Firmware Flash Vera 1

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Please note: This is working only for Vera 1 (Asus) platform.

Vera 1 (Asus) Vera 2
Vera Hardware Version 1
Vera Hardware v2.jpg


Do not use the firmware 1.0.979

If Vera's power light blinks consistently (not a double pulsing blink) within a few seconds of powering on, then Vera's firmware has become corrupted. This can happen if Vera was unplugged while in the middle of performing a firmware update ("flash"). When it does, you will probably need to use a firmware restoration utility, which runs on Windows. Here is how to restore Vera's firmware once it has become corrupted:

Please note: This is working only for Vera 1 (Asus) platform.

PC ( Windows version )

1. Download Vera's firmware and store it on your PC's hard drive. You can get the firmware here:

UI2 - v.1.0.988 http://download.findvera.com/betafirmware/ftp/wl500gP_Luup_ui2-1.0.989-1.trx

UI3 - v.1.1.288 http://download.findvera.com/betafirmware/ftp/wl500gP_Luup_ui3-1.1.228-1.trx


2. Download the firmware restoration utility and unzip it into a folder on your PC. The utility is here: http://download.controlmyhouse.net/flash_firmware.zip

3. Connect your PC's network connection the LAN 1 port of Vera. (It must be LAN 1, not any of the other LAN ports.)

4. Give your PC a static IP: 192.168.1.2, with subnet mask 255.255.255.0. You can leave the Gateway and DNS server blank. To do this in Windows XP, choose Start, Control Panel, Network Connections. Be sure all connections are disabled except for "Local Area Connection", which you right-click on and choose Properties. Scroll down to "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click Properties. Make note of the current settings so you can restore them when you're done. Choose "Use the following IP address", and put 192.168.1.2 in the IP address field and 255.255.255.0 in the subnet mask. Leave the other fields alone. Click 'OK' to close the window, and then 'OK' on the other window.

5*. Run the program 'rescue.exe' (downloaded in Step 2). Click 'browse' and find the firmware file (downloaded in Step 1).
NOTE:You may need to disable your anti-virus software to run 'rescue.exe'. The anti-virus might think this is malicious code.

6. Unplug the power to Vera. Hold the black button in while you reconnect the power. Let go of the black button when the power light starts blinking.

7. Click 'upload' in the firmware utility. It takes up to 5 minutes to flash the firmware.

Note

(*) The rescue utility is known to work only on Windows XP and with only ONE network card (disable wireless and other network cards if your computer has any)

Mac OS Version

Tested it on one of our test unit. It worked and should work for you as well if you follow exactly the instructions. First, download the firmware version http://download.controlmyhouse.net/betafirmware/ftp/wl500gP_Luup-1.0.979.trx and put it somewhere in the root directory of your Mac or another place and remember the path.

Notes: Now, you may need to manually specify your computers IP address as discussed in the previous mails (in order to use tftp to upload the files) if for some reason DHCP is not working. I also did this by entering the following settings:

IP address: 192.168.1.10

net mask: 255.255.255.0

gateway: 192.168.1.1

DNS: 192.168.1.1 (optional)

More you can read here about setting up networking on Mac OS: http://www.net.princeton.edu/mac/network-config-x/tcpip-enet.html


  • Step 1: Connect your computer via ethernet cable to LAN port 1
  • Step 2: Unplug the power cord from the router
  • Step 3: Wait 20 seconds
  • Step 4: Press and hold the reset button on the back of the router. Note that the reset button is recessed and you need a pen or paper clip to press it in. The button protruding from the back is the EZ Setup, which is not what you want to press.
  • Step 5: While holding the reset black button, plug the power cord into the router. Continue to hold the reset button until the power light starts flashing. Let go of the reset button.
  • Step 6: Can be done using 1) Terminal.app (command line) or 2) TFTP client with GUI.

1) Start Terminal.app (inside /Applications/Utilities) and go to the directory where you have saved that file (cd /your/directory/).

Then use this commands:
user@box:$ tftp 192.168.1.1
> mode binary
> trace
> put wl500gP_Luup-1.0.979.trx


2) You can download MacTFTP Client from http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/8122 for example.

Start MacTFTP, type "192.168.1.1" inside the Address field.
Click on the "File..." button and select the firmware file you want to update Vera with and click "Start".
Wait for completion and proceed to next step.
  • Step 7: Tftp should report a successful file transfer in 10-20 seconds. The router will load the firmware and begin to flash it into nvram. During this time, the power indicator on the router will go out. Wait until this light comes back on, or wait at least 8 minutes for the flashing process to complete. If the power indicator has not come back on after 8 minutes, cycle the power on the router.
  • Step 8: Unplug the power cord from the router, wait 20 seconds, and plug the power cord back into the router WITHOUT PRESSING THE BLACK BUTTON. In less than a minute, your Vera is up.


The Vera should now boot to the new firmware. Go to 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.81.1 to confirm. You may need to power cycle your cable modem (if applicable) to get an internet connection and setup the network to automatically get settings via DHCP again.

This is the Mac OS version of the firmware restoration since the engineers from Asus didn't release an application to do this.

Also, read this posted on opewrt site: http://nuwiki.openwrt.org/oldwiki/OpenWrtDocs/Hardware/Asus/Flashing

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