R7000 Rebooting and will not reset

[p_t_taylor]

I was setting up my R7000 as wifi extender. After following the instructions here - https://www.tomsguide.com/us/how-to-turn-old-router-into-wifi-extender,review-5166.html  - it now keeps rebooting every 90seconds. Will not reset as per manual. Cannot access GUI. Cannot TFTP.

I can ping 192.168.1.1 five times during it's reboot sequence via an ethernet port, then it times out and becomes unreachable. This means TFTP is not an option for firmware flash.

Also tried "recovery reset" -

•     Press reset for 30 seconds
•     Keep pressing reset while removing power
•     Keep pressing reset for another 30 seconds while apply power

How do I factory reset if will not reset as per manual or above community advice for recovery reset?

Do I now own a Netgear brick?

Thanks

[p_t_taylor · Accepted solution]

---

@antinode wrote:

> [...] This means TFTP is not an option for firmware flash.

   It might mean that.  Or, it might mean that you'd need to time the
TFTP "PUT" command to hit the thing during some time window when it's
receptive.

   I'd play with it for a while before condemning the thing.

---

Thanks for prompting me to persevere @antinode .

TFTP PUT failed to connect, so I used:

• NPCAP https://nmap.org/npcap/ and
• NMRPFLASH - https://github.com/jclehner/nmrpflash

It took a few tries with nmrpflash to flash the firmware with the following command.

  nmrpflash -v -i net1 -f FIRMWARE.chk -t 10000 -T 10000 -A 192.168.1.21 -a 192.168.1.1 -m xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

Where:

• net1 is the PC's adapter name
• FIRMWARE.chk is the firmware file name
•  192.168.1.21 is the PC's IP
•  xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx is the MAC address of the R7000

The version of NMRP I used did not have the -B switch available, so I think placing the MAC at the end it goes into Blind mode. 

Now running seamlessly as an AP. Decided this was a better option than wifi extender as it allows identical security settings

[antinode]

> [...] This means TFTP is not an option for firmware flash.

   It might mean that.  Or, it might mean that you'd need to time the
TFTP "PUT" command to hit the thing during some time window when it's
receptive.

   I'd play with it for a while before condemning the thing.

[p_t_taylor · Accepted solution]

---

@antinode wrote:

> [...] This means TFTP is not an option for firmware flash.

   It might mean that.  Or, it might mean that you'd need to time the
TFTP "PUT" command to hit the thing during some time window when it's
receptive.

   I'd play with it for a while before condemning the thing.

---

Thanks for prompting me to persevere @antinode .

TFTP PUT failed to connect, so I used:

• NPCAP https://nmap.org/npcap/ and
• NMRPFLASH - https://github.com/jclehner/nmrpflash

It took a few tries with nmrpflash to flash the firmware with the following command.

  nmrpflash -v -i net1 -f FIRMWARE.chk -t 10000 -T 10000 -A 192.168.1.21 -a 192.168.1.1 -m xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

Where:

• net1 is the PC's adapter name
• FIRMWARE.chk is the firmware file name
•  192.168.1.21 is the PC's IP
•  xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx is the MAC address of the R7000

The version of NMRP I used did not have the -B switch available, so I think placing the MAC at the end it goes into Blind mode. 

Now running seamlessly as an AP. Decided this was a better option than wifi extender as it allows identical security settings