[dkwalton]

Problem Resolved See Edit Below


Title: DD-WRT Firmware Will Not Load?
Subtitle: This Is What I Get For Following Directions (Or Misadventures in DD-WRT and the WRT1900ACSv2)

One of two things is happening here. (Well at least it seems that one of two things is happening.)
Either --
1) DD-WRT firmware is not actually flashed
OR
2) After flashing, the boot is stuck on the Linksys firmware partition


How I got here --

A) Successfully flashed DD-WRT r36104 (2018-06-10) factory-to-ddwrt-wrt1900acsv2.bin on to a stock Linksys WRT1900ACSv2 router from the Linksys firmware GUI.

B) Successfully flashed the DD-WRT webflash firmware r36104 (2018-06-10) ddwrt-linksys-wrt1900acsv2-webflash.bin and set the router up as an Access Point and then tried out Client Mode.

C) Had some problems with Client Mode, decided to try another version of DD-WRT.

D) Having read that on a second DD-WRT web flash DD-WRT would occupy both NVRAM partitions and that upgrades can be sometimes problematic decided to revert to the Linksys partition and start over with a factory-to-ddwrt flash.

E) Manually reverted to the Linksys partition with The 3 power off procedure --

Manual Revert Step 1) 15 second reset to put DD-WRT in factory fresh default mode erasing any settings made.

Manual Revert Step 2) After booting (the power LED stops flashing), power down.

Manual Revert Step 3) Power up, the power LED comes on. Wait for the first LED to turn on (not the first LED lamps flash, but an LED that comes on) and then immediately power down.

Manual Revert Step 4) Repeat Step 3

Manual Revert Step 5) Repeat Step 3

Manual Revert Step 6) Power on and let the router boot to the Linksys firmware.

F) Booted to the original Linksys firmware.

G) Followed the usual factory-to-ddwrt and webflash procedures (see A and B above) from the Linksys firmware GUI for DD-WRT r37736 (2018-11-17).

H) According to the Linksys GUI feedback, DD-WRT was successfully flashed but the router refuses to boot to DD-WRT and boots only to the Linksys firmware.

Tried flashing DD-WRT r37736 (2018-11-17) a second time to no avail.

i) Tried the Manual Revert procedure to see if it would make the router swap to the DD-WRT firmware partition. Nope.

Has anyone else had this problem? If yes, how did you resolve it? Any ideas on where to go from here??

Next up: I guess try Telnet or PuTTY to swap partitions or flash the DD-WRT firmware using some method other than the LinkSYS firmware GUI. Whoopee! Time for more misadventures when all I really wanted was to build some various and sundry DD-WRT operating modes on a WRT1900ACS and test them, for crying out loud.

(Thankfully the trusty old DD-WRT flashed WRT54GS Access Point and Client Mode pair are still running strong after 10 years.)


Problem Resolved

I tried a several more DD-WRT flashes of different builds to no avail. None would take. Then the Linksys GUI started acting flaky and would not load. I switched over to a WiFi connection using the Linksys key given on the bottom sticker on the router. I was able to login but the GUI load under WiFi essentially hung. Very slowly elements of the setup page would appear so I left it in this condition and took a nap.

An hour later the Linksys GUI load was hung and though the setup page was displayed, noting could be done with it. Switched back over to a wired connection and voila, I was able to login and use the the setup page. (Lucky.)

At this point I...

1) Reinstalled the original Linksys firmware figuring that what was on the original NVRAM partition had (obviously) somehow become corrupted.

2) Installed DD-WRT r36698 (2018-08-22) via the usual two step flashing process and the router came up with DD-WRT.

Conclusion: If you ever have this problem where, after reverting to the Linksys firmware partition and DD-WRT appears to successfully flash but never loads after a reboot, ASSUME THE LINKSYS NVRAM PARTITION HAS BEEN CORRUPTED, REFLASH THE LINKSYS FIRMWARE IMMEDIATELY AND THEN PROCEED.