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Products => Wireless => : pshevtsov January 22, 2012, 08:50:57 AM

: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: pshevtsov January 22, 2012, 08:50:57 AM

Hello all!

I flashed new professional firmware 17798-alpha without a problem. But then I decided to revert back to friendly edition v1.79. But after I flash it from web interface - my router stops working. It flash 2 times by diag led, waits for 3 sec and then flash 2 times again and so on.

I found this post describing how to unbrick router. But this doesn't helps. I've tried to TFTP a lot of firmwares, but this didn't help. Maybe I'm trying not correct firmware to TFTP?

Router model: WZR-HP-G300NH,  A0 A1. SSID: 001D7390830B.

 

Can anyone tell me what to do to get my router back to life?

 

P.S.. Sorry for my english :)

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee January 22, 2012, 08:20:16 PM

what operating system do you use? also i am going to assume this is a G300NH v1. if you use windows xp you can tftp like so..

 

Power the router off for now. Make sure you are wired into the switch.

 

1) Set a static ip on the pc of 192.168.11.2 / 255.255.255.0 Gateway: 192.168.11.1

 

2) Open a command prompt and type this: arp -s 192.168.11.1 02-AA-BB-CC-DD-1A [enter]

 

3) After entering the static arp have the command line ready with this command (and you'll have to be in the dir where the firmware image is at or it won't work): tftp -i 192.168.11.1 put wzrhpg300nh-pro-v24sp2-17798-alpha.enc

 

4) Do not enter the TFTP command, just having it waiting for now,  Plug in the power for the router and count to 10 seconds, then enter the TFTP command that you should have waiting in the command prompt.

 

5) You'll know if it transferred by the command prompt telling you so, give it about 5 minutes after is transfer was successful, it'll reset/program itself in this time. One it is complete the Red Diag LED should go off and then you can access it at 192.168.11.1

 

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: pshevtsov January 24, 2012, 01:49:55 PM

Thanks for answering.

I'm using Windows 7 Home Premium.

I did all that you write. But this didn't help.

TFTP wrote that transfer was successful. I waited for about 10 minutes, after TFTP command. But DIAG led still blinking 2 times.

Is it possible to see somekind a log of flashing proccess by TFTP command?

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee January 25, 2012, 08:13:54 PM

Hrm, Win7? I don't even think it has a command line TFTP, you aren't using some kinda 3rd party application to do the TFTP transfer with, are you?

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: pshevtsov January 26, 2012, 12:15:24 AM

TFTP exists in Win 7, you just need to install it by yourself, because TFTP (and telnet) program is optional.

I think the problem is in firmware file that I TFTPing in router...  

Is it possible to see logs of uboot? I can't find information for doing this :(

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee January 26, 2012, 09:07:44 AM

There is no log with uboot, the only way you can see uboot's output is if you have a serial connection to the router.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Robotix February 13, 2012, 01:29:20 PM

Buddee:

 

How do you put the firmware in the same directory in this command?  This is where I'm having problems, since it can not find the file and tells me it doesn't exist

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee February 13, 2012, 05:47:04 PM

Put it in your main C:\

 

Then just command prompt from C:

 

The file should be in there then, once you are finished with the procedure, you can delete the file from C:\

 

 

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Robotix February 13, 2012, 07:27:12 PM

Thanks for your reply Buddee

 

I finally could get to this file, but after getting to this step and connecting the plug back into the router, it gives me this message (IŽll translate it  from Spanish which is my native tongue). " WAITING TIME IS OVER" and doesnŽt transfer the file.

 

What in heaven am I doing wrong this time? 

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee February 14, 2012, 05:51:27 AM

Not sure what you are doing wrong. TFTP is very much about timing. So step 4 is very important.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Robotix February 14, 2012, 08:06:39 AM

Well, in that case I guess I'll have to throw it away or use it as a door stop. I have tried everything from the Ubuntu method to this one and nothing has worked, I quit.

 

Thanks anyway

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee February 14, 2012, 06:28:39 PM

Do you have a 10/100 switch that you can put in between the pc and router and then re-try? Sometimes it won't work without it because windows waits for the switch on the router to initialize, which can sometimes take to long and miss the tftp window.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Robotix February 15, 2012, 04:51:52 AM

I do have a switch, but I don't know how to set it up, I mean I don't know where each cable should go to.

Could you tell me how?

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee February 15, 2012, 05:50:46 AM

Plug the switch in, then connect the PC to port 1 of the switch, then connect port 1 of the router's switch to port 2 of the switch, thats it.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Robotix February 15, 2012, 05:58:21 AM

Thanks buddy, I'll try it and let you know

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Robotix February 16, 2012, 05:14:52 AM

Perfect!!!! This time it all went smoothly. It installed in less than 4 seconds.

 

Thanks a lot Buddee, really appreciate it.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee February 16, 2012, 06:01:25 AM

Most excellent! As you can tell, i don't like throwing in the towel so easily. :)

 

I was teetering on the edge of wanting you to mail it to me so i could fix it and send it back, but i am glad it worked for you because in all honesty, these units are hard to brick. Also with the method i listed, you can switch back and forth from buffalo dd-wrt builds to community dd-wrt builds, which you may learn about later in your ventures.

 

Best Regards

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Robotix February 16, 2012, 09:05:21 AM

Well, to be honest it was going to be a little bit difficult to mail it to you, since I live in another country

too far from you may be, but as I told you before I really appreciate your effort to help me out.

 

I don't like to throw the towel so easily either, but this router was driving me nuts since

I had tried every debricking method without success.

 

"See" ya around buddy

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: slybunda February 16, 2012, 02:28:27 PM

possible to change the regulatory domain of a router purchased in the EU to USA?

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Goz April 05, 2012, 01:48:09 PM

Hi all, my WZR-HP-G300NH managed to brick itself randomly (I was watching something streamed from my NAS drive when it suddenly died!)

 

I've tried using the method described here.  I had real problems using the linksys TFTP utility (it would get about 3/4 through then fail).

 

So I installed the standard windows TFTP client and ran it as follows:

 

tftp -i 192.168.11.1 put wzrhpg300nh-176

 

it then responded

 

Transfer successful: 21623036 bytes in 9 second(s), 2402559 bytes/s

 

So that looks like it uploaded it fine.

 

Its now been more than 10 minutes since I received this message and I still have the solid red diag light.  Has anyone got any ideas?  I'd really like to de-brick this router so any help would be hugely appreciated

 

 

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Goz April 05, 2012, 02:15:14 PM

Btw I've also tried with the alpha version (wzrhpg300nh-pro-v24sp2-17798-alpha.enc) with no success.  I'm now trying this alpha version through a 10/100 router.  Its uploaded fine and I've been waiting over 5 mins now for the red diag light to go off ...

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Goz April 06, 2012, 06:22:29 AM

Hmm have just tried wzrhpg300nh-pro-v24sp2-14998 as well and still the same problem.  Am I right in thinking that the diag light should start blinking after a successful TFTP upload?  Because this is never happening for me ... it just sits on a solid red light.

 

Equally, if I try and upload the v2 router's firmware then the diag light will flash twice.

 

I have a revision B0 B0 if that makes any difference ...?  So far this is just driving me up the wall ... it does not seem possible to flash the damned thing :(

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee April 06, 2012, 05:34:07 PM

I Would be unable to help you anymore than i helped the other person in this post. Only other way i know of you could possibly de-brick it is via serial cable. But really, you shouldn't need to, when a unit bricks itself out of nowhere, which according to you is what happened here, it usually means either one of 2 things - 1. power supply failure 2. internal hardware failure.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: Goz April 06, 2012, 05:46:24 PM

:(

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee April 07, 2012, 03:44:23 PM

Like i said, all hope isn't lost, you can try a different power supply (make sure the specs match up as far as volts/amps). Then try the TFTP method i explained in the post, or if that doesn't work, open it up and see if you have any swollen up capacitors. If either of these aren't an option for you and you still have warranty time, you could always return it if so.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: duyhung0185 April 13, 2012, 04:30:53 AM

Hi, i also am having problem with my router,

 

I was trying OpenWRT 10.3 RC3, but i want to go back to stock firmware (1.74) as I cannot config the router to run at 300 Mbs.

But something went wrong, perhaps i flashed the wrong firmware ... now the router's sitting there blinking red diag led twice every 2 seconds.

I tried to TFTP every firmware possible, OpenWRT, DD-WRT, stock ..., the command prompt show TFTP transfer successful every time, but no firmware seems to stick on it. The red diag led still blinking.

 

Any one can help ? Anyone have similar experience ?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Duy Hung

 

Guess i'll make TFTP firmware my new morning exercise...

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee April 13, 2012, 06:54:31 AM

You have a WZR-HP-G300NH v1, right?

 

You have followed all the steps i listed out in this post, right? Even using a hardware switch in-between the router and PC?

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: duyhung0185 April 14, 2012, 03:33:02 AM

uh yeah,

I use a switch, connect the first LAN port on the router to the switch, and the switch to the PC.

 

I can TFTP just fine.

But it doesnt seem to flash the firmware :(

and my router is V1, model A0 A1 too.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee April 14, 2012, 07:38:36 AM

Uh yea, you have to wait about 7-8 mins after the success msg on the TFTP, the red diag light will continue flashing and it will stop when the router has finished programming..

 

Which file are you using for the TFTP? I always use the dd-wrt community builds and i use this to tftp with buffalo_to_ddwrt_webflash-MULTI.bin

 

Beyond that, the question would be why does this method work for many others, and its not working for you...?

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: slybunda April 16, 2012, 01:31:28 PM

odd i thought these routers were pretty much unbrickable since they use a seperate bootloader. iv used tftp a few times now to flash firmware and it works all the time once you get the timing right.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: duyhung0185 April 17, 2012, 03:28:59 AM

ugh i cant tell whats wrong any more.

I tried to TFTP from another computer, change the LAN port on the router ... and TFTP reported successful all the time...

I even waited 30 min - 1 hr after each flash (i can bring it to work) ...

 

I also posted on OpenWRT forum, seems like there was another one who ran into this problem. But no reply there so far. That guy also stated that many time the flashing did not work...

 

Im afraid it may be bricked, if not you wouldnt have a whole guide to debrick it using a serial cable to run console ...

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: slybunda April 17, 2012, 07:05:23 PM

what firmware are you trying to flash onto the router? you need to provide 100% full details if we are to assist you in sorting this matter out.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: rchase May 03, 2012, 04:43:19 PM

Yet another request. Hopefully I give just the right amount of info about what I've tried. BTW, I have a WZR-G300NHv1  (A0 D0).

 

I have followed your tftp instructions (basicallly, though I did add some "improvements"). I used linux, and used the following tftp params:  rexmt 1, binary, verb, trace, timeout 1000.  I was connected to port 4 (right next to the WAN port). Before doing all this, I set the computer's ethernet interface to 100T/full duplex/no autonegotiation, and I set a static IP address on my computer's eth0 port, and a static arp mapping of the router's IP to the router's MAC.

 

When I start the put command and plug in the router, the tftp attempts to retransmit 1000 times at  1 second intervals, but never sends a byte. During the tftp put attempts, I can verify that the interface settings are all still correct (computer interface is up and the IP address is set, arp map is correct, route shows route to router ip over eth0). The tftp put command times out.

 

I have repeated this using  router IP addresses 192.168.11.1 and 192.168.1.1 (with matching computer IP addresses of 192.168.11.2 and 192.168.11.1 respectively) and router MAC addresses (the one on the router label, 02:aa:bb:cc:20, and 02:aa:bb:cc:1a) in all combinations sequentially with the same result.  From the outside, it appears as though the router is booting the bootloader (the diag light comes on after 2 seconds, and stays solid for ~10 seconds, then flashes twice every three seconds forever). However, no tftp connection is ever made. Can you refer me to JTAG pinout data and JTAG client software, or serial debricking instructions? Or perhaps I've done something stupid?

 

Thanks, Rich

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee May 03, 2012, 10:07:44 PM

Not exactly that you did something stupid, you just didn't follow my guide the way it is. Your 'improvements' may be the culprit, who knows *shrug*

 

One thing for sure is the timing and using a hardware switch in-between. Beyond this, i am not sure what exactly you are doing wrong.

 

Also AFAIK, there is no jtag recovery with this unit. Serial only. So one thing is very important here, that you didn't mess up the bootloader.

 

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/buffalo/wzr-hp-g300h#hardware

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: rchase May 04, 2012, 11:59:05 AM

First, thank you for your help and advice.

 

I don't think the "improvements" are to blame -- they just take the timing out of the equation by repeating the connection attempt every second for 1000 seconds (which makes it very hard to miss a 4 second window).  I avoid having to use a switch by setting the speed of the i/f to 100BaseT, disabling autonegotiation of data rate, and placing a static arp table entry for the router and ip address on the interface. That way the interface doesn't go down and have to come back up when the router comes alive. These are improvements recommended on various sites, including the OpenWRT site you linked.  (See the tftp method instructions for Linux).

 

I don't know what I could have done to mess up the bootloader, since I used the web interface to flash it (with OpenWRT). I left it for an hour, but it never rebooted.

 

Do you know a reference for using the serial pins to reflash it? Is it possible if the bootloader doesn't setup the ethernet ports for some reason?

 

~Rich

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee May 04, 2012, 08:28:36 PM

The reference was the openwrt link i posted, it has the pinouts for the serial connection. Another interesting factor i am curious to know, what is the name of the file you are using to recover with?

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: rchase May 05, 2012, 02:20:06 PM

I tried both of the following files:

wzrhpg300nh-pro-v24sp2-14998.enc

wzrhpg300nh-pro-v24sp2-17798-alpha.enc

 

Does the tftp server check filenames? With 'trace' on my tftp client, I should see data transferred, but none ever is. So the router isn't downloading then rejecting the image -- it just simply never accepts the image at all. It's like either the ethernet port is not set up by uboot, or there is no tftp server running at all on the router. Even if it were only a 2 second window, I should still hit it 100% of the time with a rexmt rate of 1 second.

 

Yes, I saw the pinout diagram, but don't know what to do once I get a serial console on the bootloader, assuming I'm successful. (It was awfully clever of Buffalo to put security hex screws in the cover. I wonder how I'll get it open.) Are there instructions somewhere for reflashing from a serial terminal?

 

BTW, I started wireshark, and see that the router never sends any local network discovery packets, either (e.g. arp). Should it?

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: buddee May 05, 2012, 04:40:47 PM

To answer your question about wireshark, no, if the unit is bricked which we already know it is, then no it won't send anything out.

 

Here is the guide on how to de-brick your router via serial console, assuming that like i said, your bootloader isn't fubar...

 

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Serial_Recovery

 

Also one interesting fact that you seem to never list here, how originally did you brick the unit? And be honest, because if you leave out any important details, i won't be able to know exactly how bad off your are here.

: Re: I need help to debrick my WZR-HP-G300NH, please
: rchase May 09, 2012, 11:01:36 AM

Sorry for the hiatus.

 

I compiled OpenWRT trunk, built an image using imagebuilder, and attempted to flash it to the router using the web interface of a previous OpenWRT installation. It never rebooted, even after an hour.

 

Thanks for the link.