RUT2xx Firmware via The Bootloader Menu
Summary
A Bootloader is a program that loads the operating system or some other system software for the router after completion of the power-on self-tests; it is the loader for the operating system itself. The Bootloader menu is the router's special state that can be achieved before the Bootloader loads up the router's OS. While the router is in this state you can use it to upgrade the router's Firmware and Bootloader version. This chapter is guide on how to upgrade a RUT2xx router's Firmware via the Bootloader menu.
When should you upgrade
Usually it is recommended that you upgrade the router's Firmware whenever there is a new version. Upgrading through the Bootloader menu, however, is only needed when the router is unable to boot up, crashes during or shortly after boot up or when some other critical bug is present.
Upgrade
Set up a static IP address for your PC
When the Bootloader menu becomes accessible, the router will not be working in its regular state, i.e., all regular services will be disabled, including DHCP, that is why you will first need to setup a Static IP address on your PC to be able to reach the router.
The router's default address is 192.168.1.1, therefore your PC's IP address should be in the first sub-net as well, for example: 192.168.1.2. The last number can be any number in the range of 2 - 254, i.e., 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.254. Your PC's IP can't be the same as the router's (192.168.1.1), it can't be 192.168.1.255 and 192.168.1.0 as well.
A short guide on how to set up a static IP address will be presented bellow.
Windows 10
To set up a static IP address on your PC using Windows 10, you must first go to the Ethernet Settings menu. In order to reach the Ethernet Settings window, enter "change ethernet settings" in the Windows search field located next to Start in the bottom left corner of the screen and press Enter:
When in the Ethernet Settings window, click Change adapter options located under "Related settings":
When in the Network connections window, right-click on the Network connection associated with your Ethernet adapter and click Properties:
Next, click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4):
Check Use the following IP address and enter a static IP for your PC (e.g., 192.168.1.2); netmask - 255.255.255.0; gateway - 192.168.1.1:
To undo these changes, go back to the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) window a check Obtain an IP address automatically.
Linux
To set up a Static IP on a Linux OS, open the Terminal app and enter the ifconfig command. The ifconfig command provides information on network interfaces. Find the Ethernet interface and memorize its name, which should be located on the left side of the table:
Next, enter this command into the terminal:
sudo ifconfig if_name ip_addr up
Replace if_name with the name of your Ethernet interface and ip_addr with the IP address that you want. Following from the example above the full command would look like this:
sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.2 up
After this you PC's IP address should have been changed. To check, enter the ifconfig command again and check to see if the Ethernet interface has the IP that you assigned:
To undo the changes use these two commands one after the other:
sudo dhclient eth0 -r sudo dhclient eth0
Replace eth0 with the name of your Ethernet interface.
macOS
To set up a Static IP on a macOS follow the steps, you must first press "Apple" logo button in the top left corner and select "System Preferences...".
When in the System Preferences window, click Network:
Next, on the left side of Network settings window, right-click on the Network connection associated with your Ethernet adapter and on the right side of Network settings window select Manually in the "Configure IPv4:" option field:
Finally, enter a static IP for your PC (e.g., 192.168.1.1) and Subnet mask - 255.255.255.0 then press "Apply" for saving the changes:
Next, you'll need to reach the router's Bootloader menu. To do so, unplug the router's Power Supply Unit (PSU) and leave only the LAN Ethernet port plugged in (for your computer). The WAN Ethernet port has to remain unplugged for the duration of the following procedure.
Press and hold the Reset button. Plug the Power Supply back in while holding the Reset button. After plugging in the Power Supply, hold the Reset button for 3-4 sec. After this, all LAN port LEDs should start blinking.
Now you can enter the Bootloader menu. Open your web browser and enter your router's IP address into the URl field and add /index.html at the end (192.168.1.1/index.html). This may not work if have connected to the router's WebUI at least once before, since the URL's path may be cached. To solve this problem you can clear the browser's cache or, more simply, open the browser in a mode that doesn't cache browsing information. On Google Chrome it's called Incognito and can be reached by pressing ctrl+shift+n; on Mozilla Firefox it's called Private Browsing and can be reached by pressing ctrl+shift+p; on Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer it's InPrivate, can be reached by pressing ctrl+shift+p.
Once you are in the Firmware upgrade window.
NOTE: There a two different version of bootloader available on the devices. The old and the new version. The old bootloader version only supports legacy firmware version, while the new bootloader version only support the RUTOS 7 and above firmware versions.
To tell which bootloader version your device has, you would need to look and compare the WebUI interfaces.
This is the way that the OLD bootloader WebUI looks like which supports only legacy firmware versions:
This is the way that the NEW bootloader WebUI looks like which supports only RUTOS7 and above firmware versions:
To start the firmware update process upload the appropriate Firmware image and click the Update firmware button.
After starting to upload the firmware, you should be greeted with a window such as this:
This means that the upgrade has started and you can close the browser window. The update itself takes a few seconds but the router will restart afterwards. The entire process before the router becomes reachable again will take 2-3 minutes.
You can also update the router's Bootloader this way if needed. Instead of /index.html, the path for Bootloader is /uboot.html. You will find a guide on how to upgrade your Bootloader to a newer version here. The same rules for bootloader updates apply as they do for the firmware updates.
IMPORTANT NOTE: don't forget to change back your PC's IP address because it might cause problems when connecting to other devices or no internet access if you haven't specified any DNS servers manually.
Firmware download
You can download firmware files from the Wiki's Downloads page.