Uploaded October 2014 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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In this video I'm demonstrating how to unbrick (recover) a TP-Link TL-WR1043ND router after an unsuccessful firmware upgrade. I'm showing the whole process from opening the case to installing firmware files through the serial console.
The whole story happened a few weeks ago when I decided to download and install the latest firmware for my TP-Link TL-WR1043ND router. Theoretically everything went fine, the installation finished and I got the 'Rebooting' message. Unfortunately the router was rebooting over and over again. I realized something went wrong and my TP-Link became an expensive brick with blinking LEDs on it. I tried every non-invasive method I could find to reset the device and bring it back to life. Nothing worked for me, so I had to open the case, solder a gold pin connector and hook it up to my computer. Then I could manually upload a new firmware image to the router and install it.

DISCLAIMER:
If you decide to follow any procedure shown in this tutorial, you're doing it at your own risk. This may void your warranty and/or in rare cases damage your device.

Commands used in this video:
tpl [ENTER]
setenv ipaddr 192.168.0.3 [ENTER]
setenv serverip 192.168.0.5 [ENTER]
printenv [ENTER]
erase 0xbf020000 +7c0000 [ENTER]
tftpboot 0x81000000 firmware.bin [ENTER]
cp.b 0x81000000 0xbf020000 0x7c0000 [ENTER]
bootm 0xbf020000 [ENTER]

Download PuTTY here:
chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

Download Tftpd server here:
tftpd32.jounin.net/tftpd32_download.html

More info about TP-Link TL-WR1043ND:
wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr1043nd

Unbricking procedure from OpenWrt forum:
forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=38424

Originally I uploaded this video on April 10, 2014, under this link:
youtube.com/watch?v=zrArf9iTMv4
On October 10, 2014 I accidentally deleted it from my channel. Boy, was I mad at myself!
If you want to see how it happened, go here:
youtube.com/watch?v=qU5OQs68iJI

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Video, edit, voice by Chris Lorkowski

Music by Jason Shaw - Medium Rock, Pilots Of Stone, Real Bad Girl
audionautix.com