Firmware update problem (from ~1.8.1.7 to 1.9.2.7)

[lukie]

Hi There!

I want to upgrade to FW 1.9.2.7 because of its 'bandwidth management' capabilities i need. I can't upgrade. After uploading of the firmware i waited 5min. Tranfer successful, PLED was on. Waited. Router was not accessible via browser.
I pushed the reset switch on the back of the router. The PLED didn't flash fast and for a short time like it should. It flashed slow: Recovery Mode was turned on. O_o Router was not accessible. But the switch/hub functionality still worked.

I downloaded the FW 2 times from asus.de and 2 times from chupa.nl. No one worked.

I tried different approaches:
-Upgrade via web interface
-Upgrade in automatic recovery mode with recovery tool
-Upgrade in manual recovery mode (hold reset + plug in power; then release reset) with recovery tool

I tried different Firmwares:
1.6.5.3 works
1.7.5.6 works
1.8.1.7 failed
1.8.1.9 failed
1.9.2.7 failed

Now after searching this forum and more than 3h trying around i got no more ideas. Someone can help?

Thanks in advance

[Oleg]

Most likely you just need to reset your router to defaults AFTER the upgrade using the RESTORE button to access web interface.

[Antiloop]

also be sure to UNZIP/UNRAR the files

[lukie]

After the upgade i pushed the the restore button on the back as it was said.
After this the PowerLED started blinking, i had still no web access and the router was instantly in 'restore mode'.

And yes, i used the *.trx files. Firmware 1.7.x.x worked, firmware 1.8.x.x and 1.9.x.x didnt work.

I also tried the recover and clear-nvram firmwares.

[wiz]

try rebooting your asus before you upgrade the firmware. Or just cycle power prior to upgrade the firmware. that way you know you will have maximum amount of memory available.

Also reset to defaults once the upgrade was successful

[lukie]

Thank you all for your help.
But it still doesn't want to upgrade.

The flasher says the upgrade was successful. But after doing a reset via the 'restore' button, the Powerled flashes slowly and the router is in 'recovery mode'.

[wiz]

That's strange.

If you upgrade the firmware you point yr webbrowser to the directory containing your new flashfile, and then you click upgrade.

After that it says it is flashing, can take 80 secs, bla bla... then you wait until your browser screen refreshes.

Then the flash procedure has ended. After that it is time to reset to defaults, but you have to wait until it finishes and refreshes the browser.

hope this helps

[Oleg]

Thank you all for your help.
But it still doesn't want to upgrade.

The flasher says the upgrade was successful. But after doing a reset via the 'restore' button, the Powerled flashes slowly and the router is in 'recovery mode'.

Could you please run

cat /proc/meminfo

from the hidden admin page and post results here?

[lukie]

@wiz
Yes, unusual. After hitting F5 for 9minutes, waiting for the web-page to appear, i gave up.

Here are the results:

• usual status with 1.7.5.6
  
  total: used: free: shared: buffers: cached:
  Mem: 14757888 11448320 3309568 0 1855488 4644864
  Swap: 0 0 0
  MemTotal: 14412 kB
  MemFree: 3232 kB
  MemShared: 0 kB
  Buffers: 1812 kB
  Cached: 4536 kB
  SwapCached: 0 kB
  Active: 3532 kB
  Inactive: 4140 kB
  HighTotal: 0 kB
  HighFree: 0 kB
  LowTotal: 14412 kB
  LowFree: 3232 kB
  SwapTotal: 0 kB
  SwapFree: 0 kB
  
  
• after fresh 1.7.5.6 install
  
  total: used: free: shared: buffers: cached:
  Mem: 14757888 10461184 4296704 0 1777664 4427776
  Swap: 0 0 0
  MemTotal: 14412 kB
  MemFree: 4196 kB
  MemShared: 0 kB
  Buffers: 1736 kB
  Cached: 4324 kB
  SwapCached: 0 kB
  Active: 2988 kB
  Inactive: 4324 kB
  HighTotal: 0 kB
  HighFree: 0 kB
  LowTotal: 14412 kB
  LowFree: 4196 kB
  SwapTotal: 0 kB
  SwapFree: 0 kB

[Oleg]

Everything is fine here... It should work, if it does not - send the unit for replacement.

[Antiloop]

just upgrade your unit using Firmware Recovery modus

e.g.

assing static IP to pc (192.168.1.2)
put cable from WL500g directly into PC (do not attach other stuff)

fire up firmware restore utility from asus (supplied at cdrom)
select firmware 1.9.2.7 or something at your harddisk

press and hold RESTORE button at the back of your wl500g
plugin the power cable to WL500g
wait for the POWER to flash

press start in the utility and it should begin to recover

[lukie]

@Antiloop
This is what i called upgrade in 'manual recovery mode' with the utility. Does not work too.

@all
There is one thing i didnt notice yet: After successful upload and "preparation" of 1.9.7.2 with the 'recovery utility' the PWR-Led is on. But: It goes off every 8 seconds for a half second.
Does the Router try to reboot every 8 sec?

I really hope "not being able to update firmware" is a reason for reclamation. Because the router works properly with 1.7.5.6.

Thank you all again for your Help!

[Oleg]

@all
There is one thing i didnt notice yet: After successful upload and "preparation" of 1.9.7.2 with the 'recovery utility' the PWR-Led is on. But: It goes off every 8 seconds for a half second.
Does the Router try to reboot every 8 sec?

looks like it's rebooting in the loop.
Have you tried telneting to recover firmware and wiping out nvram?

[lukie]

I have to say that i know almost nothing about linux and the internals of the router.

I used your 1.6.5.3 custom Firmware to be able to get a telnet connection. After searching this forum I found two commands 'nvram' and 'nvram_x'.
I saw that the restore switch sets all variables to default. There were about 170 of them. ('nvram show')
What do you mean with wipe out nvram? Delete all variables? And how can i recover with telnet? Or did i misunderstand you?

I also tried your 'wl500g-recover.trx' and 'wl500g-clear-nvram.trx' firmware. Both did end in 'recovery mode'.

I can use 1.7.5.6 official but NOT your 1.7.5.6-3 firmware; this is strange, because they should not differ much.

[Oleg]

Ok, execute this line in the telnet prompt:

mtdutil upgrade /dev/mtd/3 /dev/null

this will wipe nvram.