Dude, where's my router?
Bookmark this page:
 Yahoo!
 Google
 Windows Live
 del.icio.us
 digg
 Netscape
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Posted by Peter B. Steiger on June 6, 2007, 11:09 am
Please log in for more thread options Per the advice I received here a few weeks ago, I got myself a shiny new wrt54gl this week and installed it yesterday. Getting into 192.168.1.1 to change the IP address and admin password was no effort at all; I did so and reconnected to the new IP address to continue configuration. Next step was to enable WEP, so I created a passphrase, clicked GENERATE to produce four encrypted keys, and clicked Save Settings. That was the last I was able to connect to the router. Over the past twelve hours I have pressed and held the RESET button dozens of times from five seconds to thirty to sixty with no change; I have unplugged and restarted at least as often; I have connected it via CAT5 cable to the ethernet cards on three desktop PCs and a laptop computer. It won't respond on the new IP address or on 192.168.1.1. Even stranger, after it stopped responding it also stopped appearing on the laptop's list of available wireless networks. I popped the setup wizard CD into one of the desktop boxes that runs Windows XP (the other two run various flavors of Linux) and ran that; when it gets to the step where it verifies your hardware connection it churns for a few minutes, then asks for the password (I tried both the default "admin" and the new one I created) and churns for a few minutes more before returning to the same hardware verification screen. I would have thought that the hard reset would fix everything, but I'm out of ideas. Any folks here familiar enough with the wrt54g to throw a clue at me? I asked this on the linksys support forum and mine is the only question asked in the past 12 hours with no replies at all. Sigh. -- Peter B. Steiger Cheyenne, WY If you must reply by email, you can reach me by placing zeroes where you see stars: wypbs_**2 at steigerfamily.com. -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Posted by Jeff Liebermann on June 6, 2007, 12:46 pm
Please log in for more thread options So much for the OBE (Out of Box Experience). Kinda sounds dead to me. Let's try raising the dead (beware of zombies). Please forget about using the supplied CDROM. It's not needed. Are you trying to configure the router via wireless? If so, switch to a wired ethernet connection. Common error is to plug it into the WAN port. Don't do that. Use a LAN port for configuration. Are you seeing the usual flashing lights when the WRT54GL is powered on? Duz the power light start flashing and then stay on after about 8 seconds? Do you have a connection light to whichever LAN port you plugged the computer into. What happens when you try to ping 192.168.1.1 from your desktop? If you get an error message, what is it? Try it this way: 1. Power OFF the router. 2. Ping with: ping -t 192.168.1.1 3. Turn on the power. 4. There's usually a 5 second delay, followed by successful pings. However, if the ping responses quit after the initial success, the firmware is trashed and needs to be reloaded. Is the AOSS button (Cisco logo) lit and not stuck? There was a nasty but that would corrupt the firmware if you powered on the unit with the button held down. If this is the case, it should show up with a continuously flashing power light. If you can ping the IP address, the firmware can be reloaded. See the TFTP proceedure at: <http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Installation#TFTP_Flashing_Buffalo_Routers_under_Windows>
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Posted by Peter B. Steiger on June 6, 2007, 12:39 pm
Please log in for more thread options
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:46:27 -0700, Jeff Liebermann sez: > Please forget about using the supplied CDROM. It's not needed.
Yup. I thought it was kind of humorous that a model specifically built for Linuxheads would come supplied with a Winduhs-only CD installation. I tried that because all reasonable approaches had failed :-) > Are you trying to configure the router via wireless? If so, switch to a
> wired ethernet connection. Common error is to plug it into the WAN > port. Don't do that. Use a LAN port for configuration. I didn't even know you could configure via wireless! In any case, no, I have tried these ethernet connections: - from Linux box (running a firewall, opened up all traffic for 192.168.1.*) ethernet card to ethernet 1, with and without cable modem ethernet plugged into WAN hole - from WinXP box (firewalls disabled) to ethernet 1 - both router's ethernet port and various desktop boxes plugged into an 8-port ethernet switch - from laptop's ethernet NIC to router's ethernet 1 > Are you seeing the usual flashing lights when the WRT54GL is powered on?
Yes, for about 5 seconds. Then the Cisco logo stays orange and the power
> Duz the power light start flashing and then stay on after about 8 > seconds? light stays green. > Do you have a connection light to whichever LAN port you plugged the
Yes. The WLAN and ethernet 1 light stay green, with occasional
> computer into. flickering as it detects traffic. > What happens when you try to ping 192.168.1.1 from your desktop?
The ethernet 1 light blinks every few seconds, so I know the router is
> If you get an error message, what is it? receiving a ping. The desktop clients indicate no response at all; the WinXP client gives up after a few tries, and the Linux box just keeps trying indefinitely until I kill the test. At that point it says {however many} packets transmitted, 0 packets received. > Try it this way: 1. Power OFF the
Linux client responds "destination host unreachable"; WinXP repeats
> router. > 2. Ping with: > ping -t 192.168.1.1 "Request timed out." > 3. Turn on the power.
After I powered on, the "destination host unreachable" messages stopped
> 4. There's usually a 5 second delay, followed by successful pings. but it did not get a successful acknowledgement - it just continues in silence as noted above. > However, if the ping responses quit after the initial success, the
Isn't that what holding the reset button in for 30 seconds is supposed to
> firmware is trashed and needs to be reloaded. do? > Is the AOSS button (Cisco logo) lit and not stuck? There was a nasty
I assume you mean "nasty bug". No, the AOSS button will flash white if I
> but that would corrupt the firmware if you powered on the unit with the > button held down. If this is the case, it should show up with a > continuously flashing power light. push it and then return to orange after some time, and it turns orange when the powerup sequence is complete. > If you can ping the IP address, the
> firmware can be reloaded. See the TFTP proceedure at: > <http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/ Installation#TFTP_Flashing_Buffalo_Routers_under_Windows> Since it can't be pinged, what's Plan B? Thanks for the quick response! I hope you have more tricks up your sleeve :-) -- Peter B. Steiger Cheyenne, WY If you must reply by email, you can reach me by placing zeroes where you see stars: wypbs_**2 at steigerfamily.com. -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Posted by Jeff Liebermann on June 6, 2007, 3:33 pm
Please log in for more thread options
Incidentally, is this a WRT54GL v1.0 or v1.1? Look on the serial number tag. Worth reading: <http://wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Troubleshooting>
>Yes, for about 5 seconds. Then the Cisco logo stays orange and the power
>light stays green. Well, then it's alive. The firmware has to be working in order for the light to work. However, it should start with a *FLASHING* power light, and then settle to always on. Is that what happens? >After I powered on, the "destination host unreachable" messages stopped
>but it did not get a successful acknowledgement - it just continues in >silence as noted above. It's dead. The protected area of the flash contains the TFTP server. There's no (easy) way to kill that using firmware uploads. You could wipe the user area clean, and still get the TFTP server to appear for a few seconds after initial power on. That's all that's needed to do a TFTP firmware upload, but apparently that's not going to happen. >> However, if the ping responses quit after the initial success, the
>> firmware is trashed and needs to be reloaded. >Isn't that what holding the reset button in for 30 seconds is supposed to
>do? Nope. It just resets the NVRAM setup information, otherwise known as the settings. It doesn't touch the firmware, which is what I think is the problem. Are you *SURE* you're resetting the router correctly? I've seen far too many creative ways of doing it, many of which don't work. I had one creative individual insist that he's was "pushing the reset button". I eventually determined he was pushing the AOSS button on the front, instead of the reset button, on the back. I've also raised more than one WRT54G from the dead by simply going through the reset ordeal process. Try it my way: 1. Power ON the router. Nothing plugged into any ethernet port. 2. Wait until the router is ready (flashing power light stops). 3. Stomp on the reset button with a paper clip in back. Hold it down for 60 seconds by the clock. That's probably 3 times longer than necessary, but every once in a while, I run into an old firmware version that requires such a long reset. Old bugs tend to re-appear. If you accidentally let go, start over at step one. 4. After agonizing 60 seconds, remove the paper clip and do NOTHING. The router needs to copy something from here to there and it takes a little while longer. My guess is another minute will do. Get some coffee or something. 5. Power OFF the router. Wait about 10 seconds. Then power it back ON. Try pinging or http and see what happens. >> Is the AOSS button (Cisco logo) lit and not stuck? There was a nasty
>> but that would corrupt the firmware if you powered on the unit with the >> button held down. If this is the case, it should show up with a >> continuously flashing power light. >I assume you mean "nasty bug". No, the AOSS button will flash white if I
>push it and then return to orange after some time, and it turns orange >when the powerup sequence is complete. Maybe it's not dead. The light and button are totally under control of the firmware. If you can do that, most of the firmware is functional. Toss a coin? >Since it can't be pinged, what's Plan B?
1. Check your assumptions. It worked once, it should work again. 2. Do everything (reset, ping, etc) after a small delay to clear out any assumptions. 3. Eliminate anything that's common in all your tests. For example, are you always plugging into the same router LAN port? Are you using the same ethernet cable? Is there something else (switch, hub, router, patch panel) in between your test computah and the WRT54G? 4. Shake the box. Anything rattle? 5. Try one of the numerous "DeBrick" utilities. I suggest you save this for last resort and desperation as my luck has been dismal with most of these. <http://www.ranvik.net/prosjekter-privat/jtag_for_wrt54g_og_wrt54gs/>
6. If you can't return it for credit, and feel like spending a few
days of Learn By Destroying(tm), then open it up, install a JTAG header, plug in a JTAG adapter, and attack the problem from there. <http://wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Customizing/Hardware/JTAG_Cable>
I suspect this may be more trouble than it's worth.
7. Buy a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54, WHR-G54S, or one of the new 125Mbit/sec replacement models. More RAM, more flash, and generally fewer suprises. >Thanks for the quick response! I hope you have more tricks up your
>sleeve :-) Everything I do is tricky. -- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Posted by Jeff Liebermann on June 6, 2007, 3:46 pm
Please log in for more thread options
>7. Buy a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54, WHR-G54S, or one of the new 125Mbit/sec
>replacement models. More RAM, more flash, and generally fewer >suprises. Of course, I double check my allegations AFTER I post wrong information. The WHR-HPG54, WHR-G54S and most of the Buffalo Broadcom based products have 4MBytes of flash and 16MBytes of RAM, the same as the Linksys WRT54GL. -- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
>wrt54gl this week and installed it yesterday. Getting into 192.168.1.1
>to change the IP address and admin password was no effort at all; I did
>so and reconnected to the new IP address to continue configuration. Next
>step was to enable WEP, so I created a passphrase, clicked GENERATE to
>produce four encrypted keys, and clicked Save Settings.
>
>That was the last I was able to connect to the router. Over the past
>twelve hours I have pressed and held the RESET button dozens of times
>from five seconds to thirty to sixty with no change; I have unplugged and
>restarted at least as often; I have connected it via CAT5 cable to the
>ethernet cards on three desktop PCs and a laptop computer. It won't
>respond on the new IP address or on 192.168.1.1. Even stranger, after it
>stopped responding it also stopped appearing on the laptop's list of
>available wireless networks.
>
>I popped the setup wizard CD into one of the desktop boxes that runs
>Windows XP (the other two run various flavors of Linux) and ran that;
>when it gets to the step where it verifies your hardware connection it
>churns for a few minutes, then asks for the password (I tried both the
>default "admin" and the new one I created) and churns for a few minutes
>more before returning to the same hardware verification screen.
>
>I would have thought that the hard reset would fix everything, but I'm
>out of ideas. Any folks here familiar enough with the wrt54g to throw a
>clue at me? I asked this on the linksys support forum and mine is the
>only question asked in the past 12 hours with no replies at all.
>
>Sigh.