Dear community, I need help. I destroyed my ASUS RT-AX53U.
I tried a self-compiled OpenWRT image with my own settings and packages, flashed it, and now it's dead. The router boots up, the ON/OFF light flashes, Ethernet on the router is accessible for about 2-3 seconds, and then it's dead, probably a kernel panic or some kind of loop. Wi-Fi doesn't even activate.
I've read the documentation on debricking, but I'm stuck. Failsafe mode doesn't work for me, or maybe I'm just too stupid
The ASUS firmware tool is very unreliable (EDIT: for me). I don't have a native Windows 10/11 host, but I have a virtual machine that passes through the physical Ethernet port of my host.
Unfortunately, the ASUS program is incredibly unstable (EDIT: for me). It loads, sends the file up to about 30-50% and then drops the connection again.
I have actually only selected my router, a few packages that should be included in the image by default and added security during the compilation. In addition, my network configuration and other settings that I would otherwise make manually are imported straight away.
No, no, I used this tool back when I was still a pure Windows user. Maybe it's just the router that isn't quite keeping up. It's also several years old now.
I agree, it's great, no attack surface from the Internet and not even physical! The thing is now a little plastic tank.
Hopefully I won't have to go that far, because then I'll have to get the materials. Let's see...
I have tried, but nothing happens. Nothing happens, as if I didn't have all these modes. Maybe I'll put the router aside for now, let my thoughts rest for a few hours and then get back to it with renewed vigor.
I'd try the Linux version of the recovery tool, before shelving it.
It's really only a shell for ifconfig and tftp (client), you can probably do it yourself by following the link on the GitHub page.
No, I haven't tried all the LAN ports. But I will try today.
I am not making any special assumptions, perhaps the tool is not working properly on my Windows hosts because I have heavily customized my systems and the tool has become unstable as a result of it.
I can only speak for my experience, and I have always had problems with the ASUS flash tool.
General note on flashing via tftp:
If you have a dumb unmanaged desk switch, put it between the router and your PC, to avoid carrier up and down events.
Didn't work. I got myself a fresh Windows 11 laptop, unmodified, from a friend, and this firmware tool still doesn't work. It seems that when I touch computer systems, they burst into flames internally.
At least I was able to put the router into recovery mode (or something similar) by turning it off completely, holding down the RESET button, and turning it back on. Now I have a stable Ethernet connection, but the router is not responding to pings. I also tried the arescue tool and TFTP manually, but nothing works.
$ tftp
(to) 192.168.1.1
tftp> binary
tftp> put RT-AX53U_3.0.0.4_386_69155-g0a07ff2.trx
Transfer timed out.
I'm slowly starting to feel that my own image has ruined a lot of things, and that the router can only be saved by physical intervention.
