Got the TP-MR3040 today from amazom and in under 10mins i have probably bricked it

To all the gurus out there and TP-MR3040 owners...help pls

In my haste to install openwrt on it, i mistakenly flashed a bin for the asus WL-330n3g instead of the bin for a TP-MR3040

Now all i get when i turn it on, is a flash of all the four green lights and then the power light stays on permanently, i now have no access to ethernet configuration, as i dont get an ip address from the router anymore.

Anything i can do without having to go the serial port way, as i currently dont have the needed cables or even a soldering iron.

I have tried to get to failsafe (stated here - http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-mr3420#failsafe or here - http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/generic.failsafe) but that doesnt seem to work, still no ip or anything

So have i bricked it? ...any comment or advice will be welcome guys

(Last edited by des245 on 12 Apr 2013, 17:12)

10mins? You can do that faster... ;-> *scnr*

If you can access the router in failsafe mode, it's not yet bricked (means: you still have the chance to brick it completely).

Seems your problem is reduced to a non working network.

"still no ip or anything" is a little bit scarce information.... how do you want your router to work? In what environment? Do you want to access it via Wifi or LAN?

First thing to do now: Get your router back to normal operation (e.g. when in failsafe mode, flash the right image for your router).

Hi tmo26, slly me hey

Thanks for reply though, giving me some hope as i really dont wanna go down the serial route as will need tools that i dont have.

i can only access it via lan as it doesnt boot up properly so Wifi is out of the question unfortunately.

Failsafe mode methods i tried was as per the above link and no joy with those methods.

re 'no ip' ...this is what happens  -

I connect via ethernet attached to the ethernet port on the TL-MR3040 and then onto my lappy's ethernet port and after a while i only get the default DHCP of 169.254.170.86, which is not a proper ip and not from the router.

Maybe i am doing the failsafe method wrong? ...bear in mind though, that my router is the TL-MR3040 which has a 3.7 battery that can power it with external power for upto 4hrs, so i do not know if i have to take the battery out and just try failsafe with the power supply cable.

I noticed you have a TL-MR3020, so how do you get to failsafe on that router?

(Last edited by des245 on 12 Apr 2013, 19:13)

I get into failsafe as described here: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl- … lsafe.mode

You should get there as described here: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl- … lsafe.mode

Please keep in mind, that once in failsafe mode, you can access the router via telnet 192.168.1.1
Please also keep in mind, that failsafe mode is not a normal working mode, but only for emergency recovery. Therefore, only basic commands are working.

When you are logged in via telnet in failsafe mode, you should be able to adjust /etc/config/network to the desired IP.
Or if everything fails: flash a new FW image via console.

thank for your advice, but my TL-MR3040 doesnt have a WPS Button so although i tried the method for the TL-MR3020 it did not work and as i said before the method for the device itself the TL-MR3040 is not working either

really unlikely that you get failsafe from a bricked router

order a ttl serial adapter (or build it from an old nokia cable XD)

soldering is not needed, even if it would be better..

Thanks nebbia88,

but can you give me more info re getting and using this ttl serial adapter or nokia cable XD you are talking about, im not a total noob but ive never used it but im a very fast learner though

is the nokia cable XD the same as a dku-5 cable?

The information you give is contradictionary and not helping at all.

This implies, that failsafe IS in fact working for you.

Failsafe Mode TL-MR3040
    Switch on the router
    Wait almost 5 sec
    Press the "Reset" for ~3sec
    The device is now in Failsafe-Mode
    You may access it by using telnet 192.168.1.1/24 or serial

Have you set your Laptop manually to IP 192.168.1.2?
Have you been able to successfully telnet to the router to 192.168.1.1?

is the ttl serial adapter - http://www.amazon.co.uk/UART-CP2102-Mod … al+adapter

or is it this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/USB2-0-Module-C … al+adapter

not sure though if i could post the above link on the forum, if i cant admin plse edit the post.

Thanx tmo26, i have indeed tried all that but no joy

When i said i can only access via lan, i was just answering your question as to how i was trying to connect, so what i mean was i was trying to connect via lan and not that 'i can' actually connect via lan

(Last edited by des245 on 12 Apr 2013, 20:17)

here info on how to use a nokia cable:

http://buffalo.nas-central.org/wiki/Use … inkstation

adapters you linked are OK, but you will need to be sure that they use 3.3V on TX, and not 5V as some adapters..

also, PL2303 based adapters are working better for some people..

Thanks for all the info nebbia88,

will check them out and report back

Hi nebbia88,

since you say PL2303 based adapters are working better for some people, what do you think about this one?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PL-2303HX-PL-2 … TTL+Module

If you take a closer look at the it here - https://www.dropbox.com/s/esi9nmrc1uxmc … bit%29.jpg

...and then zoom in, you will see it says one of the points is 3v3, so does that mean its 3.3V then?

cheers mate

(Last edited by des245 on 13 Apr 2013, 21:30)

3v3 is 3.3v (it is printed on silk screens that way to make sure it is clear).
It is odd that you have both 3v3 and Vcc.
My guess is that it will be fine (do not connect 3v3 or Vcc), but to be certain, measure voltage between Tx and Gnd and Rx and Gnd.
At worst you might need a few resistors to create a voltage divider

cheers mate,

will order it now, as it seems the closest

As promised, i am reporting back...all is well now...TL-MR3040 unbricked successful and openwrt installed in repeater mode and working okay thus far.

thanks to everyone who took time to help me out and advice me...you guys are great...appreciated

des245,

You said you got your OpenWRT on MR3040 running in repeater mode. I would like to do that too, can you tell me how to set the "wireiess" and "network" configuration files (or any other files needed) to accomplish this?

Thanks
rough

same thing here... somehow the part about "writing the firmware to the device" didn't work well.
Everything looks great... exept... I am NOT able to logon to the device or even give a new password.
I am able to access the 192.168.1.1 website where it shows already "root" - but like I said... password is unknown.
Neither "passwd" - "admin" - "root" is working

I thought doing the FailSafe Mode....would help...but here I have:
root@(none):/#
and when I go for "passwd" ...after retyping the new password it says:
"passwd: /etc/passwd: Read-only file system
passwd: can't update password file /etc/passwd"..... /

any ideas? Thanks a lot!

Run "mount_root" before executing "passwd".

hey.. thanks did that... ... a lot to read through...

so, now I have a message saying that there is "no jffs2 marker found"....

I also did the firstboot....

got me to the same response... any ideas before putting another 2 hours on this with the "nokia cable last resort" part?

I guess there is no easy way to reload/rewrite the firmware using the network-connection...?

(Last edited by markusharea-0 on 31 May 2014, 16:42)

btw... thanks JOW for the fast reply! )

German:
okay... also hier ein update..
ich habe jetzt gerade es geschafft das Passwort über den Failsafe zu ändern mit mount_root

root@(none):/# mount -t jffs2 /dev/mtdblock/4 /jffs
mount: mounting /dev/mtdblock/4 on /jffs failed: No such file or directory

root@(none):/# passwd
Changing password for root
New password:
Retype password:
Password for root changed by root

und danach einen
reboot -f

blöderweise ist aber das Passwort wieder "weg" ... funktioniert nicht.
muss ich das echt extra noch schreiben oder unmounten bevor ich neustarte?

oder wie kann die jffs2 richtig mounten, damit das Password auch drin bleibt?
keinen Plan... bin Windows-User... daher vorab schonmal sorry

English:

so .... somehow I was able to finally change the password.
But it seems like that is does not stick... as you see I was able to do a successfull password change.
Than I rebooted and the password for root to logon using the web logon page was again not accepted.
Do I need to hard write that part back to the partition ? Or how can I fix that jffs2 partition?
I am kinda sooo lost.... and Windows User .. so sorry for asking basic questions here...

(Last edited by markusharea-0 on 31 May 2014, 17:03)

Solved! ) yeah.. I know.... RTFM ) lol..

so, I did:
mount root - set password - unmount ... reboot ... connect via SSH.... download the factory.bin on my computer.... transfered the bin-file via WINSCP to the router.... sysupgrade with the factory.bin file....

now I am finally able to logon, set a customized password and logon via Web-logon )