Recover from a bad flash

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Revision as of 11:45, 12 November 2005 by 69.231.122.205 (Talk)
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.Intro.

So, you're afraid you've bricked your router. Don't worry, there are a number of things you can try to get your router working again before giving up and living with the fact that your router is now a paperweight.

The WRT54G Revival Guide includes step-by-step instructions how to get your Linksys router working again.

The first step is to download the correct firmware for your router from the Linksys Download Page, and follow the Linksys-approved method of reloading the firmware onto the router using the Linksys "Firmware Auto-upgrade Utility". If you can't find "Firmware Auto-upgrade Utility" use "Setup Wizard" as an alternative from other Linksys router (make sure to use your router's firmware). You should also set your network card to 10mpbs and half-duplex, and the Revival Guide gives step-by-step instructions how to do that for different versions of Windows.

The Revival Guide, however, does not mention one other important possibility. In the section Revival tip #1:Reloading the firmware, if you try to ping 192.168.1.1 and it does not work, make sure that you have a valid IP address of the form 192.168.1.x. If you do not, the DHCP might not be working on the router even though networking is. So set your IP manually to something like 192.168.1.77 with 192.168.1.1 as your gateway and then try pinging the router again. This might save you having to pop it open for 'Revival tip #2'...

If the Linksys-approved method does not work for you, the Revival Guide includes a second technique that involves snapping open the plastic case of the router and using a small metal tool (or paper-clip) to "short" two particular "pins" on the circuit board. This may sound intimidating for a non-technical person, but the step-by-step instructions and photos in the Revival Guide contain enough detail to allow the average adult to do it easily. The author warns that this will void your warrantee, and also that there are no known cases of anyone actually damaging their hardware using this technique.

There's also a collection of pointers and tips on how to recover from a bad flash at the external link location, but most of the information in that forum seems to have been collected into the WRT54G Revival Guide. So far this is just a starter wiki. If someone could move the important parts into this wiki, that'd be great. Probably organize it by recovery methods and list variations of each method below the method, or something.

External Links

The Wrt54g Revival Guide - Excellent step-by-step instructions (with color photos)

Note that contrary to the instructions, the Linksys case is secured by screws. Just remove the two front rubber feet to get access to the screws.

How-To: Recover from a bad firmware flash. - Question and Answer Forum


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