Netgear R7900 - what did I do wrong?
UPDATE: I used nmrpflash to recover/reinstall the original Netgear Firmware, and then I successfully installed FreshTomato.
Noob here - this is my first time attempting to install non-oem firmware onto a router. My goal was to load firmware that would have more up-to-date security.
I downloaded the file "openwrt-25.12.4-bcm53xx-generic-netgear_r7900-squashfs.chk" from here, connected my laptop via ethernet to the lan port, and used the factory firmware's web interface to install the downloaded file. The Netgear GUI told me to wait 2 minutes, and that the router would reboot. Unfortunately, after rebooting, the router isn't responsive - it has a solid orange power light, and nothing else (though "LAN 1" does light up when ethernet is plugged in). Attempting to go to 192.168.1.1 when connected via ethernet does not do anything.
It's not a big deal if the router is bricked - I got it from e-waste anyway - but I would like to understand if there's something I did wrong so I can avoid making the same mistake in the future. The laptop I was using was not connected to WiFi, and the router was only plugged into power and the laptop. TIA!