Unit reverted to OpenWRT defaults without warning

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

I have three of these YouHua WR1200JS units operating as DumbAPs throughout my house. Running on the latest snapshot version of OpenWRT. Out of nowhere the unit in my office drops connection, and my PC resolves to 192.168.1.1 (my default IP range from my main routre is 192.168.2.1).

Clear my ssh keys on my PC, and ssh into the unit. It's back to openwrt default settings without any interaction either from ssh or gui. I did overclock the CPU from recovery "Web Breed" mode several week ago, so maybe that caused a weird glitch. Not sure if this is a sign of a dieing unit or what (They are almost 4 years old).

Easy fix, restoring my backup via sysupgrade, just weird that it happened out-of-nowhere.

2

There are a 2 scenarios that I know of that can trigger this:

  • if the device is a dual partition system, it is possible that it switch boot partitions. This is common on some Linksys devices after power related issues (usually 3 partial boots causes a switch to the other partion).
  • In certian situations, if the flash memory fills up a reset to defaults can occur. I've observed this in some rare instance.

Also, if you're running snapshot, there is always the possibility of a minor bug or other issue that may have crept in and not been noticed. You should consider running a stable release build unless there is a reason you need snapshot.