Advice on firmware please. (RT-N66U)

[smallclone]

Hi, I have the RT-N66U router. It is working well but I have not upgraded firmware in a LONG time. I have this current firmware:

3.0.0.4.374.35_4

I am rather terrified of upgrading firmware incase it all goes bang, although I HAVE backed up my settings. Could you please advise on how I would do it?

-Do I need to factory reset the router before upgrading to the latest build?
-Or do I simply browse for the downloaded zip file, extract and upload it via the router admin page?
-Do I need to backup JFFS and if so how?

Many thanks for your time.

 

[RMerlin]

You're coming from a quite old firmware, so you need to do a factory default reset and manually reconfigure everything after you flash, to inherit the new default values.

Backing up the JFFS partition should always be done whenever flashing, especially the N16 and N66 as the JFFS partition will change size between firmware versions.

 

[smallclone]

thanks for replying. How exactly do I do these things?

factory reset
"flashing" the new firmware.
Backing up JFFS

sorry for being such a noob.

 

[ColinTaylor]

factory reset

Administration > Restore/Save/Upload Setting > Factory default

"flashing" the new firmware.

Download the new firmware to somewhere on your PC, then go to Administration > Firmware Upgrade > New Firmware File and browse to the file you just downloaded.

Backing up JFFS

Are you using JFFS (for custom scripts and configs)? If not then there is no point in backing it up. Go to Administration > System > Enable JFFS partition. If it is not enabled then you aren't using it.

 

[smallclone]

Download the new firmware to somewhere on your PC, then go to Administration > Firmware Upgrade > New Firmware File and browse to the file you just downloaded.

Thanks, I need to extract the zip and upload the trx file right? Not the zip folder.

Are you using JFFS (for custom scripts and configs)? If not then there is no point in backing it up. Go to Administration > System > Enable JFFS partition. If it is not enabled then you aren't using it.

It seems to be enabled. But I don't customise anything. So don't know if I need to back it up?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Thanks, I need to extract the zip and upload the trx file right? Not the zip folder.

Correct

It seems to be enabled. But I don't customise anything. So don't know if I need to back it up?

To put stuff in the JFFS partition you would have had to use a terminal emulator like PuTTY to telnet or ssh onto the router. Then from the command line gone into the /jffs/scripts or /jffs/configs directory and created some files. I'm sure you would have remembered doing this. The only other thing I can think of that might use JFFS is if you are using it to keep the traffic monitoring history. Look in Tools > Other Settings > Traffic Monitoring

 

[smallclone]

Yeah no I don't use JFFS

Right. Think I've got the jist. I'll get on it asap.

The only other question I had is the control channel.........Whatever I set it to (2.5Ghz) ...1I, 2I, Auto or 11U etc.....it always appears as "6" in my wifi detetction apps on my smartphone.

Is this a firmware bug?

thanks

 

[ColinTaylor]

Yeah I think the wireless channel thing was a bug that got fixed. I have mine set to channel 1u 40MHZ with no problems.

PS Remember what RMerlin said: re-enter all your settings manually after installing the firmware and doing a factory reset. Do not try to restore your settings from a backup taken on your old firmware.

 

[RMerlin]

Yeah no I don't use JFFS

Right. Think I've got the jist. I'll get on it asap.

The only other question I had is the control channel.........Whatever I set it to (2.5Ghz) ...1I, 2I, Auto or 11U etc.....it always appears as "6" in my wifi detetction apps on my smartphone.

Is this a firmware bug?

thanks

That's a bug with the wireless driver. Set your channel width to 20 MHz instead of 20/40. When the driver downgrades, it defaults back to channel 6 for some reason.

 

[smallclone]

I've just done a factory reset. (Admin> Factory Default> restore) It rebooted, and I still have wireless running ok, but:

1) The firmware still reads: Firmware:3.0.0.4.374.35_4 (Merlin build)
2) My main PC has lost it's wired connection and I can no longer access the router page on it. It says to do it wirelessly. Which I am now doing on my laptop.

Am I ok to flash the new firmware?

 

[RMerlin]

I've just done a factory reset. (Admin> Factory Default> restore) It rebooted, and I still have wireless running ok, but:

1) The firmware still reads: Firmware:3.0.0.4.374.35_4 (Merlin build)
2) My main PC has lost it's wired connection and I can no longer access the router page on it. It says to do it wirelessly. Which I am now doing on my laptop.

Am I ok to flash the new firmware?

Did you flash it already? If not, then it's normal for the version to be unchanged - restoring to factory defaults only affects the stored settings, not the actual firmware.

You should be doing the reset only AFTER flashing the router.

 

[smallclone]

Ah no. Ive restored to factory first. Not browsed for the firmware file yet.

what's the next step from here? Is there one?

 

[ColinTaylor]

what's the next step from here? Is there one?

Install the firmware and after it's finished do a factory reset.

 

[smallclone]

Ok I've done that. New firmware is on. Wireless is ok. But I have 2 problems:

1) My PC has no internet connection.
2) I cannot conenct to my USB disk that's plugged into the Asus router. I used to go through XBMC and access it, but no files are playing and it's not even recognised through the file manager. I have DNLA on, and even a samba share enabled. I can't even see the router on my laptop now.

How can I fix this? Thank you

edit: I can see the router using an android phone. But not on anythign else (laptop etc)

 

[ColinTaylor]

1) My PC has no internet connection.

You'll need to provide more information. We can't guess what your setup is. What does it say on the front page of the router's GUI (Internet status)?

2) I cannot conenct to my USB disk that's plugged into the Asus router. I used to go through XBMC and access it, but no files are playing and it's not even recognised through the file manager. I have DNLA on, and even a samba share enabled. I can't even see the router on my laptop now.

How can I fix this? Thank you

edit: I can see the router using an android phone. But not on anythign else (laptop etc)

You're describing multiple things... one at a time please.

Firstly, Samba security was tightened up in recent firmware. Go to USB Application > Network Place(Samba) Share / Cloud Disk. Set "Allow guest login" to Yes to set it the way it was in your old firmware.

Report back.

 

[smallclone]

You'll need to provide more information. We can't guess what your setup is. What does it say on the front page of the router's GUI (Internet status)?

Internet connected. I can use a wireless connection fine. I can also browse youtube on a wired connection to a HTPC to my tv.

But the pc is just not connecting.

[quote[Firstly, Samba security was tightened up in recent firmware. Go to USB Application > Network Place(Samba) Share / Cloud Disk. Set "Allow guest login" to Yes to set it the way if was in your old firmware.

Report back.[/QUOTE]

I've done this. Still can't see the router or the USB disk. On windows pc it is not showing, even after restart.

On Ubuntu laptop it's not showing either.

I have noticed that it is now called "RT-N66U-61D0" and not "RT-N66U" in the media server section. Could this be it?

 

[ColinTaylor]

OK. You're describing at least 3 different things. Let's start with your PC.

You say it's not connecting. To the internet or to your local network?

What is the IP address of your router? Is it 192.168.1.1?

From your PC (is it Windows?): Can you ping the router?

ping 192.168.1.1

Is DNS working?

nslookup bbc.co.uk

What is the output of this command

ipconfig /all

PS What version of the firmware are you now running?

UPDATE:
Go to LAN > LAN IP and if necessary change the Device Name to RT-N66U
Go to USB Application > Media Server and change Media Server Name to RT-N66U
Go to USB Application > Network Place(Samba) Share / Cloud Disk and change Device Name to RT-N66U
Go to USB Application > Network Place(Samba) Share / Cloud Disk and check that Work Group is correctly set to the name of your home network.

PPS After you installed the new firmware and the router rebooted itself, you did log onto the router and do a factory reset didn't you?

 

[smallclone]

Let's start with your PC.

You say it's not connecting. To the internet or to your local network?

Both. I have no internet and no way of seeing the router in windows explorer. which I used to.

when I try to log into the router page it asks me to connect wirelessly and use "the new ip address"

What is the IP address of your router? Is it 192.168.1.1?

yes.

From your PC (is it Windows?): Can you ping the router?

ping 192.168.1.1

Is DNS working?

nslookup bbc.co.uk

What is the output of this command

ipconfig /all

-Hmmm, ok well first off pinging the router said "destination net unreachable"
BUT....the PCs ip address seems to be 192.168.2.1
Doesn't it need to be 192.168.1.x ?

-the bbc command gave "no internal type for both IPv4 and IPv6

-I also see that when I enter ipconfig /all the default gateway is 192.168.2.1 and the connection specific DNS suffix is "Belkin".

This Belkin router is an access point I have in another part of the house to expand wifi. Is this the problem?

PS What version of the firmware are you now running?

Firmware:376.47

 

[smallclone]

UPDATE:
Go to LAN > LAN IP and if necessary change the Device Name to RT-N66U
Go to USB Application > Media Server and change Media Server Name to RT-N66U
Go to USB Application > Network Place(Samba) Share / Cloud Disk and change Device Name to RT-N66U

will try thanks

PPS After you installed the new firmware and the router rebooted itself, you did log onto the router and do a factory reset didn't you?

yes.

 

[smallclone]

"Go to LAN > LAN IP and if necessary change the Device Name to RT-N66"

OK that single action seems to have solved a bunch of issues. PC is in client list now and has internet.