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[upirons]

I just received my first D-link DCS942L Network Camera yesterday via Amazon. After several weeks of researching wifi cameras I was excited to get one that I thought got at least better reviews than most, but unfortunately this thing is bricked right out of the friggin' box.

A quick recap of what I found: I do not get a link light from it on my router even after testing several known good cables. Also when I press the WPS button, I get no blue led at all. I have never seen that led light up actually. Only the red/amber led on the back. I even tried to set up a dhcp server on my laptop, plugged the cam in with a crossover cable and - no link there either.

Performed the factory reset procedures both in the docs as well as the more detailed instructions here on the forum but it doesn't make any difference. The fact that the WPS button never lights anything up tells me that there is a firmware issue however I have no way to reinstall the firmware if I cannot even plug the thing into the network. So... It seems to me the only option is to use the sd card slot, which I imagine is exactly what would happen at the factory when they refurbish this brick.

I know Amazon will send me a new one and, in fact, they are but I find it hard to believe that there is no way to re-flash this thing myself. I work in computers and networking so I have some skill in this kind of thing but before I tinker around much more I would need to know if anyone can tell me if the sd card contains a copy of the firmware or not. I was hoping there might be a way to format an sd card properly on my computer and have it load new firmware from the card since nothing network related will do the trick. So if anyone could tell me 1) if the firmware exists on the sd card or not and 2) what the directory structure is so I know how to properly format my card to match. Sorry for the long post but I was really excited to get this camera and this is my only way to release frustration until the replacement arrives.

[JavaLawyer]

The firmware is store on internal memory. At present there is no published recovery method available for end-users to flash firmware when the camera web UI in not accessible.

Unfortunately, your best course is obtaining a replacement unit from Amazon. I discourage going through the D-Link RMA process as you have to personally pay for return shipping, while Amazon, I presume, will cover all costs.