Asuswrt-Merlin 3.0.0.4.374.37 is out

[Mrid]

Networkmap will now wait about 30 seconds after booting before it starts scanning. That's what resolved the randomly missing devices. Check again the networkmap when you router has been running for a couple of minutes.

Are the clients wired/wifi? Any bridge or repeater on the network?

Ah, sorry for the confusion, Merlin. All wired and wifi clients appear in the clients list without issue. I was referring to the USB port status on the network map page as displaying "no devices." I'll give the new beta a try and report back.

UPDATE: I can confirm that .37_1-SDK5-oldusb resolves the "no devices" issue for a mounted and functioning USB drive (at least on my n66u).

 

[KGB7]

HW Acceleration is missing or am i looking in the wrong place?


WiFi signal on 2.4Ghz dropped from -55dbm to -62dbm. Thats according to Media Bridge in Wireless Log.



edit;

Used WiFi Analyzer app on my phone, and the 2.4Ghz signal strength did drop.

AC68U

 

[TNR27]

Client status refresh

I am still having issues not being able to refresh the "Client Status" list. I have installed all of the Merlin firmware versions from RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_374.35_2 to the present RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_374.37_0. The only way it will refresh is if I change a random setting and apply or reboot. If I install Asus firmware I have no issues. I have tried resetting to factory settings before and after firmware updates it still will not function properly. Am I doing something wrong? See image below it will stay like this for days without populating the list.

Asus RT-AC68U currently on RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_374.37_0, no scripts, just wifi set up. With lan and wifi connections with two switches.

 

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin>the usb ports don't work after updating in RT-AC66U_3.0.0.4_374_1631-gf2dd1d9.trx (WAN PPPOE acceleration work), after updating or downgrading don't work again, you working for a solution?

Ps: sorry but my english is to so bad to i don't understand everything.

This thread is about my custom firmware. This has nothing to do with the beta Asus firmware you are running.

 

[RMerlin]

I am still having issues not being able to refresh the "Client Status" list. I have installed all of the Merlin firmware versions from RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_374.35_2 to the present RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_374.37_0. The only way it will refresh is if I change a random setting and apply or reboot. If I install Asus firmware I have no issues. I have tried resetting to factory settings before and after firmware updates it still will not function properly. Am I doing something wrong? See image below it will stay like this for days without populating the list.

There must be something particular about your network setup since it's now working fine for everyone else. Especially if you don't have a single device showing up. Do you have anything in those switches that might be filtering up ARP traffic, for instance? Are you on a regular /24 LAN subnet?

I can't think of a single reason why this could be happening on your setup, sorry.

 

[RMerlin]

Please let me know if you guys notice anything else unusual with those oldusb builds (not just at the USB level). It took a fair bit of surgery to revert those bits of code as it was spread over 5-6 different places, I want to be sure I didn't accidentally break anything else in the process.

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks for the reply.

I can confirm that my AC56U is connected to the AC68U on 80MHz mode. I'm getting 866Mbps TX/RX when they are close to each other (about 3 metres in the same room).

The weaker signal (.37 vs .454) is only apparent if the 2 devices are further apart (eg. different room / level separated by concrete wall / floor).

Appreciate if you can do a quick test with your RT-AC68U on .37 firmware vs the older .454 when your client device is further away (eg. -65dBm RSSI or weaker).

Just to share, here are some figures from me :

AC68U's TX rate
----------------
RT-AC56U media bridge (~ -65 dBm RSSI) :
.454 : 700+ Mbps
.37 : 350+ Mbps

Cisco E4200 Tomato Shibby 117 media bridge (~ 80 dBm RSSI) :
.454 : 80+ Mbps (stable connection)
.37 : 20+ Mbps (unstable connection / unusable with lots of lags and pauses)

The driver in 454 was broken, so its results are kinda irrelevant even if they were to show a better link rate - some specific manufacturers aren't even able to connect at all to it. So maybe it works better for you, but for some Mediatek device owners it doesn't work at all, which makes it flat out unusable.

Asus had the 501 build available for public beta test for over three weeks so they can gather feedback. The vast majority of the feedback was positive. That's why I'm settling with this particular driver. If you still have issues with this driver, post your feedback on the Asus thread. They're the only ones who can do anything about this. This is outside of my control. Right now, 501 is the best driver overall, so that's what I'm settling with.

 

[KGB7]

I'm going back to firmware 371. Asus broke the wifi with new drivers.

I'm sitting in the kitchen and the wifi signal is bouncing between -85dbm and -65dbm.

AC68U.

 

[RMerlin]

HW Acceleration is missing or am i looking in the wrong place?


WiFi signal on 2.4Ghz dropped from -55dbm to -62dbm. Thats according to Media Bridge in Wireless Log.



edit;

Used WiFi Analyzer app on my phone, and the 2.4Ghz signal strength did drop.

It simply got renamed to NAT Acceleration, in preparation for a new level of hardware acceleration future devices will support.

 

[TNR27]

There must be something particular about your network setup since it's now working fine for everyone else. Especially if you don't have a single device showing up. Do you have anything in those switches that might be filtering up ARP traffic, for instance? Are you on a regular /24 LAN subnet?

I can't think of a single reason why this could be happening on your setup, sorry.

Are you on a regular /24 LAN subnet?

I have no idea, sorry.

Just 2 four port switches that I bought to give me more ports I haven't done anything to them. If I reboot or change any other setting and apply it will populate. And if I install asus Firm ware it will refresh just by clicking refresh as it should.

very strange

 

[RMerlin]

<grumble>

Now I think I know why the wireless driver in 374.37 is having issues compared to 374_501:


GPL 375_501 (the driver that I use):

strings asuswrt.ac68/release/src-rt-6.x.4708/wl/linux/wl.ko | grep 2013
Nov 29 2013

Asus's 501 firmware:

strings fmk/trunk/374-501-68/rootfs/lib/modules/2.6.36.4brcmarm/kernel/drivers/net/wl.ko | grep 2013
Dec 12 2013

Asus included an older version of the driver in the GPL. Sigh.

 

[mtrains]

The driver in 454 was broken, so its results are kinda irrelevant even if they were to show a better link rate - some specific manufacturers aren't even able to connect at all to it. So maybe it works better for you, but for some Mediatek device owners it doesn't work at all, which makes it flat out unusable.

Asus had the 501 build available for public beta test for over three weeks so they can gather feedback. The vast majority of the feedback was positive. That's why I'm settling with this particular driver. If you still have issues with this driver, post your feedback on the Asus thread. They're the only ones who can do anything about this. This is outside of my control. Right now, 501 is the best driver overall, so that's what I'm settling with.

On my RT-AC68R I ran with the 501 build for a while before I went to 36 beta1. I did not see any 2.4 GHz throughput issues on 501. So I agree with you that the 501 drivers are good. But something seems to have gone amiss with the 37 build even though it is based on 501. Since my RSSI levels did not change between 36 beta1 and 37, but the throughput dropped significantly, I am guessing it is something like internal configuration settings or libraries in the build that is causing the issue. But it is a little puzzling since I don't see any unusual errors or warnings in the log.

 

[RMerlin]

On my RT-AC68R I ran with the 501 build for a while before I went to 36 beta1. I did not see any 2.4 GHz throughput issues on 501. So I agree with you that the 501 drivers are good. But something seems to have gone amiss with the 37 build even though it is based on 501.

Ya, see what I just posted. Asus included the wrong driver version in the GPL code. That explains things.

 

[RMerlin]

The GPL provides both a linkable version (.o) and a linked version (.ko). I can only retrieve the linked version from their binary release. I'll see if I could force the firmware build to directly use the linked version. That didn't work too well with the MIPS platform, but the build environment is a bit different on ARM, so we'll see.

 

[KGB7]

It simply got renamed to NAT Acceleration, in preparation for a new level of hardware acceleration future devices will support.

Level 2 doesnt work for me either. Both of my routers are two weeks old.

AC68R.

 

[KGB7]

NAT Acceleration is still broken. It freezes my router so i have to disable it.

Router; AC68U

 

[L&LD]

Just wanted to add that I downloaded the .37 version before RMerlin pulled it (for the RT-N66U) and it has been working great for both RT-N66U and RT-AC56U routers.

I also tried the Level 2 CTF and it rebooted with it enabled only to Level 1 same as everyone else. Also; Jumbo Frames were enabled as well as STP on that page.

I haven't checked if the RT-N66U has this L2 CTF option - will check when I'm at that location and update this thread if anything interesting is discovered.

 

[jerry6]

I'm using 36-beta1 on an AC-66 , any changes going to 37 when you release for AC-66 , or should I stick with 36 beta1 , nothing connected USB .

 

[RMerlin]

I'm using 36-beta1 on an AC-66 , any changes going to 37 when you release for AC-66 , or should I stick with 36 beta1 , nothing connected USB .

374.37 is based on 501, while 374.36 beta was based on 339. See the changelog for a list of changes, there were quite a few in addition to the switch to newer Asus code.

 

[RMerlin]

Just wanted to add that I downloaded the .37 version before RMerlin pulled it (for the RT-N66U) and it has been working great for both RT-N66U and RT-AC56U routers.

I also tried the Level 2 CTF and it rebooted with it enabled only to Level 1 same as everyone else. Also; Jumbo Frames were enabled as well as STP on that page.

I haven't checked if the RT-N66U has this L2 CTF option - will check when I'm at that location and update this thread if anything interesting is discovered.

Level 2 is Broadcom's Flow Accelerator technology. It's only available on their Northstar platform (which means their ARM chipset), so it won't apply to the N16/N66/AC66. And it also seems it's not available for the entire Northstar platform - so far it doesn't work on the AC56/AC68U either, so it might be something they are preparing for future router models.