Asuswrt-Merlin 374.42_2 is out

[joegreat]

I'm assuming if coming from 374.38_2 on a N66 I'll need to factory reset?

Yes, Sir!

You come for an old version with many, many changes in the "hidden settings" - especially in the wireless networking.

From time to time factory reset is beneficial to reset all the settings.

With kind regards
Joe

 

[frankyto71]

Hi there,

well first of all, lots of thanks to Merlin for the great work.

I am using an Asus RT-AC68.

i have upgraded to the latest build and have problems with the OpenVPN client 1. I have done a factory reset and upgraded, did a couple of resets before and after the upgade 374.42_2.
This worked okay in 374.41.

The issue is now that the client connects to my vpn provider but no traffic is routed through vpnclient1. I am still getting the ip from my local isp.
The same settings work perfectly fine in openvpnclient2, after connection all traffic goes through the vpn, where I also get the vpn ip.
Any suggestions?

Edit:
Finally sorted the issue with a few more factory reset. so no problem any more/

 

[otto]

AC68R

Was: 3.0.0.4.374_5656 which TimeMachine worked fine

Now: Merlin 3.0.0.4.374.42_2, which TimeMachine also seems to be working well. Testing with 2 Macs.

Thanks!

 

[dopefish]

Best Firmware for RT-N66U ever!

Hey Merlin, just to let you know: 374.42 on the RT-N66U is comparable with the old 3.0.0.4.374. 36 beta1 sdk5. Really good wifi performance.

Furthermore my ipv6 problems have been fixed.

Thanks!

 

[Muyfa666]

I read somewhere that there could be some default setting in the new firmwares that could affect wifi range.

Is this true? If so, what setting is causing this?

I find the wifi range a bit less than I expected compared to another AC1900 router.

 

[Marsi4eg]

What about web ui bug with clients list on ac66u? Am I the only one who have this problem on 374.42? Do I need to restore defaults after flashing? I can say again - there is no problem with 374.41 and earlier builds. The same config.

 

[lordsith2k4]

What about web ui bug with clients list on ac66u? Am I the only one who have this problem on 374.42? Do I need to restore defaults after flashing? I can say again - there is no problem with 374.41 and earlier builds. The same config.

I'm not sure why you're having the issue, but I also have an ac66r and my client list works fine. I just got the router a few weeks back, so my router was a clean setup on 374.40 and I upgraded to the 41 and 42 releases.

 

[RMerlin]

I read somewhere that there could be some default setting in the new firmwares that could affect wifi range.

Is this true? If so, what setting is causing this?

I find the wifi range a bit less than I expected compared to another AC1900 router.

Router settings aren't just what's visible on the web interface. There are a lot of low-level settings that handle beamforming, antenna diversity, power output management, etc... Those settings can change between firmware revisions. Resetting factory default settings is the only way to ensure you get any new default values for these low-level settings.

 

[Builder71]

I read somewhere that there could be some default setting in the new firmwares that could affect wifi range.

Is this true? If so, what setting is causing this?

I find the wifi range a bit less than I expected compared to another AC1900 router.

Do we have to smell which router you have?

(Put it into your signature.)

 

[Muyfa666]

I see. I have not changed any settings from default except for very basic stuff, like wifi name and password. The culprit I read about had something to do with USB3.0 I think? Nothing true about that then?

 

[Muyfa666]

I have a AC68U btw. Sorry.

 

[Raiu]

I have a AC68U btw. Sorry.

I think you are talking about USB interferance option that is in advanced settings.

 

[Muyfa666]

I think you are talking about USB interferance option that is in advanced settings.

Yes, that does sound familar. What is this option and does it really affect wifi?

 

[Muyfa666]

I think I mixed things up. It doesn't have anything to do with wifi I think?

 

[brill]

Hi everyone,
First post Thanks Merlin, this is great firmware ! I was running 374.39 on the AC68U and it ran like a champ, zero issues. Upgraded to 374.41, all was fine. Took the plunge and upgraded to 374.42 and had some issues. I could see 5Ghz SSID's and from the looks of things my configuration was hosed (the green wireless icon was only 1/2 showing). No big deal, tried downgrading (374.41) and ran into same problem. So I downgraded back to 374.40 and factory defaulted, built my config manually and all was fine.

Another thing I did have a problem on, noted others did in another thread, I use split tunnelling so I can have some traffic directed over my VPN and not other traffic. For whatever reason I could not generate the "jffs/scripts" folder, after selecting it and rebooting (including formatting), the scripts folder would not show. No errors showed in the log and running a "nvram get jffs2_on" returned no values. After downgrading to 374.39 the scripts folder finally appeared again and all was well.

Couple questions:
- Are configs backward compatible in the event of a downgrade. Assuming no given new features would be problematic in the config when applied on previous releases.

- It appears the config files are binary, is there any way to verify them independently with other software for possible corruption ?

brill

 

[Muyfa666]

I have one more question for now... what should the physical led on/off button do? It sure doesn't turn on or off my leds...

 

[thundergoat]

Again, thanks for a great firmware! I have the following occurs once a day with the .42 firmware:
May 15 00:08:50 rc_service: dhcp6c-state 20826:notify_rc start_radvd
May 15 00:08:50 rc_service: dhcp6c-state 20826:notify_rc start_httpd
May 15 00:08:50 rc_service: waitting "start_radvd" via dhcp6c-state ...
May 15 00:08:50 radvd[707]: attempting to reread config file
May 15 00:08:50 radvd[707]: resuming normal operation
May 15 00:08:51 RT-AC68R: start httpd

Is it normal? Should I be worry?
Thanks!

 

[RMerlin]

Again, thanks for a great firmware! I have the following occurs once a day with the .42 firmware:
May 15 00:08:50 rc_service: dhcp6c-state 20826:notify_rc start_radvd
May 15 00:08:50 rc_service: dhcp6c-state 20826:notify_rc start_httpd
May 15 00:08:50 rc_service: waitting "start_radvd" via dhcp6c-state ...
May 15 00:08:50 radvd[707]: attempting to reread config file
May 15 00:08:50 radvd[707]: resuming normal operation
May 15 00:08:51 RT-AC68R: start httpd

Is it normal? Should I be worry?
Thanks!

There was a state change in your IPv6 subnet, which led to the restart of the radvd and httpd services. Nothing unusual there.

 

[RMerlin]

I see. I have not changed any settings from default except for very basic stuff, like wifi name and password. The culprit I read about had something to do with USB3.0 I think? Nothing true about that then?

As I said, those settings are NOT controlable on the web interface, so they are unrelated to any changes you might have done. They are applied by the firmware that was running last time you did a factory default reset. This is why doing a factory default reset is necessary after an upgrade, to apply updated settings.

USB 3.0 disks can interfere with 2.4 GHz wifi. The option to reduce interference will force the USB3 port to run at USB2 speeds to reduce interference (which isn't always compatible with some USB3 disks).

 

[RMerlin]

First post Thanks Merlin, this is great firmware ! I was running 374.39 on the AC68U and it ran like a champ, zero issues. Upgraded to 374.41, all was fine. Took the plunge and upgraded to 374.42 and had some issues. I could see 5Ghz SSID's and from the looks of things my configuration was hosed (the green wireless icon was only 1/2 showing). No big deal, tried downgrading (374.41) and ran into same problem. So I downgraded back to 374.40 and factory defaulted, built my config manually and all was fine.

This is unlikely to have anything to do with the firmware version. You could have achieved the same result by doing the factory default reset while running 374.42 instead.

Another thing I did have a problem on, noted others did in another thread, I use split tunnelling so I can have some traffic directed over my VPN and not other traffic. For whatever reason I could not generate the "jffs/scripts" folder, after selecting it and rebooting (including formatting), the scripts folder would not show. No errors showed in the log and running a "nvram get jffs2_on" returned no values. After downgrading to 374.39 the scripts folder finally appeared again and all was well.

If jffs2_on isn't set to either 0 or 1, then something is corrupted with your settings.

Couple questions:
- Are configs backward compatible in the event of a downgrade. Assuming no given new features would be problematic in the config when applied on previous releases.

In general, yes, but there is no guarantee, as it is completely untested. Same potential issue that can occur when upgrading can also happen when downgrading.

- It appears the config files are binary, is there any way to verify them independently with other software for possible corruption ?

No. The files are encoded and contain a semi-random salt value, they cannot easily be decrypted, unless you were to write a tool to do it.