RBR50 spontaneously bricked itself this morning - factory reset has no effect - what are my options?

[cortex]

I woke up to find I had no wifi and no internet. My two satellites had solid magenta rings. The router had power but no illuminated ring. I I tried to connect directly to the router via ethernet I couldn't get an IP or connect to the config page. I powercycled the router with no effect. After some googling I decided to try "hard resetting" and that also doesn't work which leads me to think it is bricked. No matter if via the regular method (holding the reset button for ~15 seconds per the Netgear video) or via the "30-30-30" method I saw mentioned. The green power light always stays green (never flashes, never amber or any other color) and the resets are having no effect (still can't get an IP, not broadcasting wifi, etc). At this point I've held the reset button for minutes and powercycled it dozens of times and it doesn't do anything. 

After <1 year in use am I really left with three pieces of useless plastic unless I opt to spend money on a new RBR50 router which apparently can simply fail at any time, risking that I have to repeat the cycle? Is it even possible to buy a replacement RBR50 since they seem to be OOS everywhere? 

[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. 

[plemans]

If tftp doesn't work, try nmrpflash.

I've had luck with that when tftp didn't work. 

https://github.com/jclehner/nmrpflash

[alokeprasad]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

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. 

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Where and what are steps 1 though 5 in that document?

Seems like NG is leaving out some important steps, like how to prepare the router for the TFTP connection...

[vajim]

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@cortex wrote:

I woke up to find I had no wifi and no internet.

Any recent firmware update by chance?

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[cortex]

Thanks but I tried that already via these instructionns and it doesn't work.

https://kb.netgear.com/000059633/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-TFTP-client 

The instructions seem to assume that the router still responds to the reset procedure (e.g., both sets of instructions refer to the power LED changing color) but that does not happen on my unit no matter how I reset it. And ignoring that and proceeding anyway results in nothing (pressing PUT does nothing/never completes).

[cortex]

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@vajim wrote:

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@cortex wrote:

I woke up to find I had no wifi and no internet.

Any recent firmware update by chance?

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Not that I performed. Does the unit auto-install new firmware? If so I wouldn't know -- and since I can't get to the configuration page I can't tell what firemware it's running.

[cortex]

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@plemans wrote:

If tftp doesn't work, try nmrpflash.

I've had luck with that when tftp didn't work. 

https://github.com/jclehner/nmrpflash

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Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it and it didn't work/was not able to flash the firmware. It never detects the router once turned on ("Waiting for physical connection." leads to "Error: Ethernet cable is unplugged."). I tried all the ports. 

[FURRYe38]

Sounds like your RBR is bad. I would make contact with NG support to see what your options are. 

[vajim]

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@cortex wrote:

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@vajim wrote:

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@cortex wrote:

I woke up to find I had no wifi and no internet.

Any recent firmware update by chance?

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Not that I performed. Does the unit auto-install new firmware? If so I wouldn't know -- and since I can't get to the configuration page I can't tell what firemware it's running.

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How about the app?

Some are confused about firmware updates using the app.   Unless there are major security updates you are in control.

[growly]

I had a similar problem a few days before you. I logged into the web interface to check something but strangely it wouldn't display the contents of some frames - I would get a server error (I can't remember which HTTP code). That was very weird (NETGEAR: it was broken) so I rebooted the device. It then bricked itself; the power LED flashed RED which, according to the manual, means "corrupt firmware". So I did the factory reset a few times until it blinked the right colour.

I used my phone to download another firmware image and TFTP'd that to the device over an ethernet cable from my laptop. I had to set a static IP in 192.168.1.0/24, but the router responded to 192.168.1.1 and consumed the TFTP image. I then left it for a while. Nothing. I tried again. This time it came up and I could log in.

[FURRYe38]

How many times did you tri the reset before the LED turn the right color? 

What version of FW were you able to load?

Glad you got it working.

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@growly wrote:

I had a similar problem a few days before you. I logged into the web interface to check something but strangely it wouldn't display the contents of some frames - I would get a server error (I can't remember which HTTP code). That was very weird (NETGEAR: it was broken) so I rebooted the device. It then bricked itself; the power LED flashed RED which, according to the manual, means "corrupt firmware". So I did the factory reset a few times until it blinked the right colour.

I used my phone to download another firmware image and TFTP'd that to the device over an ethernet cable from my laptop. I had to set a static IP in 192.168.1.0/24, but the router responded to 192.168.1.1 and consumed the TFTP image. I then left it for a while. Nothing. I tried again. This time it came up and I could log in.

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[cortex]

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@vajim wrote:

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@cortex wrote:

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@vajim wrote:

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@cortex wrote:

I woke up to find I had no wifi and no internet.

Any recent firmware update by chance?

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Not that I performed. Does the unit auto-install new firmware? If so I wouldn't know -- and since I can't get to the configuration page I can't tell what firemware it's running.

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How about the app?

Some are confused about firmware updates using the app.   Unless there are major security updates you are in control.

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I had not attempted to update the firmware -- via app or otherwise -- recently. In fact, I have not used the app since the initial setup.

[cortex]

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@growly wrote:

I had a similar problem a few days before you. I logged into the web interface to check something but strangely it wouldn't display the contents of some frames - I would get a server error (I can't remember which HTTP code). That was very weird (NETGEAR: it was broken) so I rebooted the device. It then bricked itself; the power LED flashed RED which, according to the manual, means "corrupt firmware". So I did the factory reset a few times until it blinked the right colour.

I used my phone to download another firmware image and TFTP'd that to the device over an ethernet cable from my laptop. I had to set a static IP in 192.168.1.0/24, but the router responded to 192.168.1.1 and consumed the TFTP image. I then left it for a while. Nothing. I tried again. This time it came up and I could log in.

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Unfortunately my unit seems to be even more bricked than "corrupt firmware" since the power LED does not change color at all and does not respond to resetting. 

[vajim]

have you tried this:

https://kb.netgear.com/31486/How-do-I-reset-my-Orbi-system-to-factory-default-settings

if you you have and it's still under warranty reach ou to one of the moderators here

[cortex]

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@vajim wrote:

have you tried this:

https://kb.netgear.com/31486/How-do-I-reset-my-Orbi-system-to-factory-default-settings

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Yes, it doesn't work. The power LED never blinks another color and the device does not reset in any way.

[vajim]

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@cortex wrote:

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Yes, it doesn't work. The power LED never blinks another color and the device does not reset in any way.

if  it's still under warranty reach out to one of the moderators here

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[cortex]

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@vajim wrote:

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@cortex wrote:

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Yes, it doesn't work. The power LED never blinks another color and the device does not reset in any way.

if  it's still under warranty reach out to one of the moderators here

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It is not under warranty.

[CrimpOn]

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@plemans wrote:

If tftp doesn't work, try nmrpflash.

I've had luck with that when tftp didn't work. 

https://github.com/jclehner/nmrpflash

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Thanks for the link.  Noticed that no Orbi models are included in the ReadMe information.

You have had luck using nmrpflash on an Orbi?

[growly]

This happened at 3 am so my memory isn't the best, but after 3 or 4 factory resets all resulting in the "corrupt firmware" state (blinking red), I acquired and managed to TFTP the firmware across. It then failed to boot, but the error had changed from blinking red to blinking amber. Then I did a reset another couple of times and TFTP'd the image again until it seemed to do the right thing.

/edit: My impression was that the TFTP server was up always in the blinking-red state, but in the blinking-amber state it was only up for a few seconds before boot proceeded at normal.

The firmware version I used to get it "working" was 2.7.2.102.

[FURRYe38]

Unless your interested in trying this as a last resort effort:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Is-my-13-month-old-RBR50-bricked/td-p/2009904/jump-to/first-un...

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custom-firmware-build-for-orbi-rbk50-rbk53-rbr50-rbs50-v-9-2-5-1-1...

You'll need to get your RBR replaced. 

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@cortex wrote:

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Unfortunately my unit seems to be even more bricked than "corrupt firmware" since the power LED does not change color at all and does not respond to resetting. 

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[plemans]

@CrimpOn I used it on and RBS50 successfully. And know from one of my other forums of it working on an RBR50

[cortex]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

Unless your interested in trying this as a last resort effort:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Is-my-13-month-old-RBR50-bricked/td-p/2009904/jump-to/first-un...

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/custom-firmware-build-for-orbi-rbk50-rbk53-rbr50-rbs50-v-9-2-5-1-1...

You'll need to get your RBR replaced. 

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@cortex wrote:

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Unfortunately my unit seems to be even more bricked than "corrupt firmware" since the power LED does not change color at all and does not respond to resetting. 

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So I actually tried this and it did not work. I bought the USB to serial adapter, dissasembled the router, connected with PuTTY but it does not grant access to U-boot. My unit musy be very non-functional (as indicated by the lack of LED color change or any other response from the unit). Thankfully my CC extended warranty protection covered me and I've learned to avoid Netgear products from now on. 

[FURRYe38]

Good Luck. 

[vajim]

Nice job