Solved RT-AC5300 Bricked won't upload firmware in Rescue Mode

[aex.perez]

Going from 386.10 beta to 386.10 beta, the AC5300 router lost it (node appears fine). This morning, started the router up via rescue mode and this is where the problems start:

Using Latest Asus Firmware, Merlin 386.10 and the smallest size Asus firmware (read on)

Entering rescue rode, the documented way with reset button, no problem. Laptop wired, address set to 192.168.1.10. Firmware restoration utility after a few seconds, begins to upload the selected firmware.
Near the end, at varying % complete, it fails. The % complete correlates to the size of the firmware. 386.10 (35MB) it gets to 91%, with latest Asus firmware(45MB) it gets to 77% with smallest size Asus firmware (38MB) it gets to 82% and fails.

Next, upon entering rescue mode, pointed the browser to 192.168.1.1 to get the Mini CFE page. Comes up, supply the file name of the firmware to upload (tried all three) and press upload. No progress bar, no progress indication at all and after a some time (about the same as it took the restoration utility to fail) the page errors out.

Tried various combinations of WPS Reset with, without pushing the reset button, for various amounts of time based on some tricks discovered through searching the forums.

No luck.

After powering on, from power disconnected or from on/off button, or after a WPS reset, only the power LED comes on and no response from the router, no default WiFi SSID's are active either.
Any tricks, idea, approaches any one that has run into a simiar situation and has been successful in unbricking their router, please share - out of ideas myself

I just don't want to give up, hoping someone on the forum has a trick up their sleve they'll share

 

[Tech9]

Run a continuous ping to the router IP and watch what’s going on. The restoration page may be saying fail, but the process continues. Just wait longer and see what happens.

 

[aex.perez]

Run a continuous ping to the router IP and watch what’s going on. The restoration page may be saying fail, but the process continues. Just wait longer and see what happens.

Thanks for that tip, tried it and waited a good 15mins, but nothing.

Being at this all since 8am, now 4:30pm, poured me some just made Cuban coffee and just when the sugar started to set in...
I had an epiphany, extrapolating what I read in a few other posts about trying other alternate FW combined with failing at different % completion based on the size of the firmware.
I started looking for and found the smallest FW in term of file size for the 5300 from Merlin's repository.

Looking at all the Merlin downloads for the 5300, the smallest by file size is the 384.18 release (33.9MB)

So using the traditional method, using the firmware restoration utility. It got to 98% before it failed, ugh so close.
Next, CFE page, picked the same 384.18 trx file, clicked upload, got a completion message and SUCCESS!!!

After about a minute or so the router rebooted and all the lights came back on, set the adapter on the laptop back to DHCP and pointed to 192.168.1.1 and bingo, starting a brand new router!
Was getting a little impatient and about to hit download on DD-WRT firmware for the 5300 (26.5MB) when the lights on the 5300 came back on and it finished booting up!

So that's my new trick, if bricked, no more than 34MB file size .TRX (firmware) regardless of version, if the standard approach with current firmware fails...

Now the long journey to the 386.10 release begins...

 

[IslandGator]

Thanks for that tip, tried it and waited a good 15mins, but nothing.

Being at this all since 8am, now 4:30pm, poured me some just made Cuban coffee and just when the sugar started to set in...
I had an epiphany, extrapolating what I read in a few other posts about trying other alternate FW combined with failing at different % completion based on the size of the firmware.
I started looking for and found the smallest FW in term of file size for the 5300 from Merlin's repository.

Looking at all the Merlin downloads for the 5300, the smallest by file size is the 384.18 release (33.9MB)
View attachment 48491

So using the traditional method, using the firmware restoration utility. It got to 98% before it failed, ugh so close.
Next, CFE page, picked the same 384.18 trx file, clicked upload, got a completion message and SUCCESS!!!

After about a minute or so the router rebooted and all the lights came back on, set the adapter on the laptop back to DHCP and pointed to 192.168.1.1 and bingo, starting a brand new router!
Was getting a little impatient and about to hit download on DD-WRT firmware for the 5300 (26.5MB) when the lights on the 5300 came back on and it finished booting up!

So that's my new trick, if bricked, no more than 34MB file size .TRX (firmware) regardless of version, if the standard approach with current firmware fails...

Now the long journey to the 386.10 release begins...

Did you ever get it back to 386.10????

 

[aex.perez]

Did you ever get it back to 386.10????

Yup!