Software Update Bricked DCS Explorer

I have recovered a "bricked" WIU that uses a nearly identical twin chipset of the DCS Explorer. I did have to use the ethernet connection and set up a TFTP server program on my computer to upload and reflash the firmware. I didn't reflash the MTH-provided firmware first but rather a lite version of OpenWRT. In OpenWRT, I then reflashed the device using the MTH-provided firmware file.

I have tried a few generic USB Ethernet adaptors on the DCS Explorer and never had any issues with any of them. Specifically, the one I always use was originally manufactured for the Nintendo Wii.

I'm confused, isn't there a boot loader that has to be intact before you can do anything with the box?  How exactly are you able to write the software file to the device?

In my case, the WIU still would power on and the Ethernet adaptor would indicate a connection. The unit would not send a DHCP request so I had to play a guessing game for a while to find out what IP it was listening on, which turned out to be 192.168.1.1.  Using a Putty terminal, I sent a command for the WIU to download firmware from my established TFTP server. Rebooted the device and OpenWRT was now installed. Then using the OpenWRT LuCi interface, I uploaded the designated WIU firmware, rebooted again and the device was back to normal. I did a lot of research on the OpenWRT Forum relating to AsiaRF devices which helped. As my WIU was a "brick" anyway, there was nothing to lose with experimenting.

My WIU may not have been as dead as your Explorer is and I suspect the big issue you're going to have is the lack of a hardwired ethernet port. The USB ethernet port option on the Explorer will require a virtual device driver to load in order to work but that's not possible until the firmware is fixed on the device (chicken and egg problem).

Yep, I don't think I'm going to spend the amount of time researching this, if it were somewhat simple, I'd give it a go, but I think I'm probably looking at a real time waster here.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Yep, I don't think I'm going to spend the amount of time researching this, if it were somewhat simple, I'd give it a go, but I think I'm probably looking at a real time waster here.

I agree, a good portion of my time was spent on research, trial and error before I had my success. Given the price of WIU and the value of my time, I didn't come out ahead except for learning something new.

Did you try a Power-on Reset? (hold the reset button, power on the device, and release the reset after 10 or 30 seconds) I doubt it will yield any result differently than before but you never know.

Yep, tried the reset with the switch in MTH and Home position, nothing changed.  It's toast.

So the advice is to not try to update the Explorer's software at this point?  Has MTH R&D stated whether the Explorer will continue to be supported in the future?

The Explorer is supported just fine. I don't foresee new firmware updates for it but as for support, the latest version of the DCS APP (4.01) still supports the Explorer.

This particular Explorer wasn't updated properly and the user "bricked" the device. Sometimes there are ways to restore the firmware but these methods are not something the everyday user would want to undertake.

I have no idea what the user did to kill it, it came in and he said it was dead after doing the firmware update.