The content of this topic has been archived on 16 Mar 2018. There are no obvious gaps in this topic, but there may still be some posts missing at the end.
Hello,
Is there any help on how to build and connect a serial console for wrt350n?
I bricked my router and I am trying to fix it.
Which is the easiest way?
I read a wiki and concluded that I should buy an NK-71 nokia cable and connect it somehow to the router.
Is there more detailed help on the internet with screenshots or anything else helpful?
Thank you very much for your time.
Here's how I did it: I bought a USB cable with the proper voltage (TTL-232R-3V-AJ) from Mouser Electronics for ~$25US. It has a mini-stereo plug on one end. I also bought a box of mini-plug jacks from Radio Shack ("3-Conductor Stereo 1/8" Phone Jack") for a couple of bucks. (PN 274-249). I plugged the USB cable into mini-jack. Next, I salvaged an ancient parallel port card and desoldered a 5x2-pin header. Using a leftover CD audio cable, I connected pins 2,3, and 5 from the header to the appropriate leads on the Radio Shack mini-plug jack. Intending to install the header to the WRT350N, I tried desoldering the filled-in serial port on the WRT350N, but my soldering skills are really poor and I was worried I'd damage the board. Instead, I laid the pins onto the header of the board and powered up the router. I used HyperTerminal to talk to the router. When you plug the USB cable into a Windows machine, Plug-and-Play installs a new COM port for you. Its called a USB Serial Port in Device Manager. Be sure to use that COM port with port settings of 115200 N-8-1. Occasionally, I had to push down on the pins but the cable worked great. As a bonus, I was also able to revive the WRT54G that the 350N was replacing using the same cable. I can take pictures of the cable if you promise to not laugh at my poor fabrication skills.
Yes, pics please.
Here is the USB cable with the mini-plug 
Here is the mini-plug jacks I bought from Radio Shack
Here is the cable I hacked together to connect the salvaged header to the USB cable
Here it is all together
Here's how I did it: I bought a USB cable with the proper voltage (TTL-232R-3V-AJ) from Mouser Electronics for ~$25US.
O.K., how did you know the proper voltage?
Thanx,
Ed
I googled for how-to's on de-bricking. I came across this forum thread which lists the pin out and proper voltage:
The discussion might have continued from here.