WIU - Wi-Fi light won't come on

Sadly, this kind of sounds like corruption I have seen in the older WIU and DCS WIFI Explorer boxes. The tiny operating system on the wifi module gets corrupted and since you load firmware through the LUCI interface, if you cannot reach that interface because networking got corrupted you get stuck into this state of what do you do.

As a last resort, have you tried using a wired Ethernet cable, and then trying to hit the LUCI interface? Then also- since it would be DHCP on your network, I think but don't know the IP address of Luci then changes to the IP the WTIU grabs?

@Vernon Barry posted:

Sadly, this kind of sounds like corruption I have seen in the older WIU and DCS WIFI Explorer boxes. The tiny operating system on the wifi module gets corrupted and since you load firmware through the LUCI interface, if you cannot reach that interface because networking got corrupted you get stuck into this state of what do you do.

As a last resort, have you tried using a wired Ethernet cable, and then trying to hit the LUCI interface? Then also- since it would be DHCP on your network, I think but don't know the IP address of Luci then changes to the IP the WTIU grabs?

Thanks for your reply.

I saw the references to Luci in the MTH manual, and as you mentioned, it sounds like I would be stuck since there's no wi-fi signal being generated.  Please correct me if I'm wrong, but your "last resort" suggestion would require keeping the WIU permanently connected via the cable, right?  That's a creative solution, but won't work in my situation.

Would updating / reloading the firmware make any difference if the wi-fi signal isn't being sent at all?

Is it possible / feasible to replace the Wi-Fi module?  If not, it sounds like the unit is toast, right?

@Mallard4468 posted:

Thanks for your reply.

I saw the references to Luci in the MTH manual, and as you mentioned, it sounds like I would be stuck since there's no wi-fi signal being generated.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but your "last resort" suggestion would require keeping the WIU permanently connected via the cable, right? NO, I'm saying to correct the current possible failure, when all other resets did not work and you cannot get the WTIU to stand up a WIFI SSID in MTH mode, and you need to reload firmware- an Ethernet connection may be the back door way in to be able to reflash the firmware.

That's a creative solution, but won't work in my situation. Again, see above- the goal is only to do this to fix the problem.

Would updating / reloading the firmware make any difference if the wi-fi signal isn't being sent at all? Yes, that's the hope and has been the case and scenario I saw on corruption failures in the previous WIU and DCS Explorer- both using off the shelf commercial WIFI modules not that different from the WTIU WIFI module.

Is it possible / feasible to replace the Wi-Fi module?  If not, it sounds like the unit is toast, right? MTH parts to my knowledge has not listed any parts for the new WTIU. They are long out of replacement parts for the older WIU and DCS WIFI Explorer modules. That said- maybe they offer warranty repair since they did now begin some of that service for repairs after the restructure.

For the record- I just tried this myself just to see what happens.

Switch the WTIU to MTH mode setting (the physical switch)

Plug in an Ethernet cable between the WTIU and your home router, then power up the WTIU with the supplied power adapter. Track power is not required- only the WTIU  power adapter.

Ensure you get a LED indicator above the Ethernet port on the end of the WTIU

Log into your home router's administration page using a web browser. That page is often the .1 or .254 of the IP range of your network. Obviously you need to know the login and password of your home router.

In my home router, I go to the client list to see what all is connected and find the WTIU as the only one with MTHDCS in the name

I then use that IP address in the browser in another tab to connect to the LUCI interface

password = mthdcs

I guess, the big question is, can you even get this far?

Again, the difference where things are different from the manual is mainly the IP address of the LUCI interface changes based on how and what is controlling the network.

When the WTIU is in MTH mode and over WIFI and your computer or tablet is a client device to the WTIU hosting the MTHDCS named SSID network- then the IP of LUCI is 192.168.143.1, because again, the WTIU is basically "the router" and serving up a DHCP network based on that IP range so that is the known IP.

However, when you kick over into either method of attaching the WTIU to your home network (wired or wireless) the WTIU is now a client to your home network DHCP network. As such the LUCI interface IP address becomes the IP of whatever your network leased to the WTIU.  This IP can be found by logging into your home network router management page, and identifying the IP for the WTIU is the list of clients (hint MTHDCS - serial number in the name).

Right now, I checked, they have not posted a downloadable firmware to the typical MTH DCS firmwares page for WTIU. https://mthtrains.com/dcs-software-downloads

That means, I think you have to use the DCS app, and just ensure it's on the same network, can then see the WTIU, and then you should be able to reflash the firmware using the app as the source.

Describe Your reset process. A momentary push of the reset button won't do it.

Push and hold reset for 10 seconds, release and wait two minutes. Then power cycle the WIU.

@H1000 posted:

Describe Your reset process. A momentary push of the reset button won't do it.

Push and hold reset for 10 seconds, release and wait two minutes. Then power cycle the WIU.

That's one of the initial things I tried.  It didn't change anything.

@Vernon Barry - thanks for your patience.  Here's what happened.

Was able to get my home network to see the WIU via an Ethernet cable.  Found the IP address.  Got logged into Luci and brought up my device.  However, I couldn't get Luci to flash because it gave me no files to choose from.  I suspect it's because the wireless status shows as "wireless is disabled or not associated", which differs from the example in MTH's manual.  Couldn't figure out a way to get past that.

I'm trying to help you and frustrated that I keep running into walls.

I see no good way of downloading the update firmware file. The app knows how to get in the API to MTH servers but I'm just not seeing how we can grab the file for a manual upload via LUCI.

I also just tried going the app route, but if the WTIU is already the latest version, I'm not seeing a way for force a reflash of the latest in the app UI.

At best, what I can say is, if you can get to LUCI interface- then try manually setting it to connect to your home network?

I wish I had better answers. It's not for lack of trying.

@Vernon Barry posted:

I'm trying to help you and frustrated that I keep running into walls.

I see no good way of downloading the update firmware file. The app knows how to get in the API to MTH servers but I'm just not seeing how we can grab the file for a manual upload via LUCI.

I also just tried going the app route, but if the WTIU is already the latest version, I'm not seeing a way for force a reflash of the latest in the app UI.

At best, what I can say is, if you can get to LUCI interface- then try manually setting it to connect to your home network?

I wish I had better answers. It's not for lack of trying.

You've gone above and beyond.  Much appreciated. 

Just weird that it suddenly died for no discernible reason, but electronics seem to do that to me.  At the same time, I had one of the thumbwheel wires come loose in one of my remotes; fortunately that was a 5-minute fix.

Luckily the units are still available, but who knows for how long, so I ordered one.

Thanks again.

One of my friends had a similar issue with his WIU.  Only the PWR light was coming up.

If this can help, here is how the problem got resolved:

1- Following the reset process suggested above by H1000 (https://ogrforum.com/topic/wiu...2#188663164356616942), the other lights on the WIU came on normally and the WIU was accessible via WIFI.

• Note: This reset process what repeatable, but did NOT resolve the problem permanently as every time the WIU was left un-powered for any period of time, the same initial problem would be back.

2- From the MTH DCS Software Downloads website (https://www.mthtrains.com/dcs-software-downloads), the latest available file WIU Firmware v1.1.0 was downloaded.

3- Following the Updating WIU Firmware instructions from the WIU pdf Manual available in the SUPPORT tab on the WIU product webpage (https://www.mthtrains.com/products/50-1034), the LuCI web interface was used to re-Flash the WIU per the screenshot below.

• Note: The "Keep Settings" was un-checked to maximize the chances to remove anything from the previous setup having the problem.

So far so good, so... problem apparently resolved.

@Daniel Auger posted:

One of my friends had a similar issue with his WIU.  Only the PWR light was coming up.

If this can help, here is how the problem got resolved:

1- Following the reset process suggested above by H1000 (https://ogrforum.com/topic/wiu...2#188663164356616942), the other lights on the WIU came on normally and the WIU was accessible via WIFI.

• Note: This reset process what repeatable, but did NOT resolve the problem permanently as every time the WIU was left un-powered for any period of time, the same initial problem would be back.

2- From the MTH DCS Software Downloads website (https://www.mthtrains.com/dcs-software-downloads), the latest available file WIU Firmware v1.1.0 was downloaded.

3- Following the Updating WIU Firmware instructions from the WIU pdf Manual available in the SUPPORT tab on the WIU product webpage (https://www.mthtrains.com/products/50-1034), the LuCI web interface was used to re-Flash the WIU per the screenshot below.

• Note: The "Keep Settings" was un-checked to maximize the chances to remove anything from the previous setup having the problem.

So far so good, so... problem apparently resolved.

Thanks for posting.  However, the LuCI process uses the WIU's wi-fi signal to connect for doing the flash.  Unfortunately, my WIU was not generating a wi-fi signal, so it was not possible to re-flash. 

@Mallard4468 posted:

Thanks for posting.  However, the LuCI process uses the WIU's wi-fi signal to connect for doing the flash.  Unfortunately, my WIU was not generating a wi-fi signal, so it was not possible to re-flash.

If that's the case, you can connect the WIU to your home router using a standard Ethernet cable (leave the WIU in MTH MODE). Your home router will now assign the WIU an IP address via the wired connection and you can access it with you desktop/laptop via this wired connection.

The trick will be locating the IP address your home router assigned. I use a program from NirSoft called Wireless Network Watcher, it identifies all of the devices attached to your home notwork (wired & wireless). Look for the device with the name "AsiaRF" and then type the associated IP address into your web browser to access LuCi.

@H1000 posted:

If that's the case, you can connect the WIU to your home router using a standard Ethernet cable (leave the WIU in MTH MODE). Your home router will now assign the WIU an IP address via the wired connection and you can access it with you desktop/laptop via this wired connection.

The trick will be locating the IP address your home router assigned. I use a program from NirSoft called Wireless Network Watcher, it identifies all of the devices attached to your home notwork (wired & wireless). Look for the device with the name "AsiaRF" and then type the associated IP address into your web browser to access LuCi.

Thanks H1000.  I confirm.

The router`s admin page normally provides a way to see to the IP address associated with the WIU, per the screenshot below.  This is the difficult part.  Once you have the IP address, the firmware update process is exactly the same.

Note: The IP Address above is just an example.  The IP Address will be different on another router.