Belkin F5D7230-4 bricked?

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ThaCrip
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Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 338

PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:56    Post subject: Belkin F5D7230-4 bricked? Reply with quote
Well flashing r46239 (Apr 1st 2021) micro build to Belkin F5D7230-4 v1444 seems to have bricked it. I even tried a 30/30/30 (which I never need to in general) and that did not seem to do anything either.

I flashed the Belkin like I always do in fairly recent memory with... https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Belkin_F5D7230-4_v2xxx_and_Lower#Linux_Instructions_for_Flashing_F5D7230-4 ; the process is easy and worked well for me consistently everytime I wanted to change DD-WRT firmware.

that's how I flashed r46239 and it showed all was successful from terminal. even pressing reset button did not seem to clear the NVRAM etc, as 192.168.1.1 was still accessible (and even my 240Mhz overclock was still active at this point), so at this point it was still working but once I cleared the NVRAM (i.e. 'nvram erase && reboot') it's like all previous settings were wiped and at this point the thing seemed to be bricked as what I did with that same firmware to revive my WRT54GS v1.1 (which also does not like this r46239 (Apr 1st 2021) build), which also does not work(reset button is shot, 192.168.1.1 is not accessible, no internet), was with power unplugged, hold reset button, and with reset button still being held plug in the power and continue to hold reset button for 30 seconds which temporarily brings the WRT54GS v1.1 back to life (as long as I don't configure the WRT54GS v1.1 at this point and reboot, it's still functional) but that does NOT work on this Belkin router (and like I said I even tried 30/30/30 reset as a last ditch effort).

so at the moment, besides the flashing power light on the Belkin router, the rest of the lights appear to be normal. but I cannot ping the router at all. I tried manually setting IP on PC back to something static like 192.168.1.2 (since router will be 192.168.1.1) and still no ping. I can't even ping 192.168.2.1 even when the PC side is set to 192.168.2.2.

because the only reason I flashed that r46239 build to that Belkin router in the first place was I was going to try to find at which point (which had to be roughly over the last month or two) DD-WRT stops working on WRT54* types of routers.

any suggestions or is this Belkin router bricked? ; because as I was saying as soon as you power it up after the lights do the usual process, but the power light is flashing and basically stays that way.

p.s. I might be able to try my ASUS WL-520gU router for further testing (as I was trying to find the exact point where DD-WRT fails to report to the higher ups around here) but unless recovery mode on the ASUS is rock solid (which from comments around these forums it sounds like it's "very hard to brick"), this sounds like a bad idea as I don't want to risk bricking that now since it's my only backup router to my primary WRT54GS v1.1.

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Primary Router: Linksys WRT54GS v1.1 /w dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021) ; new Panasonic capacitors Feb 11th 2020 | Backup Router: Linksys WRT54GS v6 /w dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021)
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feliciano
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Joined: 24 Oct 2008
Posts: 1079
Location: Latin America

PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 12:33    Post subject: Re: Belkin F5D7230-4 bricked? Reply with quote
ThaCrip wrote:
the only reason I flashed that r46239 build to that Belkin router in the first place was I was going to try to find at which point (which had to be roughly over the last month or two) DD-WRT stops working on WRT54* types of routers.

Please let us know what you conclude at the end. Some of us keep old gear running (like BMC4712) for different reasons.
ThaCrip wrote:
I was trying to find the exact point where DD-WRT fails to report to the higher ups around here

If you do, please reply to the build's release thread.
ThaCrip wrote:
and even my 240Mhz overclock was still active at this point

I wouldn't try to upgrade an overclocked router.
It's recommended to reset to factory defaults first, and I would specially do it shall one have doubts about the target build.
ThaCrip wrote:
so at the moment, besides the flashing power light on the Belkin router, the rest of the lights appear to be normal. but I cannot ping the router at all. I tried manually setting IP on PC back to something static like 192.168.1.2 (since router will be 192.168.1.1) and still no ping. I can't even ping 192.168.2.1 even when the PC side is set to 192.168.2.2.

Did you let a ping running and power on the router?
I would try seting several IP addresses to my computer and run several pings in parallel while restarting the router to check whether one IP responds and try a tftp dd-wrt or the factory firmware.
I would also try push the reset button for 8s while connecting the power to check whether one IP responds.
Additionally, sometimes a switch in the middle can help in this setup.

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ThaCrip
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Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 338

PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 13:22    Post subject: Re: Belkin F5D7230-4 bricked? Reply with quote
feliciano wrote:

Please let us know what you conclude at the end. Some of us keep old gear running (like BMC4712) for different reasons.


I will as I think it 'should' be safe to play around with things on the ASUS WL-520gU given it's got a 'recovery mode' built into the router which I am thinking, even if r46239 is totally shot on the ASUS router, I can probably switch to recovery mode if I have to and flash a firmware that way to revive it.

because what I was going to do is flash that r46239 (Apr 1st 2021) build just to see how it reacted on the Belkin router (which obviously at this point is quite bad and looks like it's likely bricked), just to further confirm that it's broke (which it obviously is), and then I was going to flash to the build just prior to what kernel-panic69 mentioned "For K2.4 (WRT54* series and clones): 45955+ due to kernel and webUI patches." which is r45948 just to see if the router was good as if so I was going to switch directly to r45955 to see if those adjustments he mentioned was the point it broke. if so, then we will know. if not, ill keep on trying newer builds which are only six more in between that and the Apr 1st 2021 build which I know is broke.

feliciano wrote:
I wouldn't try to upgrade an overclocked router.
It's recommended to reset to factory defaults first, and I would specially do it shall one have doubts about the target build.


Yeah, I am aware it adds a bit more risk that way, and what you said is best to reset to defaults and then upgrade, but I have done it before without issue which makes me think if something does act up, it probably won't be the overclock that's the issue (240Mhz works fine on my WRT54GS v1.1 and the Belkin (well, used to on Belkin since it now appears to be bricked).

feliciano wrote:
Did you let a ping running and power on the router?
I would try seting several IP addresses to my computer and run several pings in parallel while restarting the router to check whether one IP responds and try a tftp.
Also I would try push the reset button for 8s while connecting the power to check whether one IP responds.
Also, sometimes a switch in the middle can help in this setup.


I heard about the switch option. but, sadly, I don't have one to try. because with my current attempts at pinging, don't seem to work (like letting it run and then get power to router etc). even when I try to flash using TFTP I got to wait until the ethernet is active otherwise it will immediately fail and just stop attempting to send the file (but if the eternet is active, it will continue attempts to send, even though fails with the Belkin in it's current state).

but all-in-all, short of maybe a switch, it's not looking good. because even if you somehow happen to be right with a VERY small window of TFTP being able to take effect, it's probably going to be like hitting the lotto trying to find that exact spot from the looks of things as normally it's quite easy for me to do as I used to just plugin the router and as soon as I seen the ethernet connection become active (or thereabouts), I would press *enter* to send the 'put ddwrt.bin' file and you could immediately see it doing the transfer which took 10-15 seconds to finish (that even worked like usual when I updated to r46239 and everything was temporarily good until I did a proper reset using 'nvram erase etc' because pressing reset, since the reset button is shot on r46239, does nothing as you could see my router username/password was still the same and even my 240Mhz overclock was still active. but once that 'nvram erase' stuff took effect and after reboot it was like the router is dead even though lights are okay with the flashing power light being the exception). but none of that seems to work anymore.

so if I got a bit of spare time I might attempt to mess with it a bit more using some of your suggestions but I am thinking at this point I might just shift over to the ASUS WL-520gU, as that should be more 'brick proof' from what people say and then I can get to the bottom of the DD-WRT failing issue on WRT54* types of routers.

but if what your saying is the best I can hope for, chances are ill just look into the ASUS WL-520gU and see if I can narrow things down to the faulty build.

p.s. on a side note... I got that router for free years ago as I think it was my uncles and he moved onto another one and just gave it to me at which point I put DD-WRT on it as it was a backup router but being I still got the ASUS, even assuming the Belkin is dead, ill likely be using that ASUS WL-520gU for flashing future version of DD-WRT before flashing to my main Linksys WRT54GS v1.1 router as that should help minimize the chance of bricking the WRT54GS.

===================================================

***EDIT*** weird, I can't get the bug to trigger on the ASUS WL-520gU with accessing the interface with r46239 (I have not tested internet but my guess is it will be okay). the only thing I can think of now is maybe the overclock is somehow tied to the bug(?) since the ASUS can't be overclocked and that's the only variable that's different on my WRT54GS/Belkin router. I am going to play with things a bit further as if I can't get the bug to trigger. but if not, I might do a reset to defaults on my WRT54GS v1.1 (using nvram erase or hold reset button for 30 seconds so the overclock is gone and everything is 100% stock, then reconfigure to my liking like usual minus the overclock) and then see if flashing back to r46239 fairs any better and then don't use any more overclocking just to see if the router is stable once again. but... even assuming the overclock ends up being the issue, it's odd why slightly older builds from 1-2 months ago are totally stable unlike the more recent ones(?). but if that's the case ill just leave it stock since it's not a big deal if I have the overclock or not.

EDIT #2: after playing with r46239 (Apr 1st 2021) on my WRT54GS v1.1 router some more I am starting to think the overclock had something to do with it's instability (so at the moment I deleted my comment in response to kernel-panic69 in the 'recommended build' thread).

because initially when I was back on r45735 (Feb 11th 2021) build with the 240Mhz overclock (stock/default is 216Mhz) and everything seemed okay like usual, I then held reset button for 30 seconds, which put everything back to 100% stock, then at this point I used 'Administration > Firmware Upgrade' to upgrade back to r46239 (Apr 1st 2021) and after that was done I pressed reset button again for 30 seconds (this time the reset button worked unlike when it was overclocked it seems) and after a moment, like usual, I tried accessing the 192.168.1.1 interface and all was good at this point. but then I configured router to my liking, like usual minus the overclock (so it's still stock Mhz), after after rebooting it seemed okay but after a short while the 192.168.1.1 interface seemed to be inaccessible and trying to press reset button did not seem to do anything. so at this point I assumed something was out of whack and, since it worked before, I unplugged the router and waited briefly, then press end held the reset button, plugged in power, and while still holding reset I counted 30 seconds and released reset button. then after a moment I could access the 192.168.1.1 page and I configured router to my liking (minus the overclock) and after reboot, things appear to be okay so far as I got 18min of DD-WRT router uptime and so far so good.

makes me wonder if it's possible for remnants of a overclock to remain until the power is removed and reset after taht point(?). or could have been a weird glitch etc. but at least so far, it appears that removing the overclock did help and that r46239 might be pretty much okay after all on a WRT54GS v1.1 (but avoid overclocking to be on the side of caution).

so at this point I am going to remove my bug report on the Apr 1st 2021 page etc.

_________________
Primary Router: Linksys WRT54GS v1.1 /w dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021) ; new Panasonic capacitors Feb 11th 2020 | Backup Router: Linksys WRT54GS v6 /w dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021)
feliciano
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Joined: 24 Oct 2008
Posts: 1079
Location: Latin America

PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:18    Post subject: Reply with quote
If you don't have a switch, but want to try this method (shall the window is there, even short), you can use one of your other routers, with the DHCP turned off (just to be on the safe side).
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ThaCrip
DD-WRT User


Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 338

PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:45    Post subject: Reply with quote
feliciano wrote:
If you don't have a switch, but want to try this method (shall the window is there, even short), you can use one of your other routers, with the DHCP turned off (just to be on the safe side).


Thanks for that info as I might look into this in the near future as a quick look online I found... https://www.howtogeek.com/174419/how-to-reuse-your-old-wi-fi-router-as-a-network-switch/

because ill probably temporarily setup the ASUS router I got as the switch in a attempt to revive the Belkin.

either way, ill make a post with whatever I find out.

_________________
Primary Router: Linksys WRT54GS v1.1 /w dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021) ; new Panasonic capacitors Feb 11th 2020 | Backup Router: Linksys WRT54GS v6 /w dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021)


Last edited by ThaCrip on Thu Apr 08, 2021 7:04; edited 2 times in total
ThaCrip
DD-WRT User


Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 338

PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:56    Post subject: Reply with quote
Assuming that article is correct, which I think it is, it appears there is no pings whatsoever on the Belkin router.

so is it pretty safe to say it's definitely bricked at this point?

because I tried to ping both 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.2.1 (192.168.2.1 is what TFTP always worked with when flashing that Belkin router in the past and even recently before the router bricked), using the ASUS router set in switch mode (configured like shown in that link in my previous post) and then manually adjusting the IP on the computer itself (the ASUS DD-WRT configuration page in switch mode is accessible @ 192.168.1.2) to 192.168.1.3 and I even tried 192.168.2.3 (etc) as I noticed when manually configuring it like that, I have to then temporarily remove the ethernet cable from the computer I was using, wait til it acknowledges it was disconnected, then reconnect it and it shows it's connected. because if you have the computer set in DHCP mode like usual it does not obtain a IP and never make a connection to the switch. plus, I noticed if I manually change the IP on the computer and apply settings (like when I was changing between 192.168.1.3 and 192.168.2.3), those changes don't take effect until I disconnect the ethernet cable, wait til it shows it's disconnected, then reconnect it. because when trying the "ping 192.168.1.1" or "ping 192.168.2.1", it still shows it's attempting it from the last address from the computer itself even though I changed it (basically if I am trying to ping 192.168.1.1 address with the computer registered as 192.168.2.3 it will error and stop attempting to ping(which I assume this is expected). but if the computer is registered at 192.168.1.3, it will then attempt pings to 192.168.1.1 and the same situation applies when I ping 192.168.2.1). but like I was saying a simple disconnect/reconnect of ethernet cable fixes that.

NOTE: in regards to the above testing (while the attempted pings using the switch(ASUS router) to Belkin router using a wired connection (using two ethernet cables (i.e. PC to switch, then another cable from switch to Belkin(all on standard LAN ports))... I used reset botton on back of Belkin for 30 seconds and I tried to unplug power, wait maybe 10 seconds, plug it's power back on and still no response to pings whatsoever. like I mentioned before I even tried the 30/30/30 reset a couple of days ago (so I don't see a reason to attempt that again) and the router still acts the same with lights and no response to pings whatsoever.

NOTE: it's like the LAN light on the Belkin does flash when sending pings to it through switch etc but it's like the router is dead when it comes to getting any response from pings. also, like I said before the Belkin router after boots up as far as it can, the power light if flashing etc.

but assuming the Belkin router is bricked it appears it was likely due to the overclock given my experience with the WRT54GS v1.1 recently as when the WRT54GS is not overclocked it seems to be pretty much okay. so while the flashing of the r46239 (Apr 1st 2021) to the WRT54GS v1.1 it seems pretty much okay so far as long as I don't overclock it. but the reset button brings the WRT54GS v1.1 back to life unlike the Belkin. maybe it's something to do with the Belkin not returning to it's default clock speed with the reset button(?) like it seems to with the WRT54GS v1.1(?).

but anyways... what I should have did, which you already mentioned (and I even was aware of but started gambling a bit and taking shortcuts instead of doing it properly), was properly reset router back to defaults FIRST (especially made sure the router was running at stock Mhz(i.e. no overclock)) before attempting any firmware upgrade and chances are it would have been totally fine (given that overclock seems to be a issue on my main WRT54GS v1.1 router with recent DD-WRT firmware. but on when my WRT54GS v1.1 is running in it's default state (i.e. no overclock) it seems to be okay so far in the 1 days and 16 hours of use so far).

thanks for your time Wink

p.s. on a side note... out of curiosity sake, I connected that switch setup to the back of my main WRT54GS v1.1 router (which is in it's usual working state right now) and some pings showed up on the screen. so this should prove that the switch is setup correctly, right?

----------------------------------------------

bottom line... the main lesson here (which I learned the hard way Sad (but thankfully it took out a router I don't really use so the damage was minimal)) is DO NOT flash your router when it's in a overclocked state! (although this is known knowledge around here already) ; hence, it's SAFEST to ALWAYS reset the router to it's default settings properly first (which generally means holding reset switch for 30 seconds (or alternatives like the 'nvram erase && reboot' telnet command etc is probably sufficient) and then do the firmware upgrade like usual. but with that said... I figure as long as ones router is not overclocked, flashing firmware without resetting to default first is probably not absolutely needed, but it's probably a little safe that way as the core issue here is the overclock is where the risk shoots up.

_________________
Primary Router: Linksys WRT54GS v1.1 /w dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021) ; new Panasonic capacitors Feb 11th 2020 | Backup Router: Linksys WRT54GS v6 /w dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021)
feliciano
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 24 Oct 2008
Posts: 1079
Location: Latin America

PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 23:52    Post subject: Reply with quote
One last try before concluding is bricked: connect directly to your router and use an sniffer to see whether something comes out of it at boot time. Or do an ARP check.

On the other hand, it looks like maybe this router has a JTAG port.



F5D7230-4 (2).png
 Description:
Maybe the top left connector can be a JTAG port.
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F5D7230-4 (2).png



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ThaCrip
DD-WRT User


Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 338

PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 14:20    Post subject: Reply with quote
I tried 'arp -v' on Linux when connected to the Belkin router from a laptop, it returns nothing. so apparently it's truly dead? NOTE: when the ethernet is connected the router does light up the LAN1 port like usual though.

NOTE: in relation to the above 'arp -v' command... I tried DHCP on the laptop (which gives no IP as expected since the router is basically bricked) along with a manual IP address setting (i.e. 192.168.1.2 with 255.255.255.0 subnet (if the subnet even matters(?)).

because doing that same test on my main PC, which is connected to my main WRT54GS v1.1 router, it shows 'DD-WRT' along with 'HWaddress' (which I assume is the mac address shown after it).

but as far as JTAG... even if it does have JTAG, taking that Belkin apart looks very difficult to do from what I can tell as it appears it's built NOT to be taken apart as I even tried prying it apart before in the past but the plastic just won't come apart even though I flexed the plastic quite a bit to where I can see inside of a bit temporarily when the screw driver was wedged in there (and removing it the plastic goes back to normal(like router all closed up like usual).

it's not easy to take apart like my other two routers (WRT54GS v1.1 and ASUS WL-520gU) are which are no problem at all.

plus, even if I could get it apart, for how much $ it would cost to get a JTAG setup, it's probably not worth it(?) as that router is the worst of the three routers I got as it's a 2MB flash/8MB RAM setup where as the ASUS is 4MB flash/16MB RAM and my main WRT54GS v1.1 is 8MB flash/32MB RAM.

_________________
Primary Router: Linksys WRT54GS v1.1 /w dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021) ; new Panasonic capacitors Feb 11th 2020 | Backup Router: Linksys WRT54GS v6 /w dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic (r46640 May 13th 2021)
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