I suppose I have to use the trx image file.
@remittor I think you had OpenWrt trx image file with Luci if I remember right. Although I don't need Luci if I succeed to recover via tftp.
openwrt TOH may be wrong. let's correct it if this is the case. probably is.
the openwrt factory/recovery trx
openwrt device instructions say differently (now we will find out the correct address)
-
Setup interface on Host PC with ip 192.168.50.75/24 (not the Router will ONLY accept tftp put over this IP) ; $ip a a 192.168.50.75/24 dev
-
The HostNIC and recovery is performed ONLY over the 1G WAN port NIC (this is the 'blue') NIC port next to the 10G Copper port.
*the rest is the same
1 Like
openwrt-qualcommax-ipq807x-asus_rt-ax89x-initramfs-factory.trx
that will load in RAM and then flash sysupgrade?
yes. it will reboot itself and then from luci and 192.168.1.1 flash sysupgrade image
1 Like
I've tried the steps from the debricking section in TOH and used the trx image from 24.10.1 but the router still reboots.
I've used tftpd64 by Ph. Jounin on Windows 11 but I don't see an option to set binary mode. Maybe that's the issue.
From Win 11 command prompt I got this
C:\Windows\System32>tftp -i 192.168.50.75 PUT D:\openwrt-24.10.1-qualcommax-ipq807x-asus_rt-ax89x-initramfs-factory.trx 192.168.50.1
Transfer successful: 13233153 bytes in 4 second(s), 3308288 bytes/s
but the router doesn't reboot and the power LED continues to blink slowly.
I believe you're referring to drivers/net/phy/sfp.c. Would it make sense to make a custom build of OpenWrt that uses this driver instead for testing?
Do you think that 3/4 people in this thread having this issue with the SFP+ means that shmerl is right when they say that there's a difference between B2s?
What could I do to try and debug this issue? Maybe ssdk_sh could be useful?
In case dmesg can help here is mine after a few hours with just one ethernet cable connected, full of lines related to the SFP+ interface going up and down on its own. Since you don't have this issue I wonder if your boot log would look any different.
@sppmaster Thanks for the link. I can't say for sure but I don't think it's related since, and as robimarko said, it doesn't use the generic SFP driver:
root@OpenWrt:~# readlink /sys/class/net/10g-sfp/device/driver
../../../../bus/platform/drivers/nss-dp
You should be able to flash the latest stock firmware (RT-AX89X_3.0.0.4_388_33744-g03a793e.trx) from this state using TFTP like you did and then flash OpenWrt again from there. I've done it recently to move between firmwares.
2 Likes
I was thinking the same. This is how you should proceed. This is why I suggested (if it doesn't work revert to the asus orig. firmware)
2 Likes
Thanks.
I've tied it and the image is transferred OK (by both programs I used - during transfer only the WAN LED is on) but still the router reboots after 4-5 seconds and is in a bootloop. Obviously experienced by other users like @shmerl @zulh
The router can be pinged OK to it's 192.168.50.1 address (cable connected to WAN blue port).
As I don't have an UART connected it is difficult to understand what state the router is in.
Asus restoration tool trows an error too.
When things got too messed up for me last time due to borked flashed image, I had to get the UART adapter and flash using that method. Regular tftp method didn't work. It's a bit more hassle, but it's a good to have option in case this happens.
1 Like
Well, the issue is that we cant use the proper SFP bus driver due to SSDK which is doing its own crap by faking an MDIO address and a PHY for the SFP (Its a whole mess)
1 Like
IP Address: 192.168.1.10
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: (Leave blank or 192.168.1.1)
Connect PC directly to the blue gigabit WAN port on the router.
Temporarily disable Windows Firewall.
tftp -i 192.168.1.1 PUT "C:\path\to\your\downloaded\ASUS_STOCK_FIRMWARE.trx"
1 Like
I have tried this with the same IP addresses but there is no response. The programs cannot upload to that address and there is no ping to it.
Successful uploading and ping is only to 192.168.50.1 but yet after a reboot it only bootloops.
Sending the TFTP transfer to 192.168.50.1 likely means the router (listening on 192.168.1.1) never actually received the file, even though your Windows TFTP client reported "Transfer successful" (it might just mean it successfully sent the packets, not that they were received and accepted).
I thought the same and that's why I've tried with 192.168.1.1 but the transfer never starts both Windows fttp and tftpd64 just sit at zero waiting to send the file.
With 192.168.50.1 at least they show the message that the transfer completed successfully and immediately after that the router reboots. And during the transfer the power LED is off probably showing it receives the file.
Useless exercise!
The stock bootloader cannot delete volumes that remain after OpenWrt.
And they need to be deleted, because their size is not intended for stock AsusWRT firmware.
2 Likes
So I understand that the only step left is to connect an UART cable, right.
For TFTP recovery from a brick, you should always use the official ASUS stock firmware (.trx file) for your specific model and revision (RT-AX89X B1).
The fact that the transfer "succeeded" but the router's power LED kept blinking slowly (the rescue mode indicator) strongly suggests the router either didn't receive the file (wrong IP) or it received the file but rejected it (because it was an OpenWrt initramfs image instead of the expected stock firmware, or it had an invalid signature/format for the recovery mode). It didn't start the flashing process, hence no reboot.
it is fixable. the people at asus show us no mercy to give us the right info.
I did exactly that with the stock Asus firmware but no success. The power indicator stopped blinking and was off during the transfer. Then the router rebooted but is in a bootloop again.
I've tried at least 20 times but I think the reason is what @remittor said.
And he made the facinstall restore tool but it's intended for a running OpenWrt build.
redo the process again. it might be something with the tftp client. try linux tftp client. also if you can find the first official release of the asus firmware.