My WRT54G router is driving me nuts. - Hardware & Software

So, I've had this thing for a while, and it never really bothered me until recently - when I started playing TF2 and CSS again, when it really became prominent. Now, I'll start up TF2 for a nice game of dustbowl, I'll crack open a coke and unwind for a while. What is becoming more and more of a problem everyday is that with my router, I can really only pick up about 400 servers, 200 of these are empty, another 100 of them have custom maps, and about 6 of them are playing dustbowl, 3 of these which are also empty. The other 3 I'll try to connect to, but it'll fail. Again, and again, and again. I'll click on "Connect" until my finger wears out, but nothing will happen. I'll try to connect with the IP but it'll fail after 4 retries. This is driving me nuts. I've done a thorough search of this problem, I've opened ports (I can host servers and people can connect), I've unblocked anonymous requests, I've opened my DMZ, uPnP is enabled, and all that stuff. It just doesn't want to work. My router is definitely the source of the problem, I've bypassed it and plugged my modem straight into my computer, and it'll jump from 400 CSS servers to 10 000 and continues to climb. I don't have a problem with connecting and the game runs smooth. Thing is, I can't really do that often as it's a pain to do and my WRT54G supplies wireless internet (I'm on a wired connection), and often times someone in my household will be using said internet so I can't really bypass it at that time. Oh - one last thing, I can't disable my router's firewall. It's not on the config page anywhere and I suspect that'll solve my problem, but nothing anywhere makes mention of it. Upgrading firmware fails as well. It's driving me nuts. tl;dr - I get a fraction of the servers in many online games, most of which I can't even connect to save a handful. My router is the source of the problem but I've done just about everything and nothing has solved the problem.

thats odd, my router is the same and i don't have a problem. check your windows firewall settings.

Check your firewall? If not use the other router?

[QUOTE=BananasGoMoo;17593798]thats odd, my router is the same and i don't have a problem. check your windows firewall settings.[/QUOTE] Windows Firewall is off. [QUOTE=dark_console2;17593822]Check your firewall? If not use the other router?[/QUOTE] It's not my firewall (software firewall that is, there's no listing for the router firewall if there is one), because I bypassed the router and plugged my modem into my computer and that solved my problem. I don't have another router.

I have the same problem and router, sometimes I don't pick up any servers. Sometimes restarting the game solves the problem. Sometimes cancelling downloads fixes them too. Really the best solution for me is to go to [url]www.routerlogin.com[/url] (redirects you to the router page, usually 192.168.0.1) and login (username: admin ; password: password)

I am have the same exact problem! Bypassing the router is the only way I was able to temporarily able to fix it. Firmware upgrade didn't work either. It's getting so annoying be able to have 60 counter strike servers out of the thousands available. Brand: Linksys Model Number: BEFSR41

Install DD-WRT.

Or Tomato.

^^^ Very nice firmwares

Forward steam's ports. The same thing happens to me occasionally, but IPv6 seems to make it work better.

Put on DD-WRT and disable the firewall.

I think it's an issue with the router keeping track of too many connections. Tomato firmware has an option to limit this, and I believe DD-WRT does as well. I prefer Tomato, personally. :smug:

[QUOTE=demonguard;17595896]Install DD-WRT.[/QUOTE] Took me a while to figure it out, but I finally installed it and was able to disable the firewall. I get a lot more servers now, although it takes a while for em to display. Works for me - especially since I can connect to all/most of them, unlike before. Thanks, rated tool.

Okay, new problem - the firmware is great, it's really nice and gives you a lot of feedback, but I think it bricked my router. After what I believe a day of uptime (it was a day 20 min uptime when this occurred) it stopped working. I messed around with it and tried to get a connection, my modem was fine and my ISP was working, so I did 30-30-30 (hold reset with power on for 30sec, pull out power cord holding reset for 30sec, put it back in and hold reset for 30sec) and now the Power LED isn't coming on, I can't connect to 192.168.1.1. I'm about to try a power cycle but I fear the worst. Why did this happen? A whole day of it running fine, and then it just stopped working?!

You were wired to the router when you were flashing it, right? And, this is a sign. A sign to go the Tomato route.

I know Netgear have a tool for re-flashing bricked routers, maybe Linksys do too?

[QUOTE=waxrock;17623278]You were wired to the router when you were flashing it, right? And, this is a sign. A sign to go the Tomato route.[/QUOTE] Yes, I can't ping it or anything, this is very odd. Also, I can't find a "tool" for re-flashing my router, I've crawled over the net and tried most everything, short of opening it.

[quote] So, you're afraid you've bricked your router. Don't worry, there are a number of things you can try to get your router working again before giving up and living with the fact that your router is now a paperweight. It is also unfortunately possible to configure your router in ways which make it dead to the world. These techniques may be useful in these cases also. To determine if the router is bricked, carefully follow the steps at note 6 of the peacock thread: [url]http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51486[/url] Before you continue below, make sure you've first tried a hard reset to revive your router: 1. Disconnect the router from UTP cables (not the power cable). 2. Push reset button for 30 secs. 3. Without releasing reset button, disconnect power cord. 4. Hold the reset button for another 30 secs. 5. Replug the power cord. 6. Still hold the reset button for another 30 secs. 7. Release the reset button and give the router about 10 secs to resettle. 8. Disconnect power cord for another 10 secs and then reconnect. 9. All should be in default settings now. [/quote] [quote] So, you're afraid you've bricked your router. Don't worry, there are a number of things you can try to get your router working again before giving up and living with the fact that your router is now a paperweight. It is also unfortunately possible to configure your router in ways which make it dead to the world. These techniques may be useful in these cases also. To determine if the router is bricked, carefully follow the steps at note 6 of the peacock thread: [url]http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51486[/url] Before you continue below, make sure you've first tried a hard reset to revive your router: 1. Disconnect the router from UTP cables (not the power cable). 2. Push reset button for 30 secs. 3. Without releasing reset button, disconnect power cord. 4. Hold the reset button for another 30 secs. 5. Replug the power cord. 6. Still hold the reset button for another 30 secs. 7. Release the reset button and give the router about 10 secs to resettle. 8. Disconnect power cord for another 10 secs and then reconnect. 9. All should be in default settings now. [/quote] [quote] If you cannot find a Firmware Auto-Upgrade utility at the Linksys Download Page, use a Setup Wizard as an alternative from other Linksys router (make sure to use your router's firmware). Another tftp program is called tftp2 and is available here (this will start the download): tftp2.exe 3CDaemon from 3Com is another useful tftp program. To use it, use the TFTP client portion, enable RFC1784 timeout with a 60 second value and set the transfer to Octet. 3CDDaemon [/quote] [quote] Note that if you already have DD-WRT installed and working, and you are on this page because you want to revert to the router firmware, you need to break DD-WRT first! telnet into the router, execute: mtd erase linux reboot (Note: only tested on the WNDR3300 with 24preSP2; YMMV) During startup, the router will pause to accept a temporary firmware upload via tftp. On the Linksys WRT54G routers, you need to flash an image that contains the "W54G" header (Linksys and mini_wrt54g images) If pinging 192.168.1.1 does not work, check the IP Address of your computer and make sure it is assigned an IP address in the subnet of the router IP. For simplicity sake you can assume "192.168.1.x" is good. If you do not have a good IP, the DHCP Server might not be working. So set your IP manually to something like 192.168.1.77 with 192.168.1.1 as your gateway and then try pinging the router again. Power the router on with a continuous ping running in a command window: ping -t -w 2 192.168.1.1 The -w 2 parameter forces a lower timeout for the ping answer, this makes easier to get an answer from the bricked router. You should see at least a few replies from 192.168.1.1. Do this several times to be sure. If it does you have good chance of simple recovery. If you still receive no response, the IP address may be something other than 192.168.1.1. You should attempt to obtain the IP address of the router. Especially if previous firmware set the boot_wait variable to on, the router pauses even longer than normal during bootup to accept a recovery flash. All you need to do is provide a firmware to it via TFTP during this window of time. Prepare your PC, firmware file and TFTP software and play with the timing of powering it on and starting the TFTP session just after applying power (or as soon as you start to see ping replies). If you try it a number of times (at least 10) you will probably rescue the router with no fuss! If you see an 'Invalid Password' prompt from the router the bootloader did not accept the TFTP image and the firmware is refusing the TFTP upload. You can force the bootloader to accept the TFTP upload by holding the reset button while powering up the router. You may also improve success rates by ensuring there is a switch or hub between the PC and the router, maintaining link state when the router power cycles. DrayTek Router Tools - OSX/Windows:This program will run all those pesky TFTP commands with a push of a button. Simply download and install DrayTek router tools from here and follow the instructions: [url]http://www.draytek.com.au/downloads.php[/url] 1) Run 'Draytek Firmware Upgrade', 2) Specify your *.bin file. 3) Plug in your router and hit send, if you get a "can't send" message, hit ok and try sending again. As long as you have a manual IP address on the same subnet as your router, and your router is pingable, it should eventually go through (reboot the router if you can't send for more than a minute). 4) When the send is successful, you should see a progress bar as the file is sent. 5) Wait approximately two minutes, and your router should become accessible. Windows: Microsoft Windows contains a TFTP client. Windows Vista will require that you enable it in Programs and Features. With TFTP, all of the information about the transfer is specified during the initial setup; there is little client/server interaction as compared with standard FTP. To flash a router using Microsoft Windows, open a command prompt, change to the directory containing the original Linksys firmware to use for this boot (this example assumes the firmware file name is code.bin), and then enter the following command (assuming your router IP 192.168.1.1): tftp -i 192.168.1.1 PUT code.bin OSX: OSX contains a TFTP client, described below, but its success rate varies especially if you receive the "Invalid Password !!!" error. The MacTFTP Client by MacTechnologies worked on the first attempt however. Just be sure to specify the password which is usually the default of "admin" and wait for the transfer to finish. Linux: Most Linux distros either include a tftp client or have one available in their packages. This example uses atftp. atftp --option "mode octet" --verbose -p -l code.bin 192.168.1.1 edit quaa - 12-30-08 For OS X and Linux users i suggest opening a terminal window and entering the following commands. tftp 192.168.1.1 binary rexmt 1 timeout 60 trace after all that type (but do not hit enter just yet) put firmwarefile.bin plug in router and immediately hit enter Now apply power to your router. The tftp client will continuously retry uploading the firmware until the router responds. Hopefully, the router will briefly awaken, allowing the firmware upgrade to be sent. About two minutes later, the router will reset and become operational with the new firmware. After the PUT is complete the router will stop pinging for 2 or 3 minutes while the firmware is flashed.. Don't panic, this is normal. Once you start receiving pings again, the firmware has been flashed and you should be able to access the router again. You should reset to defaults before configuring the router again. Linksys WRT54 GL: Linksys wrt54 GL users please note that if flashing with tftp using dd-wrt firmware gives no results, original Linksys firmware from [url]www.linksys.com[/url] is worth trying. If that works, do a hard reset and you can continue to flash with dd-wrt. In order to use the Standard firmware version, a MINI version MUST be used first. Notes: a) The -i specifies binary transfer mode. The transfer will fail if you don't specify this. b) Start the command and then power up the router. There is no indication of any transfer until it is complete. c) The uploading via this command is pretty slow ~5.7kB/s if you are using 10Mbps half duplex mode so it will take about 10 minutes to upload ~3MB image. When you're using 100Mbps full duplex mode, it will go much faster. After the transfer is complete, wait 2-3 minutes for the image to be written to flash. d) If TFTP does not work, try changing your network adapter to 10 Mbps half duplex. e) Provided you have followed these steps correctly you should notice that the router will eventually reboot, in some cases it will require a power cycle (however if you power cycle wait at least 10 minutes to be sure the flash writing has occurred before you pull the plug). f) Enjoy the fact that you did not waste $60 and that your router is now functioning again. [edit] Recovery by JTAG cable Please read the jtag wiki here: [url]http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Jtag[/url] If the router isn't pingable anymore, there is little else you can do, but using a JTAG cable. For a pin-out see OpenWRT wiki. Then download the HairyDairyMaid Debrick Utility. Or...try the updated TJTAG program which includes the Newer Router Models. 1. solder the JTAG cable following the above linked pin-out. 2. solder a 12 pin header on the PCB of the router. 3. to install the giveio.sys copy giveio.sys and loaddrv.exe into {windows}\system32\drivers (*usually C:\windows\system32\drivers*) 4. double click loaddrv.exe in the system32 dir. This is important. 5. append the filename giveio.sys onto the path in the utility 6. press the load button and the start button, they should both confirm success. If this does not happen go no further, go back and fix this. 7. from the command prompt cd to your Hairy Dairy directory and run wrt54g.exe to get a list of options 8. to check your cable, plugin and power up the router and do wrt54g -probeonly 9. it will then detect the CPU type. If not then check your cable. 10. finally to erase your NVRAM (the usual cause of the problem) wrt54g -erase:nvram 11. if that didn't work, erase the kernel (firmware): wrt54g -erase:kernel Now reflash the kernel via TFTP. 12. if you still have no luck, you need to erase your CFE, but make sure you have a working cfe.bin for your router model! wrt54g -erase:cfe After that you have to reflash your CFE: wrt54g -flash:cfe A partial list can be found here CFE collection project Flashing the KERNEL or WHOLEFLASH will take a very long time using JTAG via this utility. You are better off flashing the CFE & NVRAM files & then using the normal TFTP method to flash the KERNEL via ethernet. NOTE: If your JTAG writing program is hanging during the flash erase step, check your power supply. The act of writing flash consumes more power than reads, so a marginal power supply may support probes and reads, but will fail at writes. In one case, I had a 32V AC ripple on a 14V DC supply. I presume the marginal power supply called the original flash failure. If you do not have a CFE.BIN file, you can find a repository of them here. These all have MAC addresses that DO NOT MATCH your hardware. Use the CFE editing tool "IMGTOOL_NVRAM" available from The Bitsum Wiki to set the et0macaddr and il0macaddr before uploading the CFE. et0macaddr is the address printed on the outside; il0macaddr is that same address, plus one. Example: If the printger address is 00:90:4d:83:00:01, then et0macaddr is 00:90:4d:83:00:01 and il0macaddr is 00:90:4d:83:00:02. Problems with WRT54G v.1.0 and Allnet ALL0277 If you generate the CFE.BIN you may have to choose v.1.1 and PMON v1.5 even if you are absolutely sure, that you have a v.1.0 model laying in front of you. Even a backup CFE.BIN from the same router is not able to be flashed back, only the 1.1 version is flawlessy flashable. Despite that, you should use the options /nobreak /noreset Source [edit] If That Doesn't Work WARNING - This method can cause permanent damage. Success rate is only about 20%. The other 80% is permanent damage to the flash chip rendering the router permanently inoperable. Use at your own risk. You've been warned. If the above methods do not work for you, the [WRT54G Revival Guide] includes a second technique that involves snapping open the plastic case of the router and using a small metal tool (or paper-clip) to "short" two particular "pins" on the circuit board. It is quite clear that this carries risk of permanently damaging your flash via static discharge, and should be a measure of EXTREME last resort, not the first thing to try. You can very likely recover from a bad flash WITHOUT opening the router if you have some patience with the TFTP technique. The solution described in the Revival Guide works NOT for WRT54GL v1.1 with MX 29L320CTB flash chip. Here you have to short pins 16 & 17 instead. If you do have to use the EXTREME measure #4 from the revival guide as I did here is a additional tip uncovered from this forum. Voidman forum I used the "earthing" technique to get the WRT54g v3.1 to respond to pings. Whenever I tried to tftp the dd-wrt firmware, it would cause the router to stop responding to pings ans just give a "timeout" error. The solution was to first tftp an official LINKSYS firmware (WRT54G_4.30.5_US_code.bin which I renamed to "code.bin"). The router accepted it and rebooted properly. I was then able to upgrade to the latest dd-wrt v.23 SP2 through the WebGUI. This was discovered on GS v.4 which responded to unofficial firmware with "incorrect code pattern." Apparently this happens when tftp'ing to an empty flash chip. There's also a collection of pointers and tips on how to recover from a bad flash at the external link location, but most of the information in that forum seems to have been collected into the WRT54G Revival Guide. So far this is just a starter wiki. If someone could move the important parts into this wiki, that'd be great. Probably organize it by recovery methods and list variations of each method below the method, or something. [/quote] .