Release Asuswrt-Merlin 3004.388.8_4 is now available

[nagyimre1980]

LAST GPL:
3004.388.6 (20-Jan-2024)
UPDATED: Merged GPL 388_24353.

1 YEAR

 

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin
I own a GT-AXE16000. There’s no information about an update to 3006. Could you share your plans regarding when we can expect a GPL update? It’s been a year already This will be the next priority, right? The 2023 flagship model is being seriously neglected

No ETA. Definitely not anytime soon. 3006 is not at the same level of stability as 3004 yet, plus it's taking forever even to obtain GPLs for the existing 3006 devices.

 

[nexttime]

Hi there!

Does anyone know if the depreciation of older versions of SMB (SMB1 and SMB2) is part of the ASUS security fixes included in this version?
I upgraded my main router from RT-AC66U B1 to RT-AX86U Pro (good buy). Most of the settings and scripts were successfully copied to the new router.
But I ran into a problem when I tried to make a backup by BACKUPMON (v1.8.22). It used to work without problems on the old router and copied data to my network drive via SMB1 (my device does not support newer ones). When I testing the network connection in BACKUPMON it returned the message "Invalid argument".
After digging deeper into the issue, I found that CIF only accepts versions 2.1, 3.0 and higher:

admin@router:/tmp/home/root# mount \\\\192.168.1.7\\C /mnt/backups -t cifs -o username=user,password=pass,vers=1.0
mount: mounting \\192.168.1.7\C on /mnt/backups failed: Invalid argument

admin@router:/tmp/home/root# mount \\\\192.168.1.7\\C /mnt/backups -t cifs -o username=user,password=pass,vers=2.1
mount: mounting \\192.168.1.7\C on /mnt/backups failed: Host is down

It's funny that if I run the mount with "wrong" version or without specifying any version, the following records appear in the log:

Dec 17 15:00:24 kernel: No dialect specified on mount. Default has changed to a more secure dialect, SMB2.1 or later (e.g. SMB3), from CIFS (SMB1). To use the less secure SMB1 dialect to access old servers which do not support SMB3 (or SMB2.1) specify vers=1.0 on mount.
Dec 17 15:00:37 kernel: Bad mount helper ver=1.0. Did you want SMB1 (CIFS) dialect and mean to type vers=1.0 instead?

Is there any hope to use SMB1 on this router or it's completely dead?

 

[bennor]

But I ran into a problem when I tried to make a backup by BACKUPMON (v1.8.22).

There is a dedicated Backupmon thread in the Add-Ons subforum, if you haven't seen it already, where you may want to post your issue and or search through that discussion to see if anyone has reported similar.

BACKUPMON - BACKUPMON v1.8.22 -Nov 28, 2024- Backup/Restore your Router: JFFS + NVRAM + External USB Drive! CIFS/SMB/NFS! (Now available in AMTM!)

BACKUPMON v1.8.22 Released November 28, 2024 First off -- HUGE thanks to @Jeffrey Young for sharing his original backup script. His script is the main engine of BACKUPMON, and all credit goes to him! BACKUPMON is simply a wrapper around Jeff's backup script functionality, adding easy-to-use...

www.snbforums.com

There are other Backupmon discussions in the addon subforum as well that may have suggestions.
https://www.snbforums.com/forums/asuswrt-merlin-addons.60/?prefix_id=38

 

[nexttime]

There is a dedicated Backupmon thread in the Add-Ons subforum, if you haven't seen it already, where you may want to post your issue and or search through that discussion to see if anyone has reported similar.

Thanks for your reply!
Unfortunately it was not helpful.
My problem is not related directly to BACKUPMON, I mentioned it just to make it clear where and how I encountered the problem.
I already searched in the suggested thread, but without success.
If you read my previous post, you will see that the code from the Wiki (Mounting remote CIFS shares) does not work on the Asuswrt-Merlin 3004.388.8_4. I don't know if it worked in the early 3004.388 versions, but it definitely worked on 386.14_2 (on my RT-AC66U B1)

mount \\\\192.168.1.100\\ShareName /cifs1 -t cifs -o "username=User,password=Pass" -o vers=2.0

So I would like to know if this is a conscious decision (by Merlin or Asus) or if it is a bug

 

[dbell]

After setting my QNAP NAS to allow SMB 1.0, I was able to mount using 388.8_4 from my AX86U (not PRO). It's possible that SMB support is different in the PRO model.

 

[nexttime]

After setting my QNAP NAS to allow SMB 1.0, I was able to mount using 388.8_4 from my AX86U (not PRO). It's possible that SMB support is different in the PRO model.

Thank you!
This is important information, it gives me hope that I can still use my old "NAS" in case it's a bug and it will be fixed.
Actually I have a RT-AX86U as well (as an Aimesh node), but I wouldn't like to swap pro and non-pro, it is toooooo complicated (especially with the non-working BACKUPMON)

 

[CaptainSTX]

Hi there!

Does anyone know if the depreciation of older versions of SMB (SMB1 and SMB2) is part of the ASUS security fixes included in this version?
I upgraded my main router from RT-AC66U B1 to RT-AX86U Pro (good buy). Most of the settings and scripts were successfully copied to the new router.
But I ran into a problem when I tried to make a backup by BACKUPMON (v1.8.22). It used to work without problems on the old router and copied data to my network drive via SMB1 (my device does not support newer ones). When I testing the network connection in BACKUPMON it returned the message "Invalid argument".
After digging deeper into the issue, I found that CIF only accepts versions 2.1, 3.0 and higher:

admin@router:/tmp/home/root# mount \\\\192.168.1.7\\C /mnt/backups -t cifs -o username=user,password=pass,vers=1.0
mount: mounting \\192.168.1.7\C on /mnt/backups failed: Invalid argument

admin@router:/tmp/home/root# mount \\\\192.168.1.7\\C /mnt/backups -t cifs -o username=user,password=pass,vers=2.1
mount: mounting \\192.168.1.7\C on /mnt/backups failed: Host is down

It's funny that if I run the mount with "wrong" version or without specifying any version, the following records appear in the log:

Dec 17 15:00:24 kernel: No dialect specified on mount. Default has changed to a more secure dialect, SMB2.1 or later (e.g. SMB3), from CIFS (SMB1). To use the less secure SMB1 dialect to access old servers which do not support SMB3 (or SMB2.1) specify vers=1.0 on mount.
Dec 17 15:00:37 kernel: Bad mount helper ver=1.0. Did you want SMB1 (CIFS) dialect and mean to type vers=1.0 instead?

Is there any hope to use SMB1 on this router or it's completely dead?

I was having the same issue.

First go into the NAS software and see what versions of SMB it will except. Might be under advanced/security and change as necessary. On My Synology I had to set it to work with any version between 1 and 3. May need to try several options to see which can be matched up with options in Backupmon. I ended up setting/using SMB 2.1 in Backupmon.

Backupmon

 

[nexttime]

Unfortunately, SMB 1.0 is my limit.
My device is not a real NAS, it's multimedia player with internal HDD and some NAS capabilities.
So old that there have been no firmware updates for the ages.

 

[thunder2k]

vpn_clientx_eas nvram need to contain a list of enabled clients, separated by a comma. For example, if client 1 and 3 are enabled:

nvram set vpn_clientx_eas=1,3
nvram commit

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.

Is this a once-off setting to be done after updating to 3004.388.8_4 or does it need to be included in my ssh script and executed every time a VPN is started/stopped? I use VPN 1 and 3 and start them with the following command (example for vpn1): service start_vpnclient1

Thanks!

 

[RMerlin]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.

Is this a once-off setting to be done after updating to 3004.388.8_4 or does it need to be included in my ssh script and executed every time a VPN is started/stopped? I use VPN 1 and 3 and start them with the following command (example for vpn1): service start_vpnclient1

Thanks!

Everytime you manually stop or start a client then you are responsible for updating its enabled/disabled state in that variable.

 

[trparky]

I have an RT-AX88U Pro along with an RT-AX5400 running in AiMesh mode. I know that Merlin firmware supports RT-AX88U Pro but not the RT-AX5400. How well will AiMesh mode work when the two devices don't support Merlin firmware?

Also, can I upgrade to Merlin firmware on my RT-AX88U Pro from the base ASUS firmware and not lose settings?

 

[alecmascot]

I have an RT-AX88U Pro along with an RT-AX5400 running in AiMesh mode. I know that Merlin firmware supports RT-AX88U Pro but not the RT-AX5400. How well will AiMesh mode work when the two devices don't support Merlin firmware?

Also, can I upgrade to Merlin firmware on my RT-AX88U Pro from the base ASUS firmware and not lose settings?

Usual recommendation is to run Asus Firmware on the Mesh Node and Merlin on the Main Router.

A Hard Reset is the best thing for stability when you make major firmware changes, then reenter your settings manually.

 

[trparky]

Usual recommendation is to run Asus Firmware on the Mesh Node and Merlin on the Main Router.

OK. Cool. What about doing an in-place upgrade from the base firmware to the Merlin firmware? Will I encounter issues?

 

[alecmascot]

OK. Cool. What about doing an in-place upgrade from the base firmware to the Merlin firmware? Will I encounter issues?

Not if you reset after the code is applied and you manually enter the settings.

 

[trparky]

Not if you reset after the code is applied and you manually enter the settings.

Oh, that’s going to be an absolute pain.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Oh, that’s going to be an absolute pain.

The current RT-AX88U Pro stock firmware is 3006.102_xxxxx which is a completely different (i.e. newer) branch than Merlin's 3004.388.8_4. So a reset and manual setup would be inevitable. Merlin's VPN implementation is also different. However, depending on what settings you want to carry over to Merlin's firmware it may be possible to do that.

 

[anotherengineer]

For the AX86U Pro latest Merlin on cake is it normal for the router to use only 1 core (while doing speedtest)?

 

[Tech9]

For the AX86U Pro latest Merlin on cake is it normal for the router to use only 1 core (while doing speedtest)?

Yes and the WAN-LAN speed will be limited to about 350Mbps. Cake QoS is NAT acceleration incompatible.

 

[anotherengineer]

Yes and the WAN-LAN speed will be limited to about 350Mbps. Cake QoS is NAT acceleration incompatible.

So is the whole router limited to 1 core, or is the qos limited to 1 core?