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Unbricking the Buffalo AirStation Nfiniti High Power G300NH2

I accidentally bricked the Buffalo AirStation Nfiniti High Power while attempting to downgrade the firmware. It keeps looping through boot and the DIAG light just stayed lit. I couldn’t get an IP via wireless or wire. A 30-30-30 reset didn’t work either so I knew I had a bricked router.

I tried to follow the instructions when using a MacBook Pro but I just couldn’t get it to work. Finally, I brought out Selene, my good old Thinkpad X22. I then followed the instructions when using a Windows PC with some variation:

  1. Unplug the ethernet cable and the power cable from the router
  2. Connect the Thinkpad directly to one of the router’s LAN port. Again, do not use the WAN port.
  3. Go to Control Panel\Network and Dial-Up Connections.
    Right click on local area connection and choose “Properties”
    Choose “TCP/IP Properties”. Click properties then click “Use the following IP address”. Enter these values: IP address 192.168.11.2, subnet mask 255.255.255.0, default gateway 192.168.11.1
  4. Open a console window. Go to Windows\Command and run “cmd”
  5. Clear the ARP table. Type “arp -a -d”
  6. Enter the IP to the router’s bricked-state MAC address in the ARP table. Type “arp -s 192.168.11.1 02-AA-BB-CC-DD-1A”. Note that this is not the router’s real MAC address
  7. Verify the new ARP entry. Type “arp -a”
  8. Download (using some other Internet connection obviously) and transfer openwrt-ar71xx-generic-wzr-hp-g300nh2-squashfs-tftp.bin
  9. Change directory to where you downloaded the file.
  10. Transfer the file via TFTP to the router. Type “tftp -i 192.168.11.1 openwrt-ar71xx-generic-wzr-hp-g300nh2-squashfs-tftp.bin” but do not press enter yet
  11. Quickly plug the power cable into the back to turn on the router
  12. Quickly press enter
  13. Timing is critical as there’s only about a 4-second window when the router will accept the TFTP connection. You might have to to steps 9 to 11 repeatedly until you get a successful transfer
  14. After 5-10 minutes, unplug and replug the router

At this point, the router should have been unbricked and has OpenWRT. Move to the MacBook Pro and connect it directly to the router. You should be able to get IP via DHCP. If not, repeat the above.

  1. Open a Terminal window.
  2. Telnet to the router. Type “telnet 192.168.1.1”
  3. Type “passwd” and enter a password. This will disable Telnet and enable SSH.
  4. On the Mac, download wzr-hp-g300nh2-dd-wrt-webupgrade-MULTI.bin (again, using some other Internet connection). In the instructions, this was done in the router using wget. However, I couldn’t get the WAN connection working.
  5. On the Terminal window, change directory to where you downloaded the file.
  6. Type “dd bs=28 skip=1 if=wzr-hp-g300nh2-dd-wrt-webupgrade-MULTI.bin of=firmware.bin”. In the instructions, this was done in the router. However, I was running out of disk space when I tried that, so I did it in the Mac. Thankfully, the output file is valid.
  7. Copy the file to the router. Type “scp firmware.bin [email protected]:/tmp”. Input your password
  8. SSH to the router. Type “ssh -l root 192.168.1.1”. Input your password
  9. Change directory to /tmp. Type “cd /tmp”
  10. Upgrade the firmware. Type “sysupgrade -n /tmp/firmware.bin”
  11. Wait 5-10 minutes for the router to reboot
  12. If you’re lucky, you should already have DD-WRT when you go to http://192.168.1.1 and configure as needed.
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Chef Tatung

During one of our grocery runs at the Savemore inside Acacia Estates, Michelle noticed a sign to some restaurant leading to a side street. So we decided to check it out. The restaurant turned out to be Chef Tatung, a restaurant who made its name by utilizing native ingredients and recipes in novel creations. We weren’t feeling very adventurous and just ordered liempo and chicken. Not too many ways to cook those. But they’re good, especially the liempo. We did try the pichi-pichi with queso de bola. Now that was a novel and awesome take on the traditional pichi-pichi! Definitely coming back to try the other items on the menu.

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Little Tokyo

Along the traffic-congested Pasong Tamo aka Chino Roces in Makati, near Makati Square and Mile Long Arcade is a place called Little Tokyo. It hosts some of the best Japanese restaurants in the city. No, that’s not based on my not-so-discerning taste buds but rather from the buzz as well as observation: you see more than the usual Japanese diners. With quite a few restaurants, every visit is an adventure. Pricey but, if you like Japanese food, worth it. Today, Jeanne, Michelle tried one of the restaurants that was still open (most close after lunch and then reopen again for dinner). I had zaru soba and Kirin beer while Michelle had mixed sashimi and Jeanne had tuna teppanyaki. Yummy! Till next time, Little Tokyo!

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Road Trip

Went with the family on a year-ender road trip. James and I drove our cars in probably some of the best places to drive in Luzon.

  1. NLEx, SCTEx, TPLEx – Ripping through the smooth tarmac along the expressways. They sure shaved a lot of travel time and are fun by themselves.
  2. MacArthur, Manila North Road – Relaxed cruising along the roads to Vigan, Laoag, and Pagudpud. There are just the annoying slow trucks and buses that were a chore to pass.
  3. Naguilian Road – We reached Naguilian Road to Baguio at dusk. By the time we were at its twists, turns and uphill grades, it was dark already. Crazy. And fun!
  4. Santo Tomas Road – We missed a turn heading down from Baguio and went into a drive up the clouds. Twists, turns, and uphill grades in the fog. More fun!
  5. Kennon Road – A leisurely and picturesque route down from Baguio. Good thing the weather was good.
  6. Guimba-Victoria Road – Rally Stage! Tried to enter TPLEx at Rosales but it turned out to be still under construction. Instead of going back, we proceeded to Umingan-Rosales Road and then Nueva Ecija-Pangasinan Road all the way to Guimba. The two roads were pretty good. At Guimba, we then took the Guimba-Victoria Road. It felt like a road everyone forgot. There were asphalt, concrete, and dirt sections in various states of disrepair. Wished I had an STI or an Evo.

A good close the year in terms of driving.

 

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La Paz Sand Dunes

Believe it or not, there are actually sand dunes in the country and they’re in Ilocos. I didn’t know about them until fairly recently. I really should go out more. Activities include sightseeing, 4×4 rides, ATV rides, and sand boarding. We all rode the 4×4 and even Jeanne enjoyed the slow climbs, banks, and fast descents. She didn’t enjoy the sand boarding as much though as she (and I) ate some sand on our first (and her only) run. I gave it a few more gos and stopped as soon as I successfully made a standing run. We then went to La Preciosa at Laoag for dinner. Jack treated us to another round of yummy Ilocano food and one of the best carrot cakes ever. Thanks, Jack!

Ilocos Sand Boarding Adventures – Glenn and Donna Guerrero at  0908-885-3669 / 0910-947-4129 / 0915-456-1133 / [email protected]