No ethernet after 25.12.3 to 25.12.5 attended sysupgrade of MikroTik RouterBOARD 952Ui-5ac2nD hAP ac lite

Author: derterzCreated Sep 2, 2026Updated Sep 16, 2026

Labelstarget/ath79bugOfficial ImageSupported Devicerelease/25.12

Describe the bug

After performing a sysupgrade from 25.12.3 to 25.12.5 there was no more Ethernet connection but WiFi still works. The LEDs of the Ethernet ports remain dark. Downgrading back to 25.12.3 fixes the issue: Ethernet works normally and the LEDs of the connected Ethernet ports light up green.

Comparing the kernel log files indicates that there is an issue connecting to the PHY: Relevant log lines for 25.12.3:

[    0.594866] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[    0.918596] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: Could not connect to PHY device. Deferring probe.
[    0.927414] ag71xx-legacy 1a000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[    1.631338] ag71xx-legacy 1a000000.eth: connected to PHY at fixed-0:00 [uid=00000000, driver=Generic PHY]
[    1.843033] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[    2.238730] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: connected to PHY at mdio.0:1f:04 [uid=004dd042, driver=Qualcomm Atheros QCA9561 built-in PHY]
[   50.064801] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth eth1: entered allmulticast mode
[   50.076368] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth eth1: entered promiscuous mode

Same for 25.12.5 (Qualcomm Atheros QCA9561 is missing):

[    3.265360] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[    3.588814] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: Could not connect to PHY device. Deferring probe.
[    3.597676] ag71xx-legacy 1a000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[    4.096784] ag71xx-legacy 1a000000.eth: connected to PHY at fixed-0:00 [uid=00000000, driver=Generic PHY]
[    4.115612] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[    4.438814] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: Could not connect to PHY device. Deferring probe.
[    4.460047] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[    4.893169] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: Could not connect to PHY device. Deferring probe.
[   14.578190] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[   14.898799] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: Could not connect to PHY device. Deferring probe.
[   20.855899] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[   21.308827] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: Could not connect to PHY device. Deferring probe.
[   29.258739] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[   29.579008] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: Could not connect to PHY device. Deferring probe.
[   30.090880] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: invalid MAC address, using random address
[   30.428961] ag71xx-legacy 19000000.eth: Could not connect to PHY device. Deferring probe.
[   53.834477] ag71xx-legacy 1a000000.eth eth0: entered allmulticast mode
[   53.846133] ag71xx-legacy 1a000000.eth eth0: entered promiscuous mode

OpenWrt version

r33051-f5dae5ece4

OpenWrt release

25.12.5

OpenWrt target/subtarget

ath79/mikrotik

Device

MikroTik RouterBOARD 952Ui-5ac2nD (hAP ac lite)

Image kind

Official downloaded image

Steps to reproduce

Upgrade to 25.12.5
Wait for device to boot

Actual behaviour

All LAN port LEDs remain dark.
No communication with the device via Ethernet possible.

Expected behaviour

LEDs for connected LAN ports light up.
Communication via LAN is possible.

Additional info

Communication via WiFi is still possible and hence I can try to collect additional information if this is somehow helpful.

Diffconfig

Terms

I am reporting an issue for OpenWrt, not an unsupported fork.

Source: openwrt/openwrt

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