[SOLVED] Netgear R8000 will not upgrade to 18.06.2

[geofb]

Already I've upgraded WDR3600 from 18.06.1 to 18.06.2 without problems.
The WDR3600 runs as simple Access Point to the main device, R8000.

The R8000 is running 18.06.1 and has, over the years, been through various OpenWRT and LEDE installs and upgrades.

I downloaded and verified checksum for openwrt-18.06.2-bcm53xx-netgear-r8000-squashfs.chk

First attempt at upgrade was via LUCI, keep settings checked.
After reboot, R8000 was still on 18.06.1.

Then tried via commandline
sysupgrade -v /tmp/openwrt-18.06.2-bcm53xx-netgear-r8000-squashfs.chk
Same deal - reboots to 18.06.1

Ran a test:

    sysupgrade --test -v /tmp/openwrt-18.06.2-bcm53xx-netgear-r8000-squashfs.chk 
    Image metadata not found
    Found CHK image with device board_id U12H315T00_NETGEAR
    Found a valid TRX version 1

Then tried via LUCI again, this time with unchecked "Keep settings".
Same again - reboots to 18.06.1

Unsure what to try next - any suggestions gratefully received.

Mem free: 191480
overlayfs:/overlay Available: 9092
tmpfs Available: 118992

[apologies if this isn't formatted perfectly - my first post]

[dg_102]

I am experiencing similar issues with my router D-Link 885. It is likely related to the bcm53xx that my router is using as well. The previous version 18.06.1 works perfect.

[dit_dah_dit]

I also own an R8000, and frankly, I am still running LEDE 17.01.6. I tried upgrading to 18.06.0 and 18.06.1, and discovered that at least one of the packages that I use, Network UPS Tools, is slightly broken in 18.06.x. Until 18.06 is more fully complete, I'll be staying with LEDE for the time being.

[geofb]

After following the suggestions is similar thread, I tried running mtd directly, with the result:

mtd -r write /tmp/openwrt-18.06.2-bcm53xx-netgear-r8000-squashfs.chk firmware
Image check failed.

Haven't had any problems with LEDE or OpenWrt up until now, both have been very stable and reliable for me. Not sure what next steps are - whether the 18.06.2 bcm53xx image needs some more investigation.

Thanks for your feedback.

[geofb]

openwrt-18.06.2-bcm53xx-netgear-r8000-squashfs.chk is now installed on the R8000.

The solution for me was:

• Backup the device configuration via Luci
• /sbin/firstboot
• /sbin/reboot -f
• Apply the upgrade via Luci
• Restore device configuration via Luci

Quite possibly these troubles were self-inflicted. I suspect some files necessary for the upgrade process may have been missing, uninstalled by me in error over the course of the last year. The firstboot brought the device back to a clean starting point.

Many thanks to all for assistance and suggestions.