Draytek Vigor - TFTP Recovery for Repairing Faulty Routers
DrayTek Vigor Router located on racking within a comms cabinet.

Draytek Vigor – TFTP Recovery for Repairing Or Updating Bricked / Faulty Routers


Introduction

This document shows how to upgrade or repair a Draytek Vigor router firmware with TFTP using a macOS device. The method uses Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) which is a useful fallback if your router’s firmware is broken and you cannot access the web management interface.

Method

Step 1

Connect your computer directly to the router’s LAN1 port and configure a static IP address on Mac OS device:

  1.   Go to System Preferences > Network
  2.   Configure LAN Adapter settings
    • Static IP 192.168.1.10
    • Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
    • Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1 (the default IP address of the router)

system preferences configure LAN adapter settings

Step 2

Set the Vigor router to TFTP mode.

  1. Power off the router
  2. Press and hold the Factory Reset button
  3. Power on the router while still pressing down the Factory Reset button
  4. For Vigor3900, the ACT LED lights will flash rapidly
    For most other Vigor models, the left three LED lights will flash rapidly

setting the DrayTek vigor router to TFTP mode

Step 3

Open your Mac’s web browser and download the latest firmware version for your model from https://www.draytek.co.uk/support/downloads

This will download a zipped folder to your Mac. Unzip the folder to your Desktop.

Step 4

On the Mac OS device, open Terminal and enter the following commands (do not enter the ” ” marks)

  • cd
    • Type a space after cd
    • Drag the firmware folder to the window and the path will be pre-filled for you
    • Press return
  • tftp 192.168.1.1
    • Press return
  •  “binary
    • Press return
  •  “put”
    • Type a space after put
    • Drag the firmware file out of the folder and into the Terminal window to pre-fill the path
      • You will probably want to use the .rst file which completely resets the unit
      • If you use the .all file it will retain existing settings, but this is not advisable if you have a faulty unit
    • Press return

vigor reboot terminal command

The result will be shown on Terminal after the file has been uploaded successfully.

vigor reboot terminal command after successful upload

Then the router will now reboot and return to normal operating mode.

draytek router after reboot and returned to normal operating mode

 

Source

http://www.i-helpdesk.com.au/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/721/0/how-to-upgrade-router-firmware-via-tftp-using-mac-os-devices

Real-Time Feedback

When we solve a support ticket, clients are given the choice of leaving good or bad feedback along with an optional comment. We post the 10 most recent comments here automatically and in real-time. You can view even more on our page.

Date Name Comments
Mar 30th Ed P The Purple Computing team were very assertive and timely in their help when we needed it to meet a tight deadline. We couldn't have achieved what we wanted without their patience and support and forever appreciate what they do for our business.
Mar 29th Garry H Issue sorted very quickly and efficiently
Mar 28th Sally T I'm not sure what the problem was, but when I took my computer to somewhere with stronger internet it updated and sorted itself out
Mar 24th Esther W Jack was excellent!
Mar 23rd Aimee M Hi Dean was brilliant very patient and helpful. The problem is now resolved.
Mar 23rd Lorna S Fast, great!
Mar 23rd Craig L Good service as per usual.
Mar 22nd Caroline W Extremely quick response, friendly and helpful! Thanks so much!
Mar 21st Mark H Really timely response - around 5 minutes after request submitted. Solved just as quick - apparently an old bug that Lochie was aware of and had the fix for so back up & running in 5 minutes. Great support, thank you Purple
Mar 21st Sally T Really fast reassuring service - thank you