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How to Update Router Firmware Netgear

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How to Update Router Firmware Netgear

Netgear’s current lineup of products includes everything from affordable Wi-Fi routers to high-end gaming routers and mesh Wi-Fi systems.

Depending on which product you’re using, you can access the router’s web management interface, or use desktop/smartphone apps to update the router firmware.

Users generally prefer auto-updating thanks to its convenience. But if you’re looking to flash a specific firmware version, we’ve covered the manual update process as well.

Table of Contents

Ways to Update Netgear Router Firmware

Please note that updating the firmware using an Ethernet connection over wireless, and with power backup, is recommended to ensure the firmware update doesn’t get interrupted. An interrupted firmware update can permanently brick your device.

Web Interface (Auto-Update)

Here’s how you can auto-update the firmware via the web interface:

  1. Launch a web browser and enter routerlogin.net or routerlogin.com. Alternatively, you can also enter the router’s IP address.
  2. Enter the router’s credentials to log in.
  3. Select Advanced or Settings and click on the Administration tab.
  4. Select Firmware Update / Router Update.
    netgear-check-for-firmware-updates
  5. Press Check. If a new one is available, press Yes to download and install the update.

Firmware updates won’t always be stable. Sometimes the latest update will lead to problems, and you might need to revert to an older firmware version. In such cases, you can manually flash the firmware with the following steps:

  1. Go to the Netgear support site and search for your router model.
    netgear-support-download-center
  2. Click on Downloads. In the Firmware and Software Downloads section, press the Previous versions button to expand it.
    router-firmware-versions-download
  3. Download the firmware version you want and extract it.
  4. Follow Steps 1-4 from the earlier section to get to the Firmware Update page.
  5. Click on Choose File / Browse and select the extracted file (.img or .chk).
    wax204-netgear-router-firmware
  6. Press Upload to start the firmware update. The process should complete in a few mins.
    netgear-manual-firmware-upload

Netgear Genie App

The Netgear Genie App is available for both desktops and smartphones and allows you to manage your router without needing a browser (mostly). To update the firmware with this tool,

  1. Launch the app and click on Router Settings.
    netgear-genie-router-settings
  2. Enter your router’s credentials and use the arrows to cycle to the Router Update tab.
  3. Press Next to check for firmware updates.
    netgear-genie-router-update
  4. If an update is available, click on Next. This will open a browser window.
  5. Login to the router dashboard here and click on the A router firmware update is available message.
  6. Press Yes to proceed with the update. After the upgrade completes, your router will restart automatically.

If you’re using a Nighthawk router, you can also use the Nighthawk app to update its firmware. To do this,

  1. Launch the Nighthawk app and enter your router’s credentials.
  2. Tap the router image
    nighthawk-app-settings
  3. Scroll down and select Check for updates.
  4. If an update is available, tap Update.
    nighthawk-new-firmware-available

Orbi System Firmware Update

The Orbi App is generally the recommended way to update the firmware on Orbi systems. Here are the steps for this:

  1. Launch the Orbi app while connected to the Orbi router’s Wi-Fi network.
  2. Input your router’s credentials and tap Sign In.
  3. Tap the Menu icon from the top-left and select Settings > Router Settings.
    orbi-app-router-settings-list
  4. Scroll down and tap Check for Updates
    orbi-app-router-info-check-for-updates
  5. If a firmware update is available for your router, follow the on-screen instructions to install the update.

Download firmware files for satellites and router > Update satellite firmware > Update router firmware.

Updating router firmware before the satellites is not recommended. Additionally, you must ensure that the same firmware version is installed on both the satellites and the router.

  1. Go to the Netgear Download Center and download the firmware file for the router and satellites. Extract them if required.
  2. Enter orbilogin.com into the URL bar.
  3. Enter your router’s credentials to log in.
  4. In the router dashboard, navigate to Advanced > Administration > Firmware Update > Manual Update.
  5. Select the check box next to the satellite and click on Update.
  6. Enter your router’s password if prompted.
  7. Click on Browse and select the extracted satellite firmware file (.img or .chk) from Step 1.
  8. Press Upload to begin the update. The process should complete in a few minutes. After that, return to orbilogin.com.
  9. Go back to the Manual Firmware Update tab.
  10. Without enabling the checkbox for satellites, click on Browse.
  11. Select the router’s firmware file this time and click on Upload.
  12. Press Yes to proceed with the update.

Even if you bricked your router while updating, you can still restore it if you can at least power it on. To do this, Netgear recommends using a TFTP client to upload the firmware remotely.

Here’s how you can do this on Windows:

  1. First, download and install the Tftpd64 app.
  2. Connect your PC to the router using an Ethernet cable.
  3. Press Win + R, type ncpa.cpl, and press Enter.
  4. Select the Ethernet connection and click on Properties.
    network-connections-properties
  5. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click on Properties.
  6. Select Use the following IP address and enter the following values to set a static IP for your device:
    • IP address: 192.168.1.10
    • Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
    • Default gateway: 192.168.1.1
      windows-static-ip-config
  7. Press Ok > Ok to save the changes.
  8. Launch Tftpd64 and click on Tftp client. Select your PC’s LAN adapter from the Server interfaces list.
    tftpd64-server-interfaces-lan-adapter
  9. Fill in the Host (192.168.1.1 – default router IP address) and Port (69 – default TFTP port number).
    tftp-client-host-port
  10. Press the  button adjacent to Local File.
  11. Browse the router’s firmware file but don’t upload it yet.
    router-firmware-img-filehttps://12e6474495fe2e5aec3d44e0a2cf10df.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
  12. Unplug all Ethernet connections except your PCs from the router.
  13. Power off your router for 10 seconds and turn it back on.
  14. Once the Power LED lights orange and starts flashing, press Put in the Tftpd64 client on your PC.
    upload-firmware-tftpd
  15. The upload will take a few minutes. If it’s successful, you’ll see an MD5 checksum. After a few minutes, the power LED will turn solid white.
  16. If the upload was not successful, repeat Steps 12-14.
  17. After the firmware is restored, revert your IPv4 configurations to default by following Steps 3-6 and selecting the auto-obtain options.

The process is mostly the same on macOS as well. Here are the necessary steps:

  1. Connect your Mac to the router using an Ethernet cable.
  2. Click on the Apple logo and select System Preferences > Network.
  3. Select the Ethernet adapter from the left pane. Choose Configure IPv4 Manually and use the following values:
    • IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.10
    • Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
    • Router: 192.168.1.1
      mac-os-static-ip-config
    https://12e6474495fe2e5aec3d44e0a2cf10df.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
  4. Press Apply to save the changes.
  5. Navigate to the folder containing the firmware file. Right-click it and select New Terminal at Folder.
    new-terminal-at-folder
  6. Execute the following commands:
    • tftp 192.168.1.1
    • binary
  7. Type put <full firmware file name> but don’t press Enter yet.
    macos-tftp-router-firmware-upgrade
  8. Remove all Ethernet connections except your Macs from the router.
  9. Power off the router for 10 seconds and turn it back on.
  10. Once the Power LED lights orange and starts flashing, press Enter to execute the put command in the terminal.
  11. The firmware upload will take a few minutes to complete. If successful, you’ll see a message about bytes sent and time elapsed in the terminal. 
  12. After a few minutes, the Power LED will turn solid white indicating that the firmware storage is complete. Feel free to restore your network settings to default (Steps 2-4) at this point.
  13. But if the firmware upload fails, repeat Steps 9-11.
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Apple reportedly considering touchscreen Mac laptop for 2025

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Apple reportedly considering touchscreen Mac laptop for 2025

Apple could release a MacBook Pro laptop with a touchscreen as soon as 2025, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Teams inside Apple are working on the project, and the first design would include a trackpad and keyboard as well as a touchscreen, according to the report.

The move, if it were to happen, would mark a significant reversal for Apple, which has said for years that touchscreen laptops are ergonomically inferior, even as competing Windows laptops now have touchscreens as a standard feature.

“We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do,” Apple’s head of software Craig Federighi said in 2018, adding that he’s “not into touchscreens” on PCs.

More recently, he was asked at a conference whether Apple would release a touchscreen laptop, and he said, “who’s to say?”

Apple’s Mac business doesn’t need a shot in the arm, though. Mac sales surged when Apple replaced Intel processors in most of its computers with its own silicon. The change improved battery life and reduced overheating. Apple’s Mac business generated $40.1 billion in revenue during the company’s fiscal 2022, up 14% from 2021.

A touchscreen Mac would require significant software changes to accept finger taps, which require larger buttons, instead of mouse clicks. Apple’s iPhone and iPads use an operating system designed for touchscreens, while macOS can currently only be controlled with a mouse and keyboard.

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Amazon’s Twitch CEO steps down nearly 10 years after acquisition

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Amazon’s Twitch CEO steps down nearly 10 years after acquisition

Emmett Shear, the CEO of Amazon’s livestreaming service Twitch, is stepping down from his role effective immediately, the company announced Thursday.

Amazon acquired Twitch for almost $1 billion in 2014. The site is most known as a popular livestreaming platform for video gamers. After buying Twitch, Amazon was largely hands off with the business, though it has offered Prime subscribers perks on the livestreaming platform, such as free games and in-game loot.

Shear will be replaced by Twitch President Dan Clancy, who has been a “close partner” to Shear, he wrote in a blog post. Shear said he’s stepping away to spend more time with his newborn son. Shear will continue to work at Twitch in an advisory role.

“With the arrival of my son, the time has come for me to focus my energies on building that tiny little startup family, and I’m ready to dedicate my energies there,” Shear wrote. “Twitch will always remain part of my extended family, a community where I grew in so many ways alongside Twitch itself.”

Shear’s resignation adds to a recent exodus of leadership under CEO Andy Jassy. Earlier this month, Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff announced he was stepping down from his role at the home security subsidiary. Last year, executives overseeing Amazon’s Alexa and hardware research and development group, known as Lab126, exited the company. Last July, public policy chief Jay Carney announced he was leaving to join Airbnb, and 23-year Amazon veteran Dave Clark resigned as retail chief the same month.

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How to Fix HP Black Ink Not Printing

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How to Fix HP Black Ink Not Printing

If your HP printer is not printing in black color, there may be some issues with the black cartridge. However, HP printers have a special ink-backup mode that allows printing using only tricolor cartridges (C, M, Y) when the black cartridge encounters a problem.

In such cases, the black color can either disappear on the printout or appear as a grayish color instead of true black. Mostly, a low level of black ink is responsible for the issue. Sometimes, a mispositioned or clogged printhead can also prevent the printer from printing in black color.

Check the Level of Black Ink

If your HP printer is refusing to print in black color, you should first check the level of black ink on the cartridges. There are multiple ways you can check the ink levels on your HP printer.

If you have an HP Ink Tank series printer, you can inspect the ink levels from outside the printer only. Otherwise, you can use the HP assistant tool to check it.

  1. Open Control Panel.
    open control panel on your computerhttps://9db0732cdace87f6755b80f95f544792.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
  2. Click Hardware and Sound.
    hardware-and-sound
  3. Click Devices and Printers on the next window.
    devices-and-printers
  4. Double-click the HP printer profile.
    double-click-hp-printer-on-control-panelhttps://9db0732cdace87f6755b80f95f544792.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
  5. Again double-click HP Printer Assistant.
    open-hp-printer-assistant-1
  6. Go to Estimated Levels.
    estimated-level-tab-on-hp-printer-assistant
  7. Now click Estimated Cartridge Levels to see the level of black ink on your printer. Consider refilling the ink tank or changing the ink cartridges if the ink levels have gone too low.
    estimated-cartridge-level-on-hp-assistant

You can also refer to this guide to learn about multiple ways to check ink levels in HP printers

Change Paper Settings

An incorrectly configured paper setting is another reason the printer refuses to print in black color. Not only black, but it can also sometimes cause problems printing in color. It is because the ink spraying mechanism of the printer varies depending on the paper type.

So, you should always set the paper size and paper type that exactly matches the papers in the input tray of the printer. Also, make sure you are using papers compatible with your printer.

  1. Hit Windows and keys simultaneously on your keyboard.
  2. Type control printers in the text area.
    control-printers-on-run-box
  3. Click the OK button.
  4. On the new Control Panel window, look after the HP printer name and right-click it.
  5. Select Printing preferences.
    printing-preference-of-hp-printer-1
  6. Click the Paper/Quality tab.
  7. Choose the correct Paper Size and Paper Type from the respective drop-downs.
    paper-size-and-paper-type
  8. Click OK.

Align the Printheads

The printheads of your printer should be correctly aligned so that it can properly spray the ink onto the paper and generate quality printouts. Even a slight change in the position of the printhead can prevent the colors from getting to the paper. Aligning the printheads also helps if you have started facing issues after installing the cartridge.

  1. Open HP Printer Assistant from Control Panel.
    open-hp-printer-assistant-1-1
  2. Go to the Maintain Your Printer menu.
    maintain-your-printer-in-hp-printer-assistant
  3. Now click the Device Services tab and select Align Cartridges.
    align-cartridge-option-on-hp-printer-assistant
  4. Click Print alignment page > Next.
    print-alignment-page-on-hp-printer-assistant
  5. You will get a printout of an alignment page like this.
    printed-alignment-page
  6. Insert the printout over the scanner assembly.
  7. Now click the Scan button.
    scan-the-printed-alignment-page
  8. You will get an alignment successful popup after the printer completes the alignment process.
    alignment-successful-message

You can consult this comprehensive guide to learn more about aligning the printheads of HP printers.

Run the Printhead Cleaning Cycle

Running a printhead cleaning cycle will be helpful if the printhead of the black cartridge is blocked due to ink residues or any foreign bodies. We recommend you run about three cycles of printhead cleaning for better results.

  1. Open the Run application on your PC.https://9db0732cdace87f6755b80f95f544792.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
  2. Type control printers and click OK.
    control-printers-on-run-box
  3. Double-click HP printer > HP Printer Assistant.
    open-hp-printer-assistant-1-1
  4. Select Maintain Your Printer.
    maintain-your-printer-in-hp-printer-assistanthttps://9db0732cdace87f6755b80f95f544792.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
  5. Click the Device Services tab.
  6. Click Clean Cartridges.
    clean-cartridges-on-hp-printer-assistant
  7. Your printer will eject a diagnostic report after completing the cleaning process.
    print-quality-diagnostic-report-of-hp-printer-1

You may also read our other article on how to clean the HP printheads and learn more about the manual process of cleaning them.

Running a manual clean cycle will help if you cannot sort out the issue after performing the automatic cleaning cycle.

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