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Author Topic: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle  (Read 4146 times)

machare

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Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« on: October 29, 2017, 05:05:28 PM »

I have a Zyyxel VMG8924-B10A bought of ebay. The previous owner upgraded it to version 16 of the firmware.  I had it connected to Vodafone VDSL, and unfortunately I decided to reboot it remotely. There was no reboot option in the menus but I did find there was a cli reboot command. When I used this command the last thing I saw was "resetting".  I did ask Vodafone if they could restart the line, when they tried to do this they asked me if I had any connection with Zen!

I now have physical access to the router and can find something about Zen in the connection userid field. When I tried to restore a saved configuration it told me it was invalid. This lead me to finding that the router had reverted to firmware version 15 and everything that I had configured was lost.  I reloaded version 16 and was then able to restore my most recent saved configuration.

So how does a VMG8924-B10A hold two configurations and know which one to use?

I have a 2nd ebay VMG8924-B10A when I reboot it, nothing changes!


 
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tubaman

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Re: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2017, 05:34:43 PM »

The router only holds one version of firmware, so I can't understand how it reverted to V15 - are you 100% that it actually was on V16?
It does however effectively hold two sets of config data - one is the set that you have configured and this will survive a standard reboot (ie power off/on). The second set is held in ROMD and sounds like it is Zen's config in your case. The router will revert to this if you restore the factory config or perform a pinhole reset via the rear reset button.
You can copy your own config to ROMD either via Supervisor access or through the CLI.
There are plenty of threads about this on the forum - search for something like 'Zyxel ROMD'.
 :)
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BT FTTC 55/10 Huawei Cab - Zyxel VMG8924-B10A

machare

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Re: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2017, 06:09:58 PM »

Yes, apart from my memory, the fact that I could not restore the configurations that I had saved until I upgraded to V16 rather proves the point.
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banger

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Re: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2017, 06:22:52 PM »

You need to disable TR-069 on a Zen router it may even downgrade firmware I am not sure but in order to disable TR-069 you need the supervisor password to enable the menu item and disable TR-069. Looks like Zen is still managing the router after a reboot also you can enable the reboot GUI menu item from supervisor login for admin login. Have a look at the Kitz unlocking forum for how to obtain the supervisor password.
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Tim
talktalkbusiness.net & freenetname
Asus RT-AC68U and ZyXEL VMG1312-B10A Bridge on 80 Meg TTB Fibre

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1502566996147131655

tubaman

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Re: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2017, 06:25:45 PM »

Banger may well have hit the answer - perhaps Zen are rather keen on V15 ???
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BT FTTC 55/10 Huawei Cab - Zyxel VMG8924-B10A

machare

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Re: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2017, 07:05:06 PM »

Well I have upgraded to V18. I have the new supervisor password which so far I can't change. I have enabled the reboot menu option and that does just do a reboot without losing anything.

I do wonder whether if I connect to the serial interface and then enter the ATBR Erase persistent storage data and ATER Erase ROM-D data I could clear all the Zen stuff without having to upload the firmware.
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j0hn

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Re: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2017, 08:16:25 PM »

That's a bit over the top, using a sledge hammer to crack a nut.
Login as supervisor, click "clear rom-d" on the relevant gui page. Job done.
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Talktalk FTTP 550/75 - Speedtest - BQM

banger

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Re: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2017, 09:01:17 PM »

As John said the ROMD tab is under the configuration option in supervisor login.
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Tim
talktalkbusiness.net & freenetname
Asus RT-AC68U and ZyXEL VMG1312-B10A Bridge on 80 Meg TTB Fibre

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1502566996147131655

machare

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Re: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2017, 09:28:37 PM »

Thank you for the last two posts. That is much easier, I cleared ROM-D and then saved the current configuration. I then did a reboot from the CLI The following was displayed:

The system shell is being reset. Please wait...
telnetd:error:450.713:cmsUtil_sendRequestRebootMsg:1763:CMS_MSG_VOICE_STOP_REQUEST timeout ret = 0x2651, continue


After a few minutes the router was working properly with my configuration and no sign of Zen.  :)
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banger

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Re: Zyxel VMG8924-B10A - Firmware Puzzle
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2017, 10:01:55 PM »

Well done. :)
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Tim
talktalkbusiness.net & freenetname
Asus RT-AC68U and ZyXEL VMG1312-B10A Bridge on 80 Meg TTB Fibre

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1502566996147131655
 

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