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Topic: How to unbrick your TL-WR1043ND

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Hi there,

I get "checksum bad" error when I run tftpboot command (right after connecting the LAN cable). I went step-by-step through phukit's comment above (first comment in this thread).

I'm using TFTPD32. In TFTPD32 GUI I can't see any tftp "job" running, so it seems that the router does not download anything at all (I tried tftp from other computer, and it works well, the job appears in tftp GUI).

Here is the printout when I run the tftpboot command (and attach the LAN cable):

ar7100> tftpboot 0x81000000 myfirmware.bin
Using eth0 device
TFTP from server 192.168.0.5; our IP address is 192.168.0.2
Filename 'myfirmware.bin'.
Load address: 0x81000000
Loading: T checksum bad
checksum bad
checksum bad
checksum bad
T checksum bad
checksum bad
checksum bad
T T T T T T T T
Retry count exceeded; starting again
Using eth0 device
TFTP from server 192.168.0.5; our IP address is 192.168.0.2
Filename 'myfirmware.bin'.
Load address: 0x81000000
Loading: T T T T T T T T T T


Additional remarks:
My computer's ip : 192.168.0.5, subnet mask : 255.255.255.0 , def gw: none

printenv command result:

ar7100> printenv
bootargs=console=ttyS0,115200 root=31:02 rootfstype=jffs2 init=/sbin/init mtdparts=ar9100-nor0:128k(u-boot),1024k(kernel),4096k(rootfs),64k(art)
bootcmd=bootm 0xbf020000
bootdelay=1
baudrate=115200
ethaddr=00:1D:0F:11:22:33
ipaddr=192.168.0.2
serverip=192.168.0.5
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
stderr=serial
ethact=eth0



Can anyone help please, why is bad checksum message keep appearing?

gingerbeardman wrote:
macrider wrote:

Dear all, anyone know how to unbrick using Mac OS?

Hope this helps...

Note: make sure to also read and refer to the original guide!

Requirements

Steps
0. Install  Mac OS X drivers for your USB to UART cable, for my SiLabs CP2012 cable they were easily found with a quick web search

1. Download your choice of firmware (see OP, but I used official firmware to get me back to a stable place)

2. Open the case of your TL-WR1043ND
Use USB to UART cable to connect router Serial (on circuit board) port to Mac
Check: System Information.app > USB > "USB to UART" (or similar) is listed

3. Open Terminal.app and use the following with command:

screen /dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART 115200 8N1

4. Use Ethernet cable to connect router LAN (yellow) port to Mac
Open System Preferences > Network > Ethernet

Configure IPv4: Manually
IP Address: 192.168.0.5
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

5. Open TftpServer.app

6. Make sure the "Current Directory" in TftpServer is set to folder with modified original firmware renamed to "code.bin"
If not change the directory to the one where the file is located
Click "Start Server"

7. Open Terminal.app and paste the following with command:

screen /dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART 115200 8N1

plug in Power cord to router... you should see bootloader coming up now...

8. You will see something like this:
No valid address in Flash. Using fixed address
: cfg1 0xf cfg2 0x7114
eth0 up
eth0
Autobooting in 1 seconds## Booting image bf0200000...
Then type following fast: tpl
Now you will get into the command prompt and you're able to execute commands.
If you are too slow, power cycle router off/on and try again.

9. Erase the firmware before writing it again using following command:

erase 0xbf020000 +7c0000

10. Download new modified original firmware from computer tftp directory to the router:

tftpboot 0x81000000 code.bin

11. Write the downloaded firmware to flash using:

cp.b 0x81000000 0xbf020000 0x7c0000

12. Boot the original firmware again:

bootm 0xbf020000

13. Let the router finish booting up and wait for everything to stop loading, a minute or two

14. Press Ctrl + C than hit Enter and now you should be able to the router login screen at the default web address for the firmware you chose
e.g. http://192.168.1.1

Done!

Your router should be unbricked again!

I just unblocked my router using this procedure. smile

Good luck!

Hi guys, I'm unsure my router could be recovered or otherwise.
When powered up, all led would lit and subsequently remain with the power led.
The lan led switch at step 5 and I could ping.

I am using the same controller and driver as step 0, but I am stuck at step 7.
When entering the line screen /dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART 115200 8N1
Terminal just revert with a blank page and stays there forever.

Any pointers that I have missed or done wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Working corect unbrick TL-WR1043ND V2.1

windows xp sp3 notebook , usb ttl rs232 prolific PL2303 adaptor,tftpd32 4.52,putty, firmware TL-WR1043ND-V2-FW0.0.3-stripped.bin .
after install USB SERIAL RS232 in Windows XP, find device manager : ports COM & LPT ,configure PUTTY serial line COM number,speed baud 115200,8 ,1,none parity,none flow.
dizable wifi adaptor and all another lan inteface/adaptor ,only enable RJ45 and settings ipv4 IP adress manual 192.168.1.100,mask 255.255.255.0 ,gateway 192.168.1.1
in tftpd32 folder copy PUTTY ,firmware TL-WR1043ND-V2-FW0.0.3-stripped.bin and rename to 6F01A8C0.img
TFTPD32 config/settings to lan 192.168.1.100

putty , typing very fast (command for stoping loading router boot interface ).
---------
tpl
--------
commands using

tftp
erase 0x9f020000 +0x7c0000
cp.b 0x81000000 0x9f020000 0x7c0000
boot.m 0x9f020000

___________________________
second options

    Putty ,command
    -------------
      firstboot -y
    ---------------
    after execute remove and insert power cable very fast and typing
    ---
       tpl
       tftp
    erase 0x9f020000 +0x7c0000
    cp.b 0x81000000 0x9f020000 0x7c0000
    boot.m 0x9f020000

    -------------------

    visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t35Pei_eb6o
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCwBvoueBG4

    (Last edited by icxnc1 on 7 Mar 2016, 01:15)

    Can I use serial db9 for this purpose? Congect pin 2 3 and 5?

    icxnc1 wrote:

    Working corect unbrick TL-WR1043ND V2.1

    windows xp sp3 notebook , usb ttl rs232 prolific PL2303 adaptor,tftpd32 4.52,putty, firmware TL-WR1043ND-V2-FW0.0.3-stripped.bin .
    after install USB SERIAL RS232 in Windows XP, find device manager : ports COM & LPT ,configure PUTTY serial line COM number,speed baud 115200,8 ,1,none parity,none flow.
    dizable wifi adaptor and all another lan inteface/adaptor ,only enable RJ45 and settings ipv4 IP adress manual 192.168.1.100,mask 255.255.255.0 ,gateway 192.168.1.1
    in tftpd32 folder copy PUTTY ,firmware TL-WR1043ND-V2-FW0.0.3-stripped.bin and rename to 6F01A8C0.img
    TFTPD32 config/settings to lan 192.168.1.100

    putty , typing very fast (command for stoping loading router boot interface ).
    ---------
    tpl
    --------
    commands using

    tftp
    erase 0x9f020000 +0x7c0000
    cp.b 0x81000000 0x9f020000 0x7c0000
    boot.m 0x9f020000

    ___________________________
    second options

      Putty ,command
      -------------
        firstboot -y
      ---------------
      after execute remove and insert power cable very fast and typing
      ---
         tpl
         tftp
      erase 0x9f020000 +0x7c0000
      cp.b 0x81000000 0x9f020000 0x7c0000
      boot.m 0x9f020000

      -------------------

      visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t35Pei_eb6o
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCwBvoueBG4

      Can I use windows 10?

      I can´t write at Putty Terminal, I only can write after appears " Uncompressing Kernel Image ... Stream with EOS marker is not supportedLZMA ERROR 1 - must RESET board to recover" so I cant write after "Autobooting 1 second..."

      TERMINAL IS LIKE THIS:
      U-Boot 1.1.4 (Jun 13 2014 - 15:14:01)

      ap135 - Scorpion 1.0DRAM:
      sri
      Scorpion 1.0
      ath_ddr_initial_config(178): (16bit) ddr2 init
      tap = 0x00000003
      Tap (low, high) = (0x0, 0x1b)
      Tap values = (0xd, 0xd, 0xd, 0xd)
      64 MB
      Flash Manuf Id 0xef, DeviceId0 0x40, DeviceId1 0x17
      flash size 8MB, sector count = 128
      Flash:  8 MB
      Using default environment

      *** Warning *** : PCIe WLAN Module not found !!!
      *** Warning *** : PCIe WLAN Module not found !!!
      In:    serial
      Out:   serial
      Err:   serial
      Net:   ath_gmac_enet_initialize...
      athrs_sgmii_res_cal: cal value = 0xe
      No valid address in Flash. Using fixed address
      No valid address in Flash. Using fixed address
      ath_gmac_enet_initialize: reset mask:c02200
      Scorpion  ----> S17 PHY *
      athrs17_reg_init: complete
      : cfg1 0x80000000 cfg2 0x7114
      eth0: ba:be:fa:ce:08:41
      eth0 up
      athrs17_reg_init_wan done
      SGMII in forced mode
      athr_gmac_sgmii_setup SGMII done
      : cfg1 0x800c0000 cfg2 0x7214
      eth1: ba:be:fa:ce:08:41
      eth1 up
      eth0, eth1
      Setting 0x18116290 to 0x58b1a14f
      Autobooting in 1 seconds
      botting image at 9f020000 ...
         Uncompressing Kernel Image ... Stream with EOS marker is not supportedLZMA ERROR 1 - must RESET board to recover


      HELP ME PLEASE

      Thanks for the guide. Just fixed my router using this :-)

      Thanks for the guide. I was close to throwing away my router, because some things were not working for me. But I made it in the end smile
      Here are some things that I struggled with, but solved eventually. (Hopefully it will save time for others with bricked TP routers):

      * I got the serial communication working, using a raspberry pi and the 'gnu screen' program. I could see the router booting up, ending in kernel panic. BUT I couldn't get a command prompt by typing 'tpl'.
      After many attempts I did a loopback on the serial communication from the rPI by connecting the Rx and Tx pins together. That is when I realized that 'screen' was only sending CR on a 'enter' keypress.
      That's when a changed to "picocom", starting it with the command:

      picocom -b 115200 -f n -p n -d 8 --omap crcrlf /dev/ttyAMA0

      * The next mistake that I made was typing the commands for a version 1.x model, while I have a version 2.x model (e.g. ip address of the PC should be 192.168.1.100)

      * The last thing that did not work for me, was flashing the latest OEM firmware, but when I flashed the latest openwrt-...-factory.bin, the router was finally and successfully unbricked!! :-)

      Hope that you can all learn from my mistakes.

      (Smart people learn from their mistakes, wise people learn from others' mistakes)

      icxnc1 wrote:

      Working corect unbrick TL-WR1043ND V2.1

      windows xp sp3 notebook , usb ttl rs232 prolific PL2303 adaptor,tftpd32 4.52,putty, firmware TL-WR1043ND-V2-FW0.0.3-stripped.bin .
      after install USB SERIAL RS232 in Windows XP, find device manager : ports COM & LPT ,configure PUTTY serial line COM number,speed baud 115200,8 ,1,none parity,none flow.
      dizable wifi adaptor and all another lan inteface/adaptor ,only enable RJ45 and settings ipv4 IP adress manual 192.168.1.100,mask 255.255.255.0 ,gateway 192.168.1.1
      in tftpd32 folder copy PUTTY ,firmware TL-WR1043ND-V2-FW0.0.3-stripped.bin and rename to 6F01A8C0.img
      TFTPD32 config/settings to lan 192.168.1.100

      putty , typing very fast (command for stoping loading router boot interface ).
      ---------
      tpl
      --------
      commands using

      tftp
      erase 0x9f020000 +0x7c0000
      cp.b 0x81000000 0x9f020000 0x7c0000
      boot.m 0x9f020000

      ___________________________
      second options

        Putty ,command
        -------------
          firstboot -y
        ---------------
        after execute remove and insert power cable very fast and typing
        ---
           tpl
           tftp
        erase 0x9f020000 +0x7c0000
        cp.b 0x81000000 0x9f020000 0x7c0000
        boot.m 0x9f020000

        -------------------

        visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t35Pei_eb6o
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCwBvoueBG4


        I'm totally noob at this stuff, but I bought a bricked router to learn some new things.  These instructions brought my v2 back to life.  Thanks also to the OP.  My wifi bubble continues to grow with the help of these great forums/members.

        Hi guys, great job!
        Unfortunately doesnt work on my V2.1. with win7 (6 4)
        After "tftpboot" command in putty I got this :
        ______________________________________________________
        eth0 link down
        *** Warning: no boot file name; using '6F01A8C0.img'
        Using eth1 device
        TFTP from server 192.168.1.100; our IP address is 192.168.1.111
        Filename '6F01A8C0.img'.
        Load address: 0x81000000
        Loading: *
        TFTP error: 'File not found or No Access' (1)
        Starting again

        _________________________________________________________
        Can you help me, pls....

        (Last edited by puiusoft on 1 Jun 2016, 18:52)

        I did it............
        No putty.......no other extra cables....just tftp.....
        Here is how
        http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php … bricked-it
        Just use wr1043v2_tp_recovery.bin for the firmware, and dont forget about 192.168.0.66 !
        Hope you succeded too....
        See you guys!

        (Last edited by puiusoft on 4 Jun 2016, 06:21)

        I think there are 2 way to unbrick router belong to the way to login in router.
        -First login is  tplinklogin.net
        - The second is  tplinkwifi.net

        Hello,

        I would kindly ask you to help unbrick tl-wr1043ND v.3.0
        I have the following problem
        made pines just like in the picture


        Now I do not know if it's ok or not. On the USB-TTL I connect them from the bottom up: RX-TX-GND-3.3V

        when I connect with putty it does not happen nothing just waiting for a response.


        With one USB-TTL, this showed me this.

        I have no solution whatsoever, so I ask you for help.

        tnx

        Sorry, I can not upload the pictures, but I do not know why. if anyone knows how to order it, please ask for advice.

        (Last edited by jurcek85 on 17 Sep 2017, 13:09)

        The discussion might have continued from here.