`
That's an interesting thread; thanks for unearthing it.
Regardless, there should always be a backup bootloader even if the main one is damaged. That is what is engaged when you hold down Reset *BEFORE* applying power. This is why I was trying to be explicitly clear both in my instructions and in the questions that I was asking 'nadeemanjum'.
In the thread you linked to, the original poster there made some mention about lack of a backup booter on his:
`
No backup loader.. The router had just rebooted after partitioning, so the backup was still blank.
`
...but his description here betrays a lack of understanding: Netinstall does not touch the bootloader at all. He was talking about the state of RouterOS (which isn't even installed with active and backup copies by Netinstall anyway! if you want a backup RouterOS on a device with a NAND large enough to accommodate this, you have to choose to repartition it yourself!) which has nothing to do with the bootloader.
It appears that later on in that thread, he, too, said that when he pressed Reset that nothing happened for him...until he tried holding it down for a long time, after which apparently the backup bootloader finally engaged. He said he had to hold the Reset button down on his for 15 minutes before it worked!!! I'd guess that this is a bug of some kind...
So, to 'nadeemanjum', try this:
BEFORE applying power:
`
- Connect a serial console cable to your device
- Start up your terminal session on the other side of that serial cable
- Press and hold the RESET button
- ...THEN apply power to the unit while continuing to hold RESET
- If nothing happens, then apparently wait 15 minutes!!
- If this doesn't work, then whatever you capture over the serial console, paste ALL of it here.
`
If you get nothing out over the serial console while pressing and holding RESET, then power it up again without holding RESET and capture *everything* that is transmitted over the serial port and paste it here, not just a snippet of a couple of lines.
-- Nathan