Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 11:11 Post subject: A very stubborn and unflashable EA6700 !
Hello, Guys,
I have been trying to set DD-WRT on a Linksys EA6700 for a week already - to no avail.
This stubborn box just doesn't want DD-WRT onboard,
because whichever technique or method I use (read here in the forum), it always reverts back to stock.
Here some more details (I'll try to be as exact as possible) :
- model is EA6700-CE
- DD-WRT firmware version used is Kong's latest dd-wrt.v24-K3_AC_ARM_STD.bin from 16-th February
- my initial attempts to get DD-WRT on were always with resetting the device via either firmware interface, never with hard-resetting it with its button. In this way, I of course got the well-known "side effects" of having only one Wi-Fi band - either the 2,4 GHz or the 5 GHz, in either the stock firmware or DD-WRT
- then I started resetting the router via the button, with only 30 seconds while it is on and never in the 30/30/30-way. This fixed the magic disappearance of Wi-Fi bands at least.
- every second flash with DD-WRT would cause the device to revert back to stock linksys firmware, no matter how I flash. I tried both via DD-WRT's web-interface, by telnet-ing to the device and using "mtd wite *.bin linux", the combination of both, with and without "erase nvram".
- I make my basic settings, turn webtraffic monitor off (32K reduction),
reboot the router and I get linksys firmware starting again
- I make my settings, power off the router via the power switch, plug the power cord off, then plug it back, switch the router on - linksys firmware is back
- even with setting a startup script to reduce the 32K usage, if I power off the router and then power it on by the power switch on the back, I have the stock firmware rise and shine again.
I was so angry that I used the "30/30/30" reset, a couple of times.
Nothing really happened - this son of a *** doesn't even want to get bricked
After such resets, I start flashing again only to reach the familiar "phases" described above - at a certain point or time, I'm again brought back to the stock firmware...
What do you guys think, is this a "semi-brick", or what could this possibly be ? The box continue working with the stock firmware,
as if nothing has really happened since its production !
Use a different browser. _________________ SIG:
I'm trying to teach you to fish, not give you a fish. If you just want a fish, wait for a fisherman who hands them out. I'm more of a fishing instructor.
LOM: "If you show that you have not bothered to read the forum announcements or to follow the advices in them then the level of help available for you will drop substantially, also known as Murrkf's law.."
Thanks big time for your advices, Guys !
I've always thought it could not be browsers' fault,
at least because everyone suggests using IE...
Well, I've always used that browser so far, with "delete everything on exit"-setting on.
I'm trying now with Firefox, all add-ons disabled,
will let you know if it works (some more time needed).
I did a new 30-reset/30-30-30 reset, flashed via stock firmware's interface latest Kong build, rebooted the router. Then logged in the router via telnet, did "mtd wite *.bin linux" - erase nvram" twice, and rebooted again.
Will let you know, if powering off or rebooting the router via its web-interface causes reverting back to the stock firmware.
I've not read the link you posted, but I suppose that would explain why I could not brick this stubborn box of mine at the first place
I would like to ask following, though :
- if the 30/30/30 has no meaning at this series, what would be the "proper"
hard-reset, then ? A one-time 30 seconds push of the router back's button ?
- should I use beta-builds from DD-WRT's download page,
like the linksys-ea6700-webflash.bin for an initial flash ?
I've always used a Kong's build, directly.
- what is the advised flashing method - via the web-gui,
or by the command line (with "mtd") ? Or, doesn't matter ?
- should I only/always use "factory defaults" before and after the flash ?
I'm asking because when I started with my trials,
the "factory reset" via either the stock and DD-WRT firmware
caused Wi-Fi bands to dissapear randomly...
basically the post say that you have to start flash an older version (like 23194) then flash a newer version (of you choice). remember that ea series have 2 flash for security reason so you have always to flash it twice or it will turns back to stock. i don't have a linksys but usually the best way to erase to factory is via cmd (telnet or webgui): erase nvram && reboot
MTD is a very dangerous command. Get the syntax wrong and your router is ruined.
Always follow the wiki for initial flashing". Always. _________________ SIG:
I'm trying to teach you to fish, not give you a fish. If you just want a fish, wait for a fisherman who hands them out. I'm more of a fishing instructor.
LOM: "If you show that you have not bothered to read the forum announcements or to follow the advices in them then the level of help available for you will drop substantially, also known as Murrkf's law.."
Thanks for your advices, Guys !
I did use a different browser, did the flashing and everything... seemed fine, until this morning...
Although I had been testing-rebooting/powering off the router yesterday and it did "survive"
those without reverting back to stock firmware,
just guess what surprised me today when I got off from bed...
What I've tried today is something I've not yet used so far :
trying two different eaxxx-webflash.bin versions from the beta-section of the download page :
I think, these are the 1.very first build and 2.the latest build.
- I flashed "1." via linksys web-gui, rebooted, then telnet-ed to the router and flashed the same (1.) via mtd + erase nvram and reboot
- I then used WinSCP to upload "2." to the router, wrote it two times in a row with mtd + erase nvram and rebooted.
Will this now finally fix the revert-to-stock opinion of my router, well - it's hard for me to say.
But I definitely want that I have a stable DD-WRT router,
which does not make me go nuts
Please, share your opinion on this last method !
Thank you !
Well... what to say !
Thanks to your help, I finally got rid off from the stock
firmware - it does not boot anymore.
What I still need to figure out is... how to keep DD-WRT functional for... more than a day. That's right.
I got it fully working for some 15 hours - I got up early for work, turned the router on, tried the "wake on wan" function, had an overclock +200 MHz, and finally switched the router off from the on/off-switch when I got to bed.
On the next morning, when I again got up for work,
I switched the router on from the on/off botton -
and got the same old reboot-loop I had before with
the stock firmware.
The router reboots itself all the time,
until you reset it again via the "reset button"
Ethernet NIC gets no IP, except for a private address
of the "162.254.x.x"-range. That's it.
Could someone please explain to me, WHY is all this
mess, and how hard it is to flash a firmware and get a router WORKING ?!
[quote="Unixworld]Could someone please explain to me, WHY is all this
mess, and how hard it is to flash a firmware and get a router WORKING ?[/quote]
{popcorn-on}
I feel your pain... I've been through this with both of my EA6900s too. It's hard to believe we're the only ones who've run into this problem. Please let us know the final solution you find.
For me it came down to flashing from the gui to the earliest build that would fit, then flashing twice via telnet.
I might have given up had the stock firmware not been SOOOOOOO bad!
I have followed yours and other guys' posts here,
and have saved following "for"-loop :
Code:
nvram show | grep =$ | wc -l
for line in `nvram show | grep =$ `; do var=${line%*=}; nvram unset $var; done
nvram commit
Limiting the NVRAM via this loop is actually the VERY FIRST thing
I always do when I start configuring my router.
I save above code block as a "startup script", "apply settings"
and reboot the router.
I always do this - however, this does not fix the reboot loop I have been experiencing so far with any build I have tried.
P.S. Could you please share, how you upgrade/flash your
EA6700 ? Have you noticed anything special, anything
that is really needed to be followed ? Thank you !
