After several attempts over a period of months, I’ve finally found a method that worked for me to consistently flash both an Orbi RBK50 router and satellite using a Windows 10/11 PC. I had zero success with tftp, but nmrpflash worked.
My Orbi did have a green power light, but I wasn’t able to connect to it. Can’t speak to other symptoms.
My Orbi did have a green power light, but I wasn’t able to connect to it. Can’t speak to other symptoms.
- Place nmrpflash.exe and your desired firmware file in the Windows c:\ root directory
- Connect lan cable from computer to Orbi (router or satellite) but don’t power on the Orbi yet
- Go to Windows network settings for the appropriate adapter and change IP assignment from DHCP to manual and assign the following: IP address 192.168.1.10, Subnet mask 255.255.255.0, Gateway 192.168.1.1, Preferred DNS 192.168.1.1
- Open a command line window. My preferred method is: hit windows key and type “cmd”. Right click on Command Prompt and choose Run As Administrator
- In the command line window type “cd c:\” Enter. Ensure you see only “c:\” as a prompt, or none of this will work.
- Type “nmrpflash –L” Enter. Note the name of the network adapter you’re using to connect to Orbi. This is important
- Type “nmrpflash -i name of network adapter –f name of firmware file” but don’t hit enter yet
- Use a sharp object to press the reset button beside the power jack on the Orbi and keep pressed. Power on the Orbi. The power led should go amber, then solid red, then blinking red. When it starts to blink, on the computer hit enter to run nmrpflash. The Orbi power led will flash for about seven red blinks and then you’ll see a quick green blink before it returns to red blinks. When you see the green blink, stop pressing the reset button
- You should see “Advertising NMRP server on name of network adapter…..spinning /” When you see this, unplug and immediately (within a second or two) replug power to the Orbi
- If you’re successful, you’ll see messages about uploading file, etc. If not, I’m afraid I can’t help. This is the method that worked for me. Good luck!
- Tip: From my experience, timing seems to be important, but not split-second kind of critical. From powering on the Orbi to releasing the reset button felt like around 10 seconds. I had the Orbi laying on its side immediately to my left, so I held the reset button with a pin using my left hand, and used my right hand to both plug in the Orbi and hit enter on the computer as required. I used a laptop, so this was convenient for me.
- Here’s what I saw in the command line window:
- c:\>nmrpflash -i net102 -f rbs50v2.img enter
- After Orbi started blinking red Advertising NMRP server on net102 ... \
- After powering off and back on Received configuration request from b0:39:56:96:85:c1.
- Sending configuration: 10.164.183.253/24.
- Received upload request: filename 'firmware'.
- Uploading rbs50v2.img ... OK (27394177 b)
- Waiting for remote to respond.
- Remote finished. Closing connection.
- Reboot your device now.
