Firmware Upgrades Creating Doorstops?

Michael Droettboom asks: "I recently purchased a Linksys WMLS11B. Nice enough unit for the money. One gotcha, though: when upgrading the firmware (past its refundable date where I bought it), my machine crashed, turning the WMLS11B into a doorstop along with it. Linksys has offered to replace the unit, but I don't want it if the box is so easily corrupted. I have always been on a strict policy of updating firmware on all my devices, but was wondering if anyone else has had experience with devices so broken as to not recover from a broken upgrade?"

Comments

Upgrading...

[rawg]

First: don't fix it if it isn't broken. Never upgrade the firmware unless your having problems. Never upgrade the firmware over a wireless link.

Next: Did you know that D-Link has a three year warranty on their stuff? I just found out today while RMA'ing a few 810+ bridges.

Wha?

[icemax]

Don't bitch if the problem was cause by your end. How many devices can you begin a flash and then have your computer crash and still use the device?

Most vendors have clear disclaimers

[Artifex]

Many vendors say clearly don't upgrade if the router, mobo, or whatever else you have is currently working properly for you. Sometimes new BIOS revisions are specifically created for new hardware revisions that are slipstreamed in, and they don't always properly document that.

Unless you've read in the changelog that it patches a hole/bad code or adds functionality that you need, don't take the chance that it's going to crater. Even if your vendor is nice enough to replace the component out of warranty, you're still going to be inconvenienced waiting.

WTF?

[WIAKywbfatw]

Let's get this straight: as it stands, your device is broken and the manufacturer is offering to replace it with another unit and you're not happy with that situation?

Just what do you think would constitute good customer service on their part if replacing a dead unit with a working one isn't to your satisfaction? Just what do you want out of Linksys? Blood?

If Linksys told you to go take a running jump and were of no help whatsoever I'd understand you having a beef with them but they've done what they should do in this situation and yet you're still not happy.

There's no pleasing some people.

Re:WTF?

[wpc4]

Ditto. Get the new one, ebay it and go get something else at the very least.

Re:WTF?

[squiggleslash]

Actually it was that part of the story that made sense to me. I honestly don't see why firmware upgrades should leave devices as bricks - at the very least, a non-overridable "boot rom" (which normally hands over to the firmware, but can instead run a rescue program in the event of mishap) or twin firmware strategy would help prevent these kinds of mishaps. While many may shrug and say "Well, most consumer level gadgets are designed this way", I personally see it as a design flaw.

The bit I didn't understand was the comment:

I have always been on a strict policy of updating firmware on all my devices

Now that makes no sense, and unfortunately seems to be considered standard practice with everything by many people in the tech industry right now. If it's not running the latest version of Perl, or has a slightly out of date kernel, then some how the world is going to end.

I understand keeping on top of bugs and security updates, but updating everything, all the time, when there's no good reason is just plain asking for trouble. We had an issue for a year or so when a particular computer seemed to be constantly going up and down - it turned out, we realised afterwards standing back and looking at why - the problem was we'd hired a system administrator specifically for that machine. And he'd install the latest DEC Unix patches, and things would break, and he'd install more patches, and... well, you get the picture. The system worked, but the guy felt that if you weren't running the latest version of everything then, somehow, it was wrong.

Gah.

Re:WTF?

[schon]

I honestly don't see why firmware upgrades should leave devices as bricks

It's called "you get what you pay for".

If you buy something cheap, expect it to *BE* cheap. Don't bitch and whine when you find out that it hasn't got the features of a more expensive unit.

Adding a backup firmware would increase the cost of the unit. Consumers want it cheap, so the manufacturers leave it out to make the consumers happy.

It's simple economics.

Re:Two questions.

[fmaxwell]

1. What feature did you NEED, when you flashed the firmware.

The one that stops Ukranian hackers from using a backdoor to access his router, Internet connection, and his personal network.

2. Why didn't you buy hardware that had that feature to begin with.

You will find that the vast majority of routers are sold with damned little information. Look at the boxes and web sites and tell me which routers let you forward a range of ports rather than individual ports. Tell me which ones have hard-coded IP addresses for time servers, which ones have a drop-down list of time servers, and which ones let you enter the IP address freely. Tell me which ones let you limit wireless access by MAC address while letting you have open access on hardwired Ethernet. Tell me which ones have a problem with the web-based admin that causes it to not work properly with Mozilla. Gee, maybe it's not so easy after all.

Touchy!

[fm6]

Linksys has offered to replace the unit, but I don't want it if the box is so easily corrupted.

Well then, you better not buy anything with upgradable firmware. Perhaps there are devices that can survive having an upgrade interrupted, but I've never seen any. I have seen a of lot devices where the documentation warns you about just this kind of situation. If this small risk scares you, that's why god invented UPSs!

My experience with Linksys routers says "buy from them next time because you know their stuff works." Now you add to that, "they'll replace the hardware even if the screwup wasn't their fault." Sounds pretty positive to me.