Asus AC-AR68U bricked?

[Verwooks]

This just happened:

Swapped some power outlets so router rebooted (Not too fast)

Now the router is just showing led flash on ETH2/3 or 4. Eth1 doesn't seem to work, WAN and USB2.0 (No cable there)
Ive tried setting in recovery mode (Power on with reset button pressed 15-20 seconds) and NVRAM reset with WPS button power on 15-20 seconds pressed. But the power lamp is never blinking. Maybe it's supposed to not blink on this mode? Not sure. I've tried connecting a PC directly in eth 2-3 or 4 and static ip 192.168.1.2 (GW .1) no luck, can't even ping (if its supposed to respond to ping).

It's strange, it's doesnt seem to boot, it's just power on -> lights on eth x and usb2.0. Nothing more happens.

The router was flashed with AsusWRT Merlin, some firmware from mid-summer ish version don't remember.

Is it possible to solve this somehow? As long as I can't see power led flashing im not sure if I have activated recovery mode, or if it's really working at all.

Here is a video of boot:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0b34fj61k1diw9t/2015-09-17 19.05.41.mp4?dl=0

 

[L&LD]

Did you unplug it and plug it back in and possibly unplug it again before you plugged it in and left it?

Try simply leaving it unpowered for 30 minutes or more. Press all the buttons and switches you can (with no power applied) to dissipate any residual voltage.

Hopefully, it will just boot up for you.

 

[Verwooks]

Hey, thanks for reply.

Tried this morning without luck. Just boots up again with the same led. No power led visible. I haven't tried ping or http://192.168.10.1 yet though, but I'm not optimistic.

Why is the USB2.0 led visible? Nothing connected. Is it possible to flash the router with USB cable? Other suggestions?

 

[RMerlin]

Try the following procedures to do a factory default reset:

1) Turn off the router
2) Unplug all Ethernet cables and USB disks
3) Press the WPS button and keep it pressed
4) Turn the router on, and wait 10 seconds
5) Release the WPS button
6) Wait 2 minutes to let the router boot
7) Plug back your cables, and try accessing the router at 192.168.1.1 with a web browser

If it still fails, try putting it in recovery mode:

1) Download the latest firmware for your router (378.55 - don't use an Asus stock firmware just yet, as the RT-AC68U might need a CFE upgrade - with the stock firmware, this requires flashing a specific version first)
2) Turn off the router
3) Press the Reset button and keep it pressed
4) Turn it on
5) Wait 10 seconds, then release the Reset button

Does the Power LED slowly flash? If yes, then:

1) Configure your PC with a static IP address (192.168.1.100, mask is 255.255.255.0, leave the gateway and DNS empty
2) Try accessing the router with a browser at 192.168.1.1.
3) If you see the CFE mini web page, proceed with flashing the firmware (don't forget to unzip first)
4) Give your router 10-20 minutes to complete (flashing in recovery mode is slower)
5) Reconfigure your PC network interface in DHCP (automatic) mode
6) Try accessing it at 192.168.1.1

If all of this fails, then contact Asus for an RMA - looks like it's defective.

 

[pege63]

"1) Download the latest firmware for your router (378.55 - don't use an Asus stock firmware just yet, as the RT-AC68U might need a CFE upgrade - with the stock firmware, this requires flashing a specific version first)"

Where do we find this specific version FW?

 

[RMerlin]

"1) Download the latest firmware for your router (378.55 - don't use an Asus stock firmware just yet, as the RT-AC68U might need a CFE upgrade - with the stock firmware, this requires flashing a specific version first)"

Where do we find this specific version FW?

You mean the Asus one that does the CFE upgrade for the RT-AC68U, or mine?

In my case, you can directly flash the latest, as it's small enough to fit in the old bootloader mapping, and yet it will still take care of upgrading.

For the Asus stock FW, it should be on their support site. Look for the newest firmware of the 376 series (I forgot the complete number). It's necessary to flash the newer 378 firmwares.

 

[Verwooks]

Try the following procedures to do a factory default reset:

1) Turn off the router
2) Unplug all Ethernet cables and USB disks
3) Press the WPS button and keep it pressed
4) Turn the router on, and wait 10 seconds
5) Release the WPS button
6) Wait 2 minutes to let the router boot
7) Plug back your cables, and try accessing the router at 192.168.1.1 with a web browser

If it still fails, try putting it in recovery mode:

1) Download the latest firmware for your router (378.55 - don't use an Asus stock firmware just yet, as the RT-AC68U might need a CFE upgrade - with the stock firmware, this requires flashing a specific version first)
2) Turn off the router
3) Press the Reset button and keep it pressed
4) Turn it on
5) Wait 10 seconds, then release the Reset button

Does the Power LED slowly flash? If yes, then:

1) Configure your PC with a static IP address (192.168.1.100, mask is 255.255.255.0, leave the gateway and DNS empty
2) Try accessing the router with a browser at 192.168.1.1.
3) If you see the CFE mini web page, proceed with flashing the firmware (don't forget to unzip first)
4) Give your router 10-20 minutes to complete (flashing in recovery mode is slower)
5) Reconfigure your PC network interface in DHCP (automatic) mode
6) Try accessing it at 192.168.1.1

If all of this fails, then contact Asus for an RMA - looks like it's defective.

No luck

Gonna try RMA then.