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fowler · May 10, 2006, 01:23 PM

Something happened last night, not quite sure what.

All of a sudden, my linksys router lost connection, wasn't displaying in my list of wireless networks. I reset it a few times, both by pulling the power cord and holding the reset button for a little bit.

It's not broadcasting internet, nor is my powerbook able to even recognize it.. even when hooked up directly by an ethernet cable.

When I got down there, I noticed that the power led was flashing on and off. Even when I was holding the reset button, I noticed that it continued to to flash.

Not sure what the deal is.

I did upgrade the firmware to hyperwrt a few weeks ago, but it's been working just fine until last night.. soooooo...

Tomchu · May 10, 2006, 01:31 PM

HyperWRT killed my old WRT54G v1.1 in the same manner, but it was right off the bat -- not after a period of time like yours.

There are a number of things you can try. Press and hold the reset button for 30 seconds, then power-cycle the router. If that doesn't bring it up, you can put it in a simple TFTP rescue mode by shorting two pins on the flash chip and booting it up. You can then TFTP a new firmware image over to it.

Google around, the instructions are everywhere.

fowler · May 10, 2006, 01:52 PM

sounds good, thanks for the info.

fowler · May 10, 2006, 02:02 PM

as far as 3rd party firmware, whom do you recommend?

I'm trying to connect an airport express for all the wireless printing and music goodness.

Tomchu · May 10, 2006, 02:57 PM

I use DD-WRT v23 final. The SP1 version comes out on or around May 15th, though. :-) Lots of new goodies in that one.

fowler · May 11, 2006, 12:25 AM

it's dead. i tried to short it, but nothing worked.

i'll just spend the $30 and find another one :/

Tomchu · May 11, 2006, 11:02 AM

You did do all the stuff regarding the Ethernet port, hooking up to the router with a static IP set, and then TFTP'ing a new image, right?

fowler · May 11, 2006, 12:43 PM

I forget the name of the website that I found, it was something like, "XXXXX revival guide".. whatever.

Here's what I did, tell me if I'm missing something..

I made a static ip on the powerbook (192.168.1.2)
Hooked up the naked router via ethernet
On my Powerbook, pinged 192.168.1.1 (unlimited)
Used an Xacto knife (whose tip was broke, but flat enough to reach both pins) to connect pin 15 and 16
Plugged in the router..

Everything looked the exact same.

The ping was showing that it was recieving ~64bytes from 192.168.1.1 ever few fraction of a ms.

But I wasn't able to access http://192.168.1.1.

Maybe that's where I went wrong.

How do I upload the new firmware? I figured it'd be through the typical, if not safe web interface.

Am I supposed to use an ftp program, or what?

Tomchu · May 11, 2006, 03:06 PM

It's almost like you stopped reading the guide after you got the pings.

Download the raw .bin format firmware from Linksys (make sure you get the right one). Once the router starts responding to pings, do this at the Terminal:

tftp 192.168.1.1

You'll now be in the TFTP program, with a tftp> prompt. Type the following two commands:

bin
put name_of_firmware.bin

It should take a little while after that, and then the router should reboot. If this doesn't work, then it truly is a dead Linky.

fowler · May 11, 2006, 03:19 PM

I think some of it was a little over my head, so I went with what I knew.. obviously, didn't know enough

I'll try that when I get home today.

Thanks

just for clarification though, seeing as I'm not that familiar with terminal..

after I get the pings, open terminal and type "tftp 192.168.1.1"

at which point, I type:

bin
xxxxx.bin

correct?

Tomchu · May 11, 2006, 03:29 PM

Indeed, but with a small correction:

tftp 192.168.1.1
(the prompt will then change to "tftp>")
bin
put whatever.bin

Don't forget the "put". ;-)

Good luck.

fowler · May 11, 2006, 03:40 PM

ah, thanks.

I would have missed that

ghporter · May 11, 2006, 06:10 PM

For more detailed info on all things Linksys, try LinksysInfo.org, or the Linksys forum on BroadbandReports.com (especially the Linksys FAQs).

A flashing power light ALWAYS means a Linksys router is "in trouble." Sometimes you can recover from it, sometimes you have to load a new firmware version, and sometimes you need to haul yourself down to BestBuy and buy a new one. Read and heed the FAQ I linked; you may find a way to completely restore your router's original firmware and then you can start over.

Note that every consumer router is a tiny microcomputer without the rigorous testing done for most other embedded systems. Turning it off now and then lets it reboot and can often improve longevity and stability.

fowler · May 12, 2006, 01:32 PM

it's dead. I followed the directions, tftp'd that ish to the router, but it never reboot.

:/

Picking one up for $30 today. Oh well, I guess.

Anything to look out for when I upgrade the firmware again? I'm thinking about steering clear of HyperWRT and maybe trying Spheasoft or whatever it's called.

Tomchu · May 12, 2006, 03:01 PM

Well, like I said ... I've had really good luck with DD-WRT. When flashing from the web interface of a stock Linksys firmware, be sure to use the mini_generic image file.

Oh, and avoid getting a WRT54G v5 if you can -- very limited (almost nothing) support for 3rd-party firmware. The WRT54GL is the "enthusiast" version of the router which has the regular amounts of flash and RAM.

ghporter · May 13, 2006, 01:12 PM

The WRT54G v5 uses a different processor and OS too... Not very friendly to anyone who wants more than a basic wireless router (and not too friendly even then).

fowler · May 13, 2006, 01:43 PM

I shall try and keep an eye out for that. Thanks for the tips.

Tomchu · May 13, 2006, 07:30 PM

The WRT54G v5 doesn't have a different processor, just reduced amounts of flash and RAM. There are some 3rd party firmware developers that are adding v5 support with a "micro" version of their product now, though.

Still, that's one to avoid.

ghporter · May 13, 2006, 08:29 PM

It does have a different OS, doesn't it? From what I've read, you CANNOT use ANY third party firmware, even tweaks that open up stuff the Linksys firmware leaves hidden.

The folks on the Linksys forum at BroadbandReports.com are of varying (and uniformly unfavorable) opinions on this particular version.

Tomchu · May 14, 2006, 12:02 AM

Yeah, it runs a different OS, but that doesn't prevent you from flashing it with whatever you want with a JTAG interface. BrainSlayer (lead DD-WRT developer) is already developing a "micro" version of DD-WRT that apparently works on the V5. In any case, it's a version to avoid.

ghporter · May 14, 2006, 03:58 PM

Yeah, that's an understatement; everything I read about it is negative-and much of that is that it's unstable with the factory firmware, which is NOT a good sign.

So I guess we can say STAY AWAY from the WRT54G v5 as if it were the plague... While the WRT54GS has MORE flash and RAM (and I think a faster processor, too), which makes it VERY stable. Go figure!

Moving on now,

Tomchu · May 14, 2006, 06:14 PM

They got rid of the increased RAM/flash version of the WRT54GS too. :-(

That was a limited run of v2.X/v3 (I'd have to check). They're extremely hard to get ahold of now as well.