Bricked Linksys WRT610N

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blair003

557 posts

Ultimate Geek

#106554 26-Jul-2012 12:35

So... I bricked my Linksys WRT610N trying to load an incorrect firmware. It has a flashing power light and if I do a 30/30/30 reset while doing a ping -t, it will respond a few times and I can seemingly tftp another firmware up during this time which it says completes, but it doesn't hold and the power light never stops flashing.

Anyway no big deal, I have another router.. but has anyone ever de-bricked one of these (or similar linksys router) with a cable? Which cable and is it straightforward or not really worth it?

Also, am I correct in assuming that the built in switch is handled by another chip/firmware, so actually I don't have a brick, I have a weird looking 4 port gigabit switch?

Thanks

DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

#662433 26-Jul-2012 15:18

This worked for a Linksys RE1000 range extender, but I don't know if any other Linksys devices recover in the same way.

Before powering on the Linksys RE1000 hold down the reset button. Continue to hold the reset button down for 30sec after powering on the device. The Cisco logo on the front face will flash.
Connect using 192.168.1.1 and a firmware upgrade menu is displayed. Enter the relevant Linksys RE1000 firmware and on completion the Linksys RE1000 will reboot. Original firmware recovered.

Ok, I was using a Linksys RE1000, but you never know your luck.

I used the above 'procedure' after flashing DD-WRT on my RE1000 and thus had no way of returning to Linksys firmware.

kimxk

74 posts

Master Geek

#669264 7-Aug-2012 20:30

I haven't tried a wrt610n, but tried (unsuccessfully) to do a DIR-600, using a modified ca-42 3.3v serial cable.

There is a post on the dd-wrt forum http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linksys_WRT610N#Recovery_.28Unbricking.29.

See at the bottom under "no tftp recovery" for serial instructions.

According to this page http://www.twam.info/hardware/adding-rs232-to-linksys-wrt610n you could also use a ca-42 to connect to the serial port.

When I was trying to fix a dir-610 I only needed to connect the tx, rx and ground to get a serial connection.

As usual, your mileage may vary, good luck.

kimxk

74 posts

Master Geek

#669266 7-Aug-2012 20:32

BTW - This is the same cable as I got http://www.trademe.co.nz/mobile-phones/accessories/data-cables/nokia/auction-501081349.htm

kimxk

74 posts

Master Geek

#669296 7-Aug-2012 21:09

One more thing - here is the pinout for the ca-42 cable.

http://buffalo.nas-central.org/wiki/File:CA-42_DKU-5_pinout.jpg

blair003

557 posts

Ultimate Geek

#669429 8-Aug-2012 09:11

Thanks, you've put enough information there I might actually try it.

So you got one of those nokia cables, soldiered tx, rx and ground on one end directly to the router, then cut the USB connector off from the other end and soldiered on a DSUB9 to plug into your computer serial port?

Or did you leave the USB connector on the computer end and use some sort of usb to serial driver?

kimxk

74 posts

Master Geek

#669463 8-Aug-2012 09:55

All the electronics are in the usb end (the important bit :-) ), so I cut off the phone end and cut open the plug and used a multimeter to find which cable was which and soldered the phone end cables directly on to the DIR-600 JP1 serial headers tx, rx, and gnd. The cable is at home, but I could let you know which colour was which on mine if you want.

After plugging in the USB into my computer, I used minicom under linux to attach to /dev/ttyUSB0, but once you get the Prolific pl2303 driver installed under Windows you could use hyperterminal to whatever comm port it uses I suppose (just rembember to set the communication parameters correctly).

I'm only going by those pages above that yours actually does have that connector, of course I'd check first.

Don't make the mistake I did at the serial command line. I typed "erase all" when I should have typed "erase linux". This wiped the entire flash chip, including the uboot bit which does the serial communications.

On the DIR-600, when you plug in the power, you've got about half a second to press one of the options before it tries to boot. Just watch it once to find out which option you need then reboot it again.

I'm actually looking for more dead routers to play with, but good luck with yours. I hope you get it fixed.