RT-AC88U bricked after firmware update?

[LPL]

Hi, i updated the firmware (official Asus) for my RT-AC88U router, and now, I am not able to access it, with only 2 LED lights on (photo attached). I tried a hard reset and trying to get into recovery mode, but everytime I power up, only these 2 LEDs come on.

Help please, thanks in advance.

 

[Blinkyz]

Which method do you tried for HARD reset?

Remove Usb Drive hooked
Power off the router.
Keep pressed WPS button and power on the router.Keep pressed WPS until leds began to flash rapidly and then release WPS.Wait 3 min and try to access again

 

[LPL]

Thanks for the reply! I tried to do this, but no change with the LEDs, they stayed lit and constant. I also tried pressing the reset button for 30+ seconds while the router was powered on, also to no avail.

Are there other options I can try? Thank you.

 

[TonyH]

ipconfig shows anything?

 

[LPL]

Thanks, but it doesn't show up on ipconfig either.

 

[keelamania]

Hi, i updated the firmware (official Asus) for my RT-AC88U router, and now, I am not able to access it, with only 2 LED lights on (photo attached). I tried a hard reset and trying to get into recovery mode, but everytime I power up, only these 2 LEDs come on.

Help please, thanks in advance.
View attachment 7005

Mine did the exact same thing today. I was hesitant to install the firmware, and now I have a brick! Were you able to get yours working?

 

[NSNE]

The Asus support page for the RT-AC88U provides a Firmware Restoration Utility for "an ASUS Wireless Router that failed during its firmware upgrading process. It uploads the firmware that you specify."

Maybe give it a try? I have no firsthand experience with it so can't attest to its efficacy.

 

[KevTech]

Try unplugging the router and leave it unplugged for an extended period. Don't just turn off power button but unplug from the outlet so there is no way any power is getting to the router.

After extended power down, hold in the reset button then plug power back in while keeping the reset button pressed and see if router goes into recovery mode.

 

[SoCalReviews]

For whatever reason sometimes these routers need to be reset after a firmware update. I have had to do this reset procedure two times in a row with one of my Asus ac68p routers after a firmware update since it seemed to be stuck in a similar brick like state. It finally started working again.

A full hard button reset always seems to work with my Asus and other brands of routers in the past. Most people don't hold the reset button down long enough. They get frustrated and try strange complex reset procedures such as recover mode or they don't wait for the router to fully cycle and power up after a reset before determining it's not working. By doing a simple hard button reset I've never had a single router permanently brick or fail on me going back over fifteen years and more than twenty different routers... Linksys, Netgear, Asus, etc..

Try resetting the router again. Power off or unplug the router for at least ten seconds and then plug it in and wait at least two minutes for it to fully power up. Next while powered on hold the reset button for at least ten seconds then release. Be patient and give the router at least three minutes to start up again. Try accessing the admin and setup via a computer using Ethernet cable to LAN port on the router.

 

[Kirke Holmes]

I find that ASUS routers tend to need a significant amount of time following a firmware upgrade sometimes - like a few hours. It really messes with one's ability to be patient when experiencing an outage.

Also the 30/30/30 reset method that dd-wrt recommends for their firmware seems to work well when I'm have a difficult time with a seemingly bricked router. With the router on, press the reset button for 30 seconds, then continuing to press the reset button, unplug the router (not the power switch) for 30 seconds, then continuing to press the reset button, plug the router back in for 30 seconds.

Then as I said earlier just leave it on for a few hours. It's hard to wait that long thinking your router is bricked, but patience is key - don't mess with it for a good long while. Its also really good advice to only have one LAN port occupied; no WAN port, or USB ports occupied.

Good Luck!

 

[joegreat]

[QUOTE="Also the 30/30/30 reset method that dd-wrt recommends for their firmware seems to work well when I'm have a difficult time with a seemingly bricked router. [/QUOTE]
There is NO 30-30-30 rest on Asus routers! Why this myth keeps a live in this forum???

How to rest Asus routers is described here: Every rest method is the SAME on Asus roters!

 

[TonyH]

[QUOTE="Also the 30/30/30 reset method that dd-wrt recommends for their firmware seems to work well when I'm have a difficult time with a seemingly bricked router.

There is NO 30-30-30 rest on Asus routers! Why this myth keeps a live in this forum???

How to rest Asus routers is described here: Every rest method is the SAME on Asus roters![/QUOTE]

30-30-30 reset is passe. Routers evolved from WRT-54G days.

 

[Kirke Holmes]

I suggested it, because it WORKS! Doing the 30/30/30 with a long rest has saved a bricked ASUS router for me on a number of occasions. Just because I'm new on this forum doesn't mean I'm new to troubleshooting ASUS routers.

LPL give it a try, what do you have to lose - a little time is all.

 

[RMerlin]

Also the 30/30/30 reset method that dd-wrt recommends for their firmware seems to work well when I'm have a difficult time with a seemingly bricked router. With the router on, press the reset button for 30 seconds, then continuing to press the reset button, unplug the router (not the power switch) for 30 seconds, then continuing to press the reset button, plug the router back in for 30 seconds.

Doing that procedure on an Asus router would effectively put it in recovery mode, not something you want to do if all you want to do is wipe the nvram. The proper button to use after plugging the power back is the WPS button, not the reset button.

That's why one should NOT use the 30/30/30 procedure on an Asus router - it makes no sense at all. It will leave your router in recovery mode, which will confuse people and make them believe that they just bricked it as they watch that slowly flashing power LED with no network access.

If what you want to do is wipe out the nvram, then the CORRECT procedure is to unplug it, press the WPS button, then turn the router on. Wait 10 secs, then release the WPS button.

 

[Kirke Holmes]

But, isn't what he needs at this point is to put the router in recovery mode, since he already tried using the WPS button method to no avail?

 

[RMerlin]

But, isn't what he needs at this point is to put the router in recovery mode, since he already tried using the WPS button method to no avail?

He should be doing this specifically, not some bogus 30-30-30 procedure that doesn't do what people think it should.

 

[nonstatic]

Reviving this thread as the AC88U I just bought has quickly bricked. The first thing I did was put Merlin's FW on it (was 380.67 at the time) but 5Ghz wasn't working and the router was unstable and rebooting itself at random intervals. I saw some other posts where people had problems with 5GHz with the latest Merlin FW so I attempted to downgrade to the previous Merlin FW, but the flash was unsuccessful and I can no longer access the webUI.

I have tried:

- clearing nvram via WPS reset method (no change)
- uploading official ASUS FW via recovery tool (upload fails at 39% every time)
- uploading Merlin FW via recovery tool (upload fails at 47% every time)
- set my laptop to static IP during recovery upload
- tried uploading via all 8 ethernet ports with/without keeping reset button pressed the whole time (no change)

EDIT: I was able to get into the CFE miniWeb server and upload the latest official ASUS FW successfully, but the router continues to be unreachable. I can still access the mini server if I put the router in rescue mode, but it is otherwise unresponsive.

Is there any hope to revive this router?

 

[Pierino]

Reviving this thread as the AC88U I just bought has quickly bricked. The first thing I did was put Merlin's FW on it (was 380.67 at the time) but 5Ghz wasn't working and the router was unstable and rebooting itself at random intervals. I saw some other posts where people had problems with 5GHz with the latest Merlin FW so I attempted to downgrade to the previous Merlin FW, but the flash was unsuccessful and I can no longer access the webUI.

I have tried:

- clearing nvram via WPS reset method (no change)
- uploading official ASUS FW via recovery tool (upload fails at 39% every time)
- uploading Merlin FW via recovery tool (upload fails at 47% every time)
- set my laptop to static IP during recovery upload
- tried uploading via all 8 ethernet ports with/without keeping reset button pressed the whole time (no change)

EDIT: I was able to get into the CFE miniWeb server and upload the latest official ASUS FW successfully, but the router continues to be unreachable. I can still access the mini server if I put the router in rescue mode, but it is otherwise unresponsive.

Is there any hope to revive this router?

Doubtful. Get an rma if the router is less than 2 years old.

 

[nonstatic]

That's unfortunately not going to happen since I live in Germany where no one has heard of customer service. The EU RMA website says "we cannot offer an RMA directly for this serial number, please contact your retailer for RMA". You can probably guess what happens next, I had a AC56U brick a while back and surprise, the retailer refused to issue an RMA. Oh well.