ASUS RT-AC68U not working after Merlin firmware update, did I brick it?

[dbaser]

Hi there, wondering if someone could help me get this router working again.

It's ASUS RT-AC68U and I've been running Merlin firmware on it for years. Recently, I updated to 386.12_6, rebooted, and everything was fine.

Last night, I'm on the computer (connected to router via ethernet cable) and boom, connection drops. No outages with my ISP, so I troubleshoot and eventually realize that plugging ethernet directly into the modem results in a successful connection, so the problem must lie with the router.

Right now, I'm using an old Netgear router for my current ethernet and WIFI connections while trying to fix the ASUS. I feel like I've tried every which way of resetting this thing based on info from this forum and elsewhere, but I can't for the life of me get the router login screen to appear.

The last way I tried was holding in the WPS reset button and powering on to reset it. All the lights come on and I can see the WIFI show up (although it's no longer a custom name, just ASUS and ASUS_5G) but still 192.168.1.1 (and http://router.asus.com/) just says "Unable to connect." Tried with multiple browsers and definitely using HTTP. I'm going crazy here lol

My modem is a TP-Link TC7650 and my OS is Linux Mint.

 

[Tech9]

Whatever happened there is unlikely to be firmware related especially if the router doesn't recover after reboot or reset.

 

[dbaser]

I was able to login to the WIFI (ASUS, ASUS_5G) with my laptop and got into the web GUI. Is there a guide on how to roll back firmware or should I just try to reboot it?

Just to clarify, the router recovers (I think) since all the lights come on and I can see it appear on WIFI. Also, when following the reset guides, lights flash when they are supposed to, etc. I just can't seem to "find" its IP address anywhere.

 

[Dedel66]

I was able to login to the WIFI (ASUS, ASUS_5G) with my laptop and got into the web GUI. Is there a guide on how to roll back firmware or should I just try to reboot it?

If you want to rollback just flash the appropiate firmware. Flashing via WiFi is of course a risk but since there is no other way....

It seems to me that your router may have a hardware defect.

Did you use the asustool for routerdetection?

RT-AC68U｜WLAN-Router｜ASUS Deutschland

ASUS verfügt über eine Reihe von WLAN-Routern, die für jeden Zweck geeignet sind. Ob für zu Hause, für Geschäftsreisen oder für andere Bedürfnisse - ASUS hat den perfekten Router für Sie.

www.asus.com

 

[ducky124]

ASUS RT-AC68U routers are kind of old at this point. I would consider upgrading since it sounds like a hardware issue. I would guess you tried all the usual troubleshooting things (reboot, reset, etc.). Have you switched ports your computer is plugged into on the router. Try different cables. Remember, as my father used to tell me, everthing works until it doesn't.

 

[dbaser]

If you want to rollback just flash the appropiate firmware. Flashing via WiFi is of course a risk but since there is no other way....

True I might just have to try that.

Did you use the asustool for routerdetection?

No I'm on Linux.

 

[dbaser]

ASUS RT-AC68U routers are kind of old at this point. I would consider upgrading since it sounds like a hardware issue. I would guess you tried all the usual troubleshooting things (reboot, reset, etc.). Have you switched ports your computer is plugged into on the router. Try different cables. Remember, as my father used to tell me, everthing works until it doesn't.

Exactly, everything works til it stops working lol Yeah tried different cables, rebooted, hard/soft reset, etc, and tried switching ports too. I am able to login to the web GUI via WIFI but for some reason I can't do it over ethernet. Granted I'm not the best with network issues.

 

[Dedel66]

No I'm on Linux.

Do you know someone with a Windows laptop? Maybe he could help you with that.

 

[dbaser]

Do you know someone with a Windows laptop? Maybe he could help you with that.

I could run Windows in a VM?

 

[Dedel66]

I could run Windows in a VM?

Give it a try. Nothing to loose.

 

[dbaser]

Ok this is a new one for me. I was able to reset the router and get the Web GUI login to appear. And now, no matter what username/password combo I enter, it rejects me (captcha, and then locks for 5 minutes after a certain number of attempts).

I have the original manual which tells me to use "admin/admin"... NOPE lol

Others I have tried so far:
blank/blank
root/admin
admin/password
none/none

Any suggestions?

 

[Tech9]

I was able to reset the router and get the Web GUI login to appear.

There is no user/pass after reset. What you see first is Quick Internet Setup wizard.

[Wireless Router] How to use the QIS (Quick Internet Setup) to set up Router ? (Web GUI) | Official Support | ASUS Global

 

[dbaser]

Thanks, that's not the screen I get though. My dock shows connected to Wired connection, and if I open a browser, it will show a bar right underneath the location/bookmarks bar which reads: "You need to login to the network," and when I click that, I get an ASUS login screen asking for login and password. I'm thinking this means the reset didn't work?

 

[Dedel66]

Try again a wps-resest.

 

[Tech9]

I'm thinking this means the reset didn't work?

I'm thinking the router is fine and something else around it has a problem accessing the WebUI.

 

[dbaser]

Tried resetting again and got the screen @Tech9 posted. Logged in, reflashed with 386.12_4, restored backed up settings, and we back in business! Thanks to you all for your help! I wish I knew what exactly happened to knock it out in the first place.