How To Unbrick and Restore A Linksys WRT 1200 1900 and 3200 Using Serial and FTP
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- This tutorial should guide you through restoring your Linksys WRT router that no longer boots.
What you need:
TTL Serial to USB Cable: a.co/bRqxI2G
PuTTY: www.chiark.gre...
Tftpd: tftpd32.jounin....
(Firmware for the router, you can use any firmware you would like. Links to the stock Linksys firmware are below. Make sure you have the correct firmware for your router.)
3200acm: www.linksys.co...
1900acs: www.linksys.co...
1200: www.linksys.co...
This guide is to help anyone who has a router that is no longer functioning. I am not responsible for any damage that you may cause to you router.
I usually don't like video instructions (can be done a lot quicker in plaint text imho), but you did save the day for me!!! Thanks for that :) A few remarks for anyone coming from the wrt32x: After connecting the serial TX of the modem and then powering the modem, it will not boot at all. After unplugging the tx it will start booting, and then enter bricked state unless you send the asci code: ctrl+c (alt 3) within 1 sec of booting (you can spam the "ctrl+c"). Then you can reconnect the tx and talk with the modem over serial and do the instructions of the video.
I had the same problem. I used your guide and was able to connect though on Rx. wdevlap0: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED Not connected when loading data
If recovering the WRT 1900AC V1, the firmware name command is - setenv firmware_name firmware_filename.img
Otherwise, great stuff, easiest tutorial I found. Thanks.
Just for clarity sake on the WRT1900AC V1, this is exactly what I used if you also used "linksys" as the fireware name:
" setenv firmware_name linksys.img "
thank you very usefull
@@youchoosereview thank you so much!
Thank you!
Six years later, I used this to unbrick a WRT32X. Thanks!!
I just used this to unbrick my WRT3200acm due to upgrading with a bad openwrt load. This procedure worked perfectly. Thanks very much!
Wow! I was going to throw this sucker away, my WRT1900AC v1 is now alive, thank you and Simon Foakes for the help
many years later.... it was very helpful. I have done this in the past but it was so long ago that I forgot half of it. thanks for the video
Thanks for the tips. I called my area IT persons and businesses and all but one were scared to attempt this even after emailing them your video link instructions. None of them even had cables, so I offered to buy and give them a cable and still pay them. Everyone made excuses asking for money despite their zero promises for completion.....So, I amazon ordered cables from your links. Hopefully I will be up and running soon. Thanks again.
Thank you so much, after several years of flashing openwrt on router, i got my first one that needed serial + tftp, and while the folks over at the forum where helpfull, they did not include detailed steps, so your video combined with what i already had from the forums allowed me to have an asus ax4200 that now runs the latest openwrt.
Thank you, you made my day !
This was a great video that allowed me to restore my 3200ACM. I had issues running the "run update_both_images" but that was solved by running "env default -a" before running any of the commands. The firmware installed successfully, but gave me an error about nandboot and altnandboot not defined. This was resolved by running the following 3 commands separately in marvell "env default -a" "saveenv" "reset". Maybe had I ran the 3 commands first then I would not have needed to flash it.
Heros don't wear capes. This guy is one of them.
I second that !
Excellent step by step tutorial, particularly for a non-techie like me. Only problem I had was that TTL ground cable was not making good contact with pin, so I wedged a toothpick, in or to provide consistent connectivity. Followed instructional video to a tee and unbrick was a success. Thanks for a great video.
Hello, Thank you for the tutorial. I recently purchased a WRT32X. The tutorial got me all the way through seeing readable text output on the console (Putty). But then I rebooted and now all I can see is "Garbage or Gibberish" characters. I was at it for hours. I checked everything and everything I could find Google searching. Man, these routers are a nightmare.
HI, Have you fixed it? I'm also having the same issues
@@RedDragons23 Hey Adam. Unfortunately, No I haven't fixed it yet. A second one was purchased used on Ebay and we attempted installing OpenWRT. It was successful. However, it seems behave strange sometimes. It's still a nightmare. :\
@@digitaladdiction8612 Hi, Just saw your reply. That's a shame :( I spent a good few days troubleshooting mine in the end and I got DD-WRT successfully installed on mine instead, been working great since. Fixing it was a nightmare, It took me days to get it back to stock firmware since I screwed up both partitions. Then I installed DD-WRT from Stock firmware.
If it's gibberish, just double check/give the connections a wobble as I know mine didn't make a good connection. One thing everyone forgot to mention was that some WRT32X you need to have the white cable (Rx or Tx, I can't remember) unplugged for it to boot then you have to connect it as fast as physically possible so you get the full serial output.
I’m sincerely thankful, you saved my ass i just unbricked a wrt3200acm with this method,
one difference is with my router to get any console output, immediately after the power cycle i have to lift the rx pin and put it back in again, i get no power led and no boot otherwise, also i should mention that PuTTY does not allow terminal input unless you change the default flow control from XON/XOFF to None in the serial options.
2 notes that people might need if they have issues.....file might have to be named "rango" and serial cable drivers might have to be searched for and installed...thx for the clear instructions
Thank you for making published procedures easy to understand
This is the best guide for a serial flash that I have seen
Thank you very much for explaining this in detail. Whilst I have not physically bricked my router I want to restore Linksys factory firmware to both partitions as I have been playing with OpenWRT, that was working well until I screwed it up on one partition. The second partition was accessible yet runs like a donkey, so time to regress back to square one.
Working great on a Linksys WRT3200ACM router. Its back to Life :-) Many thanks for the tutorial!
Worked great on a WRT 1200AC, V2. Thanks. Make sure you push the "any button" when it pops up, don't wait for the load to finish. Also had to hold one of the ttl connecters since it was a little loose or the terminal would not recognize keyboard input. I used the latest version of the Linksys firmware (Ver. 2.0.6.191786
Latest Date: 12/10/2018) and just followed the instructions. I owe you a beer.
You are the freakin man! I was racking my head not being able to remove Openwrt , not that it’s bad it just doesn’t fully support this router just yet. So again thanks for this awesome tutorial. To all who try this please listen to his vid step by step and update your driver for your serial cable first.
What do you mean doesn't fully support the router yet? The stock firmware is OpenWRT lol
Recently purchased the WRT3200 router...your instruction is superbly done. Thank you.
Used this to recover a WRT1200AC V2. Thanks for putting together a concise and easy to follow tutorial.
Thanks so much for this. I’m currently debricking a 3200. I’ll let you know how it goes!
How did it go ran to same problem now :-(
Pretty good video. One very funny note. I have two WRT units. One running LUCI DD-WRT (3200) and the second one is stock (1900) for good 3 hours I was trying to connect to the serial port because I know a few years back I installed it permanently in the unit with a hole and snaking out the cable and everything. After several hours of trying everything including different drivers and bands and other settings in Putty and device manager I gave up. The next morning I decided to look what was going on and I found out all this time I was trying to connect to the 3200 LUCI router when the cable was originally connected to my original WRT unit AKA 1900 ..... so yeah always check proper cable connections and units it's connected to :D
I am actually interested in more advanced or perhaps a bit more videos on how to go from stock to DD-WRT I would think it's the same thing just use DD-WRT image instead of l OEM but again would love to see more videos on what possible with serial connection, perhaps some NAND / DRAM / OS manipulation and/or firmware modification.
Good video, Cheers !
My WRT3200ACM router was bricked due to a bad flash and today I did debrick
Following your instructions.
Thanks
Well second time using this tutorial... you were better than the others for sure thanks again!
Thanks! This fixed my WRT1900AC v1 after trying to load the dd-wrt bin for v2. Had to use firmware_name instead of firmware as said in the comment.
Great Video, thank for taking the time making this video. Eady to follow it worked for me on the first attemp
Very good tutorial. Able to understand from beginning to end. Thanks.
Super!!! I did the really stupid thing: I was playing with a Netgear X8 R8500 and was about tho flash it with DD-WRT.
And there it / I went wrong, I flashed my WRT1900ACS running DD-WRT with the DD-WRT image of the Netgear......
Oops!
Your movie saved the (and my ) day!
Thanks a lot for posting it!
Great video Concise and almost complete. I struggled until I turned off windows firewall. Absolutely golden now. Thanks again.
Thanks, your video revived my router.
Thank you so much for this video i was able to bring my wrt32x back to life!
i followed yous steps and Led Enjes and The Wandermore too but end in failure and found out Putty should be 32 bit version and Tftpd can be either 32 bit or 64 bit no issue and the factory firmware in the linksys works fine for me now i can able to flash two of my wrt3200acm bricked to alive thanks for the info
fantastic step by step guide i might try it soon
Your tutorial worked as a charm on my bricked router. Many thanks!
Working fine on a Linksys WRT1200AC V2 router. Many thanks for the tutorial!
Yes, just use the dd-wrt file the same way as the stock firmware is used in the tutorial
very helpful to help me recovering from power button blinking problem, thanks a lot.
That was super helpful - just got back up and running.
Thank you very much! 🙏🏼
This was very helpful. Look forward to fixing my old router. Thank you!!!
Excellent video! This method worked like a charm. Very well done. Thank you for taking the time!!
Thanks so much for your video! Somehow my router was hacked and OpenWRT was installed. It was a challenge getting it back working again. The only difference I had was when I ran the firmware update, it was looking for cobra.img no matter what I told it the firmware name was. I have an AC1900 V2
Thanks for this I just bricked my 1900 attempting a DDRT install. Funny I was just thinking what is that white port for lol. Anyway at least I don't have to scrap this thanks! Your directions aver very clear
Being a greedy guy I wanted to directly flash the firmware from ExpressVpn, didn’t work. Original firmware from Linksys worked, thanks!
Welldone comprehensive one
Nice video I would recommend buying a Linksys WRT Series TTL Console Port Adapter.It saves time so you dont have to take the bloody router apart again ,Other than that good tutorial.
Nice! Thanks for the tutorial.
Saved my router from the bin... I have the Venom firmware and ran into a few issues. Putty did not "see" the router, I had to swap the white and green wires. I then then ran into another issue, get getting T T T T T when trying to write the firmware and then it would just time out. I had to disable Windows Firewall and it worked immediately after that.
Excellent tutorial, thanks! 👍
You are the Mannnnn, Thank you very much Sir for creating this master piece. It worked like a charm!!!!
thank got you saved my two linksys wrt 3200 acm from dead
Awesome...! worked perfectly for me. Did it on a wrt1200AC. Thank you
Can you make a video for the Linksys AX3200 router?
Thanks its work.... 100% . Excelent Tutorial... ;-).... cheers my friend.
You rock! TY! TY! TY! MGBY!
Hi great video, very well done, just two things: 1) the TTL Serial to USB cable you plug the USB end to any USB port of your computer, correct? 2) the yellow ethernet cable is it a normal cable? My understanding is that in your video you disconnected from your computer the ethernet cables that connects you to a WORKING ROUTER (and to the internet), and its place you connected the yellow (normal) ethernet cable from the NON-WORKING router, correct?
Really helpful mate! Best tutorial out there for this type of router!!
Awesome thank you so much!!
I'm routing Good-Vibrations & Karma to you right now. Thank you
👍😎
this was PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you just saved my 1200AC!!! now I want to know what else I can do with this cable because that was cool as fuck!
I have used this video several times over the past few years. This last time it was a Linksys 1900ac router. The video does not show how to remove the back black panel. I just used a screwdriver and started separating the cove at the front tabs, on both sides until I wired to the back middle. It the popped off. One of the back antenna wires popped off when I folded the black cover over to the side. I just looked for the little jack on the back of the board. I did have an issue with the setenv firmwareName setting. During the run command it kept saying it could not find the file blk-mamba.128mb.img. I tried it from the beginning of the setup and always says the same thing. I just changed the file in the tftp directory to match this name. It worked fine.
I hit the space key but in putty, it gets stuck on "starting kernel" Not sure what to do next. It never goes beyond that point (Its the 1900 model)
Edit: I ended up trying my new Adafruit USB-C uart cable and it finally was able to get to the "Marvel" prompt. :) A few more tries on my old cable and, it decided to not show up in putty at all. (Maybe I fried it, idk. I never hooked up the 3.3v line)
Maybe my other cable is on the way out. lol. Strange cause, I got that one from Adafruit as well.
It works!! Thank you so much for the tutorial! I'd be lost trying to figure it out myself.
I have a wrt3200acm with OpenWrt on both partitions. I'd like to put the OEM f/w on partition 1.
You used the command "run update_both_images" to flash both partitions.
What command should I run to flash the f/w image to partition 1, and leave OpenWrt on partition 2 ?
simply my friend you are the best thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for sharing, I was able to unbrick my wrt1900acs
Hi, I followed all the steps until the last, the putty showed ‘tftp error file not found’. I don’t know why it was
This is a great tutorial. I have a WRT32X that presently has DD-WRT firmware installed, and I'm hoping to flash both partitions back to LinkSys firmware. I cannot get to the Marvell prompt. It seems U-Boot takes over immediately and completes the boot sequence. I can't break in with or anything else I have tried. Any ideas?
mine would'nt boot at all with the TX of the modem connected. see my other post
when i type "run update both images" i get update not defined. anyone else or sugguestions?
Great guide, though after trying to get this working after successful flash I had issues. Using a WRT32x I had to rename the stock firmware I was about to flash to venom.img and this resolved my issue. Additional point, after run update_both_images and successful NAND flash, use command 'boot' this will show you whether the firmware is successful.
I have wrt32x firmware dd wrt I want oem ....Is this method successful?
Can I do that with the programs without any internet straight to the computer from the router or vice versa
I need to interrupt boot but when I press any key (or spacebar) it continues to boot - any ideas?
Legend mate, thank you.
Hi Crooked , PL2303HX USB to TTL UART RS232 Converter Cable, is this model can use for Linksys EA9200 AC3200 ?
I bought a ttl cable but the pin connector is extremely loose.
Working on a linksys WRT3200acm thanks!!
When I put the ttl cable on the router.only the ethanol light its blinking the power light its not showing
i have a wrt 32x, but the terminal stays black, nothing populates it. Granted i'm using a different usb to serial device, the good old CH341a, in TTL mode. followed every step exact, but nothing happens...
Dude, You are Awesome I will let you know if that work with my router I was going to dump it
Ok, finally is back to life my WRT1900AC v1 thank you Zach Stabile for your help also to
Simon Foakes
Led Enjes
I used all your knowledge and it worked, for some weird reason, I had to use "setenv firmware_Name blk-mamba.128mb.img" even renaming the file and forcing to use the "linksys.img" it wasn't working, so instead to fight I just changed the name of the file to "blk-mamba.128mb" and after that everything worked flawlessly
Thanks. This worked perfectly for me.
Did you try switching the boot partition?
Hmmm, terminal does not accept my keyboard entries. So I'm not able to stop bootup. Serial port set to 115200 com etc.
Does anyone know if this will work for the WRT32X? Very nice job on the video btw.
yes it will
hi I have a bricked wrt32x would this procedure work with it also?, thank you great video huge help!!
Nice job. Thank you
Thanks its helpful..is there another method if u don't have ttl cable?
Thanks for sharing, that's really helpful!
Trying to reflash my WRT3200ACM firmware but can't get to the Marvell prompt. With the serial cable connected, the router won't boot. If I connect the serial cable immediately after powering on the router, it always auto boots. A couple others in this (old) thread had the same issue. Anyone find a fix? ANY help is greatly appreciated!
I have the same problem with WRT32X.
Hi William by any chance, did you manage to resilve this? this is happening to me as well!
@@guillermoferro946 I did eventually get it to work but it's been awhile since I've been through the process. I remember the ORDER in which I did things made a huge difference. This is a comment I made to the thread immediately after I got mine working...
I was able to get to the Marvell prompt by connecting the TTL cable immediately after turning on the power to the router and spamming the space bar.
Another problem I encountered was that PuTTY was attempting to load but was giving...
T T T T T T T (etc.)
...and then timing out.
I found that I had to start TFTPd64 AFTER I was at the Marvell prompt. It might have been obvious to some, but I didn't realize that without power to the router when TFTPd was initialized, no connection was made when TFTPd was started.
Led Enjes had some very important tips in his comments above as well
Hope it helps, Best of Luck!
I have the same problem, I can't get it to work. If the TTL cable is connected the router won't start. :(
This fixed my 1900ac router
Thank you very much, that helped me a lot!
Link for WRT1900AC (version 1 and 2) www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=148550
i'm trying this but when i go to device manager, i have no com and lpt ports. NONE. everything else that i have connected to my pc is showing up. it is showing up as "other devices > CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller" with a small question mark. when i right click > properties on other devices, it says other devices and thats it. when i right click > properties on CP..... it says:
drivers are installed.
There are no compatible drivers for this device.
To find a driver for this device, click update driver.
update drivers does nothing. however, i can navigate manually through a list of drivers and find Ports (Com & LPT). the next thing it asks for is Manufacturer and Model. The only thing that makes sense here is Microsoft under the Manufacturer category and under Model, it says USB Serial Device, USB Serial Modem Device and Standard Serial over Bluetooth link. Bluetooth obviously isn't it. if i click on either of the other 2, i get an Update Driver Warning that i shouldn't do the update as "Windows can't verify that it is compatible with my hardware. blah blah...." what do i do? also, i'm assuming when you said to plug the ethernet from pc to router, you meant the "bricked" router, right? that didn't do anything for the device manager list
Thank You Very Much
Hi. Nice helpful video. I have a Netgear R7000 stuck in the same manner. Will this fix work for that too? Please let me know. Thank you much
I can confirm that, black is the first pin. However, I don't know if this is TX or RX.
Thank you this worked!!
And out of curiosity, could I follow these same steps to flash openwrt/ddwrt directly?
Does this work with the Linksys WRT 32X ?.
Hello Zach, how are you? I need help and maybe you are the right person for this. I have a linksys EA9300 that does not open the web part. I receive ok answers on ping 192.168.1.1, but without success to access, telnet on port 80 also does not respond :(. So I understand that I can try a recover via serial. There is the problem, I do not find pinout information for this model in nowhere, by any chance would you have this information? The serial pinout of the EA9300. Grateful for any help :)
Help. I can't get this to work. I have the setup in the video but when I run "update_both_images" I just get "T"s in PUTTY. Tftpd launches a transfer bar window but no bytes are sent. Read out in Tftpd 0% then "err". port is 69, security none. What am I missing?
This looks really promising, but has anyone encountered having the 3200 refuse to boot while the TTL serial cable is attached? It boots up fine (with a semi corrupted version of DD WRT), but when I attach the TTL cable (after powering down of course) it refuses to boot up. Once I remove the TTL connection (again, powering it down prior to removal), it powers up fine. So essentially I can't establish the serial connection and get to the marvell prompt
.
William, I'm having the same issue. Did you ever find a fix for getting to the Marvell prompt?
William,
I was able to get to the Marvell prompt by connecting the TTL cable immediately after turning on the power to the router and spamming the space bar.
Another problem I encountered was that PuTTY was attempting to load but was giving...
T T T T T T T (etc.)
...and then timing out.
I found that I had to start TFTPd64 AFTER I was at the Marvell prompt. It might have been obvious to some, but I didn't realize that without power to the router when TFTPd was initialized, no connection was made when TFTPd was started.
Led Enjes had some very important tips in his comments above as well
Thank you everyone for the excellent guide and helpful tips!!!
:D