Obtaining help with de-bricking bricked routers

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thechief
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Obtaining help with de-bricking bricked routers

Post by thechief » Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:40 pm

This thread is meant to provide a checklist for those seeking help to restore their routers after it has become a "brick". However it also applies to anyone who is seeking help with firmwares generally.

1. First of all, before trying anything with your firmware, make sure that you run the Router Upgrade Checker (RUC) (Windows only) or, the Firmware Tool (Windows and Linux (with WINE)) to make a backup of your router's current firmware configuration settings. You can almost achieve the same things as these tools by logging in to the router via telnet or ssh, and keeping a record of the outputs of these commands:

Code: Select all

cat /proc/ticfg/env
cat /proc/modules
cat /proc/interrupts
cat /proc/avalanche/avsar_ver
However, you really should run one of the tools referred to above.

2. Before reporting a problem with your router being bricked, please be sure to first read these de-bricking threads BEFORE posting on the forum:
viewtopic.php?t=335
viewtopic.php?t=242
viewtopic.php?t=3101

Anything that we can tell you about de-bricking a router will already be in those threads, and you will save yourself (and us) a lot of time by consulting those threads first, and following the instructions in them.

3. If the above does not help you to recover your router, then, when you do post on the forum, please be ready to supply ALL the following details (meaning that you should store them safely somewhere before trying anything with your firmware):

a. What is the specific name and model of your router:
b. What was your router's firmware version before upgrading:
c. What bootloader (and bootloader version) does your router have:
d. What was the specific RouterTech firmware file that you tried to upgrade to:
e. Was the upgrading done via ethernet or wireless connection:
f. Was the upgrading done via the web interface or via the PC Tool or some other tool, and exactly what steps did you take in order to upgrade:
g. Was there any error or problem while you were trying to upgrade the firmware:
h. If so, what was the specific error/problem, and what did you do to try to overcome it:
i. Did you reset the router to factory defaults both before and after upgrading:
j. Describe in detail the current state of your router:
k. If you switch the router off for about 5 minutes, and switch it on again, what happens:
l. Please supply the contents of your original /proc/ticfg/env (PSP bootloader) or /proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment (Adam2 bootloader) file:

It will be difficult to assist you if you cannot supply all these details.

If you followed the instruction #1 above, then post a copy of the text files generated by the RUC or the Firmware Tool. If you did not follow that instruction, then our ability to help you may be severely limited.
The Chief: :afro: Be sure to read the Firmware FAQ and do a Forum Search before posting!
No support via PM. Ask all questions on the open forum.
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