HELP with flashing NetGear RT341 PLEASE!!!!

[Homerboy]

flashed my NetGear RT341 DSL router and I am having some serious problems with it.

First off let me explain that I flashed the firmware with the Zyxel firmware as the 2 router are IDENTICAL except for the external case and the Zyxel firmware gives more features (such as SNMP support, 250+ port forwarding etc) This has been confirmed to work by MANY people over many forums. This is what I have done thus far:


I FTPed the new .bin (renamed ras) and it auto-flashed it.

However, I now need to connect to the router via the serial cable and I have done so using HyperTerminal. However, when I connect via HTerminal, and reboot the router (per the instructions) I get the RAM post then some garbled crap after it. COPY:

Bootbase Version: V1.05 | 4/14/2000 13:58:03
RAM: Size = 4096 Kbytes
DRAM POST: Testing: 1184K OK
FLASH: Intel 8M
;F0¤;
?nK7¼Ç?§7'??ÄK1¼´G8°¤4#8Ä430øÑG³8Ïô3?ÀGp4G1ô?Gx??G8;F0?;-¼?;;Ѹ¼??»?
?O70?ó7=?3Ls?K{7»û7q?ÑOtÈ?·d¼Ñ??tos?û'71Çã³4þ;F°C¼CK7¼??Hs?K{7;û7q?Û0?
000 00



I am supposed to hit "Any terminal key" during this post to enter the debug mode, so I hit one of the arrow keys (set up to act as a terminal key) and it stops the RAM post but still gives me the garbled text, and obviously the garbled text is NOT correct. Any key stroke gives me garbled text so it seems to be interacting, but just in nothing I can read.

I need to connect to the router to re-assign it its IP (after flash it defaults to 0.0.0.0 and I need to tag it as 192.168.1.1).

I have tried re-flashing with the original firmware via xmodem through HyperTerminal but the connection times out.

So now I am routerless and destitute... and have TRIED to sit on NetGear's tech support line.. but the hold times are OUTRAGEOUS.

PLEASE HELP!

 

[Homerboy]

nobody?

 

[Kanly]

Having had no coffee yet,
first thing that comes to mind is change the hyperterminal baud rate to 9600.

When I had the RT314, I flashed it a few times with no probs.

 

[Homerboy]

baud rate is at 9600. Tried EVERY setting in the properties.
I get keyboard response AFTER the garbage output, but all I get is MORE garbage.

What firmware did you flash with?

 

[BuckMaster]

Homerboy,


I Purchased DukeLeto's RT314 Router from him a few months back. But its a Cable Modem Router. I flashed to V3.20(CA.1)b3 8/18/00 with out a problem.


Good Luck

 

[Wik]

Can you use your browser to get into it?

 

[Kanly]

Ok, well I can't find what I want on Netgear's site.

Anyway, are you sure you need to rename the .bin file to .ras if you are uploading it by the serial connection?


P.S. Hi Buck! 🙂

 

[BuckMaster]

Im not sure Wik, but I think he has but the way Im understanding it the browser doesnt see the IP hes giving it. Homerboy?

Im not 100% for sure but I think you do need to rename the bin/ras file it sounds right for some reason. My dad went and bought a netgear router like mine and has my documents I printed out off Netgears site or I might beable to give more information. I cant remember half the commands/options since I havnt needed to go into the router for any reason 😀 When I flashed mine I went threw FTP threw the command prompt in Windows 2000 I beleive.

BTW...Sup DukeLeto! 😉

 

[Kanly]

I was never able to get the upgrade right doing the FTP way. Just never seemed to work.

The serial connection worked for me every time.

Don't have to rename any files or anything.

Also, you said

"However, when I connect via HTerminal, and reboot the router (per the instructions)"

If you do the ftp way the router should reboot itself.

If you do the seria connection, you need to reboot after the flash.

 

[Wik]

Homerboy is trying to flash it using the firmware for the Zyxel routers. I have heard of the people wanting to try this because of the extra features in it. So the Netgear info will not help much here. Homerboy if you get it working let us know as I have 2 RT311s I would like to do this too. I do not use mine anymore but would like to give it to my dad and the extra settings offered in the Zyxel 310 router would be nice to have.

 

[Homerboy]

All:

Thanks for your suggestions, questions etc.
I broke down and called tech support (GASP!) and the tech ran me through some diagnostics. He was pretty much SURE that it was a bad flash and that it was now trash. He recommended returning it to buy.com (where I bough it becuase if I RMAed with NetGEar direct they'd give me a REfurb while buy.com would give me new unit.

Needless to say buy.com wouldn't take it back (3+ months since purchase) I also didn't want a refrub, nor coudl I wait the weeks and weeks on the RMA process.

So I took the next logical step, bought a new router at Best Buy and will return the bad one.

Unetheical? Maybe... but I got a sh!t router and now I got a good rotuer.

He (the tech) also suggested ALWAYS flashing via the serial cable... and from reading more forums, it seems that some of these Zyxel flashes simply work while others dont. Go figure.

Thanks again!

 

[Wik]

Well that sucks! I amy try to flash mine with their firmware anyway. I have always used the serial cable before. If you are worried about Best Buy checking the serial numbers,l just change the cases so the good one is in the old case and the old case is in the new one.

Unetheical? Maybe... but I got a sh!t router and now I got a good rotuer

I think we all have or would do the same. Won't cost Netgear a dime to reprogram the chip and send it out as refurbished.

 

[Homerboy]

no way they are going to check serial #'s
they'll simply look in the box and make sure all the bits and pieces are there (so I'm not trying to return a brick instead of the router etc)