Failed Firmware Upgrade on DWL-900AP+

Hi guys,

I really need help on this one !
I have a D-Link DWL-900AP+ Access Point (Rev C) and have upgraded its
firmware successfully a couple of times already. Yesterday, I downgraded its
firmware from Powerhack 3.07 to D-Link's official 3.6. A as usually, the web
interface states Device is restarting when the upload is finished but this
time, the upload doesn't seem to happen :

When opening the web interface at http://192.168.0.50 , I still get the
basic (emergency ?)Upload page with only "Firmware Upgrade" in blue on top
the page, "File Path" with a field, a "Browse" button, a "Send" button and a
notice in the bottom.

This page used to work in the past for firmware rollbacks, but this time, it
just doesn't.
I specify the firmware file path in the field, then when I click on "Send",
the browser tries to open http://192.168.0.50/upgrade.cgi , which takes
forever and after a while, the browser times out on that page.
I tried to power the AP off and did a reset (20 sec push) : no luck.
So, I unplugged the unit and left it overnight, and tried again this
morning, same darn thing.

AP Manager 3.02 or 3.06 don't see the AP in the list, and I tried to connect
via TFTP to hte unit, but the TFTP server doesn't seem to respond (is it
supposed to be accessable anyway, I read there was a security issue with the
2.? firmware, so maybe is it disabled in the 3.x versions).

I don't really know what to try next.... If anyone has an idea, I'd be more
that happy to try ! Say honestly, I think that the memory used to store the
firmware or the bootstrap is damaged.

Thanks in advance,

Philippe.

While I have not worked with d-link APs I can tell you that any little
burp in the flash process on Linksys and SMC units will render them
into a paper weight.

I have fryed at least 5 Linksys and 3 SMC wireless units over time.
In fact, it took 3 linksys G bridges before I got one to flash
correctly. One more and I was just going to bring my laptop to the
store and flash it before I left in case I blew out another one.
Linksys just says that is the way it is and to return it to the vendor
if you can or they will RMA it if you want to wait.

IMO, these vendors need a 'hard' way to fall back to some orgional
version of the firmware that is stored in ROM rather than just rely on
the flash memory.

-D

"Philippe Pham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<3ffbdfce$0$236$(E-Mail Removed)>.. .
> Hi guys,
>
> I really need help on this one !
> I have a D-Link DWL-900AP+ Access Point (Rev C) and have upgraded its
> firmware successfully a couple of times already. Yesterday, I downgraded its
> firmware from Powerhack 3.07 to D-Link's official 3.6. A as usually, the web
> interface states Device is restarting when the upload is finished but this
> time, the upload doesn't seem to happen :
>
> When opening the web interface at http://192.168.0.50 , I still get the
> basic (emergency ?)Upload page with only "Firmware Upgrade" in blue on top
> the page, "File Path" with a field, a "Browse" button, a "Send" button and a
> notice in the bottom.
>
> This page used to work in the past for firmware rollbacks, but this time, it
> just doesn't.
> I specify the firmware file path in the field, then when I click on "Send",
> the browser tries to open http://192.168.0.50/upgrade.cgi , which takes
> forever and after a while, the browser times out on that page.
> I tried to power the AP off and did a reset (20 sec push) : no luck.
> So, I unplugged the unit and left it overnight, and tried again this
> morning, same darn thing.
>
> AP Manager 3.02 or 3.06 don't see the AP in the list, and I tried to connect
> via TFTP to hte unit, but the TFTP server doesn't seem to respond (is it
> supposed to be accessable anyway, I read there was a security issue with the
> 2.? firmware, so maybe is it disabled in the 3.x versions).
>
> I don't really know what to try next.... If anyone has an idea, I'd be more
> that happy to try ! Say honestly, I think that the memory used to store the
> firmware or the bootstrap is damaged.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Philippe.

Some access points utilise a trivial file protocol (tftp) daemon in them so
it might be worthwhile trying to ftp the firmware to it. Linksys units
utilise a "hacked" tftp daemon that needs a password to allow access, this
isn't in the tftp standard, and to my knowledge no windows tftp client
exists that can offer a password. There is a Linux version, but that's
probably not much help! Search Google for WAP11 hack and read through some
of the pages looking for a reference to tftpc free. Use it to try and upload
the firmware to your access point's ip address. The destination file name
should just be the firmware file's name or maybe try code.bin. Also ensure
that the upload type is set to "binary". There are no gaurantees but this
might get you out of trouble, the fact that you can still access the AP's
web server and IP address is a good sign....



"dep_blueman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> While I have not worked with d-link APs I can tell you that any little
> burp in the flash process on Linksys and SMC units will render them
> into a paper weight.
>
> I have fryed at least 5 Linksys and 3 SMC wireless units over time.
> In fact, it took 3 linksys G bridges before I got one to flash
> correctly. One more and I was just going to bring my laptop to the
> store and flash it before I left in case I blew out another one.
> Linksys just says that is the way it is and to return it to the vendor
> if you can or they will RMA it if you want to wait.
>
> IMO, these vendors need a 'hard' way to fall back to some orgional
> version of the firmware that is stored in ROM rather than just rely on
> the flash memory.
>
> -D
>
> "Philippe Pham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:<3ffbdfce$0$236$(E-Mail Removed)>.. .
> > Hi guys,
> >
> > I really need help on this one !
> > I have a D-Link DWL-900AP+ Access Point (Rev C) and have upgraded its
> > firmware successfully a couple of times already. Yesterday, I downgraded
its
> > firmware from Powerhack 3.07 to D-Link's official 3.6. A as usually, the
web
> > interface states Device is restarting when the upload is finished but
this
> > time, the upload doesn't seem to happen :
> >
> > When opening the web interface at http://192.168.0.50 , I still get the
> > basic (emergency ?)Upload page with only "Firmware Upgrade" in blue on
top
> > the page, "File Path" with a field, a "Browse" button, a "Send" button
and a
> > notice in the bottom.
> >
> > This page used to work in the past for firmware rollbacks, but this
time, it
> > just doesn't.
> > I specify the firmware file path in the field, then when I click on
"Send",
> > the browser tries to open http://192.168.0.50/upgrade.cgi , which takes
> > forever and after a while, the browser times out on that page.
> > I tried to power the AP off and did a reset (20 sec push) : no luck.
> > So, I unplugged the unit and left it overnight, and tried again this
> > morning, same darn thing.
> >
> > AP Manager 3.02 or 3.06 don't see the AP in the list, and I tried to
connect
> > via TFTP to hte unit, but the TFTP server doesn't seem to respond (is it
> > supposed to be accessable anyway, I read there was a security issue with
the
> > 2.? firmware, so maybe is it disabled in the 3.x versions).
> >
> > I don't really know what to try next.... If anyone has an idea, I'd be
more
> > that happy to try ! Say honestly, I think that the memory used to store
the
> > firmware or the bootstrap is damaged.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > Philippe.

Thank you all for your thoughts.
I saw in another newsgroup that this problem doesn't only happen to me (not
particularly connected with Powerhack). Check this link if you're interested
:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/rema...4146~mode=flat
So I guess, I will give a last try, the unit has been completely off for +8
days, I will try to find this tftpc with authentication support but I think
I shouldn't expect any miracle to come out so the unit will probably be
returned to the shop...

Cheers

Phil.

"voldermort" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:gi2Lb.19713$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Some access points utilise a trivial file protocol (tftp) daemon in them
so
> it might be worthwhile trying to ftp the firmware to it. Linksys units
> utilise a "hacked" tftp daemon that needs a password to allow access, this
> isn't in the tftp standard, and to my knowledge no windows tftp client
> exists that can offer a password. There is a Linux version, but that's
> probably not much help! Search Google for WAP11 hack and read through some
> of the pages looking for a reference to tftpc free. Use it to try and
upload
> the firmware to your access point's ip address. The destination file name
> should just be the firmware file's name or maybe try code.bin. Also ensure
> that the upload type is set to "binary". There are no gaurantees but this
> might get you out of trouble, the fact that you can still access the AP's
> web server and IP address is a good sign....
>
>
>
> "dep_blueman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> > While I have not worked with d-link APs I can tell you that any little
> > burp in the flash process on Linksys and SMC units will render them
> > into a paper weight.
> >
> > I have fryed at least 5 Linksys and 3 SMC wireless units over time.
> > In fact, it took 3 linksys G bridges before I got one to flash
> > correctly. One more and I was just going to bring my laptop to the
> > store and flash it before I left in case I blew out another one.
> > Linksys just says that is the way it is and to return it to the vendor
> > if you can or they will RMA it if you want to wait.
> >
> > IMO, these vendors need a 'hard' way to fall back to some orgional
> > version of the firmware that is stored in ROM rather than just rely on
> > the flash memory.
> >
> > -D
> >
> > "Philippe Pham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:<3ffbdfce$0$236$(E-Mail Removed)>.. .
> > > Hi guys,
> > >
> > > I really need help on this one !
> > > I have a D-Link DWL-900AP+ Access Point (Rev C) and have upgraded its
> > > firmware successfully a couple of times already. Yesterday, I
downgraded
> its
> > > firmware from Powerhack 3.07 to D-Link's official 3.6. A as usually,
the
> web
> > > interface states Device is restarting when the upload is finished but
> this
> > > time, the upload doesn't seem to happen :
> > >
> > > When opening the web interface at http://192.168.0.50 , I still get
the
> > > basic (emergency ?)Upload page with only "Firmware Upgrade" in blue on
> top
> > > the page, "File Path" with a field, a "Browse" button, a "Send" button
> and a
> > > notice in the bottom.
> > >
> > > This page used to work in the past for firmware rollbacks, but this
> time, it
> > > just doesn't.
> > > I specify the firmware file path in the field, then when I click on
> "Send",
> > > the browser tries to open http://192.168.0.50/upgrade.cgi , which
takes
> > > forever and after a while, the browser times out on that page.
> > > I tried to power the AP off and did a reset (20 sec push) : no luck.
> > > So, I unplugged the unit and left it overnight, and tried again this
> > > morning, same darn thing.
> > >
> > > AP Manager 3.02 or 3.06 don't see the AP in the list, and I tried to
> connect
> > > via TFTP to hte unit, but the TFTP server doesn't seem to respond (is
it
> > > supposed to be accessable anyway, I read there was a security issue
with
> the
> > > 2.? firmware, so maybe is it disabled in the 3.x versions).
> > >
> > > I don't really know what to try next.... If anyone has an idea, I'd be
> more
> > > that happy to try ! Say honestly, I think that the memory used to
store
> the
> > > firmware or the bootstrap is damaged.
> > >
> > > Thanks in advance,
> > >
> > > Philippe.
>
>