Unable to restore firmware

[Gemini]

So here's the situation.
I have (had) Asus WL500g Deluxe router with official asus firmware version 1.9.4.0. It crashed sometimes so I decided to upgrade the firmware with the latest version 1.9.6.0 from the Asus website.
So... I open 192.168.1.1, go to firmware update subpage and load the firmware. Everything went just fine. But then after a while internet started to behave strangely. The connection was dropping all the time, I was only able to upload, and I was unable to connect to ftps, just to name a few. Definitely something was wrong. So I doble checked and saw the filename of the firmware updates includes "x", it was WL500gx_1960_en.trx.
So I thought to myself: yay, i screwed this one up, huh!
I came to wl500g.info, read the Howto from Styno and started the procedure.
First i've unplugged all but one cable from router and disabled all wireless connections. My local ip was fixed, set to 192.168.1.2. Then I've disconnected the router, pressed the reset button.. Plugged in the router, again held the reset button and then the power light started blinking every one second like it should. Great.
The LAN light was also on, constantly lit.
Then i've installed the asus firmware restoration utility from the CD and started the software. Next, I've chosen a new (old) fw version 1.9.4.0.
Clicked upload, and it started processing the file... Then it told me to wait till it reboots. Sure, no problem. All the lights flashed, then the power and lan lights were lit. Great, i say. Well, not exactly...
Windows told me the lan cabble is connected. Then disconnected. And again conected... So here's the thing: The router rebooted like every 13-15 seconds. Whoa! So the Howto told me to restet it again by pressing the reset button for 10 secs. I've done that, and again the power light started flashing every one second. Huh?
Ok, here we go again... Unplug the router, plug in, reset, fw restore... This time I've tried with wl500g-clear-nvram.trx.
I uploaded this one and it didnt reboot. I've waited for a couple minutes and nothing happened, just the power light was constanty lit.

Notes:
I've tried updating with versions WL500g_1.9.4.0_EN.trx, WL500g_1.9.5.0_EN.trx and wl500g-clear-nvram.trx. First two caused rebooting every 15 seconds, and the last one just lit the power light. Everytime I've tried if 192.168.1.1 is working, and it wasnt.

I've also tried with "auto" IP on local NIC, so something with 169.xx.xx.xx, same result.

When i connected router with my cable modem, the WAN light went crazy, but now it seems to be fine, it's constantly lit. Router still reboots every 15 seconds.

So.... What else can I do? What is the exact procedure to get the routher working? Which firmware should I use to get it going?
Thank you for your suggestions.

[chicagorich]

Have you tried the instructions here:

http://wl500g.info/showpost.php?p=10155&postcount=11


that go through the steps of repairing a "dead unit" ( aka a brick) ..?


I ran into similar problems as you are having and the ASUS restoration utility did not work to solve my problem.

But using the tftp function described in the link above to flash the "clear nvram" and "restore" trx files and then finally doing the tftp function to do the actual restoration of the ASUS firmware trx file---I was able to bring my WL-500G deluxe back to life...

I omitted the steps of using the ASUS utility to try to do the restore function because the ASUS Device Discovery utility did not even find the 500G deluxe attached to the pc.

Just make sure to do the flashing over an ethernet wire and not over a wireless connection.

I also found that if you have a firewall, that could block any flashing you try to do from your pc to the 500G deluxe, so drop the firewall too. I was getting timeout errors on the tftp flashes initially and couldn't figure out why and the firewall was the issue for the timeout errors on the tftp flashes...


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[Gemini]

Thanks for the reply.
I've seen this post, indeed, but it was a bit too much for me, so please help me get some of this things straight.
1. Did you get a ping reply from the router? ( i guess not?)
2. How do I run tftp? From command prompt?
3. Is it ok to skip the step with FW restoration tool?
4. Do you need to do anything special after uploading trx to the router or will it reboot by itself?
5. Which fw have you used and in what order?

I have Kerio PFW installed, and it was turned off, and yes, I use the UTP cable connection. I will try this and report back shortly; as soon as I know what to upload to reanimate the beast

[chicagorich]

Well---I am by no stretch of the imagination a computer whiz, and 80% of what I read on here goes over my head....


Having said that:


1. Did you get a ping reply from the router? ( i guess not?)

Yes, when I opened the command prompt after I had attached the 500G deluxe to the pc via ethernet cable, I entered the ping command (ping 192.168.1.1) and received the reply.

You might want to wait at least a couple of minutes after you attach the 500G deluxe to the pc before doing the ping command. I did notice that I received a timeout error for the ping if I did it right away after attaching the router to the pc...



2. How do I run tftp? From command prompt?

yes--all of these commands--ping, tftp are run from command prompt.

I changed the directory to read C:\ as then it is easier to enter the various file names for flashing.

And if you are really lazy like me, you'll have a session of Windows Explorer open along with the command prompt. Place the nvram, restore and ASUS firmware files in your C:\ root directory.

Then, just before you go to flash each individual file (after unplugging the router, waiting 20 seconds and then plugging the router back in while holding the reset button in), go the file and right click it and choose rename. Instead of renaming, do another right click after you click on rename and then click copy.

Then when you do the tftp command----you can stop typing after the " ...put C:\... " portion and then right click on the command prompt window and paste the trx file name in.

And then if you are REALLY lazy and have kept the same command prompt window open through the first tftp flash, then just use the up and down arrow keys to get back to the previously issues commands and backspace through the trx file you just flashed and paste in the next trx file you want to flash..

3. Is it ok to skip the step with FW restoration tool?

Yes--I did because it never did anything. I never got any timeout or other errors and after 10 minutes, I figured nothing was happening with it.


4. Do you need to do anything special after uploading trx to the router or will it reboot by itself?

For me---the router looked as though it rebooted every time. Sometimes the AIR light would come back on and sometimes not---I think this was my firewall issue. But for sure there should be no flashing lights. I would wait maybe 60 seconds or so after you see the router lights reacting to the tftp flash (ie after you have the confirmation in the command prompt that the flash was successful) before you unplug the router to reboot it and do the the next flash.

Of course, after the third flash with the ASUS firmware, you just plug it in without holding the reset button.

At that point, I did press the reset button one more time after I had loaded the ASUS firmware to make sure the router was reset to the factory default settings---but this time you push the reset button after the router has powered up and you see the AIR light on steady...




EDIT


5. Which fw have you used and in what order?


I flashed the "clear nvram" trx file first---- wl500g-clear-nvram.trx


Then I flashed the "restore" trx file----- wl500g-recover.trx


Then I flashed the ASUS firmware trx file----- for you, it would be WL500gx_1.9.6.0_EN.trx if you want the latest ASUS firmware.


Was your question where to download the "clear nvram" and "restore" trx files from..?



.

[chicagorich]

As far as where to download the "clear nvram" and the "restore" trx files, this link :


http://wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=1606


When you go to this link---there are 3 other web links listed.


Two of those links are for downloading the "clear nvram" and the "restore" trx files.

The third link takes you to the web page with more detail on how to repair a dead unit.


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[Gemini]

Thank you for the reply, it is much appreciated.
Indeed, it is very fool proof, so maybe even I will be able to pull something from this howto, heh.
By the way, you know what would be the laziest way for step two? Changing trx filenames to the same filename and just loading different trx files with same filename by up arrow/enter in CMD every time
I already have all the trx files, found them yesterday, but I will try with WL500g_1.9.5.0_EN.trx as a final touch since WL500gx_1.9.6.0_EN.trx caused some problems in the first place. Or maybe it was just a one time issue and I panicked too fast, hm.
Will be back with the report in a couple of hours.

[Gemini]

So this is how the story goes on...

C:\>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=100
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=100
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=100
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=100

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 0ms

Ping seems to be OK (after I set the NIC to static IP in TCP/IP Properties), so let's continue...

C:\>
C:\>tftp -i 192.168.1.1 put clear.trx
Transfer successful: 1585152 bytes in 3 seconds, 528384 bytes/s

This went well, and afterwards I've waited for around a minute and a half, but nothing happened with the router, it didnt reboot by itself. So i unplugged in and reseted it once again... Then a lil test:

C:\>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=100
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=100
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=100
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=100

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms

Great, let's try with the next trx.

C:\>tftp -i 192.168.1.1 put recover.trx
Transfer successful: 3690496 bytes in 7 seconds, 527213 bytes/s

Again, I was satisfied, and again nothing happened, the lights stayed lit as they were before (the Power light and the Lan light). Again, a reboot with a reset, then ping.

C:\>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=100
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=100
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=100
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=100

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 0ms

It's getting boring, huh? OK, then I've renamed WL500gx_1.9.6.0_EN.trx to update.trx for easier typing and did the tftp command.

C:\>tftp -i 192.168.1.1 put update.trx
Transfer successful: 3731456 bytes in 8 seconds, 466432 bytes/s

Ha! Great.
I've waited again for approximately 90 seconds, unplugged it and plugged it back again. This time after a while the AIR light came on.
Then I've waited for 3 minutes and pinged the router... But guess what? Request timed out. Urgh?! Now I had the power, the air, the WAN and the LAN light ON and nothing was happening.

Troubleshooting:
I've repeated the procedure. First time I was doing it with a modem cable disconnected, secondly I tried with the modem cable connected, same. Then I've tried the last step with 1.9.4.0 fw, same.
Then I've rebooted the computer with tcp/ip set to "detect automatically", gor that 169.xx.xx.xx IP and was still unable to ping the router.
And yes, I've also pressed the reset button while it was on to restore the factory settings (just pressed it in and out). Firewall was disable all along.

So what now? Am I doing something wrong? Is there something else I should try (except for the sledgehammer, I already have this on my TODO list)?

By the way:
Everytime I uploaded a new trx, the router stopped responding to ping. After a reboot with a reset, it responded again as you may see in the log file.
Somehow it seems it freezes when you tftp a new trx to it. Remember the flashing Power light? If you start your tftp when the light is on, it will stay on during the upload and afterwards, and if you upload the trx when it is off, it will stay off. Weird behaviour or a common thing?

Thanks in advance.

[chicagorich]

One quick thought as I read this and your initial post.

Is your pc set to get its ip address automatically from the DHCP server or is it set manually at a specific ip address..? In other words---you reset your pc to gets its ip address automatically after you flashed the ASUS firmware and could not ping the router.

Did you try to set your ip address manually and ping the router..?


As far as the behavior of the lights on the router during the tftp flash, it seemed to me that the flashing power light would change rhythm---pulses per second or whatever the right measure is for that sort of thing---but it still flashed during the tftp process---at least for me

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[Gemini]

I've tried both afterwards, but when rebooting and with tftp it was set to manual ip 192.16.1.2. Like this:


The only light that rapidly flashes when uploading new fw is the Lan one.

[chicagorich]

I left the both the default gateway and DNS server sections blank..


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[Gemini]

Which unfortunately doesn't change a thing in this case.
It's really funny cos the lights seem to be "normal", it just doesn't detect (connect to) the router.
Maybe I should try to reset and try a trick or two with the restoration utility?

[chicagorich]

Well---I am assuming that if you launch your internet browser and point it at 192.168.1.1, you do not get the ASUS configuration screen.

I think the link that I referred to earlier mentioned having to do this process possibly more than once---which was true for me---although I can't recall which part of it might have been related to the firewall.

I think I ended up doing the process a total of 4 or 5 times before I had success.

Do you see the router in the device discovery utility..?


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[Gemini]

I have repeated the process three times with tha same result now, maybe I just need to keep conviencing the unit it's time to work again. Heh.
No, the device discovery tool finds nothing. Like it wouldn't be connected.
When I disconnect the LAN cable, I get "not connected" balloon tooltip, and when it is plugged back in, I have two possible tooltips. With manually set IP as shown before I get a standard "now connected" tooltip, and with "detect IP automatically" I get a "limited or no connectivity" icon and tooltip.
Thank you again for all your hard trying.

[chicagorich]

Sorry I couldn't help more---I have run up against my technical knowledge limit on this one..

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