amtm amtm - the Asuswrt-Merlin Terminal Menu

[TonyK132]

Not sure if this is right post place to post this, but here goes. I have Merlin 384.8_2, amtm, Skynet, Stubby, Entware, and ntpMerlin installed. I also have amtm set to reboot my U86 at 3am every Saturday. After the reboot, everything seems to work well except for the swap file. When I look at my logs, I only have about 1 hrs worth of data, whereas the reboot occurred 5 hrs ago. All previous logs appear to be gone. If I look at Tools in the GUI the swap file usage is 0.00/512.00MB. At other times, if I have a bunch of data in the logs, then the swap file usage is maybe 3/512MB. If I look at the Post-Mount file there is a line doing a swapon of my swap file. With all that, what do I need to do to get the swap file to properly get restarted during a reboot?

 

[Adamm]

Not sure if this is right post place to post this, but here goes. I have Merlin 384.8_2, amtm, Skynet, Stubby, Entware, and ntpMerlin installed. I also have amtm set to reboot my U86 at 3am every Saturday. After the reboot, everything seems to work well except for the swap file. When I look at my logs, I only have about 1 hrs worth of data, whereas the reboot occurred 5 hrs ago. All previous logs appear to be gone. If I look at Tools in the GUI the swap file usage is 0.00/512.00MB. At other times, if I have a bunch of data in the logs, then the swap file usage is maybe 3/512MB. If I look at the Post-Mount file there is a line doing a swapon of my swap file. With all that, what do I need to do to get the swap file to properly get restarted during a reboot?

Long story short, the swap file is mostly there to fix an issue on HND routers where spawning multiple processes caused fork() errors. Even though the swap file is rarely used, it is the only known solution to the issue (fyi the swap file has nothing todo with the missing syslog entries you mentioned, its a coincidence if anything)

 

[L&LD]

Not sure if this is right post place to post this, but here goes. I have Merlin 384.8_2, amtm, Skynet, Stubby, Entware, and ntpMerlin installed. I also have amtm set to reboot my U86 at 3am every Saturday. After the reboot, everything seems to work well except for the swap file. When I look at my logs, I only have about 1 hrs worth of data, whereas the reboot occurred 5 hrs ago. All previous logs appear to be gone. If I look at Tools in the GUI the swap file usage is 0.00/512.00MB. At other times, if I have a bunch of data in the logs, then the swap file usage is maybe 3/512MB. If I look at the Post-Mount file there is a line doing a swapon of my swap file. With all that, what do I need to do to get the swap file to properly get restarted during a reboot?

Any reason you're not on the current release 384.10?

The swap file is only used as needed. Your usage many not need it.

Any reason you are rebooting your network so frequently? Are there issues otherwise, or is this a stab at being preventative?

If there are issues, a full M&M Config (see my signature for the link below) after flashing to the latest firmware is recommended.

Along with a fresh install on an amtm formatted USB drive with Ext4 and journalling enabled and creating the swap file (don't use a swap disk) there. Afterward, the rest of the scripts can be installed, starting with Diversion.

 

[thelonelycoder]

All previous logs appear to be gone. If I look at Tools in the GUI the swap file usage is 0.00/512.00MB. At other times, if I have a bunch of data in the logs, then the swap file usage is maybe 3/512MB. If I look a

That proves that the swap file is active but not used because the system has enough RAM available at this time.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Long story short, the swap file is mostly there to fix an issue on HND routers where spawning multiple processes caused fork() errors. Even though the swap file is rarely used, it is the only known solution to the issue (fyi the swap file has nothing todo with the missing syslog entries you mentioned, its a coincidence if anything)

Not only that. Depending on what else uses the memory and the blocking list size in Diversion, the weekly list update uses a lot of memory during sort and whitelist entries removal.

 

[TonyK132]

Thanks to all for your replies. Here's a few LONG answers.

I've been watching the comments for 384.10_0. I think I'll wait for the next version next week. I've gotten burned on the .9 release and the 1st .10 alpha, so I did not want to jump into .10_0 too fast. 8_2 works great mostly, so that is OK for now. BTW, the version numbers in the footer of my previous message were wrong. I am on the latest for Skynet, amtm, Stubby, Entware, and ntpMerlin.

The weekly reboot is a belt and suspenders thing. We did daily reboots in my prior life on a Linux-based STB. It cleans up caches and potentially memory issues that might not get fixed any other way. I do not know if this device really needs it. But in some posts here, occasionally people will experience problems that a reboot solves. This also includes me. And this is after I've done a full reset as L&LD suggested and reload of all settings, which I would prefer not to do too often. So for me, once a week on this device seems like reasonable insurance as long as it works.

Update: as I was writing this, I went to the GUI to check on the logs, and it was locked up. It would not let me in. But my Putty session was still working and I was still streaming audio, so only GUI was dead. So I did a Reboot in Putty, then after it woke up, I went to the logs, and IBD, the logs were preserved through that reboot. Hmmm, why am I losing them during the amtm 3am reboot but not now?

I'm not running Diversion, so I would not benefit from any improvements that it provides. Maybe I should.

As for the swap file usage (yes file, not directory), it still shows 0.00 after it's been sitting for about 5 hrs after I did an update to Skynet and Stubby. I'll let it go another day and see what it does, especially after Skynet does its daily update. BTW, I previously found that if the swap file was not working, that the logs would be limited to a very short time, like 1 hr or less. Update: after my reboot, the swap file still shows 0.00.

As for my log file, why is it being reset where I lose all previous data after a reboot? How can I prevent that? It used to work where the logs were preserved thru a reboot. The only thing that changed in my config was the addition of ntpMerlin. Well, and updating all the other apps. I suppose I could uninstall all of them one-by-one to find the culprit starting with ntpMerlin but maybe someone has a suggestion that would not take up so much time.

 

[cmkelley]

Update: as I was writing this, I went to the GUI to check on the logs, and it was locked up. It would not let me in. But my Putty session was still working and I was still streaming audio, so only GUI was dead. So I did a Reboot in Putty, then after it woke up, I went to the logs, and IBD, the logs were preserved through that reboot. Hmmm, why am I losing them during the amtm 3am reboot but not now?

ASUS' http server hanging is a known issue. Since you could still SSH in, all you need to do is

service restart_httpd

As for why you're losing your logs in your 3am reboot, I have no clue. I do know my AC86U on Merlin 384.9 has been up for a few hours short of 4 weeks with no issues. My swap is currently at 121.45 / 512.00 MB.

 

[L&LD]

Thanks to all for your replies. Here's a few LONG answers.

I've been watching the comments for 384.10_0. I think I'll wait for the next version next week. I've gotten burned on the .9 release and the 1st .10 alpha, so I did not want to jump into .10_0 too fast. 8_2 works great mostly, so that is OK for now. BTW, the version numbers in the footer of my previous message were wrong. I am on the latest for Skynet, amtm, Stubby, Entware, and ntpMerlin.

The weekly reboot is a belt and suspenders thing. We did daily reboots in my prior life on a Linux-based STB. It cleans up caches and potentially memory issues that might not get fixed any other way. I do not know if this device really needs it. But in some posts here, occasionally people will experience problems that a reboot solves. This also includes me. And this is after I've done a full reset as L&LD suggested and reload of all settings, which I would prefer not to do too often. So for me, once a week on this device seems like reasonable insurance as long as it works.

Update: as I was writing this, I went to the GUI to check on the logs, and it was locked up. It would not let me in. But my Putty session was still working and I was still streaming audio, so only GUI was dead. So I did a Reboot in Putty, then after it woke up, I went to the logs, and IBD, the logs were preserved through that reboot. Hmmm, why am I losing them during the amtm 3am reboot but not now?

I'm not running Diversion, so I would not benefit from any improvements that it provides. Maybe I should.

As for the swap file usage (yes file, not directory), it still shows 0.00 after it's been sitting for about 5 hrs after I did an update to Skynet and Stubby. I'll let it go another day and see what it does, especially after Skynet does its daily update. BTW, I previously found that if the swap file was not working, that the logs would be limited to a very short time, like 1 hr or less. Update: after my reboot, the swap file still shows 0.00.

As for my log file, why is it being reset where I lose all previous data after a reboot? How can I prevent that? It used to work where the logs were preserved thru a reboot. The only thing that changed in my config was the addition of ntpMerlin. Well, and updating all the other apps. I suppose I could uninstall all of them one-by-one to find the culprit starting with ntpMerlin but maybe someone has a suggestion that would not take up so much time.

Wonder how you know there will be a new version of RMerlin's firmware next week?

Doing a weekly reboot 'just because' doesn't sit right with me. If a router is stable, it won't need it. I'm further confused when you say that you don't know if the device really needs it, but a reboot solves issues which also includes you? Do you have specific issues or not?

The issues you're describing could very well be issues that have been fixed in 384.10, right now. I remember at least one other poster that mentioned that a slow memory leak they experienced was gone in the current release.

How is your USB drive formatted? Did you use amtm? I recommend Ext4 with journalling. Along with the disk-checker enabled in amtm.

Perhaps a fresh install of all the scripts would be helpful for you? I would start by first formatting the jffs partition and rebooting the router 3 times in the next 15 minutes or so, leaving at least 5 to 10 minutes between reboots.

I would also install Diversion (and therefore let it also install Entware and pixelserv-tls too), even if you disable it afterward (or right away). This will ensure that all the scripts are co-operating and working together as they should (and as they do, for everyone else).

You may also want to try a new USB drive too.

 

[Butterfly Bones]

Wonder how you know there will be a new version of RMerlin's firmware next week?

Direct from the man hisself -
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...10-is-now-available.55742/page-13#post-475720

 

[Poseidon]

Just installed amtm and a few scripts (skynet, freshjr, diversion, etc) for the first time. Are you supposed to reboot the router after installation or it doesn't matter?

 

[L&LD]

Just installed amtm and a few scripts (skynet, freshjr, diversion, etc) for the first time. Are you supposed to reboot the router after installation or it doesn't matter?

I perform a reboot after formatting the USB drive with amtm (required) and after I have installed all and set the options as I want, I reboot once more after the router has been on at least an hour or more.

I check the disk checker log and see that it worked (and the file system shows 'clean') and also check the scripts installed that they have started properly too (wait at least 5 to 10 minutes after bootup before checking). With the system in a good/known state now... I can forget about the router + scripts until something acts up (if it does, of course).

At this point, I'm happy the install 'took', and I have left it stable like this for many weeks before I had to reboot it because of my fiddling with it.

So, are you supposed to? No, strictly speaking. Should you? Up to you, if you agree with why I do, as explained above.

 

[TonyK132]

Direct from the man hisself -
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...10-is-now-available.55742/page-13#post-475720

Yup, that's how I knew.

Just checked my logs. They only go back 2 hrs, so everything before then is gone, even though on my last post I was seeing 4+ hrs including the reboot. My swap file utilization still says 0.00. Something is wrong with the swap file and I do not know how to fix it. Obviously a reboot does not do it.

 

[thelonelycoder]

amtm 1.9 is now available

What's new in amtm 1.9
- Code and text corrections
- Reboot scheduler now uses the "service reboot" command instead of "reboot" (only applies when setting a new schedule)
- Dropped support for AB-Solution
- NEW: su, check for SNBForum script updates. This checks for version change (or md5sum change, if supported) for installed SNBForum scripts.
- Added note when updating Entware and Stubby is installed (updating packages may overwrite existing config files)
- I'm pleased to welcome another script by @Jack Yaz to the amtm collection of favorite SNBForum scripts: ntpMerlin - Installer for kvic NTP Daemon!

Note that su currently shows a minor update for YazFi in amtm but YazFi itself does not. Just be patient for Jack to implement that feature. YazFi 3.2.0 is out!

How to update to this latest version
Use u to update amtm

su check for SNBForum script updates: Skynet has a minor update (md5sum check) and Stubby DNS a version change available from 1.1.0 to 1.1.1 while the other supported scripts have no updates:

 

[martinr]

...
Note that su currently shows a minor update for YazFi in amtm but YazFi itself does not. Just be patient for Jack to implement that feature.

How to update to this latest version
Use u to update amtm

su check for SNBForum script updates: Skynet has a minor update (md5sum check) and Stubby DNS a version change available from 1.1.0 to 1.1.1 while the other supported scripts have no updates:

Cor Blimey! I knew AMTM was smart, but I didn’t realise it was so smart that it knew when Jack was about to release an update before he knew anything about it.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Cor Blimey! I knew AMTM was smart, but I didn’t realise it knew when Jack was about to release an update before he knew anything about it.

Believe me, I'm not that cruel and Jack is well aware of what his priorities are whenever time and the wife allows it.

 

[martinr]

Believe me, I'm not that cruel and Jack is well aware of what his priorities are whenever time and the wife allows it.

And his pesky Volvo.

 

[thelonelycoder]

And his pesky Volvo.

And the realization that other brits are members of this board.

 

[bluzfanmr1]

amtm 1.9 is now available

What's new in amtm 1.9
- Code and text corrections
- Reboot scheduler now uses the "service reboot" command instead of "reboot" (only applies when setting a new schedule)
- Dropped support for AB-Solution
- NEW: su, check for SNBForum script updates. This checks for version change (or md5sum change, if supported) for installed SNBForum scripts.
- Added note when updating Entware and Stubby is installed (updating packages may overwrite existing config files)
- I'm pleased to welcome another script by @Jack Yaz to the amtm collection of favorite SNBForum scripts: ntpMerlin - Installer for kvic NTP Daemon!

Note that su currently shows a minor update for YazFi in amtm but YazFi itself does not. Just be patient for Jack to implement that feature.

How to update to this latest version
Use u to update amtm

su check for SNBForum script updates: Skynet has a minor update (md5sum check) and Stubby DNS a version change available from 1.1.0 to 1.1.1 while the other supported scripts have no updates:

I love my Asus-Merlin router, these scripts and all the helpful people on here! Many, many thanks!

 

[Mutzli]

Thanks for the update. Are you still working with Fresh to include his script with a future update?

 

[#TY]

amtm 1.9 is now available

What's new in amtm 1.9
- Code and text corrections
- Reboot scheduler now uses the "service reboot" command instead of "reboot" (only applies when setting a new schedule)
- Dropped support for AB-Solution
- NEW: su, check for SNBForum script updates. This checks for version change (or md5sum change, if supported) for installed SNBForum scripts.
- Added note when updating Entware and Stubby is installed (updating packages may overwrite existing config files)
- I'm pleased to welcome another script by @Jack Yaz to the amtm collection of favorite SNBForum scripts: ntpMerlin - Installer for kvic NTP Daemon!

Note that su currently shows a minor update for YazFi in amtm but YazFi itself does not. Just be patient for Jack to implement that feature.

How to update to this latest version
Use u to update amtm

su check for SNBForum script updates: Skynet has a minor update (md5sum check) and Stubby DNS a version change available from 1.1.0 to 1.1.1 while the other supported scripts have no updates:

Thank you very much! This is absolutely brilliant.