I was updating my routers/switches, and I noticed that an RB3011 was still on RouterOS 7.10.2. I attempted to use the automatic updater, several times, but it wouldn’t update…stayed on 7.10.2. No error messages that I could find in the logs; the update just wouldn’t take.
I then got the bright idea of downloading NetInstall and attempting to install 7.14beta directly. After some fits and starts I finally figured out how to put the RB3011 into Ether Boot mode, connected with NetInstall on my Windows laptop, and ran through the procedure. It said that it was successful, and I attempted rebooting the RB3011.
However, after that I couldn’t get anything useful out of the unit. It stays in “Ether Boot” mode, and I keep getting the error message on the small screen, “Kernel Loading Failed.” I tried downgrading the RouterOS version and doing a hard reset, both unsuccessful. I’ve now pulled the unit out of my network (leaving a computer and a NAS bereft, and I’m wondering what I can do to try to salvage it?
I’d try to netinstall back to version that worked before (7.10.2). Another thing to try is to make sure that configuration is purged with netinstall as well.
And make sure you’re uploading packages for the correct platform (it’s ARM, not arm64). After you nanage to boot router, make sure your routerboot is up to date, ancient routerboot versions might have problems booting recent ROS versions.
Next time you try to upgrade ROS (using built-in updater) and it doesn’t seem to succeed, look carefully into logs. Failed upgrades always leave traces in there. Since most routers are configured to only log into memory (meaning that logs don’t survive reboots), it’s vital to check logs before any further troubleshooting is done.
So far, no success. I attempted a NetInstall of 7.10.2 but, although I’m not getting the error message any more, the router still can’t be reached by Winbox or in any other way I know of.
What’s my next step?
I switched from Windoze to my Linux computer and reconfigured the serial port. I was able to reset my router and configure a new password and turn off Etherboot through RS-232. After that, I was able to upgrade from 7.10.2 to 7.12, and then to 7.14beta. So this issue is resolved, for the moment.
