this is exactly was i did
1. 303030 reset
2. flashed to manufacturers 1st f/w release
3. flashed to factory-to-dd-wrt in the dd-wrt 201607-20-2016-r30260 ftp
4. flashed to dd-wrt 201607-20-2016-r30260
5. followed the above guide to the letter, except i uploaded the cfe8500.bin with winscp not telnet
6. flashed to dd-wrt 202103-31-2021-r46220
7. i did also use another guide that i can no longer find on the forum... where you added some commands to the startup in the admin-->commands setting and maybe something else in there too but i dont know what it was other than.
It is never a good idea to reset during a web upgrade. To clarify, if upgrading within DD-WRT Web GUI:
Administration -> Firmware Upgrade -> "After flashing, reset to" leave dropdown selected "Don't reset"
I do not believe you needed to r30260 webupgrade as the resulting install from factory-to-dd-wrt is the same.
Did you save and compare CFE backup with new download? Sorry, I do not have this router (R7800, EA8500).
1. 303030 reset
2. flash with netgear initial f/w release
3. flash with factory-to-dd-wrt in the dd-wrt 201607-20-2016-r30260 ftp
4. flash with dd-wrt 201607-20-2016-r30260
5. still have wifi ALWAYS at this point
6. flash to dd-wrt 202103-31-2021-r46220
7. this is where wifi normally disappears to i have to do the https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1169279#1169279 fix
8. but this time the wifi is still working this time?!?!?!?!? same files as the 1st time i did this, nothing changed. totally confused?
now comes the BUT if i now flash to 202109-17-2021-r47461 netgear-r8500-webflash.bin did NOT use the factory-to-dd-wrt 1st from the ftp folder 202109-17-2021-r47461 (should i have?)??
[b]NOW the wifi disappears[/b]?
i have no idea what is going on.
so i did the above guide to fix...
ok till i got to the point where you type - erase nvram - all you get is ding sound from windows and a new clear line no error as if it worked but why the ding? normally get output as - Flash is NAND - and on - erase nvram - cmd again new line no error but ding sound again, so im guessing it did not work? as the wifi was still not working.
It is never a good idea to reset during a web upgrade. To clarify, if upgrading within DD-WRT Web GUI:
Administration -> Firmware Upgrade -> "After flashing, reset to" leave dropdown selected "Don't reset"
I do not believe you needed to r30260 webupgrade as the resulting install from factory-to-dd-wrt is the same.
Did you save and compare CFE backup with new download? Sorry, I do not have this router (R7800, EA8500).
It is never a good idea to reset during a web upgrade. To clarify, if upgrading within DD-WRT Web GUI:
Administration -> Firmware Upgrade -> "After flashing, reset to" leave dropdown selected "Don't reset"
I do not believe you needed to r30260 webupgrade as the resulting install from factory-to-dd-wrt is the same.
Did you save and compare CFE backup with new download? Sorry, I do not have this router (R7800, EA8500).