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Netgear Nighthawk R-7000 Running Tomato Reverting To Factory Default Firmware

KJ6EO58
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Netgear Nighthawk R-7000 Running Tomato Reverting To Factory Default Firmware

Hello and thank you for reading my post.     My Nighthawk R-7000 has been running on  Shibby Tomato Firmware for the last several years.  Due to a recent problem, I decided to  flash back to the  Factory Original Firmware.  To accomplish this, I downloaded a file from the Shibby Tomato Website (R7000-back-to-ofw.trx).     In Tomato, I erased the NVRAM, then flashed the R-7000 with the TRX file mentioned above.    I powered the R-7000 on and after it fully booted up (normal lights), I reset it by holding in the reset button for 10 seconds.  I set up my Laptop with a static IP of 192.168.1.2 and waited for the R7000 to boot up.    After the R7000 was fully booted, I opened up Firefox and attempted to connect to the  R7000 on the default IP address  192.168.1.1.  Upon  connecting I was greeted with a Netgear Screen asking a couple of questions.  1)  Enable router to automatically update to future firmware ...   2)  enable collection of router analytics data.  Upon answering those two questions, the APPLY button was enabled and I clicked on it.    I  then received the following message: "Firefox can't find the server at www.routerlogin.net"  If I disconnect and connect again, I get the same message.    I tried to flash the R7000 with the Netgear Factory Firmware using TFTP but the R7000 won't allow me to upload it.  I get a   timeout error.  So  unfortunately, I'm hung up in this loop and I don't know how to resolve the problem.  Any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated

Model: R7000|AC1900 Smart WIFI Router
Message 1 of 3

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Re: Netgear Nighthawk R-7000 Running Tomato Reverting To Factory Default Firmware

Greeetings,

As great as 3rd party FW can be, problems encountered when trying to go back to stock can be a pitfall. 

 

No one but you can try to solve this, because we are not there to know or see what happened.

 

Suggestions:

 

Try with another browser

Try accessing using an IP

 

TFTP reflashing relies on several things.  Correct execution and timing (primarily).  The reflash ""window" of opportunity is brief during boot and when missed, you have to start over.  

 

Open a command prompt and ping the router with a -t switch.  This will give you a continious ping to the router's "suspected" IP.

 

Restart the device and look for the "reply" during the boot process.  This will tell you if your settings are correct and help to determine the state of the your device. After 2-3 starts, you will get a better feeling for the timing and can likely plan the execution of the re-flash.

I ocassionally use two command prompts to help with timing (if needed).  One to watch for the reply, the other poised with the TFTP command "ready" to execute.

 

Success is also going to depend on the hardware, its state, what happened to it when you removed the tomato FW, etc.

 

Good luck  

 

 

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Message 2 of 3

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Re: Netgear Nighthawk R-7000 Running Tomato Reverting To Factory Default Firmware

Greeetings,

As great as 3rd party FW can be, problems encountered when trying to go back to stock can be a pitfall. 

 

No one but you can try to solve this, because we are not there to know or see what happened.

 

Suggestions:

 

Try with another browser

Try accessing using an IP

 

TFTP reflashing relies on several things.  Correct execution and timing (primarily).  The reflash ""window" of opportunity is brief during boot and when missed, you have to start over.  

 

Open a command prompt and ping the router with a -t switch.  This will give you a continious ping to the router's "suspected" IP.

 

Restart the device and look for the "reply" during the boot process.  This will tell you if your settings are correct and help to determine the state of the your device. After 2-3 starts, you will get a better feeling for the timing and can likely plan the execution of the re-flash.

I ocassionally use two command prompts to help with timing (if needed).  One to watch for the reply, the other poised with the TFTP command "ready" to execute.

 

Success is also going to depend on the hardware, its state, what happened to it when you removed the tomato FW, etc.

 

Good luck  

 

 

Message 2 of 3
KJ6EO58
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Re: Netgear Nighthawk R-7000 Running Tomato Reverting To Factory Default Firmware

Thank You for your reply.  I resolved the problem.  I thought I would share the solution with the community just in case that this happens to someone else.  I'm and experienced Technician, but I certainly agree with you.  I always cringe when I have to

flash update something.  I've never bricked anything, but it does happen.  When I configured the TCP/IP settings on my Laptop, I made a typo in the DNS Server field.  I should have entered 192.168.1.1 there, but I accidentally entered 192.168.1.2.  So, when it was time to resolve "routerlogin.net" there was no DNS Server to respond.  Why the router responded initially with the two questions was kind of a mystery.  Everything is working fine now.  Thank you for your time and suggestions!

Model: R7000|AC1900 Smart WIFI Router
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