Problems Upgrading Firmware N66U

[Mutalator]

I've had tons of problems trying to upgrade the firmware for a long time, most of the time the upgrade through the browser would time out after ~20 mins and I would have to start all over. It probably would take 7-10 tries to get the upgrade to go through.

I've tried using the Asus Firmware Restore, but it immediately fails the upload when it connects to the device. I've never gotten farther than about 1 second into the upload.

I've done a NVRAM reset with the WPS, then immediately go into rescue mode and that doesn't work. I've done just a boot into rescue mode, that's a nogo. I've tried setting a static IP and doing the same as above, that doesn't work.

I can ping, use the net, when I reboot after it hangs it goes right back to its previous firmware.

I'm out of ideas.

 

[KenAF]

I've had tons of problems trying to upgrade the firmware for a long time, most of the time the upgrade through the browser would time out after ~20 mins and I would have to start all over. It probably would take 7-10 tries to get the upgrade to go through.
I'm out of ideas.

Are you upgrading using a wired connection to the router?

You should never upgrade over wireless.

 

[r00t4rd3d]

Just to be sure:

Know your hardware buttons

Reset button: pressing the Reset button while power-up, will put this ASUS router in recovery mode.

That is: press and hold the reset button, keep pressing the reset button while plugging in the power, then keep holding the reset button pressed for about ten seconds until the power led is blinking slowly, then release the reset button. The router is now in recovery mode.

WPS button: pressing the Red WPS button while power-up, will clear the NVRAM. All settings are stored in NVRAM of this ASUS router. Clearing the NVRAM is the most efficient way to reset the router to default settings.

That is: press and hold the WPS button, keep pressing the reset button while plugging in the power, then keep holding the WPS button pressed for about ten seconds, then release the WPS button. All settings have now been wiped, and default settings will be used.

 

[RMerlin]

I've had tons of problems trying to upgrade the firmware for a long time, most of the time the upgrade through the browser would time out after ~20 mins and I would have to start all over. It probably would take 7-10 tries to get the upgrade to go through.

I've tried using the Asus Firmware Restore, but it immediately fails the upload when it connects to the device. I've never gotten farther than about 1 second into the upload.

I've done a NVRAM reset with the WPS, then immediately go into rescue mode and that doesn't work. I've done just a boot into rescue mode, that's a nogo. I've tried setting a static IP and doing the same as above, that doesn't work.

I can ping, use the net, when I reboot after it hangs it goes right back to its previous firmware.

I'm out of ideas.

Boot your router without any USB disk plugged in, in case your router would be low on free memory with the USB-related services running.

Try a different network cable.

 

[CooCooCaChoo]

And which browser and version are you using? I've always had success using all versions of Chrome to flash.

 

[Mutalator]

@KenAF Always over wired, no wireless.

@r00t4rd3d Yea, I know the difference between the buttons. I saw someone else having a similar problem and it was suggested to mess with both the WPS and reset buttons on boot.

@RMerlin There aren't any USB disks plugged in. Tried a different network cable and had the same results.

@CooCooCaChoo I've tried Chrome and IE. Both just hang and say Waiting for 192.168.1.1.

 

[laser]

doesn't ASUS use 192.168.0.1 by default?

 

[Mutalator]

Nope, 192.168.1.1 is the default.

 

[FireWire76]

Hi.
If am not mistaken you tried Asus Firmware Restoration Utility, which I had problems with myself just the other day, didn't work at all. I had the same issues as you. I also had the same problem with using a browser to connect to 192.168.1.1, it did not show anything besides the "Waiting for 192.168.1.1". The solution for me was when setting the static IP for your network card, to also set the default gateway to 192.168.1.1. I have a Swedish OS, so don't know exactly the correct labels in English operating systems are. But you fill out the IP(for example 192.168.1.10) and click the netmask field so it auto completes. And under that fill out the default gateway IP with 192.168.1.1. Open a web page with 192.168.1.1 and then put the router in Recovery Mode by turning off the router and push and hold the reset button while turning on the router. 10 seconds isn't needed. Hold it for about 5-6 seconds until the Power led is slowly blinking. In my tries(and fails) I realised that that time is an issue here. Be quick to access your computer and when the firmware recovery page(in browser) is accessible, which is was almost instantly for me after doing the above, browse for the file as quickly as possible and click upload.
The above may sound jerky, but this was the solution for me, after about 10-11 tries with no luck going from Tomato firmware back to Merlin.
Hope it helps you and god luck. Know how frustrating this can be...

 

[Mutalator]

I've tried what you have suggested before and haven't had any luck. Just tried again a few times and I didn't have any better results.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[RMerlin]

Let's start the whole process from the beginning, in case something got lost along the way.

1) Configure a computer with the following IP information on its Ethernet interface:

IP = 192.168.1.100
Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: leave it empty

DNS: leave it empty

2) Turn off the router.

Unplug all Ethernet cables and USB disk from your router - only keep one Ethernet cable between the computer and the router (if you have any doubt, try a different Ethernet cable).

3) Disable any security software running on your computer (especially if it has any built-in firewall/filtering functiionality, such as what Norton Internet Security or Eset Smart Security provides).

4) While pressing the Reset button, turn the router on. Wait about 5 seconds - the Power led should be flashing at that point - release the Reset button.

5) Go to your web browser, and access http://192.168.1.1

You should see the Asus CFE MiniWEB page, with a field to upload a firmware.

Make sure you downloaded the correct firmware, and unzipped it. Upload the .trx file through that web page.

6) Wait until you see the router rebooted (at that point, the wifi LEDs should turn on). This can take between 15 and 40 minutes, depending on various factors.

7) If after that the process still fails, then it's possible your router is faulty. I have an RT-N16 here myself that will frequently crash in the middle of flashing through recovery.

 

[Mutalator]

Thanks Merlin! That worked. I disabled avast and it seemed to like it better.

Now a different problem, my upload speed is about 10% of what it should be. This is on a fresh flash, with the newest drivers for my NIC. The speeds on wireless are fine.

I know there's a lot of problems with jumbo frames/packets and there is an option in the advanced settings of my NIC for that. It's only got 3 options, none of which are off.

I've plugged directly into the modem and the upload speed is fine then.

 

[FireWire76]

Let's start the whole process from the beginning, in case something got lost along the way.

1) Configure a computer with the following IP information on its Ethernet interface:

IP = 192.168.1.100
Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: leave it empty

DNS: leave it empty

2) Turn off the router.

Unplug all Ethernet cables and USB disk from your router - only keep one Ethernet cable between the computer and the router (if you have any doubt, try a different Ethernet cable).

3) Disable any security software running on your computer (especially if it has any built-in firewall/filtering functiionality, such as what Norton Internet Security or Eset Smart Security provides).

4) While pressing the Reset button, turn the router on. Wait about 5 seconds - the Power led should be flashing at that point - release the Reset button.

5) Go to your web browser, and access http://192.168.1.1

You should see the Asus CFE MiniWEB page, with a field to upload a firmware.

Make sure you downloaded the correct firmware, and unzipped it. Upload the .trx file through that web page.

6) Wait until you see the router rebooted (at that point, the wifi LEDs should turn on). This can take between 15 and 40 minutes, depending on various factors.

7) If after that the process still fails, then it's possible your router is faulty. I have an RT-N16 here myself that will frequently crash in the middle of flashing through recovery.

This should be set up as a Sticky/Guide on how to perform a firmware upgrade/change. I believe many users would benefit from having this simple step by step guide.

Good job Merlin.

 

[agilani]

I had a slightly similar issue to what you are describing trying to get dd-wrt on this router. Did you clear the nvram after you loaded the firmware and rebooted?

Here's what I did -
disabled Symantec endpoint protection
cleared nvram
load the new firmware through the existing firmware
after reboot the router just hung
I then rebooted into recovery and cleared the nvram again

this time it came right up

 

[Mutalator]

The issue is resolved as far as the uploading of the firmware is concerned. I was having antivirus/firewall issues, temporarily disabling that solved the problem.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Mutalator]

Chalk this up to random, I have 2 NIC's on my mobo... tried the other one and the upload speeds are normal. That NIC must be shot.

Thanks for the replies everyone!