[jeffdavies]

Hi, first of all, I hope I have posted this in the correct thread

I have aquired a second hand Sky Netgear DG834GT router.

It's white in colour with the serial 1J3267BR1B745
Underneath the serial are the numbers 272-10398-02
I'm not sure whether it's version 1 or 2.

When powered up, the four ethernet green lights come on only for about 2 seconds, then go out and stay out.

When conecting the ethernet lead to the computer, the appropriate ethernet light is illuminated and flashes slowly.
No other lights are illuminated.

I have tried running the exe file from the Sky website to delete the 'flash memory' to no avail.
I notice though that I have no alernate flashing lights after following instructions to hold in the reset button for 5 seconds after powering up.

The router was sold to me as faulty and it would be nice to get it working again to use on my Talktalk Network.

Any advice please would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

[Recoil]

I don't know whether the TTMF is the best place to post, but i suspect a few people will give a few suggestions.

The first thing that springs to mind is by trying the "If the router firmware upgrade fails, click here" link on This Webpage.

Another thing you could do is post on the Netgear forums themselves.

I presume its still faulty at the moment.

Thanks.

R

[jeffdavies]

Thanks for the suggestions, I have already tried and failed with software from the website you linked to thanks.
However, I will take on board your suggestion to post on the Netgear web site - why didn't I think of that
By the way, yes, it's still 'faulty' at the moment.

Any other suggestions from anyone would be very welcome!

[sunny dave]

Getting the alternate flashing lights indicating that it's ready for a firmware re-flash can be a bit hit and miss - I had to have several goes with my ex-Sky dg834gt.

Turn on - then hold in the reset button for about ten seconds - then power off - then count at least ten - then power on again - and count ten again - holding the reset button firmly pressed in for the whole time - then let go

Worked on the second or third go for me

good luck

dave

[blackeagle]

Mmmm, if you use the Netgear recovery utility (AFAIK this is the only way to remove the sky firmware) DON'T flash it under Vista. XP is fine, but under Vista, it will erase the flash and then vista will crash. This leaves the router with only the bootloader on it and sounds suspiciously like the router you have.

Its still possible to reflash it, but you will have to build a JTAG interface and flash it that way. There is plenty of info on the netgear forums on how to do it.

[marlovian]

Routers flashed under Vista can be recovered it seems without resorting to jtag

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/techn...ease-help.html

[jeffdavies]

Thanks everybody for your excellent advice.

It turns out that the power supply light isn't lit (Why didn't I spot it earlier)
The external psu when measured gave me the proper 12v reading, so it turns out that the fault is hardware related,
inside the router and on the circuit board itself.

Googling found me what appears to be the answer - faulty capacitors.

I removed the four screws underneath the rubber feet and the case then comes apart.
The probable faulty capacitors are TEAPO brand (fitted to the DG834G range) and I noticed that the
2 large capacity ones, 1000uf 16v regulating the power supply have oxidised/dry joints on the circuit board, possibly caused by overheating!
It appears that these are the likely suspects so the hunt is now on for replacements (as soon as I dig out my trusty soldering iron)

Whilst I am at it, I will replace the other Teapo capacitors as well.

You can read all about the article at these links: Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

When I have found replacement capacitors, I will post the result here for the benefit of others
who may also have faulty Netgear Routers. Apparently, these faulty parts may also be responsible
for instability and speed issues, due to overheating inside the plastic case which does not allow sufficient ventilation.

[Jake]

if this works, excellent!
my grandad repaired his SmartAX modem himself by replacing the switch on the back of it, as it had broken. Works fine now, and with a more reliable switch

[redlobster215]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffdavies

Thanks everybody for your excellent advice.

It turns out that the power supply light isn't lit (Why didn't I spot it earlier)
The external psu when measured gave me the proper 12v reading, so it turns out that the fault is hardware related,
inside the router and on the circuit board itself.

Googling found me what appears to be the answer - faulty capacitors.

I removed the four screws underneath the rubber feet and the case then comes apart.
The probable faulty capacitors are TEAPO brand (fitted to the DG834G range) and I noticed that the
2 large capacity ones, 1000uf 16v regulating the power supply have oxidised/dry joints on the circuit board, possibly caused by overheating!
It appears that these are the likely suspects so the hunt is now on for replacements (as soon as I dig out my trusty soldering iron)

Whilst I am at it, I will replace the other Teapo capacitors as well.

You can read all about the article at these links: Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

When I have found replacement capacitors, I will post the result here for the benefit of others
who may also have faulty Netgear Routers. Apparently, these faulty parts may also be responsible
for instability and speed issues, due to overheating inside the plastic case which does not allow sufficient ventilation.

I also have a faulty dg834g v2 router, the adsl modem seems to be not working on mine. So i set it up in a gateway and have a separate adsl modem and this worked but then the speed was compromised so i have bought a wgt624 which works perfectly.
If you want my old dg834g for the spares and repairs you can have it for £8 (£5 for it and £3 to cover postage). As ive said everything works on the router wireless and all 4 ethernet ports just the adsl modem which doesnt.
ps I flashed the latest firmware on and this didnt help and I havent got the no how to do anything else.
Let me know, thanks mike

[AndyB]

Hi, not sure if this helps but:-
I purchased one of these sky locked modems. Go onto netgears website, and download the flash prog you need, and the recovery utility to your desktop. Then hold in the little reset button for thirty ish seconds with it powered on, turn off power whilst still holding in button, power on and keep button in for thirty odd seconds. You should now have two lamps flashing alternately. Now you can run the small prog for if the update fails (netgears recovery prog). These are a superb modem, and really easy to fully set up.
Hope this helped, as I tried holding in the button for the ten seconds that everybody suggested, and was getting nowhere.
Andy