did my n56u kick the bucket?

[cc1]

hello, i'm in search of some assistance.
i've had my n56u for 6-8 months, maybe more. in that time i dont recall any problems. a couple days ago i looked on the asus website and saw that there was a newer firmware than the one i had on my router.
i installed it and everything seemed to work that i could tell.

well today i went to go online and i couldnt. i got some kind of notification that lan was not connected to anything. so i went to the n56u to see what might have happened. well first thing i noticed when i picked it up to flip it around to the back was how hot it was. i dont know if it is normal, but it was hot enough to make me wonder if maybe being that hot is bad for the router.

anyway, for a while i could still connect to the router via wifi. so i went into 192.168.1.1 and looked around. none of my ethernet connected devices were shown as connected. furthermore, when i unplugged all the ethernet cables one of the ethernet port lights still remained on. this was very strange to me since nothing was plugged in.

i tried all the ethernet ports but i still get the same result. no indication that anything is connected.

so i assumed it was maybe the firmware and i tried to do a reset via wizard, but i think something else got screwed up b/c now i cant even access that via wifi.

is there a way to install an older firmware with using a usb drive or something? or is there some way to do a factory reset some other way that does not require accessing the router settings in 192.168.1.1?

 

[RogerSC]

You can try a 30-30-30 reset to put it in recovery mode, which may allow you to load your old firmware:

Press and hold the reset button with the router powered on for 30 seconds.

Unplug the router, still holding the reset button for 30 more seconds while the router is unpowered.

Still holding the reset button, plug the router in and continue holding the reset button for another 30 seconds.

Note that you have kept the reset button pressed in continuously during the whole process above.

Now, finally, you can let go of the reset button and the router should be in recovery mode, which will let you point it at your old firmware and load it in via a very simple recovery web GUI screen (at the usual default 192.168.1.1). Typically, the power light will be slowly pulsing after this, to indicate recovery mode. If you get lucky, this will work. I'm not sure that this will work though, even though it's kind of a last resort, your symptoms sound pretty bad.

Good luck.

 

[cc1]

thanks, i was able to get into that mode with the slow blinking light.
but i think my lan port(s) died or something b/c i could not get into 192.168.1.1

 

[RMerlin]

Make sure you set your computer to a static IP first - 192.168.1.100.

 

[Guz]

And you just put the router in firmware recovery mode. You will need to use their software to reflash the firmware. Asus RT-N56U support downloads

After you download and install, the software, you have to set your computer to a static IP, SM, GW
IP: 192.168.1.10
SM: 255.255.255.0
GW: 192.168.1.1

Then run the "Firmware Restoration" software to reload the firmware.

Then you have to reset the router to default after the firmware is loaded. Press and hold the reset button for more than 5 seconds.

Hopefully after that, you can put your computer back to DHCP assigned IP address, and point your browser to 192.168.1.1 to reconfigure it. If not, I think the phrase is "It's dead Jim".

 

[cc1]

oh ok, i didnt know about the static ip thing. i was just connecting it normally. but now i've run into some other possible problem. i looked on the asus site there and i guess the software i have to use is called "ASUS RT-N56U Utility Version 4.2.4.8 Notice: only for firmware version 1.0.1.8b, 1.0.1.8d and 1.0.1.8e" ?

if this is correct then i might be out of luck b/c the firmware i updated to was version 1.0.1.8g. actually there does not seem to be an updated utility for 1.0.1.8f either which is what i had previously.

 

[Guz]

It should work with 1.0.1.8g (I've done it). I didn't even notice that it specified older firmware versions when I did it.

If you are concerned, just use the older 1.0.1.8e firmware. If it takes, and you have your router working again, you can always update it after