CRS305 cannot upgrade to routeros 7 (both normal upgrade and netinstall)

RouterOS General
1

My CRS305’s firmware is 6.49.8. (Also routerboard firmware is 6.49.:sunglasses:

When I try to upgrade to routeros 7.11, the device just become a brick.
I tried different routeros 7 version. nothing works. (7.1 7.5 7.6 7.10)

I can use netinstall to restore to 6.49.8, but I cannot use netinstall to routeros 7. (same as upgrade)

The CRS305 does not have a console port. I cannot know what happened in the device.

Any idea about this promlem and how to solve?

2

be aware on that device software upgrade takes a lot more time than other Routerboards, up to 10 minutes

3

Weird. My CRS305 upgraded to 7.10.2 from 6.43 without a hitch.

4

Thanks for this information. I upgrade and wail more than 1 hour, but not work.
I power off and power on again. I saw the Port1~4 LED on and off. After 10 secs, it blink again. Seems like it is in boot loop.
(Maybe firmware is broke?)

5

maybe try not to update straight to 7.11, maybe 6.48.6 then 7.6 then 7.11, just an idea

on each step update system routerboard

6

I downgrade the device to 6.48.6. It’s OK. (Both routerboard and system)
I put 7.6 into system and reboot the system.
It falls into boot loop. (The Port1~4 LED on and off. After 10 secs, it blink again.)

Also I open the device ans I saw there are 10 pins on PCB. Looks like console port? (There are labels such as Tx/Rx/Vcc/GND)
MaybeI need to find a way to connect this console?

7

Look at the tips provided below and follow the order of events as noted in MT Documentation…

H. NETINSTALL & PROTECTED ROUTER BOOT MODE (PBRM)

NETINSTALL should be used if any security concerns arise OR if your firmware version seems to be acting strangely or the firmware version is really old!!
PBRM is mainly activated/used by those ‘loaning’ routers to customers and want to retain control over the firmware. https://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?t=181158
FOR MAC - https://tangentsoft.com/mikrotik/wiki?name=NetInstall%20on%20EL9

Another way of getting your unit(s) up to date is to netinstall devices. I would say it’s preferred because it also installs recent default configuration while upgrades convert running configuration. A few versions between your running ROS and current one brought some big changes and it is possible for upgrade process to fail to convert old config to new one. In addition, new default config makes much more secure setup in certain aspects. In other words, if you are many firmware versions behind, netinstall is the least painless way to get to the latest config and is more secure.

Sage tips/advice on NetInstall if having difficulties…
a. Regarding Etherboot for all devices, the most error-free method is - to press the reset button, keep it pressed, power on the device, and wait until the device shows up in the NetInstall window, then release the button. This holds true for the Audience as well.
b. Try to have a direct cable connection between computer and device (laptop to device for example).
c. A trick which helps for some is to only use a dumb switch in between, nothing else connected.
d. Also on THE COMPUTER being used to run netinstall, there may be issues if there are multiple NETWORK interfaces. If experiencing difficulties on the PC, it is best to ensure all other NETWORK interfaces are turned off.
e. Enable NETBIOS, over TCP/IP ( active vice automatic or disabled )!
f. Apparently (fart, belch) some users have success using a LINUX computer vice Windows… hard to believe but worth it if no luck otherwise !

User Comment: In my experience, Netinstall often fails to detect devices after the ethernet link to the MT device goes down and up again while netinstall is running.
Either place a dumb switch between the PC and the MT box to netinstall, so the PC ethernet link stays up during reboot while entering Etherboot.
Or first put the MT box in Etherboot mode, wait for the link to come up and start Netinstall after the link is up.

General Refs:
https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/Netinstall
https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/pages/vi … Id=1409054
https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:E … set_button
RESET VIDEO FROM MikroTik - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Unz92rABs8

8

Thanks for the information.

I did try netinstall in Linux. The netinstall can help me rollback to routeros 6, but not routeros 7.
Both upgrade and netinstall routeros 7 are fails.

Here is the log when using netinstall to install routeros 7. The netinstall hangs and I can observe the device just reboot and stop.

jalen@Ubuntu:~/mikrotik$ sudo ./netinstall-cli -r -a 192.168.100.29 routeros-7.11-arm.npk
[sudo] password for jalen:
Version: 7.11(2023-08-15 07:19:10)
Will reset to default config
Interface Mask: 255.255.255.0
Using Client IP: 192.168.100.29
Using Server IP: 192.168.100.65
Starting PXE server
Waiting for RouterBOARD…
client: 74:4D:28:64:DB:96
Sending image: arm
sendFile 3469712

Here is the log when I restore to routeros 6.

jalen@Ubuntu:~/mikrotik$ sudo ./netinstall -r -a 192.168.100.29 routeros-arm-6.49.8.npk
Will reset config
Using server IP: 192.168.100.65
Starting PXE server
Waiting for RouterBOARD…
PXE client: 74:4D:28:64:DB:96
Sending image: arm
Discovered RouterBOARD…
Formatting…
Sending package routeros-arm-6.49.8.npk …
Ready for reboot…
Sent reboot command

9

Is UDP port 5000 blocked in your VM’s default firewall?

I documented that failure mode here along with a Red Hattish solution, adaptable to other flavors of Linux.

10

There is no firewall. I use Ubuntu. The ufw is disabled. All iptables rules are flushed.

11

I got the tools and I can get CRS305 console now.
I find that when I upgrade to routerOS 7. The boot message stucks at “jumping to kernel code”.

There is no error. It just stuck.
Does there anyone have idea what happened?

CRS305-1G-4S+

CPU frequency: 800 MHz
Memory size: 512 MiB
Storage size: 16 MiB

Press Ctrl+E to enter etherboot mode
Press any key within 2 seconds to enter setup..

loading kernel… OK
setting up elf image… OK
jumping to kernel code

12

Which version of routerboot is your device running? IIRC netinstall doesn’t touch it, it only formats and writes flash storage. And I seem to remember some routerboot changes needed to boot v7 kernel. I don’t remember version specifics, but must have been in times of first public v7 alphas … so try to netinstall some of latest v6 (6.49.x shoukd do) and after booting into ROS, perform routerboot upgrade. It is also possible to install latest v7 routerboot while running older ROS, but I’d keep this option as plan D (or E).