Asus RT-AC68 Overclock not working

[nils]

Hi guys,

I'm new to asus routers so please excuse my stupidity however I've been trying to overclock my router to gain a little better OpenVPN performace.

Let me give you some facts first:

Model    RT-AC68U
Firmware Version    380.65_2
Firmware Build    Fri Mar 10 05:29:50 UTC 2017 merlin@aa65182
Bootloader (CFE)    1.3.0.6
Driver version    wl0: Jul 6 2016 20:27:36 version 6.37.14.126 (r561982)

Now I've tried to overclock the router via the nvram command and then reboot these settings did not stick so I went ahead and created the scripts:

cat /jffs/scripts/init-start

#!/bin/sh

nvram set clkfreq=1200,800


cat /jffs/scripts/service-stop

#!/bin/sh

nvram set clkfreq=1200,800

nvram commit

And changed the permissions to allow execution however while the gui shows the speed at 1200 the BogoMips have not changed at all indicating that the overclock did not work.

cat /proc/cpuinfo

Processor : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)

processor : 0

BogoMIPS : 199.06


processor : 1

BogoMIPS : 199.47


Features : swp half thumb fastmult edsp 

CPU implementer : 0x41

CPU architecture: 7

CPU variant : 0x3

CPU part : 0xc09

CPU revision : 0


Hardware : Northstar Prototype

Revision : 0000

Serial : 0000000000000000

What am I missing?

Thanks a lot in advance

 

[joegreat]

You can try to put the RAM on 666 - not on 800 - I recall that on some models the RAM overclocking does not work.

 

[nils]

Thanks for your suggestion, I've tried this but the issue remains there appears to be no change.

I've run the command manually changed my scripts and rebooted via the reboot command

 

[john9527]

Actually, it not only didn't work, it crippled the router (BogoMips 199). Asus has made some additional changes to prevent any overclocking.....first on the AC87. Now it looks like it's been extended to the AC68 as well. Anybody overclocking should check their BoboMips value.

 

[nils]

I was actually wondering why that number is so low ... deleting the scripts and a reboot should fix the problem right ?


Does that mean OC is not possible on my model ?

 

[john9527]

I was actually wondering why that number is so low ... deleting the scripts and a reboot should fix the problem right ?

Try that first. But.....the last person I worked with on overclocking on the AC87 had to do a factory default reset to get things back to normal.

Does that mean OC is not possible on my model ?

Sorry to say, it would appear this is the case on the latest firmware.

 

[cybrnook]

OC working fine on 374.43 RT-AC68U cruising along at 1.4

 

[dvohwinkel]

OC working fine on 374.43 RT-AC68U cruising along at 1.4

what hardware rev are you on?

 

[dvohwinkel]

I was actually wondering why that number is so low ... deleting the scripts and a reboot should fix the problem right ?


Does that mean OC is not possible on my model ?

what is your hardware rev?

 

[cybrnook]

what hardware rev are you on?

HW rev 1.70 for my TM-AC1900 converts, and HW rev 2.20 for my RT-AC68P (All came by default at 1000 mhz), and I run @john9527 's fork on all of them.

cat /proc/cpuinfo
Processor    : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
processor    : 0
BogoMIPS    : 2798.38

processor    : 1
BogoMIPS    : 2798.38

Features    : swp half thumb fastmult edsp
CPU implementer    : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant    : 0x3
CPU part    : 0xc09
CPU revision    : 0

Hardware    : Northstar Prototype
Revision    : 0000
Serial        : 0000000000000000

 

[Luboknok]

I have the same problem, after "nvram set clkfreq=1400,800" "cat /proc/cpuinfo" returns "> BogoMIPS : 1998.84" but "nvram set clkfreq=1400,800". BogoMIPS should be 2798.38.

But I noticed in the sysinfo tab of the Tools menu in the Merlin setup, it shows "CPU Frequency 1400 MHz".

Wondering which it is. VPN speen didn't seem to change much.

Merlin 382.2_beta2

 

[elbubi]

cat /jffs/scripts/service-stop

#!/bin/sh

nvram set clkfreq=1200,800

nvram commit

What am I missing?

Please excuse my lack of knowdlege (I'm new here also), but shouldn't the script be named services-stop instead of service-stop?

I guess that would explain the oc showing in gui (done by init-start) but not being really applied (done by services-stop).

Once again, excuse me if I'm beeing foolish with my remark.

Regards!

 

[Luboknok]

Please excuse my lack of knowdlege (I'm new here also), but shouldn't the script be named services-stop instead of service-stop?

Regards!

I followed the directions here and used "services-stop" as you suggest

 

[elbubi]

I followed the directions here and used "services-stop" as you suggest

I pointed it out to nils's, as his OP stated "service-stop".

Cheers!

 

[Kingp1n]

I followed the directions here and used "services-stop" as you suggest

Did you ever get this working? Or it doesn't work on newer fws any longer?

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Did you ever get this working? Or it doesn't work on newer fws any longer?

To overclock to 1400,800 with 384 based firmware:
nvram set asuscfeclkfreq=1400,800 && nvram set asuscfecommit=1
nvram set clkfreq=1400,800 && nvram commit && reboot

To overclock to 1000,800 with 384 based firmware:
nvram set asuscfeclkfreq=1000,800 && nvram set asuscfecommit=1
nvram set clkfreq=1000,800 && nvram commit && reboot

Warning, if your particular hardware crashes at this clkfreq, you may own a brick - since NVRAM erase won't reset back to stock.

 

[skeal]

Did you ever get this working? Or it doesn't work on newer fws any longer?

The f/w doesn't allow over clocking. I'm not sure if there was a work around since the new cfe was implemented.

 

[martinr]

Tell me I’m wrong but it reminds me of driving a hugh-performance car in urban traffic: you get to the next road junction or traffic lights faster than the car behind, but there he is again, right behind you as you wait to move on.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Tell me I’m wrong but it reminds me of driving a hugh-performance car in urban traffic: you get to the next road junction or traffic lights faster than the car behind, but there he is again, right behind you as you wait to move on.

The CPU on a sophisticated router does lots more than passing packets. It has nothing to do with the ISP's download/upload limits. The 68U's CPU can easily be overwhelmed by VPN, AiProtection, USB data transfers, and other processing. So your analogy isn't accurate. With such additional load, things like buffer bloat occur. It may not be able to keep-up with the traffic.

 

[Grisu]

I would load old firmware where you can test your proof speeds for CPU and RAM some days (and default back to saved cfe-value with reset), check bogomips to be sure you really run this clock.
After you found max save value for your device change it in cfe (from post #16) and you will have it forever (too high value will cause a brick forever and a reason tp upgrade to an RT-AC86U)!
Working since years for my 68U with all firmwares.
Possible values are 600/800/1000/1200/1400 for CPU and 666/775/800 for RAM.
From 800 to 1200 temp did increase about 5K on mine.