How to Repair Safecom Router / Upgrade Firmware via USB

Firmware Upgrade:

Click here Download the new firmware and save it to your desktop. Unzip it. Locate the reset button which is on the back panel of the router. Hold the hidden reset switch with paper clip for 5 seconds with the router is on. After you release that switch wait for the ADSL LED to start flashing or becoming solid. Now click on file Run while the router is connected to to your computer through RJ45 cable or USB cable. When you click on Run a MS-DOS window will start so must wait until the DS-window disappear. You will find that some time this Dos window will stop its ok as it does take some time to upgrade the firmware. After the upgrade the MS-dos disappear then it mean the router is now upgraded. Now power off the Router and powered on. When you see the ADSL LED then simply go into the router,s smart setup page by typing 10.0.0.2 into the broswer, you will be prompted for router user name which is admin and password is epicrouter Now you will your find the smart setup page just insert your ISP User name and if password then password also. Then Click on the save and reboot Button. Wait 30 seconds for the router to be fully rebooted and now you should be online.

Do you need to upgrade the firmware ??? From the smart setup click on advance link and if you see Customer Software Version: safecom.cn 10-07-04 then do not upgrade the firmware. If not and your router is not stable or if you are having msn problem then upgrade it.

Router Repair:

After powering on, a correctly operating router will have the ADSL LED flashing continuously when the ADSL line cable (RJ11) is disconnected. When the ADSL line cable is connected to a line that has been activated for ADSL the ADSL LED should be on constantly. That said, on some revisions of PCB the ADSL LED will remain on constantly and flash once every 15 seconds or so.

If the ADSL LED does not come on after powering on the router then the likely scenario is that the on-board flash memory has become corrupt.

If this is the case you will have to carry out a USB firmware flash in order to fix it.

• A PC with an Intel or VIA chipset and onboard USB port (other chipsets may not be compatible with the repair program) and FAT based file system (Not NTFS)
• A Philips or plus screw driver to open the router
• A USB cable (one was supplied with your router) to connect the router to the PC via the USB port
• A jumper (like the ones used on hard drives or CD-ROMs to determine Master or Slave operation)
• Make a note of the router's MAC address. This is a unique number that identifies the router. You will need to enter this number when the prompted to do so by the repair program. An example would be 00064F15395A (it is a 12 digit hexadecimal number). Look for a barcode sticker on the underside of the case. You should also find a similar barcode sticker with the MAC address on the circuit board (see below)
  

Step 1: POWER OFF and open the router

• Power off and unplug all the cables from your router. Turn the router upside down and place it on a flat surface. Carefully peel off the rubber feet to reveal the screws beneath. You might find it useful to stick them on the base of the router so you do not lose them. Undo the screws (usually four) and keep them in a safe place.
  
• Turn the router the right way up and carefully remove the top cover by gently lifting it. The front panel may have a slight lip on it making it a little tricky but don't use brute force.
  

STEP 2: Connect the jumper

• You should discharge any static electricity stored in your body by touching something 'earthed' like a metal radiator or any metallic object/surface.
• Locate the 2-pin link (the position on the board may vary but there is only one) on the circuit board. Carefully push the jumper onto the pins ensuring that both pins are covered and avoid touching any other parts of the circuit board. You may want to use tweezers.

Place the jumper here

• Disconnect all USB devices from your PC including hubs

STEP 3: Flash the router

• If your PC is off, power it on. Once it has finished booting put the Safecom router CD into the CD-ROM drive and browse for the firmware folder 'SAMR-4110'. Copy this entire folder to your C: drive (We assume that you have a FAT file system and not NTFS since NTFS partitions cannot be seen with DOS and the repair program is DOS based)
• Power off your PC and connect the USB cable to the USB port on the router and connect the other end of the cable to one of the USB ports on your PC (preferably one on the main board as USB ports on add-on cards may not be compatible with the repair program)
• Power on the router and start your computer and select boot from CD-ROM in your BIOS setup. Save settings and reboot.
• Make sure the Safecom router CD provided with router is still in the CD-ROM drive.
• When prompted, select "Start Computer with CD-ROM support" to boot to DOS from CD.
• At the command prompt change your default drive to C by typing "C:" and press the "Enter" key (do not include the "" when typing). Then change directory to the firmware folder you copied earlier by typing "cd SAMR-4110" and press the "Enter" key.
• You should now see that your command prompt has changed to the following:
  
  C: \SAMR-4110>
  
  
• At the above prompt type "rm_usb" and press the "Enter" key. The USB repair process will initialise.
• After a short time you will be prompted to enter the "Start MAC Address" Type in the router's MAC address (the one you should have noted earlier from the barcode label) - Enter it in 2 digit pairs with a hyphen in between "-"each pair of digits. For example: 00-06-4F-15-39-5A
• You will also be prompted to enter the "End MAC Address" This is the same for all routers and should be entered like so: 00-06-4F-FF-FF-FF (This should already be the default so you should be able to just press the "Enter" key. The reprogramming of the router will then continue and after about 60 seconds you should see a message indicating that the process was completed successfully.
• Once the process has successfully completed power off the router, disconnect the USB cable and carefully remove the jumper
• Replace the top cover of the router, screw it back together and stick the rubber feet back in place.
• Power the router on once again. Do not connect any other cables at this stage. The router will then reset itself (be patient as this can take up to 2 minutes) and the ADSL LED will start to flash continuously

STEP 4: Reconnect the router as before

• Reconnect the router to your ADSL line and your PC and restart your PC remembering to change the boot device back to your hard drive. Also remember that you need to re-enter and save your ISP login details to the newly repaired router

Important to note:

If you accidentally lose the Safecom CD then download it from the link below.
http://www.safecom.cn/code/product/adsl/samr-4110/repair.zip