Recently I got my hands on a RB450G, with damaged Ethernet1 port(got hit by a thunderstrike).
It had very old RouterOS - 4.11.
I upgraded to 5.26 - it went ok.
Then I tried upgrading to the latest version - 6.42.4, and unfortunately something went wrong.
I am getting “ERROR: no system package found!” and then kernel panic and the device just wont boot.
I tried updating the bootloader to the latest version 3.41, hoping that RouterOS will boot, or that there will be more options in the RouterBOOT environment - no luck here.
I am pretty sure a lot of other people have the same issue, but so far I couldn’t find a solution to this case.
Maybe there is something that I am missing.
Please advice me what to do.
Is there any way to make Netinstall work with any other port?
How can I fix/replace the damaged Eth1 port?
Can i upload the RouterOS image somehow, by means of JTAG or something? (seems not possible through the serial interface and xmodem, like the bootloader..).
Currently my only option seems swapping the NAND flash with a one that has valid image on it.. but I probably have to find the exact same model Routerboard.
Throw away the RB, if it has been hit by a thunderstrike there’s no software update that could solve the problem.
P.S. if you update from version 5 to 6 you have to upgrade to bugfix version of 6, for example 5.25 check for updates makes download 6.40.8 bugfix.
Only eth1 is bootable in such situations. I asked mikrotik to allow selection of other ports to get this role instead of eth1 many years ago without any answer. Either you find and repair the physical damage of eth1 or throw it away. It doesn’t worth to repair it.
I’m with the others that suggest tossing it. Frankly I would not trust any electronic device that I depend on to work reliably that took a lightning strike. That is a recipe for ongoing problems.
taking in count today you can replace that rb450g with a rb750gr3 for only 60 US and get better performance i think is a good idea to discard that device, the cost of the repair may not be justified
you can recycle the power supply and case for a new rb450gx4
and learn the lesson:
do not let outdate your devices, upgrading software can be problematic because of the outdated software, yo have to do periodic maintenance and update
if you have a eth1 failed dont upgrade, and use it as a switch
I own a RB750Gr3 router that lost ether1 port after an electrical storm. The ether1 indicator doesn’t even light up. To get the router operational I performed these steps:
Changed WAN interface from ether1 to ether2
Removed ether2 from bridge
Put tape on ether1 port as a reminder to not use it
Yep, sure.
The original issue in this thread Is about having to recover a corrupted device.
The only way out in these cases, if a reset is not enough, Is to netinstall, that is only possible on the only etherboot port, i.e. ether1.
If that specific port doesn’t work it is game over (unless directly flashing the memory chip, not exactly easy/doable by everybody).
Apart from this (and dedicated PoE in or out ports on some devices) ports are generally interchangeable.
Apart from being cheap, I think this method has potential to cause physical damage to port (if somebody cares about it). Uncrimped connector’s contact pins are higher than surrounding plastic case whereas crimped pins are lower … so pins inside RJ45 socket might slip off the pins of uncrimped plug … and if they slip off, they might get caught by plug when plug is being removed. So using already crimped plugs is safer.
I’ve gave up … do not kick the guy already down … I am aware of that: unclamped on a cable but pins pressed to proper position. Just empty connector.
Using red connector let it “scream: there is a problem” but on the other hand … you can use coloured connectors to eg. mark “empty waiting to be used” ports from the same VLAN.
