I have a TP-Link Archer C5400 V2 that I bought used that was supposed to be in working condition. Well, unfortunately It's stuck in some sort of a boot loop. So after hours of research, I tried the following methods to rescue this thing.
--------tftpd64 method--------
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changed my Ethernet adapter ip settings to:
IP: 192.168.0.66
SUBNET MASK: 255.255.255.0 -
downloaded the latest firmware .BIN file from the tp-link website for the c5400
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since there is no information out there at the present time on how to do this for this specific router, I did not know what to rename the .BIN file to, so I made multiple copies of the .BIN file from the tp-link website, put them in a folder on the desktop named "recovery", and renamed the .BIN files as follows:
"ArcherC5400_v1_tp_recovery.bin"
"ArcherC5400_v2_tp_recovery.bin"
"ArcherC5400v1_tp_recovery.bin"
"ArcherC5400v2_tp_recovery.bin" -
downloaded, installed, and started tftpd64
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Clicked "Browse" and selected the "recovery" file on my desktop
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on the list for "Server interfaces" I selected the "192.168.0.66" option
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plugged the router into my computer's Ethernet port (I tried this method on all 4 Ethernet ports on the router)
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held down the eps and restart buttons first, THEN powered the router on while still holding the 2 buttons until the light pattern changed to indicate recovery mode, and.....nothing. nothing displayed on tftpd64, and after like 10 seconds, the router restarted, and resumed it's boot loop. so I tried changing the IP of my computer's Ethernet adapter thinking maybe my router was one of the routers that used the recovery IP: "192.168.1.66". Unfortunately, still nothing.
--------web page firmware recovery--------
(This method was listed on TP-Link's web sight for multiple routers, including the C5400)
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changed my Ethernet adapter ip settings to:
IP: 192.168.0.2
SUBNET MASK: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.0.1 -
downloaded the latest firmware .BIN file from the tp-link website for the c5400 to my computer to upload to the router if the web page displayed properly
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plugged the router into my computer's Ethernet port (I tried this method on all 4 Ethernet ports on the router)
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held down the eps and restart buttons first, THEN powered the router on while still holding the 2 buttons until the light pattern changed to indicate recovery mode, then quickly tried to navigate to "192.168.0.1" on chrome, and.....also nothing. the router was supposed to communicate with my PC at the web address "192.168.0.1", but the webpage never loaded because the router just keeps restarting before anything can load on chrome.
--------possible USB recovery method?--------
(this is something I just thought of myself)
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formatted a USB stick (tried both NTFS and FAT32)
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put all the same .BIN files on the USB drive:
"ArcherC5400_v1_tp_recovery.bin"
"ArcherC5400_v2_tp_recovery.bin"
"ArcherC5400v1_tp_recovery.bin"
"ArcherC5400v2_tp_recovery.bin" -
plugged the USB drive into the router (tried both ports, but only the blue USB 3.0 port closest to the power button yielded these interesting results...
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held down the eps and restart buttons first, THEN powered the router on while still holding the 2 buttons until the light pattern changed to indicate recovery mode
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then the lights displayed a pattern the I definitively have not seen before but unfortunately accomplished nothing
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plugged an empty USB drive into that same USB port and the same interesting light pattern displayed, so I knew it had nothing to do with the .BIN files on the first USB drive.
So in doing further research about the tftpd64 method, I found there is this program called "Wireshark" that lets you view the traffic of the Ethernet adapter to see what the router is sending, receiving, and requesting. All this information was in a guide, and apparently the router is first supposed to request the IP "192.168.0.66" using the "ARP" Protocol, which mine did not do. It requested "192.168.0.1" along with whatever IP I had assigned to my computers Ethernet adapter using the "ARP" Protocol. Then, The router is suppossed to request a recovery file using the "TFTP" Protocol. My router didn't request a recovery file...there was absolutely no data in the log that used the "TFTP" Protocol. So that tells me the router is not even trying to retrieve a recovery file. So I am pretty sure TFTP recovery is not an option for me. However, I think there is still a little hope using the "serial ttl" method. I have ordered the appropriate 3 pin connector to solder onto the router's main board, and a serial ttl to USB adapter, however all the good guides on how to do a serial ttl recovery are for the Archer C7 and C5 routers...Not the Archer C5400 which is a completely different router. Could you guys help me out? I really don't want to just throw away such a powerful and expensive router due to (what seems to be) just firmware and or boot-loader corruption. Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks!