said by gigaenvy :

This sounds extreme and excessive.

said by Bourbon :

Tipstir, can you explain exactly what this does? How is it different from resetting the router to factory defaults (or something similar)? Also, what do you think would be the number of different firmware flashes to require the need for this method?

Thanks.

said by tipstir :

Actually you should all put the wireless router, cable modem, switches, wireless access points, print servers on timers to shutdown at night where your sleeping. This way it can cool off thus save energy too. My cable modem works very hard I also reset that one flush out the NVRAM once every 6 months. After that it performs faster.

I control everything with one power surge strip, I should put everything on a timer. Flush out all the switches too. Say like 4am to 9am (5 hrs) shutdown..........

said by aaronwt :

I have ten DLINk Gigabit switches, a Dlink access point, a couple of Dlink Bridges, a DGL4500, and the Actiontec router. they are never turned off. All my electronics are on a UPS. All of the network equipment is covered for 15 to 20 hours during a power outage. I never turn them off and never reboot unless necessary like during a firmware upgrade or to get a new IP address. Otherwise I have no other reason to reboot.
I would never turn that equipment off, since I have around 50 devices on my network and there is always a device that needs internet access at any given moment, especially my alarm system.

said by Neblinio :

I think your step B is a little confusing. I looked around and found these steps, which in my opinion are clearer and easier to follow:

1. when the unit is powered on, hold down its reset button for 30 seconds
2. while still holding down the reset button, unplug the router from power and hold for an additional 30 seconds
3. still holding down the reset button, turn on power to the router again and hold for 30 more seconds

»compnetworking.about.com/b/2009/···ters.htm

said by tipstir :

Just can't let go of the rest button while your doing the un-pluging and re-pluging

said by No_Strings :

That's silly. If there's no power to the unit, you can hold the button, not hold the button or stand on your head and wiggle your ears and it won't make one damned bit of difference.

I think this whole thing is more superstition and rumor than science. Resetting a router to defaults after a firmware upgrade is a good practice. Re-loading an old configuration can be problematic if the newer firmware contains features not anticipated by the previous configuration. Any manufacturer worth their salt will call this out in the release notes and advise when to reconfigure from scratch. The rest makes no sense to me.

If I'm wrong and all of this folderal is needed to make a D-Link work properly, I'd be shopping for a different router.

said by No_Strings :

Flash with new firmware.
Hold reset button for 10 seconds.
Done.

said by No_Strings :

That, I'll buy. The rest is excessive.

said by Internet Expert :

THis is basically the worst thing Ive ever heard of doing. It is all redundant, makes no technical sense, and there are no good reasons for doing this. I think its a really bad idea for anyone to listen to this guy...

said by taytong888 :

Hello tipstir,

Does this Recovery Mode procedure work for reviving a bricked Asus WL-520GU router that previously was flashed with DD-WRT firmware? Or do I need to follow specific instructions in the DD-WRT web page?

said by tipstir :

WARNING*** DO NOT FLASH OVER WIRELESS OR IN A LIGHTING STORM
YOU DO NOT WANT TO LOOSE POWER DURING THE NEXT STEPS
PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME DOING THE BELOW STEPS
NO RUSH OKAY!
GOOD LUCK!

Step A_
First backup your config file
Take the router off your network
Just keep the power plug in it..
Now you'll need pin or paper clip for the reset button
This reset button need to be press in for 90 secs
During each 30 secs you'll be doing:

Step B_
press reset for 30 sec on the first try
press reset for 30 sec and unplug the power cord at the same time
press reset for 30 sec and plug-in the power cord at the same time
now unplug the unit wait 30 seconds
now plug in the power

Step C_
connect 1 LAN port cable back to the router
login as the admin
now re-flash
wait until the screen is completed
now unplug the unit wait 30 seconds

Step D_
Now repeat these steps..
press reset for 30 sec on the final try
reset 30 and unplug the power cord at the same time
press reset for 30 sec and plug-in the power cord at the same time
now unplug the unit wait 30 seconds
now plug in the power

Step E_
connect all LAN/WAN cables back to the router
login as the admin
either you recover from a backup or just start fresh.

said by Vihsadas :

This procedure doesn't make any technical sense to me. When the router's caps have been discharged after being unplugged for a while, it doesn't matter what you do with the reset button. What's with all of this reset button voodoo?

The emergency recovery page is a real thing, as I've seen that page, but other than that, just flash as D-link recommends...

said by MLGTWISTED :

I'm joining this really late, but what exactly does flushing out the NVRAM do and what is NVRAM? Im assuming it to be similar to cache-ing or cached information stored on the router, and it to just cleares it right?

said by MLGTWISTED :

I'm joining this really late, but what exactly does flushing out the NVRAM do and what is NVRAM? Im assuming it to be similar to cache-ing or cached information stored on the router, and it to just cleares it right?

said by mb :

NVRAM is non-volatile random access memory. Fancy words, but it is just memory that doesn't lose it's information when the power is turned off. Going through all such gyrations is absolutely not necessary UNLESS the firmware has been corrupted and needs to be re-flashed. It is unlikely that the device would run at all if the firmware was corrupted.

said by ibsteve2u :

Just a note:

Memory of any sort that will not accept a write, or memory of any sort that corrupts a write or a read sufficiently to cause a jump to a memory location that is not the intended target - whether it is a memory location that is not written by a firmware flash and so might contain "old code" or just the wrong location in successfully flashed memory - is by definition bad memory, and no amount of wishful thinking, voodoo, or power cycling is going to make it good memory.

said by Slides :

I'm amazed that this thread is stickied.