Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 1:10 Post subject: RT-N16 no access - possibly bricked?
I bought the RT-N16 a month ago and have absolutely enjoyed the k.26big firmware without issues. It did run a little hot, so I bought some video card heatsinks and 3M thermal tape to put on the lan, radio, cpu, and the two chips to the left of the cpu (not sure what they are). I have sinks for the six voltage regulators, but haven't attached them. I also have a 40mm fan I have yet to attach.
I now can't access the router at all and I get no response from pinging 192.168.1.1. Twice imediately after rebooting my computer I got in via my browser but a few minutes later it would not respond and I'd be stuck with a 169.xxx.x.x ip with no connectivity (like usual). I have tried entering recovery mode (via holding reset button and plugging in power) and reseting to default (same but with WDS button), but nothing has changed. I'm not entirely sure if I'm doing this stage correct (any specific LED status to indicate success?).
I have downloaded the TFPD64standardedition and have it ready, but I'm not terribly experienced with this kind of networking commands. I am unsure what and how I get firmware onto the router in it's current state,but I know not to ssh, only tfpd. Where can I find the files I need?
Also, I have checked my heatsinks and nothing on the pcb is touching any heatsink except where I put 3M thermal tape on the appropriate chip.
Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 0:50 Post subject: Testing brick status with Peacock instructions
In absence of any replies I have tried to learn more about what's on the forums.
I found the peacock thread and retried, to the letter, the 30-30-30 hard reset and ping testing for a bricked router. I tried several times and counted a little extra each time to be sure.
I did get some different replies from ping -t than before, but non of them were a TTL= response - just the standard 'request timed out' and 'destination host unreachable.'
After I set my computer's ethernet adapter to the same subnet as the router (instead of the 169.xx.x.x) I did get a a new variate on unreachable host: 'Reply from 192.168.1.100: Destination host unreachable.'
This could be from setting computer's ip the wrong way. I went into the TCP/IPv4 properties and changed the IP and DNS from automatic to the image below.
I don't know if there's anything more I can do. I do have a 4-pin serial connection on the router, but I have no idea what cable to buy or how to get firmware in that way.
Help me DD-WRT forums, you're my only hope.
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Last edited by liguhy on Thu Sep 27, 2012 3:43; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 13049 Location: Behind The Reset Button
Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 13:14 Post subject:
"sticking" heat sinks to certain components should not "brick" the router. It should have booted up the same way as when it was shut down.
Some of the components have ball connections underneath the component. too much pressure when pushing down on the heat sink could break a connection or two. This is pretty rare unless you really "grunted" on the heat sink.
In your pic.. I do have a concern.. What are the screws holding down the fan screwed into? _________________ [Moderator Deleted]
"sticking" heat sinks to certain components should not "brick" the router. It should have booted up the same way as when it was shut down.
Some of the components have ball connections underneath the component. too much pressure when pushing down on the heat sink could break a connection or two. This is pretty rare unless you really "grunted" on the heat sink.
In your pic.. I do have a concern.. What are the screws holding down the fan screwed into?
You can see the lights in the picture are showing it was working immediately after I attached the heatsinks. I stopped having access shortly after that.
I was only using firm pressure (hardly any downward force) with one finger on each heatsink for about 30 secs to help the adhesive. The PCB bent maybe 1mm at the middle, at most. I was conscious of not putting to much pressure.
The fan is screwed into the heatsink fins - the fan and sink are both 40mm square.
Thanks for the reply! I'm getting pretty discouraged at trying to figure this out. Does anyone know if I'm setting the computer IP right so I can get a TTL ping response and TFDP new firmeware?
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 11:12 Post subject: Connecting to router
I'm confident I've tried recovery and default powering up procedures, but I have got nothing different than normal power up and plugging into the LAN. I have figured out what settings to use for my computer's static IP and that hasn't helped connecting either. I have tried ASUS own firmware recovery tool (with firmware from their product support site) and it keeps saying device is not in resuce mode. I have also tried 'putting' the same firmware using TFPD and it hasn't worked either.
I am not sure if my router has ever entered recovery mode, but I don't think that's because of my procedure. I cannot get any connectivity to the LAN port from my computer besides physical indication.
Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 13049 Location: Behind The Reset Button
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 13:46 Post subject:
to enter recovery mode.. you press and hold the reset button (not the wps button) while powering it on. keep the button pressed untill you see the power light blinking.. a slow steady blink. then let go of the button. the device should now be in recovery mode. _________________ [Moderator Deleted]
to enter recovery mode.. you press and hold the reset button (not the wps button) while powering it on. keep the button pressed untill you see the power light blinking.. a slow steady blink. then let go of the button. the device should now be in recovery mode.
I've tried that many times and tried once more to be sure. If it helps, with just power, the LEDs glow very faintly. If I plug into the LAN or connect the WAN ethernet ports, they glow brightly and flicker normally.
I have an old 4-pin audio cable that fits well onto the serial header. The router's pins are labeled L-R with GND, TX, RX, and VCC. What does VCC mean? The guide says a shifting 3.3v TTL adapter is essential and ordinary serial adapters might not qualify.
I found a 9-pin communications port on my motherboard and attached what the manual says about it. GND is clear enough but I'm not sure what motherboard headers translates to the ones on my router. I have putty, but I have only used it for tinkering and accessing webspace online, not anything local like this. I notice a serial connection submenu in Putty - I assume once I connect it to the right pins on my motherboard's com port I can point to that with putty. I have the updated prolific drivers from the guide.
I am not sure which is best or if they are the "level switching" type I need. Can I connect my router to my computer and the TFTPD program by just serial or would USB work as well? Some came with USB connections - I assume I could then connect to my router via serial or USB.
but usb would probably be easier, the devices designed for mobile phone use are usually 3.3V and you only need 3 connections, not using the router Vcc.
BUT before you do anything do check the 12V 1.25A psu brick you use to power the RT-N16.
but usb would probably be easier, the devices designed for mobile phone use are usually 3.3V and you only need 3 connections, not using the router Vcc.
BUT before you do anything do check the 12V 1.25A psu brick you use to power the RT-N16.
I already bought one on ebay and it's in the mail. The power adapter cord just terminates into a USB cord I'll plug into an internal usb header cable. I couldn't find any that has both serial and USB, and I liked the status LEDs on this one more than just getting a simple USB interface. Now that I think about it, maybe USB would have been simpler, but oh well.
I also have an external serial port to plug into the motherboard com port.
I haven't looked into the nitty gritty of the serial recovery wiki yet. I assume I just connect the TX, RX, and GND from my router to the serial connector's same-named pins. Will the power from the USB cord plugged into the serial converter be the right voltage and amps? Why do I need to check my router's power brick if power is coming from the serial connector's usb power cord?
These are probably simple questions, but I figured ask first and avoid worse ruin later. Thanks for you help.
USB is 5V, you want to use the 3.3V available from the Router connector.
I do have a similar serial port to router adapter, but it has an on-board 3.3V regulator using the PC (nominally 12V) signals, so I only use 3-wire connections to router.
First thing you do with serial is see what the bootloader (CFE) reports, one explanation to your symptoms is that is stuck in a reboot loop, another is that the bootloader is corrupt - but that will need JTAG to fix, not what you want to hear - you will get nothing and not know if its the router or your connector!
What you do next is dependent on what you get, interrupting the boot loop and erasing nvram by a command is one possible solution.
I have had many PSU bricks fail over the years, not specifically Asus, but I have a Linksys NSLU2 on its third, and it's attached WD disk on its second!. They usually fail because they run hot and have poor quality electrolytic capacitors - the router won't work if the supply not holding up!
I have my TTL converter, a USB-serial converter with updated Prolific drivers, and Putty/Hyperterminal access programs.
I have looked over the settings and commands at http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Serial_Recovery, but I must be missing something basic. I cannot get a response and don't think I am connecting right. I have 3 header wires from my router to the ttl converter - RT, TX, and GND. Where on my router do I get the 3.3v power? It was my understanding one of the header pins provides that because I have read about people running old 3.3v fans off the serial header, but I could have misunderstood where they connected the power.
I don't have any response from the TTL's LEDs, but I do reconginze the USB serial converter just fine in Win7.
Assuming I have/get the power figured out, I'm unsure how to actually get a command line into the router's CFE. I have both Hyperteriminal and Putty configured according to the recovery article linked above, but I don't get any response and the article's description just lists simple actions. To erase NVRAM it says while powercycling, press CTRL+C quickly as the router boots up will get a CFE prompt. It lists something similar for Hyperterimal.
Hyperterminal wants to know my area code for some reason, but aside from that the only information asked so far is the which com port and com port settings I need.
Neither gives me a response by themselves nor when pressing CTRL+C.
Networking commands is a lot different than casual networking troubleshooting, lol!
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Last edited by liguhy on Sun Oct 07, 2012 18:56; edited 1 time in total
