XT8 Boot Loop after firmware upgrade

[vfrvulcan]

Hi All,


My Dual XT8 system had been running fine on GNUton's 386.5._2 firmware but the multitude of logging in to the router and seeing notifications on the browser and the app that a newer version was available I finally bit...

And there begins the nightmare!

I hit the link to upgrade and go to the webpage to download GNUton's 396.07_2 - RT-AX95Q version as before. The main router was unable to update both at the same time so I elected to 'play safe' and just upgrade the node first. So I uploaded, all was looking good until the node didn't come back online after the upgrade. Went upstairs to look at the unit and it was fast-flashing red. Unplugged/replugged the power connector but all that would happen now is a boot-loop - White, flash green for a while, fast-flash blue for a while, nothing, white, flash green for a while, steady blue for a while, wash, rinse, repeat. Have even left it doing this for over 24 hours after reading comments about 'leaving it for an hour or two'/

I tried the WPS method, no difference.

I tried the rescue method, flashing both GNUton's and Asus XT8 files with no difference.

I've followed Chippy_boy's post:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/a...node-to-existing-xt8-network-any-ideas.68129/

LastingDamage's post:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/xt8-node-disconnects-cant-re-add-to-aimesh.76267/

For the short periods when I get the stable blue light I can access it on 192.168.50.1 or router.asus.com

If I just go there it starts the wizard but doesn't last long enough to complete before rebooting. Likewise if I go to /Advanced_SettingsBackup_Content.asp I get thrown to /Main_Password,asp?nextPage=index.asp and it reboots before I get the chance to set the password.

Router doesn't find node when plugged into node's WAN port, only minimal access is via laptop into LAN port @ 192.168.50.1

In Rescue mode I set the LAN port of the laptop to 192.168.1.10, choose the firmware, it says connecting to wireless device (even though is wired) and starts uploading, in this example GNUton_386.5_2, when it gets to 67% 42517504 bytes goes back to 0% but carries on with the byte-count gets to 31% 62448128 bytes and then changes to 'System recovery in progess...', waits about 15 seconds then hits 1% followed by 'Successfully recovered the system. Please wait for the system to reboot'.

And then the boot-loops continue....

Any help much appreciated...

 

[Tech9]

Have you tried Mini CFE Web server upload? Very careful though - no firmware verification! Double check if the firmware file is correct.

 

[vfrvulcan]

Thanks, not heard of Mini CFE before but limited searching shows it to be basically rescue mode. However, after rebooting to rescue mode I can get a ping response from 192.168.1.1 but unable to load any web page at that address. Care to tell me anything more Tech9?

 

[shama_001]

The blue flashing means syncing with the router if I'm not wrong. But maybe because the FW is different on the main node it hurts. I'm running this FW for more than 60 days uptime, no single issue but I took the other path:
- upgrade the main, then the node
- WPS reset both nodes (do well wait for the reboot here, you need to push the button for a double cycle)
- reconfigure the main
- power the node and add it with cable connection

Maybe an easier scenario: remove the main (power), try to configure the upgrades/reset node as the main router. This will remove any FW level sync from the equation (standalone)

 

[Tech9]

Care to tell me anything more Tech9?

Same rules like Firmware Restoration Tool - static IP on the PC NIC, make sure the default IP is 192.168.1.1 and not 192.168.50.1, Asus uses both. I just set a continuous ping to the router LAN IP and watch when it boots up, then just type quickly the IP in browser. LAN port connection, of course. I've never done it on XT8 in particular, but must be similar to other Asus routers. If you flash a wrong firmware in Mini Web though - the router is dead for sure.

 

[vfrvulcan]

[Solved]
Even though I was directly wired to a laptop and seemingly nothing to do with the other unit, it was still trying to do something with the main router.

I turned the main router off, used rescue mode to flash the latest stable Asus firmware and it booted fine. I set it up as a master, flashed the latest GNUton and then changed it to a mesh node.

All went sweet and reconnected to the main network. Once all sorted then updated main router to latest firmware as well.

@shama_001 you were spot on with your last suggestion, I did this before reading your message, so good to know it's a decent workaround.

 

[vfrvulcan]

Same rules like Firmware Restoration Tool - static IP on the PC NIC, make sure the default IP is 192.168.1.1 and not 192.168.50.1, Asus uses both. I just set a continuous ping to the router LAN IP and watch when it boots up, then just type quickly the IP in browser. LAN port connection, of course. I've never done it on XT8 in particular, but must be similar to other Asus routers. If you flash a wrong firmware in Mini Web though - the router is dead for sure.

I was getting the pings from 1.1 but there was no web server there...