Asuswrt-Merlin 3.0.0.4.354.28 Beta 1

[desides]

The changelog link in the first post doesn't seem to load.

Also, not seeing any issues with the previous beta on my N66U, so I'm not sure what issues the OP refers to...

 

[RMerlin]

The changelog link in the first post doesn't seem to load.

Also, not seeing any issues with the previous beta on my N66U, so I'm not sure what issues the OP refers to...

I just tried it and it loads fine for me.

The new wireless driver on the RT-N66U can't connect properly to Intel-based wireless cards when using 40 MHz channel width on the 5 GHz band. I noticed the issue here, and Asus confirmed that they were also able to reproduce the issue.

 

[[deXter]]

Disconnection issues continue on AC66U

Updated to the new firmware, but one of our machines is still facing the disconnection issue. I have no idea why none of our other devices are experiencing this.

So far, we have tried all of the following but to no avail:

- Changed the WiFi adapter (tried four of them, all of them 802.11n, different chipsets and brands and confirmed working).
- Deleted and re-added the network connection.
- Updated the kernel on the PC from 3.2 to 3.9 rc7.
- Even changed the entire machine (but I did clone the OS over, which was only recently installed btw).

- I don't think its the OS (Linux Mint) as the disconnection issues occurred on the same machine on XP as well.
- The only thing common in all the above instances is the router and receiver placement. There is a hot water cylinder in the line of sight, perhaps that's breaking the signal and the router is trying to compensate?
- The only solution (temporary) is to reboot the router.
- This issue occurs around 2-3 times a day.
- We do not have any other 2.4GHz devices operating in the vicinity.
- This was never an issue with our previous router - which was a NetComm.
- Going back to stock firmware is not an option as we really need the per-IP traffic stats.

We're going to resort have to resort to good ol' ethernet now.

Would really appreciate any insights into this issue. I have attached a log file of the syslog/dmesg from the problematic machine, at the time of the disconnection issue. Unfortunately, there's nothing relevant in the router's logs.

 

[bmn1]

Problems as well

So I wanted to add my experience as well. I did a complete factory reset and manually reconfigured everything. Flashed the 4.352.28 Beta 1 build and noticed the same issues with the 5 Ghz band. My signal will be fine at first and then rapidly degrades over time going as low as 90Mbps. Same problem with the Asus build as well. Although, with the Asus 4.352 build I noticed that if I use the 2.4 Ghz band, I can connect at 450Mbps, and the connection will waver between 450 - 400. This is great and I can live with this for now, but when I use merlin's build I will connect initially at 450 and then it will immediately drop to 300 and never go higher. So for now I am back on the Asus build...

I realize that it seems as if most of the issues stem from the Intel based wireless cards, but are there any decent mini-PCI express cards out there that work well with this router?

 

[RMerlin]

- The only thing common in all the above instances is the router and receiver placement. There is a hot water cylinder in the line of sight, perhaps that's breaking the signal and the router is trying to compensate?

Try moving your router somewhere where it won't have the water tank in its line of sight (doesn't need to be connected to your modem for this test), and see if you are able to reliably connect to the wifi readio. If so, then it will confirm your problem is that tank.

 

[RMerlin]

This is great and I can live with this for now, but when I use merlin's build I will connect initially at 450 and then it will immediately drop to 300 and never go higher. So for now I am back on the Asus build...

Don't rely on the connection speed - it could be power management that lowers the link speed when it's not being actively used. Do an actual file transfer to test your speed.

 

[canuckle]

Loaded up this firmware, did a restore to default, re-entered settings, and all is well.

Page loads on a variety of websites (including SNB) seem to be quicker.

Coming from Beta 1 354.27, although when I initially put 27 on I didn't wipe and re-enter settings from scratch.

SFSG, thanks again RMerlin

 

[ocram59]

The new wireless driver on the RT-N66U can't connect properly to Intel-based wireless cards when using 40 MHz channel width on the 5 GHz band. I noticed the issue here, and Asus confirmed that they were also able to reproduce the issue.

Hello
I hope that someone from Asus realizes that (as I wrote in another post) the 5 Ghz band does not work very well also with their EA-N66 adapter.
It works fine as long as you do not try to stream over it.
With streaming you expereince a regulare freeze after less than 30 Secs.

After Merlin's post about the 40 Mhz i made a test with 20 Mhz and the problem is still present with 3.54 drivers

I had to roll back again to 26b to avoid to use the 354 drivers, so, for this reason, I cannot give any more feedback about the 28 beta 1

Best Regards
Ocram

 

[bmn1]

Don't rely on the connection speed - it could be power management that lowers the link speed when it's not being actively used. Do an actual file transfer to test your speed.

So my computer is lying to me when I use your firmware or is it lying to me when I use the Asus firmware?

I did a file transfer test of a 1 gig file and it was reported that I was getting 6-9MBps using the merlin firmware. With the Asus firmware I get 10-14MBps. The transfer rate is almost a perfect sinewave for both transfer tests wavering the above speed ranges but I can accept that it could be interference, etc...

 

[RMerlin]

So my computer is lying to me when I use your firmware or is it lying to me when I use the Asus firmware?

Neither is lying. The link speed is dynamic: it goes up and down based on the used throughput.

The wireless driver is exactly the same in 352 and 354, with the exact same MD5 checksum.

 

[Jettubby]

I was able to get 27b1 and 28b1 both installed and working on my N66U. Wireless N was working but ..... both wireless and wired networking was slower and erratic. I don't have any hard tests except for speedtest.net which is pretty accurate for my fiber optic line. I went back to version 26b and my N66U is working much better. I think I'll stick with 26b for now.

Love the firmware Merlin! Much much much better than Asus'

 

[SkyNet]

Hi. I've installed new firmware 3.0.0.4.354.28 beta from Merlin and noticed one issue. When ping via patch-cord 192.168.1.1 ping always jumps 1-15ms. Router have no any workload. It's affected on outside servers as well. I have no that problem with any previous non new beta 3** firmwares. It's annoying in games where ping so important. It's possible to fix that ? My router AC66U.

 

[lfbb]

Hi. Been away for 2 weeks. This Merlin version works great in my N66U. Wireless is perfect on both bands.

 

[shrike4242]

Since it looks like there's some reproducible issues with the N66U wireless drivers and ASUS has been able to duplicate it, does ASUS have any idea when it might be fixed in a future release, Merlin?

 

[bmn1]

Neither is lying. The link speed is dynamic: it goes up and down based on the used throughput.

The wireless driver is exactly the same in 352 and 354, with the exact same MD5 checksum.

I realize its dynamic but you don't find it interesting that there are clear differences between the two firmwares? How would you explain seeing two different speeds?

The problem obviously is not the driver. However, there is a problem. I thought you wanted people to test this beta? Don't get me wrong, I am sure you get plenty of idiots that don't read the posts and follow conventions which is frustrating but it is equally frustrating to get a dev that constantly defend his product when there are problems. I mean no disrespect, and I realize that you do this for free. I appreciate your work but if you don't want people to assist by reporting issues, just let me know.

 

[RMerlin]

Hi. I've installed new firmware 3.0.0.4.354.28 beta from Merlin and noticed one issue. When ping via patch-cord 192.168.1.1 ping always jumps 1-15ms. Router have no any workload. It's affected on outside servers as well. I have no that problem with any previous non new beta 3** firmwares. It's annoying in games where ping so important. It's possible to fix that ? My router AC66U.

Seems to be a bug in the driver used in 354, and only happens on the RT-AC66U. The issue is also present in Asus's 352 beta, so it's something on their end.

EDIT: I just relayed the info to Asus, since I was able to do some tests, and confirm that the issue only happens in the 4.3xx driver, and it also doesn't happen on the RT-N66U, meaning this is probably a problem with the Ethernet switch driver.

 

[vdemarco]

Slow down every day.

my MacBook pro the 5Ghz wireless speed slows down from 450 to 150 everyday now with this firmware

i ssh into the router and run top and i see this
Mem: 44620K used, 195040K free, 0K shrd, 5840K buff, 20380K cached
CPU: 0% usr 0% sys 0% nic 99% idle 0% io 0% irq 0% sirq
Load average: 0.00 0.00 0.00 2/51 1033
PID PPID USER STAT VSZ %VSZ %CPU COMMAND
1032 1028 admin R 1424 1% 0% top
509 1 admin S 3900 2% 0% httpd -s -p 8443
786 1 nobody S 2488 1% 0% avahi-daemon: running [153.local]
1 0 admin S 2444 1% 0% /sbin/init
533 1 admin S 2248 1% 0% watchdog
498 1 admin S 2248 1% 0% /sbin/wanduck
567 533 admin S 2248 1% 0% ots
768 1 admin S 2248 1% 0% disk_monitor
507 1 admin S 2248 1% 0% wpsaide
758 1 admin S 2248 1% 0% ntp
436 1 admin S 2248 1% 0% usbled
352 1 admin S 2240 1% 0% console
618 1 admin S 2124 1% 0% u2ec
624 623 admin S 2124 1% 0% u2ec
623 618 admin S 2124 1% 0% u2ec
515 1 admin S 1548 1% 0% nas
760 1 admin S 1432 1% 0% udhcpc -i eth0 -p /var/run/udhcpc0.pid -s /tmp/udhcpc -O33 -O249
1028 1027 admin S 1428 1% 0% -sh
511 1 admin S 1428 1% 0% crond
353 352 admin S 1424 1% 0% /bin/sh
366 1 admin S 1416 1% 0% syslogd -m 0 -S -O /tmp/syslog.log -s 256 -l 7
369 1 admin S 1416 1% 0% /sbin/klogd
520 1 admin S 1300 1% 0% rstats
620 1 admin S 1188 0% 0% lpd
1027 501 admin S 1160 0% 0% dropbear -p 22 -j -k
531 1 admin S 1148 0% 0% cstats
570 1 admin S 1132 0% 0% lld2d br0
504 1 admin S 1124 0% 0% /bin/eapd
513 1 admin S 1108 0% 0% networkmap
512 1 admin S 1096 0% 0% /usr/sbin/infosvr br0
501 1 admin S 1092 0% 0% dropbear -p 22 -j -k
680 1 nobody S 1068 0% 0% dnsmasq --log-async
767 1 admin S 808 0% 0% miniupnpd -f /etc/upnp/config
324 1 admin S 644 0% 0% hotplug2 --persistent --no-coldplug
447 1 admin S 632 0% 0% /usr/sbin/sd-idle-2.6 -i 17010
4 2 admin SW< 0 0% 0% [events/0]
98 2 admin SW< 0 0% 0% [mtdblockd]
364 2 admin SWN 0 0% 0% [jffs2_gcd_mtd5]
703 2 admin SW< 0 0% 0% [kjournald]
5 2 admin SW< 0 0% 0% [khelper]
3 2 admin SWN 0 0% 0% [ksoftirqd/0]
480 2 admin SW< 0 0% 0% [usb-storage]
2 0 admin SW< 0 0% 0% [kthreadd]

what is u2sec why do i have 3 of them running?

what is nas?

I am going to kill some of these processes and see if that fixes stuff.

It really fixed nothing, rebooting did the trick. Now i could just reboot the router every day once a day. but that kind of sucks.

 

[RMerlin]

I realize its dynamic but you don't find it interesting that there are clear differences between the two firmwares? How would you explain seeing two different speeds?

The problem obviously is not the driver. However, there is a problem. I thought you wanted people to test this beta? Don't get me wrong, I am sure you get plenty of idiots that don't read the posts and follow conventions which is frustrating but it is equally frustrating to get a dev that constantly defend his product when there are problems. I mean no disrespect, and I realize that you do this for free. I appreciate your work but if you don't want people to assist by reporting issues, just let me know.

I'm not dismissing your report, just pointing out a few things such as how it was being tested - your initial post only mentioned the link speed. I mentioned how this shouldn't be used as an important metric, that the actual transfer speed is what mattered. Otherwise, I could point it at being the other way around, and claim that the version that stays at 450 Mbps has broken power management, but the one dropping while not being used was the correct behaviour.

While the driver is responsible for most of the wireless performance, there are a few parameters that are used in the hardware initialization code. Since I don't have the source code used in 352, it's impossible for me to look at it to tell if there is any difference there. All I can do is compare the binary blobs to tell if they are different or not.

The current driver is already known to be bugged, and since the driver is closed-source and I don't have any low-level documentation from Broadcom, all we can all do is wait for Asus to release a new driver version. That's why I mentioned in the OP that additional bug report on the wireless driver at this point weren't needed - Asus is already looking into it. There is little need to keep hitting the nail on the head if it's already well driven into the wood - let's work on that other nail just next to it.

 

[RMerlin]

what is u2sec why do i have 3 of them running?

what is nas?

I am going to kill some of these processes and see if that fixes stuff.

It really fixed nothing, rebooting did the trick. Now i could just reboot the router every day once a day. but that kind of sucks.

u2ec is the service that allows sharing a printer connected to a USB port.

nas is a closed source component. According to its documentation:

NAS is a minimal VxWorks and Linux compatible Network Authentication
Server that implements 802.1X port authentication (RADIUS only) and
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) for 802.11 networks (Broadcom drivers only).

So, it's used for WPA amongst other things.

 

[vdemarco]

u2ec is the service that allows sharing a printer connected to a USB port.

nas is a closed source component. According to its documentation:

NAS is a minimal VxWorks and Linux compatible Network Authentication
Server that implements 802.1X port authentication (RADIUS only) and
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) for 802.11 networks (Broadcom drivers only).

So, it's used for WPA amongst other things.

THanks. I rebooted and the process list looks much the same. I just went back to the older beta, since it did the same thing but took about 4 days for the slowdown to occur.

I am guessing that one of the closed source pieces that you updated might be causing a problem ???? I don't know.

THanks