Clearing NVRAM on n66 through Putty Question

[Ksmith]

Ok, I cleared my nvram through putty, then put in command reboot and my router setup as a new router like new, was putting on new firmware. I saw someone put in after the mtd-erase -d nvram command the commit command, what does the commit command do?

mtd-erase -d nvram
reboot

or

mtd-erase -d nvram
commit
reboot

Whats the difference?

I am using telnet through putty.

 

[4Leaf]

Do not use the commit command. Not proper for this situation. That is to only be used when actually changing part of the nvram code.

 

[RMerlin]

nvram commit will write back the RAM copy of your settings on top of the just-erased storage partition, so you definitely don't want to do that after erasing it.

In fact I advise against even rebooting from the command line. Eject any USB disk, erase the partition, and after that manually turn the router off then on.

 

[4Leaf]

nvram commit will write back the RAM copy of your settings on top of the just-erased storage partition, so you definitely don't want to do that after erasing it.

In fact I advise against even rebooting from the command line. Eject any USB disk, erase the partition, and after that manually turn the router off then on.

theoretically if someone did use the nvram commit command. Would they be able to undo this by simply erasing the nvram again?

 

[RMerlin]

theoretically if someone did use the nvram commit command. Would they be able to undo this by simply erasing the nvram again?

Sure. nvram commit isn't anything special, it's what the router does every time you change a setting that must be saved to nvram.

 

[bmn1]

I thought the erase nvram command was....

erase nvram
nvram commit
reboot

????

 

[4Leaf]

I thought the erase nvram command was....

erase nvram
nvram commit
reboot

????

If you have a rt-n66u.

You would enter mtd-erase -d nvram on telnet and then reboot.
Manually rebooting after entering the erase nvram command would be better though.

Some other routers have different commands.

Just forget about nvram commit. Unless you know exactly what you are doing with using commands then don't use them. There is no need to enter nvram commit after erase nvram because there is nothing to commit.

 

[4Leaf]

Sure. nvram commit isn't anything special, it's what the router does every time you change a setting that must be saved to nvram.

What series of commands would someone use to erase the nvram and jffs2 partition together before rebooting the router. Is this even possible or do you have erase the jffs2 partition first?

 

[bmn1]

What about for an RT-AC87??

 

[RMerlin]

What series of commands would someone use to erase the nvram and jffs2 partition together before rebooting the router. Is this even possible or do you have erase the jffs2 partition first?

Just use the webui. Otherwise, things will depend on which router model you have, which firmware version you use (they don't all share the same jffs2 partition name), etc...

 

[Ksmith]

Sorry for being away for a while. Thank you everybody who took time to answer the post very much appreciated.

 

[xXJakeXx]

how to even get to this "command menu"

Sorry to thread hijack but I cannot for the life of me to figure out how-to even get to this tools section where you can manually enter ms-dos like commands. Once again sorry for thread jacking. Thanks in advance, oh and fyi I have Firmware V. Merlin 374.43_2 and I have a Asus Rt-Ac68R.

 

[4Leaf]

Sorry to thread hijack but I cannot for the life of me to figure out how-to even get to this tools section where you can manually enter ms-dos like commands. Once again sorry for thread jacking. Thanks in advance, oh and fyi I have Firmware V. Merlin 374.43_2 and I have a Asus Rt-Ac68R.

Download a software program called putty.

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

That is the link to the software. Just download the file that says just Putty for the correct OS you are using on your pc.

When you finally open putty move over the icon that is automatically set over on ssh for port 22 to telnet which will be port 23 automatically.

Once you have gotten this far enter your routers IP address for example "192.168.1.1". Once the black window opens enter the login which the default would be admin then hit enter. Next enter the password and hit enter. This is the part where you would enter for example "mtd-erase -d nvram" and then manually reboot the router.

The mtd-erase -d nvram command is for the rt-n66u. I believe the code for the ac routers is "mtd-erase2 nvram" then hit the enter key and let that finish. Then manually reboot the router.

 

[RMerlin]

Sorry to thread hijack but I cannot for the life of me to figure out how-to even get to this tools section where you can manually enter ms-dos like commands. Once again sorry for thread jacking. Thanks in advance, oh and fyi I have Firmware V. Merlin 374.43_2 and I have a Asus Rt-Ac68R.

The Run Cmd page was removed a few releases ago as it was a security risk. A malicious site would have been able to run arbitrary commands on your router if you were logged to it in a separate tab.

Using a SSH client such as XShell or Putty is the proper way to do it now.

 

[xXJakeXx]

Thank you 4Leaf and RMerlin, kept on seeing to do these commands through tool's, didn't know there was a security risk involved with it! I very much appreciate your knowledge and your help have a good rest of the weekend .