Hi smart,
In the first hand I cheeked right now and only the Backfire and LEDEv16 keep the user settings, the other versions I have to check them later, but I think the problem is as you said, lack of space for user settings.
In the second hand I managed to put back the original NETGEAR firmware using fuhry u-boot and a tftp connection. I followed these steps:
1 - I downloaded the latest firmware file (1.2.3.7) from here https://www.netgear.com/support/product/WNR2000v1.aspx#download
2 - I placed it in the folder Test for Tftpd64 and opened a serial connection
4 - I erased everything from 0x040000 to 0x3f0000
--- erase 0xbf040000 +0x3b0000
6 - I followed the https://kb.netgear.com/000059633/How-to-upload-firmware-to-a-NETGEAR-router-using-TFTP-client
The router will reboot and will start normally. The login page is on 192.168.1.1 with admin/password as default login credentials.
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In your case, you'll have to change the MAC for both WAN and LAN interfaces which is specified on the router case (for WAN the MAC is with one unit bigger 34 for LAN and 35 for WAN in my router's case), and to do that you have to edit the files ART.bin in a hexeditor and make changes to the following offsets:
- 0x1000 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx for LAN
- 0x1006 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx for WAN
- 0x120c xx:xx:xx:xx:xx for LAN
You'll have to rewrite the ART partition with the next stpes:
- tftpboot 0x81000000 name-of-modified-art-partition.bin
- cp.b 0x81000000 0xbf3f0000
Btw, taking into account that I have a functional router with the latest original Netgear firmware installed, I don't think I need to buy another router. In my opinion the problem is fixed.
Regards,
Danut