CFE Question on AC68U E1

[manuforti]

I have a question on the CFE I need for my bricked router.

Router model is a RT AC68u E1, I bought it from eBay knowing it was bricked. Boots up with one usb light on and the power led dimly lit. Any network cable plugged in lights the appropriate led.

So far I have managed to desolder the nand and dump the contents. The nand does not seem to match the board, probably not a surprise, the board has Rev 1.90 silk screened on it. The dumped nand has a variable HW 1.70 in it.

My question, can I purchase a working E1 router, dump the nand and write that to my corrupt nand then reinstall? I understand if this works I will have a clone, I'd need to swap data to make the router unique again.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Tech9]

How do you know it's flash related exactly? Power LED dim may indicate failed VRM. This is what I would check first.

 

[manuforti]

My 'theory' was based on a previous owner have solder up what I think is the jtag header.

I checked the VRMs around the board. I can see voltage on all but 1, the VRM by the usb 2 and 3 led of the front of the board. I've not removed the heatsink, there might be more below that.

Thanks for the pointer, I need to go and understand a little more about these circuits. I don't suppose there are schematics for these boards?

 

[manuforti]

Just spotted this post, looks very similar to what I'm seeing.

AC68u rev E1 board rev 1.90 issue

as said in the title ... I have a "AC68u rev E1 board rev 1.90" was running merlin's last 380.67 beta2 my issue started yesterday when I decided to remake my settings and try new wifi settings out.... so I factory resetted the router from the web admin.... after reboot router was stuck with...

www.snbforums.com

 

[Tech9]

I don't suppose there are schematics for these boards?

No schematics. I newer worked on AC68U, but resurrected 3x AC86U using donor boards from other failed AC86Us. Most common failure I found was a fried VRM, second common was thermal stress causing RF ICs malfunction, perhaps a result of RoHS design. AC68U is well built. AC86U is hit and miss.

 

[Tech9]

Just spotted this post, looks very similar to what I'm seeing.

Interesting. Could be.

 

[manuforti]

Thanks, I'll pick my way through this and see if I can learn. My very basic understanding ( I use the word generously ) is when these circuits fail they often show a short to ground. I don't see that.

I don't have a donor board either, I'll keep an eye out for one on eBay.

 

[Tech9]

How much did you pay for this router? New ones are currently on sale here in Canada for $100.

 

[manuforti]

How much did you pay for this router? New ones are currently on sale here in Canada for $100.

I paid £25 here in the UK. Really for the educational side of things. I think my next real purchase will be an AX86, they look nice bits of kit.