@Fae I using the same laptop same cable to connect to different model of switches, TL-SG3428XMP cannot connect and blank screen, but TL-SX3206HPP able to connect to both console (serial and USB). My question is without the console how to reset the switches? don't have any button to reset? 

  @Fae To enter BootUtil menu:
1. Connect to TP-Link Managed Switch via Console Port.
2. Reboot the switch.
3. Press Ctrl+B during boot-up.

Fae wrote

This Guide Applies to:

All of TP-Link Managed Switches with a Console port.

 

Introduction:

TP-Link BootUtil menu enables some advanced features, such as activating the backup image, recovering the password, and factory resetting. If you forget the username or password, you can access the BootUtil menu to recover the password, or directly reset the switch via the Console port. In this article, we will share how to enter the BootUtil menu to reset TP-Link Managed switch via the Console port. Hoping this helps.

 

 

Step 1. Connect your computer to the switch.

 

• Via the RJ45 Console port

 

In this method, you may need to prepare a Console cable and a computer with a serial port (COM) equipped, then connect the computer's serial port to the RJ45 Console port of the switch via a Console cable as the following figure shows.

 

Related Articles: What is the Console Cable and the line sequence of it?

 

 

• Use a Mirco-USB Console port

 

In this method, you may prepare a Micro-USB cable that supports data transfer and a Windows computer, then connect the computer's USB port to the Mirco-USB Console port of the switch via the Micro-USB cable as the following figure shows. 

 

Then click here to download and install the TP-Link USB Console Driver.

 

 

Note:

(1) Esure the Micro-USB cable supports data transfer as some cables only support power supply.

(2) A Windows computer is needed since the TP-Link USB Console Driver is only for Windows OS.

 

 

Step 2. Install a Terminal Emulator.

 

If you use the RJ45 console port, you can choose the Terminal Emulator according to your custom. Here is a guide about how to factory reset the switch using Putty for your reference. How to reset the switch to the default factory settings using PuTTy?

 

Here we use the Micro-USB cable, some emulators, such as Putty or HyperTerminal, cannot support entering the BootUtil menu. We recommend using “Tera Term” instead.

 

 

Step 3. Set parameters for console connection.

 

Run Tera Term or other emulators, choose the correct COM port.

 

 

Set the connection parameters as below (for Tera Term, please go to Setup --- Serial Port).

 

 

 

Step 4. Power On the switch to enter the BootUtil menu.

 

1) Power on the switch and press any key to stop autoboot when you see the window below:

 

Note: this will happen very fast, please keep clicking the keyboard once you plug the switch into the power, we only have 3 seconds to enter the BootUtil menu.

 

2) Then the BootUtil menu will appear as the following figure shows:

 

 

3) Enter the number of the corresponding feature.

 

Here we enter 2 to factory reset the switch:

 

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

If this guide helps, please feel free to give a Kudo to this post.

 

If you have any further questions/advice on this guide, please also feel free to comment below.

 

Thank you for your reading and attention!

4. Access the BootUtil menu to reset the switch.

@Dizzy49 me too. had your same problems recently for using the USB console patch. So, I have to get back to my old-reliable rj45 serial console port for mentioned purpose..

To access the BootUtil menu and reset a TP-Link Managed Switch via the Console Port, follow these steps:

1. Connect your computer to the switch using a serial console cable.
2. Open a terminal emulator such as PuTTY or Tera Term.
3. Configure the terminal settings to match the switch's serial settings (typically 9600 baud rate, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit).
4. Power on the switch and continuously press the Ctrl+B keys until the BootUtil menu appears.
5. Follow the prompts to reset the switch to factory defaults or perform other necessary actions.