You don't hook up vcc. The guide says hook up ground, tx and rx.
Like I've said twice now, if after connecting the rx and tx wires together that are coming off of the adapter and nothing shows in putty after typing, then you have a bad adapter or putty is setup wrong.
it generates one of those blocks every time I power the router up. Ctrl C does not work.
Sorry I decided to continue with this post. thank you for helping.
I believe the bootloader is gone. Do you think it would be possible to use the jtag to flash a new boot loader on? do you know where I could get the file
This isn't a bootloader issue, it's bad connections OR bad PuTTY configuration discussed in the USB to TTL Tips - HOW TO FIX Garbage/Garbled PuTTY output post or serial recovery wiki. _________________ "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep." - Robert Frost
"I am one of the noticeable ones - notice me" - Dale Frances McKenzie Bozzio
thanks for your information. it's usefull. i have marked it.
but it's same after i enable vt100 in putty.
And it's only 1 garbled character. should it be long content if ttl output is right not only 1 character? even if it's garbled.
I've been using DD-WRT (an old version) with E900 router for years, with no problem. When I tried to update DD-WRT version a few days ago, the router crashed. At this time, I still could have a stable PuTTY connection (throug a MAX232-based module to convert TTL to RS232 voltage signals) and I could have CFE prompt in PuTTY terminal.
With all set up and after a few tries to reload the firmware and release a "go" command to the CFE, the router became frozen in the same state described in this topic: all leds remains dimed, no response to reset switch, no management mode possible, all ethernet ports died, AND THE SERIAL COMMUNICATION DIED TOO.
So, I confirm that, at least im my case, when dd-wrt crashes on this router and all leds are frozen and dimmed, the serial port becomes unusable, unfortunately.
If someone have a solution to this issue, please post a reply.
The problem started on the last week when I updated the firmware to the newest release available in the dd-wrt site: dd-wrt.v24-44715_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini-e900.bin
It worked for some time (3 or 4 days). Then the router became down.
Then I made the serial link functional and obtained the CFE prompt.
About your questions:
Yes, I confirm I ran "nvram erase" command with output status 0.
Then, I tried to load some firmware using a tftp server from my computer following instructions in:
https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Serial_Recovery
The file I put available in tftp server was an old version that worked ok for many years: dd-wrt.v24-21061_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini-e900.bin
At that time, I could ping from the router (192.168.1.1) to the tftp server (192.168.1.2) but when I ran the command "flash -ctheader : flash1.trx" as indicated in that page, no transfer occured at all.
Then I tried the command "tftpd" at CFE prompt (as suggested in that link) trying to make the router act as a server and put a ftp client in the PC side, but another error occured (something like "command not found").
Then, after unsuccessful other attempts to reload the old firmware, I ran the command "go" just to see if the management mode could be called after that (and if so I could transfer the firmware through http interface).
After that, the router became completely stuck.
Then I did a power cycle. The router presents dimmed leds and no function at all since then (no activity in serial port and ethernet ports).
Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 14125 Location: Texas, USA
Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2023 1:25 Post subject:
I can see right now we're going to have to rectify your shortcuts. 44715 is not supported, the router database is not current. And unless it's been fixed, there is possibly still the LAN ports issue on the E900. Not to mention, when you serial recover, you use a TFTP client, not server on your PC to 'put' the file. Issuing a go command without a file being already pushed was a huge mistake. Please take some time to do some more reading.