed since last FW update? Yes, I tried several times. And if there was an update it did it by itself, in addition, it was plugged to an UPS, so I am discarding that it got corrupted due to a power outage.

Have you tried this version of FW yet? 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/New-R8500-Firmware-Version-1-0-2-158-Release...

I can't as the router is completely inaccessible.

Any other ideas?

[FURRYe38]

Try this:

https://kb.netgear.com/000059634/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-Windows-TFTP
Need to press the reset button for 30 seconds then release, then it send to PUT the command and upload the FW. 
Make sure you enable tftp: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/enable-tftp-windows-10
Video walk through using a tftp client. Use the built in one for windows 10 though. the video is more of an example of how its done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9DLrLQrpaw
I had a problem on a Windows 10 PC where this didn't work to use TFTP, so I switched to a WIndows 7 PC and the TFTP worked.
Mac TFTP: https://www.petenetlive.com/KB/Article/0001247

Try nmrpflash:
https://github.com/jclehner/nmrpflash

[ivan_pinatti]

Finally I had the time to try your recommendations @FURRYe38. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

I've tried to use tftp on Windows 10 and 11, and also the nmrpflash through Linux. No luck on any of them.

One thing that I noticed is that ports 1,2, and 3, it doesn't get a stable network connection, they keep connecting and disconnecting. Only ports that get a stable connection are 4, 5, and 6, and they blink white when they do.

No luck also trying using the IP range 192.168.0.x. All the recommendations had the 192.168.1.x.

If you check the video, you will see that the ports 1,2, and 3, keep blinking that amber colour.

Any other ideas?

[ivan_pinatti]

@netgear support might have a clue about the blinking pattern. This probably has an error code with a possible solution in the internal documentation. Could you please help and advise?

#AC5300

#R8500

#NighthawkX8

[FURRYe38]

Seems like the router is just bricked.

Support doesn't visit these forums.

Might reach out to a forum moderator as see what your options are:

@DarrenM @DexterJB 

I see this modem router is on the EoL as well so it maybe beyond any form of help:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/Top-NETGEAR-FAQs-Support-and-End-of-Service/...