So I just got my gateway and tried to register and activate it. The registration went fine, but the activation failed and in trying to follow the instructions regarding resetting the gateway, I accidentally did a “full serial flash” (see TTN Gateway - FAQ). Hint: don’t hold the mode button for more than five seconds when powering on.
Now I’m wondering how I can recover from this? A power reset will give me no signs of life except for a solid blue internal LED (looks likes its labeled D2). If I hold down the mode button while powering on I get 10-15 seconds of external LEDs flashing quickly before it’s back to same state – solid blue LED, no other signs of life. No wifi SSID announced or ethernet lights flashing.
Is there a way to recover from an accidental “full serial flash” and if so what is it? Thanks for any pointers!
Update 1:
When I check the console the gateway is actually registered and activated. I think my confusion and subsequent mistake was caused by the “handoff” in the activation process. When instructed to connect to the gateway access point I got a wifi connection from my computer, but it did not give me a working DNS server so that when I clicked on the mentioned button the browser would just time out, which makes sense. I tried adding Google DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) to the gateway’s IP in the network profile, but it didn’t make a difference and I couldn’t ping 8.8.8.8 or use nslookup – so it seems the gateway didn’t route anything as an access point. The ethernet cable was plugged in all the time and I guess it must have sent data over the ethernet port to register/activate itself. I’m not sure, but I believe this is what tripped me up.
Anyway, I believe (well, hope at least) that I can use either the SD card or micro USB port to transfer a new firmware to the gateway, but I’m having a hard time finding the firmware image and instructions on how to do this. I’m guessing that a full serial flash basically means I wiped the entire firmware…
Again, any pointers on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again!
Update 2:
Is this thread being monitored by anyone from the core team (ref. https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/badges/100/core-team - @jpmeijers, @dodo, @jankramer, @gomezjdaniel, @telkamp, @wienkegiezeman, @johan, @laurens, @romeovs, @htdvisser + 3 more; romeo, egourlao, rish)? Since the hardware just started shipping out I was kind of expecting that product support would be paying close attention to issues and jumping on them as they surfaced. Given the reported problems with the activation and the severe consequence of pressing the mode button too long perhaps a documentation update would be appropriate? Anyway, if someone could chime in with help on how I can recover that’d be great! Thanks again!