Need Help Unbricking D-Link DIR-842 C2

I tried accessing the recovery page at http://192.168.0.1 and http://192.168.1.1, but I can’t reach it at all.

I have serial access, and this is what I see when the router boots:

U-Boot 1.1.4 (Feb 14 2017 - 10:15:54)

SVN revision: 1372
ap152 - Dragonfly 1.0DRAM:
sri
ath_ddr_initial_config(278): (ddr2 init)
ath_sys_frequency: cpu 775 ddr 650 ahb 258
Tap values = (0x10, 0x10, 0x10, 0x10)
128 MB
Top of RAM usable for U-Boot at: 88000000
Reserving 236k for U-Boot at: 87fc4000
Reserving 192k for malloc() at: 87f94000
Reserving 44 Bytes for Board Info at: 87f93fd4
Reserving 36 Bytes for Global Data at: 87f93fb0
Reserving 128k for boot params() at: 87f73fb0
Stack Pointer at: 87f73f98
Now running in RAM - U-Boot at: 87fc4000
Flash Manuf Id 0xef, DeviceId0 0x40, DeviceId1 0x18
flash size 16MB, sector count = 256
Flash: 16 MB
*** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

Power up PLL with outdiv = 0 then switch to 3
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   ath_gmac_enet_initialize...
No valid address in Flash. Using fixed address
ath_gmac_enet_initialize: reset mask:c02200
athr_mgmt_init ::done
Dragonfly  ----> S17 PHY *
athrs17_reg_init: complete
SGMII in forced mode
athr_gmac_sgmii_setup SGMII done
: cfg1 0x80000000 cfg2 0x7114
eth0: 00:03:7f:09:0b:ad
eth0 up
eth0
Setting 0x181162c0 to 0x4b962100
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
Reset button released
## Booting image at 9f080040 ...
Bad Magic Number

Emergency web server start......IP is 192.168.1.1

Trying eth0
eth0 link down
FAIL
Press 'ctrl+c' to quit.

wiki says 0.1 not 1.1, u-boot might be showing the wrong info.

https://openwrt.org/toh/d-link/dir-842

what happens if you press CTRL+C ?

it doesn't do anything

It turns out that my Tx connector isn't connected properly. here's the output:

Press 'ctrl+c' to quit.

Abort
ath> help
?       - alias for 'help'
autoscr - run script from memory
base    - print or set address offset
bdinfo  - print Board Info structure
boot    - boot default, i.e., run 'bootcmd'
bootd   - boot default, i.e., run 'bootcmd'
bootelf - Boot from an ELF image in memory
bootm   - boot application image from memory
bootp   - boot image via network using BootP/TFTP protocol
bootvx  - Boot vxWorks from an ELF image
cmp     - memory compare
coninfo - print console devices and information
cp      - memory copy
crc32   - checksum calculation
dhcp    - invoke DHCP client to obtain IP/boot params
echo    - echo args to console
erase   - erase FLASH memory
ethreg  - Switch/PHY Reg rd/wr  utility
exit    - exit script
flinfo  - print FLASH memory information
go      - start application at address 'addr'
help    - print online help
httpsvr - Start HTTP server to load image
iminfo  - print header information for application image
itest   - return true/false on integer compare
loop    - infinite loop on address range
mct   - simple RAM test
md      - memory display
mii     - MII utility commands
mm      - memory modify (auto-incrementing)
mtest   - simple RAM test
mw      - memory write (fill)
nfs     - boot image via network using NFS protocol
nm      - memory modify (constant address)
pci     - list and access PCI Configuration Space
ping    - send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST to network host
pll cpu-pll dither ddr-pll dither - Set to change CPU & DDR speed
pll erase
pll get
printenv- print environment variables
progmac - Set ethernet MAC addresses
progmac2 - Set ethernet MAC addresses
protect - enable or disable FLASH write protection
rarpboot- boot image via network using RARP/TFTP protocol
reset   - Perform RESET of the CPU
run     - run commands in an environment variable
saveenv - save environment variables to persistent storage
setenv  - set environment variables
sleep   - delay execution for some time
test    - minimal test like /bin/sh
tftpboot- boot image via network using TFTP protocol
version - print monitor version
ath>

then try tftpboot:ing the initramfs (KERNEL) from https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=24.10.0&target=ath79%2Fgeneric&id=dlink_dir-842-c2 using tftpboot and/or bootm command(s).

if it works, and openwrt boots, use the sysupgrade image afterwards (from the same link), to flash openwrt, as described in point 8 in the wiki.
no need to install luci afterwards, it's already included.

report back, let us know if it works, and we'll update the wiki with TFTP install instructions.
if possible, save and post complete serial output from install, you can skip the openwrt boot sequence output though.

1 Like

I was able to flash OpenWrt, but it keeps bootlooping.

U-Boot 1.1.4 (Feb 14 2017 - 10:15:54)

SVN revision: 1372
ap152 - Dragonfly 1.0DRAM:
sri
ath_ddr_initial_config(278): (ddr2 init)
ath_sys_frequency: cpu 775 ddr 650 ahb 258
Tap values = (0x10, 0x10, 0x10, 0x10)
128 MB
Top of RAM usable for U-Boot at: 88000000
Reserving 236k for U-Boot at: 87fc4000
Reserving 192k for malloc() at: 87f94000
Reserving 44 Bytes for Board Info at: 87f93fd4
Reserving 36 Bytes for Global Data at: 87f93fb0
Reserving 128k for boot params() at: 87f73fb0
Stack Pointer at: 87f73f98
Now running in RAM - U-Boot at: 87fc4000
Flash Manuf Id 0xef, DeviceId0 0x40, DeviceId1 0x18
flash size 16MB, sector count = 256
Flash: 16 MB
*** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

Power up PLL with outdiv = 0 then switch to 3
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   ath_gmac_enet_initialize...
No valid address in Flash. Using fixed address
ath_gmac_enet_initialize: reset mask:c02200
athr_mgmt_init ::done
Dragonfly  ----> S17 PHY *
athrs17_reg_init: complete
SGMII in forced mode
athr_gmac_sgmii_setup SGMII done
: cfg1 0x80000000 cfg2 0x7114
eth0: 00:03:7f:09:0b:ad
eth0 up
eth0
Setting 0x181162c0 to 0x4b962100
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
Reset button released
## Booting image at 9f080040 ...
   Image Name:   MIPS OpenWrt Linux-6.6.73
   Created:      2025-02-03  23:09:37 UTC
   Image Type:   MIPS Linux Kernel Image (lzma compressed)
   Data Size:    2613564 Bytes =  2.5 MB
   Load Address: 80060000
   Entry Point:  80060000
   Verifying Checksum at 0x9f080080 ...OK
   Uncompressing Kernel Image ... OK
No initrd
## Transferring control to Linux (at address 80060000) ...
## Giving linux memsize in bytes, 134217728

Starting kernel ...

[    0.000000] Linux version 6.6.73 (builder@buildhost) (mips-openwrt-linux-musl-gcc (OpenWrt GCC 13.3.0 r28427-6df0e3d02a) 13.3.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.42) #0 Mon Feb  3 23:09:37 2025
[    0.000000] printk: bootconsole [early0] enabled
[    0.000000] CPU0 revision is: 00019750 (MIPS 74Kc)
[    0.000000] MIPS: machine is D-Link DIR-842 C2
[    0.000000] SoC: Qualcomm Atheros QCA956X ver 1 rev 0
[    0.000000] Initrd not found or empty - disabling initrd
[    0.000000] Primary instruction cache 64kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.000000] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, VIPT, cache aliases, linesize 32 bytes
[    0.000000] Zone ranges:
[    0.000000]   Normal   [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[    0.000000] Movable zone start for each node
[    0.000000] Early memory node ranges
[    0.000000]   node   0: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[    0.000000] Initmem setup node 0 [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[    0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttyS0,115200n8 rootfstype=squashfs,jffs2
[    0.000000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 16384 (order: 4, 65536 bytes, linear)
[    0.000000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 8192 (order: 3, 32768 bytes, linear)
[    0.000000] Writing ErrCtl register=00000000
[    0.000000] Readback ErrCtl register=00000000
[    0.000000] Built 1 zonelists, mobility grouping on.  Total pages: 32480
[    0.000000] mem auto-init: stack:off, heap alloc:off, heap free:off
[    0.000000] Memory: 119972K/131072K available (6819K kernel code, 604K rwdata, 900K rodata, 1204K init, 233K bss, 11100K reserved, 0K cma-reserved)
[    0.000000] SLUB: HWalign=32, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=1, Nodes=1
[    0.000000] NR_IRQS: 51
[    0.000000] CPU clock: 775.000 MHz
[    0.000000] clocksource: MIPS: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 4932285024 ns
[    0.000001] sched_clock: 32 bits at 388MHz, resolution 2ns, wraps every 5541893118ns
[    0.008309] Calibrating delay loop... 385.84 BogoMIPS (lpj=1929216)
[    0.074806] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[    0.089170] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.096908] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.113435] RCU Tasks Trace: Setting shift to 0 and lim to 1 rcu_task_cb_adjust=1 rcu_task_cpu_ids=1.
[    0.127651] clocksource: jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 19112604462750000 ns
[    0.138078] futex hash table entries: 256 (order: -1, 3072 bytes, linear)
[    0.147718] pinctrl core: initialized pinctrl subsystem
[    0.156306] NET: Registered PF_NETLINK/PF_ROUTE protocol family
[    0.163138] thermal_sys: Registered thermal governor 'step_wise'
[    0.164916] /ahb/apb: Fixed dependency cycle(s) with /ahb/apb/interrupt-controller@18060010
[    0.192364] clocksource: Switched to clocksource MIPS
[    0.207958] NET: Registered PF_INET protocol family
[    0.213378] IP idents hash table entries: 2048 (order: 2, 16384 bytes, linear)
[    0.222428] tcp_listen_portaddr_hash hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.231369] Table-perturb hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes, linear)
[    0.239558] TCP established hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.247651] TCP bind hash table entries: 1024 (order: 1, 8192 bytes, linear)
[    0.255128] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 1024 bind 1024)
[    0.262559] MPTCP token hash table entries: 512 (order: 0, 6144 bytes, linear)
[    0.270410] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.277358] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linear)
[    0.285634] NET: Registered PF_UNIX/PF_LOCAL protocol family
[    0.291682] PCI: CLS 0 bytes, default 32
[    0.300437] workingset: timestamp_bits=14 max_order=15 bucket_order=1
[    0.308883] squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher
[    0.315080] jffs2: version 2.2 (NAND) (SUMMARY) (LZMA) (RTIME) (CMODE_PRIORITY) (c) 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
[    0.332667] Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 251)
[    0.343802] pinctrl-single 1804002c.pinmux: 544 pins, size 68
[    0.351132] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 16 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
[    0.363133] printk: console [ttyS0] disabled
[    0.368075] 18020000.uart: ttyS0 at MMIO 0x18020000 (irq = 11, base_baud = 1562500) is a 16550A
[    0.377345] printk: console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.377345] printk: console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.386421] printk: bootconsole [early0] disabled
[    0.386421] printk: bootconsole [early0] disabled
[    0.430069] spi-nor spi0.0: w25q128 (16384 Kbytes)
[    0.435202] 8 fixed-partitions partitions found on MTD device spi0.0
[    0.441797] OF: Bad cell count for /ahb/spi@1f000000/flash@0/partitions
[    0.448681] OF: Bad cell count for /ahb/spi@1f000000/flash@0/partitions
[    0.455768] Creating 8 MTD partitions on "spi0.0":
[    0.460735] 0x000000000000-0x000000040000 : "u-boot"
[    0.469036] 0x000000040000-0x000000050000 : "u-boot-env"
[    0.476545] 0x000000050000-0x000000060000 : "devdata"
[    0.483800] 0x000000060000-0x000000070000 : "devconf"
[    0.491032] 0x000000070000-0x000000080000 : "misc"
[    0.497981] 0x000000080000-0x000000fd0000 : "firmware"
[    0.505670] 2 seama-fw partitions found on MTD device firmware
[    0.511722] Creating 2 MTD partitions on "firmware":
[    0.516895] 0x000000000040-0x000000280000 : "kernel"
[    0.522023] mtd: partition "kernel" doesn't start on an erase/write block boundary -- force read-only
[    0.533605] 0x000000280000-0x000000f50000 : "rootfs"
[    0.540656] mtd: setting mtd7 (rootfs) as root device
[    0.545998] 1 squashfs-split partitions found on MTD device rootfs
[    0.552406] 0x0000006e0000-0x000000f50000 : "rootfs_data"
[    0.560029] 0x000000fd0000-0x000000fe0000 : "art"
[    0.566940] 0x000000fe0000-0x000001000000 : "reserved"
[    0.586437] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[    1.277002] switch0: Atheros AR8337 rev. 2 switch registered on mdio.0
[    1.934246] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: connected to PHY at mdio.0:00 [uid=004dd036, driver=Atheros AR8216/AR8236/AR8316]
[    1.946269] eth0: Atheros AG71xx at 0xb9000000, irq 4, mode: sgmii
[    1.953324] i2c_dev: i2c /dev entries driver
[    1.960750] NET: Registered PF_INET6 protocol family
[    1.978979] Segment Routing with IPv6
[    1.982921] In-situ OAM (IOAM) with IPv6
[    1.987126] NET: Registered PF_PACKET protocol family
[    1.992467] bridge: filtering via arp/ip/ip6tables is no longer available by default. Update your scripts to load br_netfilter if you need this.
[    2.006151] 8021q: 802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8
[    2.028737] PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00
[    2.033040] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem 0x12000000-0x13ffffff]
[    2.040143] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [io  0x0000]
[    2.045906] pci_bus 0000:00: No busn resource found for root bus, will use [bus 00-ff]
[    2.054140] pci 0000:00:00.0: [168c:0056] type 00 class 0x028000
[    2.060380] pci 0000:00:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x001fffff 64bit]
[    2.067527] pci 0000:00:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D3hot
[    2.074085] pci_bus 0000:00: busn_res: [bus 00-ff] end is updated to 00
[    2.080953] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0x12000000-0x121fffff 64bit]
[    2.108431] clk: Disabling unused clocks
[    2.120016] VFS: Mounted root (squashfs filesystem) readonly on device 31:7.
[    2.133976] Freeing unused kernel image (initmem) memory: 1204K
[    2.140102] This architecture does not have kernel memory protection.
[    2.146782] Run /sbin/init as init process
[    2.788008] init: Console is alive
[    2.791907] init: - watchdog -
[    4.154099] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    4.233438] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[    4.239226] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[    4.244904] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[    4.259920] gpio_button_hotplug: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[    4.278937] ehci-platform 1b000000.usb: EHCI Host Controller
[    4.284874] ehci-platform 1b000000.usb: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[    4.293133] ehci-platform 1b000000.usb: irq 14, io mem 0x1b000000
[    4.322399] ehci-platform 1b000000.usb: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[    4.329849] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    4.334727] hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected
[    4.344166] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    4.362216] init: - preinit -
[    8.162393] random: crng init done
Cannot parse config file '/etc/fw_env.config': No such file or directory
Failed to find NVMEM device
[   10.367004] Atheros AR8216/AR8236/AR8316 mdio.0:00: Port 2 is up
[   10.375800] eth0: link up (1000Mbps/Full duplex)
Press the [f] key and hit [enter] to enter failsafe mode
Press the [1], [2], [3] or [4] key and hit [enter] to select the debug level
[   14.634551] mount_root: jffs2 not ready yet, using temporary tmpfs overlay
[   14.645761] urandom-seed: Seed file not found (/etc/urandom.seed)
[   14.707732] eth0: link down
[   14.733053] procd: - early -
[   14.736348] procd: - watchdog -
[   15.472579] procd: - watchdog -
[   15.476724] procd: - ubus -
[   15.671942] procd: - init -
Please press Enter to activate this console.
[   17.546458] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[   18.676191] Loading modules backported from Linux version v6.12.6-0-ge9d65b48ce1a
[   18.683979] Backport generated by backports.git v6.1.110-1-35-g410656ef04d2
[   19.187315] urngd: v1.0.2 started.
[   19.364842] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2
[   19.393502] NET: Registered PF_PPPOX protocol family
[   19.495594] ath10k 6.10 driver, optimized for CT firmware, probing pci device: 0x56.
[   19.543564] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[   19.550379] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: pci irq legacy oper_irq_mode 1 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[   22.716101] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: qca9888 hw2.0 target 0x01000000 chip_id 0x00000000 sub 0000:0000
[   22.725696] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 0 dfs 1 testmode 0
[   22.740130] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: firmware ver 10.4b-ct-9888-fW-13-5ae337bb1 api 5 features mfp,peer-flow-ctrl,txstatus-noack,wmi-10.x-CT,ratemask-CT,regdump-CT,txrate-CT,flush-all-CT,pingpong-CT,ch-regs-CT,nop-CT,set-special-CT,tx-rc-CT,cust-stats-CT,txrate2-CT,beacon-cb-CT,wmi-block-ack-CT,wmi-bcn-rc-CT crc32 59e741e7
[   23.085008] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: board_file api 2 bmi_id 0:18 crc32 5968d47d
[   24.860558] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: 10.4 wmi init: vdevs: 16  peers: 48  tid: 96
[   24.868373] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: msdu-desc: 2500  skid: 32
[   24.898884] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: wmi print 'P 48/48 V 16 K 144 PH 176 T 186  msdu-desc: 2500  sw-crypt: 0 ct-sta: 0'
[   24.910192] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: wmi print 'free: 114572 iram: 12644 sram: 29508'
[   25.144637] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: htt-ver 2.2 wmi-op 6 htt-op 4 cal pre-cal-file max-sta 32 raw 0 hwcrypto 1
[   25.330881] ath9k 18100000.wmac: Direct firmware load for ath9k-eeprom-ahb-18100000.wmac.bin failed with error -2
[   25.341559] ath9k 18100000.wmac: Falling back to sysfs fallback for: ath9k-eeprom-ahb-18100000.wmac.bin
[   25.941901] Data bus error, epc == 8034a70c, ra == 82d22794
[   25.947685] Oops[#1]:
[   25.950039] CPU: 0 PID: 843 Comm: kmodloader Tainted: G           O       6.6.73 #0
[   25.957947] $ 0   : 00000000 00000001 deadc0de 00000200
[   25.963359] $ 4   : b81143fc 000143fc 82d41d44 00000004
[   25.968770] $ 8   : 00000000 807014dc 332469e7 00000003
[   25.974183] $12   : 00000800 81cdaa30 81b58fe8 550f7400
[   25.979594] $16   : 82f00080 00000018 81cb1b7c 81cb1b80
[   25.985007] $20   : 81cb1f7b 80000003 00010000 00014000
[   25.990418] $24   : 807f125c 041b9497
[   25.995830] $28   : 81cb0000 81cb1b00 00031018 82d22794
[   26.001242] Hi    : 00004b5c
[   26.004217] Lo    : 4e910000
[   26.007191] epc   : 8034a70c 0x8034a70c
[   26.011151] ra    : 82d22794 0x82d22794 [ath9k_hw@ba817bbd+0x28000]
[   26.017639] Status: 1100dc03 KERNEL EXL IE
[   26.021967] Cause : 0080001c (ExcCode 07)
[   26.026106] PrId  : 00019750 (MIPS 74Kc)
[   26.030157] Modules linked in: ath9k(O+) ath9k_common(O) pppoe ppp_async nft_fib_inet nf_flow_table_inet ath9k_hw(O) ath10k_pci(O) ath10k_core(O) ath(O) pppox ppp_generic nft_reject_ipv6 nft_reject_ipv4 nft_reject_inet nft_reject nft_redir nft_quota nft_numgen nft_nat nft_masq nft_log nft_limit nft_hash nft_flow_offload nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib nft_ct nft_chain_nat nf_tables nf_nat nf_flow_table nf_conntrack mac80211(O) lzo cfg80211(O) slhc nfnetlink nf_reject_ipv6 nf_reject_ipv4 nf_log_syslog nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 lzo_rle lzo_decompress lzo_compress libcrc32c hwmon crc_ccitt compat(O) sha512_generic seqiv sha3_generic jitterentropy_rng drbg hmac geniv rng cmac crypto_acompress fsl_mph_dr_of ehci_platform ehci_fsl ehci_hcd gpio_button_hotplug(O) phy_ar7200_usb phy_ar7100_usb usbcore nls_base usb_common crc32c_generic
[   26.106666] Process kmodloader (pid: 843, threadinfo=3d723ff9, task=8c3be8c9, tls=77e97df4)
[   26.115294] Stack : 82f00a58 00000220 00010001 82f00080 81cb1be4 00000000 00000220 000003ff
[   26.123949]         81cca800 00010001 82f00080 81cb1be4 82d20000 83168968 99999999 82d2391c
[   26.132604]         830896e0 82f000f0 ffffffea 82f00080 00020000 00007000 ffffffe0 82f000a8
[   26.141260]         82f00080 82f00618 82f00080 00000100 804874a8 8316a360 000186a0 ffffffff
[   26.149914]         82f00080 00008000 01000100 00010001 82f000a8 81cb1be4 00000000 83168968
[   26.158570]         ...
[   26.161097] Call Trace:
[   26.161315] [<82d20000>] 0x82d20000 [ath9k_hw@ba817bbd+0x28000]
[   26.169963] [<82d2391c>] 0x82d2391c [ath9k_hw@ba817bbd+0x28000]
[   26.176320] [<804874a8>] 0x804874a8
[   26.180032] [<82d15044>] 0x82d15044 [ath9k_hw@ba817bbd+0x28000]
[   26.186284] [<82d06e78>] 0x82d06e78 [ath9k_hw@ba817bbd+0x28000]
[   26.192435] [<801b2d34>] 0x801b2d34
[   26.196246] [<800a0000>] 0x800a0000
[   26.199950] [<82d429d4>] 0x82d429d4 [ath9k@a6fae997+0x16000]
[   26.205799] [<82d44a7c>] 0x82d44a7c [ath9k@a6fae997+0x16000]
[   26.211650] [<800c8f50>] 0x800c8f50
[   26.215354] [<82d506b4>] 0x82d506b4 [ath9k@a6fae997+0x16000]
[   26.221201] [<80296bbc>] 0x80296bbc
[   26.224938] [<80299418>] 0x80299418
[   26.228540] [<803ea97c>] 0x803ea97c
[   26.232242] [<8029a90c>] 0x8029a90c
[   26.235844] [<803e8d78>] 0x803e8d78
[   26.239446] [<803e6224>] 0x803e6224
[   26.243046] [<80477924>] 0x80477924
[   26.246648] [<8029a704>] 0x8029a704
[   26.250249] [<806dc84c>] 0x806dc84c
[   26.253852] [<803e66e4>] 0x803e66e4
[   26.257487] [<803e8e20>] 0x803e8e20
[   26.261125] [<803e6974>] 0x803e6974
[   26.264729] [<803e3a9c>] 0x803e3a9c
[   26.268332] [<803e68c4>] 0x803e68c4
[   26.271932] [<803e3c88>] 0x803e3c88
[   26.275534] [<806dcba0>] 0x806dcba0
[   26.279137] [<801b2d34>] 0x801b2d34
[   26.282775] [<803e5394>] 0x803e5394
[   26.286377] [<803e42e4>] 0x803e42e4
[   26.289979] [<803e55a4>] 0x803e55a4
[   26.293582] [<803e7664>] 0x803e7664
[   26.297184] [<82d5e000>] 0x82d5e000 [ath9k@a6fae997+0x16000]
[   26.303033] [<82d5e018>] 0x82d5e018 [ath9k@a6fae997+0x16000]
[   26.308887] [<8006056c>] 0x8006056c
[   26.312559] [<801b2d34>] 0x801b2d34
[   26.316194] [<800d67ac>] 0x800d67ac
[   26.319798] [<800d88cc>] 0x800d88cc
[   26.323438] [<8006d420>] 0x8006d420
[   26.327081]
[   26.328614] Code: 0000000f  8c820000  0000000f <03e00008> 00000000  0000000f  8c820000  0000000f  7c0210a0
[   26.338711]
[   26.340322] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
[   26.345102] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception
[   26.350496] Rebooting in 1 seconds..

This could be hardware failure. Try flashing back to stock to confirm that the hardware works with stock firmware.

I tried flashing the stock firmware, and everything works fine. However, I still can't get OpenWrt to work without bootlooping.

Try some of the older releases from firmware-selector, 23.05 or even earlier.

1 Like

I think you have to flash the factory image via the recover page or via TFTP
not the initramfs one this will set up the partitions in flash
for recover page and using windows, try downloading Netscape Navigator to do it

seems to need sysupgrade after factory boot to correct uboot checksum
https://git.openwrt.org/?p=openwrt/openwrt.git;a=commit;h=209b36825458a439fb9f0edd36f11e6528400f87

I stupidly erased the u-boot partition, and now the router is completely bricked. Oh well.. :sweat_smile:

you can fix it with eeprom programmer
but if radio calibration gone no way to replace it
and maybe not worth it

1 Like

yeah, it's not worth it. I learned my lesson.

trying to recover it could be fun, if that'd be something you'd want to play with,
but 1st you need to get your hands on a flash dump from the same device.

One day, I might get around to doing it. I looked at the flash chip on the back, it’s a Winbond 25Q128JVSQ 8-pin SOIC chip

very easy very common
I'm sure it's 3.3v as well
something like this

1 Like

there's no point in getting a flash writer, until OP's got a flash dump, IMHO.

1 Like