GL-AR300M16-EXT stuck in uboot

Technical Support for Routers
1

I bricked my GL-AR300M16-EXT by trying to update it using the GL-AR300M-EXT firmware (I read the model from the paper instructions, not the base of the device… :man_facepalming:).

The device will boot into uboot and presents me with the uboot web interface on 192.168.1.1 when I connect via ethernet. When I try to reinstall the correct firmware (GL.iNet download center) it uploads and the device appears to start to install it. The lights flash but then ultimately it reboots back into uboot.

Can you recommend anything else to try to get the firmware to install properly?

Please let me know if you need more information from me.

2

Solved my own problem in the end. Not sure whether all of the steps are necessary, but sharing below.

  1. Use Firefox. Using Safari 15.6.1 on macOS was not working.
  2. Disable NAND/NOR switch. I don’t remember enabling it, but disabling it seemed to help.
  3. Flash the basic OpenWRT AR300M NOR firmware: https://downloads.openwrt.org/releases/22.03.0/targets/ath79/nand/openwrt-22.03.0-ath79-nand-glinet_gl-ar300m-nor-initramfs-kernel.bin
  4. Once that boots, use the OpenWRT firmware upgrade page to upgrade to the current AR300M16 firmware from GL iNet.
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