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Update seems to have bricked my R7000

jimbarrSC
Tutor

Update seems to have bricked my R7000

I've updated my firmware on my Nighthawk R7000 several times without issue.

 

The other night, I went to apply the latest update, and the progress bar went to 100% and I waited for it to reboot. And waited. And waited. Eventually, my browser said it couldn't connect. After about 15 minutes of no response or activity on the router, I rebooted.

 

Normally on reboot, the lights on the router go through fun gyrations blinking, turning on, turning off, etc. then they ultimately settle to their noemal state. When I reboot after this update, the Power light immediately comes on solid amber (dim, not full), along with the Wifi light solid white. The 5GHz light is on solid but dim, and the USB3 light is on solid, but dim (no USB3 device is connected.) There is no delay, just power on, and the lights come on and stay on.

 

I cannot connect via WiFi. It will not ping through Ethernet. When I connect via Ethernet, the port light turns on and blinks occasionally indicating possible activity, but I cannot connect or ping or telnet.

 

I tried resetting per instructions by holding in the reset button with a paperclip, but no matter how long I hold it in, nothing happens to the router. It doesn't reboot, it doesn't reset. When I power it on, the lights come on immediately as per above.

 

Suggestions?

 

Thanks!

Model: R7000|Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 9

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ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Update seems to have bricked my R7000

Message 7 of 9

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RMinNJ
Luminary

Re: Update seems to have bricked my R7000

When connected via ethernet/cable it may be too broken to have dhcp and give you an ip.     Maybe after you plug in manually configure

your NIC to a 192.168.1.x IP     .   Maybe you can get to the router then..    I had an ASUS like this... it had a low level webserver that allowed upload firmware again.

Message 2 of 9
jimbarrSC
Tutor

Re: Update seems to have bricked my R7000

I set a static IP in the 192.168.1.x, range, and even used an IP scanner to see if it could see anything on that IP range. Other than the laptop I was using, it found nothing. I tried other IP ranges as well with the same negative results.

 

Since it's out of warranty, I'm resigned to having to purchase a new router.

 

I'm just disappointed that it was NETGEAR's functionality that broke my router, and I have no recourse. I certainly understaand the concept of warranties, and I understand that hardware can fail over time, but when a company provides ongoing updates to its product, and the update breaks the product, that's the company's fault. 

 

I could try to get support from Netgear, but all I can find on their site is paid support at "$49 per incident". And if the end result will be, "It's broken, sorry", then that's $49 I don't want to spend.

Message 3 of 9
RMinNJ
Luminary

Re: Update seems to have bricked my R7000

I hear you...if a scan can' find anythjing it's probably bricked indeed.    

 

I suppose you tried a bunch of things...ie..   (apparently there is a serial console on these things..)

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/SOLVED-Steps-for-debrick-unresponsive-R7000-...

 

 

The other router I tried (ASUS) seemed inoperable but defaulted to a low level webserver where one could flash firmware to it.  

 

Message 4 of 9
ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Update seems to have bricked my R7000

If you have set static IP on the computer, can you still ping the router's IP address?

If yes, try to use TFTP to upload the firmware. 

If that didn't work, try another TFTP software such as this

However, if you can no longer ping the router it's already considered faulty. 

Message 5 of 9
jimbarrSC
Tutor

Re: Update seems to have bricked my R7000

No, I cannot ping the router. 

 

When you say, "However, if you can no longer ping the router it's already considered faulty." what does that mean to a device that is out of warranty?

 

My conclusion is that it is bricked and now useless. Is this correct?

Message 6 of 9
ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Update seems to have bricked my R7000

Correct. 

Message 7 of 9
jimbarrSC
Tutor

Re: Update seems to have bricked my R7000

As I suspected. It's just great to know that Netgear recommended an update that ultimately broke my product, with no recourse on my part. Not a happy camper.

Message 8 of 9
ElaineM
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Update seems to have bricked my R7000

Check if you're within the hardware warranty to get replacement.

Message 9 of 9
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