LogicoZone wrote:sera wrote:LogicoZone wrote:1. Does OpenWRT image for WRT1900ACx supports failsafe mode? I tried to follow the instruction. It doesn't seem having failsafe mode and while listen to the broadcast message, there is no message at all.
Should work but have never tried myself. Not needed to debrick at all.
LogicoZone wrote:2. I tried serial port but almost always that the power led and SATA led are lit and nothing happen. Only once, it seems I got serial output to console but the freeze.
I don't understand what exactly you are doing. Did you ever connect the usb2tll cable before and had proper console output? Ie. you actually know how to do it and confirmed it was working?
Yes. As said, I've connected the pin correctly and plug-in the usb to pc with putty opened and connected to the right com port.
The problem is I've tried at least dozen times. As soon as I turn on the router, the power led and SATA led turned on with no console output. I saw some other people having same issue on other forum.
During several tries, I only successfully get serial console output to show some boot sequence but then it showed some garble characters after some seconds.
I cannot figure out why it seems working for just once and what's the difference for all other failed attempts. All pin connection and putty settings are identical for all attempts.
Are you using female pins with a 2.0mm pitch or the more common 2.54mm pitch? All WRT AC Series headers have a 2.0mm pitch, and while 2.54mm pitch female pins will work in a pinch, one has to ensure they're properly insulated with vinyl [electrical] tape and cocked just so.
Unless there's some physical damage to the serial header, then your female pins aren't making a consistent connection to the header pins, which explains the intermittent and garbled output.
Ensure header pins 1 (Gnd) and 4 (Rx) have a solid connection (Tx is 2), and ensure your header pin count is correct (triangle on PCB annotates pin 6), as all Armada 385 boards have the header flipped horizontally.
If doing what @nitroshift suggested and the above do not work, you may have a cable issue (while a header issue is possible, it's highly unlikely)... if you have a multimeter/voltmeter, test continuity between each header pin and the corresponding USB pin.
You don't need to look up the USB female pin out, though an image search should show the pin out in the first few results returned, simply ensure each USB pin only has continuity with one of the three female header pins, and that one USB pin has no continuity with any of the 3 female header pins.
I'd like to see what does solid power and sata led mean?
If only Power and eSATA lights are lit, it means the firmware has experienced a fatal error during the boot process, meaning at least one of the firmware partitions is corrupted. You can switch partitions via the Firmware Recovery process.
Does OpenWRT support... failsafe mode?
OpenWrt did have a failsafe mode capability prior to CC (via a package that can be installed), however it's strongly discouraged due to the massive security risk it poses. I would never recommend anyone utilize it, both because of the massive security risk, but also because it's simply not needed.
If a device is capable of running OpenWrt, then a user flashing OpenWrt should already know prior to flashing they should have access to a USB-TTL cable, Arduino/Raspberry Pi, or a breakout board for RSxxx, accompanied by a RSxxx serial cable. Provided the user has one of the three, there's no point to attempt to implement and utilize fail safe mode.
@nitroshift Noted =] It's simply a habit to capitalize names, and occasionally I forget to correct forum names in the proof read prior to posting.
(Last edited by JW0914 on 30 May 2017, 06:31)