Asus RT-87U update failing

[Pseudomax]

Hi

I own the said router and have used/updated it successfully for quite a few years now. I am aware that Asus have recently (past 12-24 months) been adding some check in the update that prevents unofficial firmware from being upgraded; requiring some more technical skills to overcome. However the Merlin software has worked without a problem. That is until the current 2 versions ...

I have just tried (unsuccessfully) to upgrade to the following (initially tried skipping to _4 directly, but then tried sequentially):
RT-AC87U_384.13_2.trx
RT-AC87U_384.13_4.trx

(the last successful version was: RT-AC87U_384.13_1.trx)

I get the Asus error message telling me the firmware doesn't meet it's acceptability threshold.

Any (simple) solutions for getting past this?

Thanks

 

[krgck]

Have you tried asus firmware restore tool?

 

[Pseudomax]

Do you have a link for a download? I haven't tried this, but I am expecting that it will do a similar check?

 

[krgck]

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/4G-AC53U/Rescue_2102.zip

Tbh i don't know, my old ac87u havent had such issue.

 

[Pseudomax]

Hi, thanks for this...

Just to close the loop ... I have downloaded and indeed managed to flash the router. However, prior to this I saved the jffs backup and settings. On restoring these, I now have the problem of my username/password are not maintained on the restore. I have had to hard reset it 3 times unsuccessfully (including removing all browser cookies) but I remain unable to access the router! As such, it looks like I will need to reset all the configuration manually! Not ideal to be honest!!

 

[AndreiV]

If you reset or use the restoration tool your credentials will obviously have to be entered again.

 

[Pseudomax]

Yes, but when I restore and upload my backed up settings I no longer have access to the router GUI... (with either the default username/password or my changed username/password). Is there a way of discovering the login details once the settings have been restored? Thanks

 

[L&LD]

@Pseudomax, after flashing the firmware you want, perform a full reset to factory defaults including checking the box beforehand to 'Initialize all settings...' too.

Afterward, perform a temporary set up and re-flash that same firmware again. Do another full reset.

At this point, do not use any backup config files. They will effectively wipe the efforts you have performed above.

Do not blindly put old settings into the new config. They may have been depreciated, changed (as to default behaviors) or actually doing the opposite of what you expect them to in the new version (depending on how old the previous firmware was).

As for SSIDs and passwords, use 8 alphanumeric characters with no spaces, punctuation, special characters or smiley faces for the SSID and the same restrictions for passwords except for a 16 character length.

You may want to have a look at the M&M Config and Nuclear Reset guides in the link in my signature below and see if any of those suggestions help.