I bricked my TL-WR741ND

[monq]

I just did it. I bricked my router.

Cold sweat.

Ehm, well. When I boot it up, all the LEDs but the second, the third and the last one are on. And, weird, if I touch the heat sink on the board, the second one flickers. But meh.

I was told it can be fixed via serial cable. But I don't know how to do this.

http://wiki.openwrt.org/_media/toh/tp-l ... 41v2-1.jpg
http://wiki.openwrt.org/_media/toh/tp-l ... 41v2-2.jpg

These are the points to solder to wires. But, supposing I actually do it, what do I do next? I need a guide, a how to or something.

Thanks.

[mix]

Just to be clear, this bricking, it happened immediately after you loaded Gargoyle onto the router?

[monq]

Yes, it had dd-wrt before. I didn't flash it correctly I suppose.

Edit: I didn't flash Gargoyle correctly, I mean. It had dd-wrt and, after (incorrectly) flashing Gargoyle, it doesn't boot anymore.

[DoesItMatter]

What version of 741ND do you have?

http://wiki.openwrt.org/_detail/toh/tp- ... tl-wr741nd

If you check that pic, the upper left corner has 4 points in a row
where you connect the serial port connections.

Are you sure you have a V2 WR-741ND?

Also soldering to the board like that can be tricky.

You can't see it, but there is a thin protective layer over the
solder points that is done at the factory. You need to scrape or
melt that layer off before you get to the actual solder.

The actual stuff to do via serial console is ALL OVER the web.

http://infodepot.wikia.com/wiki/TP-Link_TL-WR841ND_v7.0

Even though its for the 841ND, those serial recovery instructions
will work on the 741ND as well.

If in doubt - ask more questions.

And your router is not truly bricked - its stuck in the u-boot

[monq]

I have a 741ND v2.4, whose board is exactly the same as the one I posted.

Are the points in the second picture (http://wiki.openwrt.org/_media/toh/tp-l ... 41v2-2.jpg) the real soldering points?

And I was told I can fry the board if I connect it directly via serial cable because the serial port's voltage is very high, is that true?

Thank you!

[ispyisail]

And I was told I can fry the board if I connect it directly via serial cable because the serial port's voltage is very high, is that true?

true, that my understanding

[monq]

So what do I need to lower it?

[DoesItMatter]

http://www.gargoyle-router.com/phpbb/vi ... =30#p10424

See that post for what you need to order.

See the post right after that one for caution about that.

You need a Serial to TTL adapter.

[mix]

Crazy idea, but anyway you can try to return this to where you purchased it from and say it was defective?

[monq]

Crazy idea, but anyway you can try to return this to where you purchased it from and say it was defective?

I think that's what I'm going to do but I'm afraid I lost one of the rubber pads that are at the bottom of the router...