Asuswrt-Merlin 376.49 is out

[ghoffman]

Wrong thread, this has nothing to do with the 376.49 release.

almost nothing to do with that release- except there have been many posts in this thread about firmware versions that update cfe's. i reposted it elsewhere.

 

[RMerlin]

almost nothing to do with that release- except there have been many posts in this thread about firmware versions that update cfe's. i reposted it elsewhere.

This is related to the 376.49_6_cfeupd test build for the RT-AC68U, which was for a very specific scenario, hence the confusion.

 

[SmallNetGuy]

There is this whole thread on this, which is referenced several time in this thread.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=19521

Thank you, but unfortunately I am complete noob and I can't follow what's being talked about in that thread. I am not even sure how would I start erasing nvram, and hoping someone would have step by step tutorial, but wrong... I guess I'd be better off with regular ASUS firmware installed as much as I'd hate to go back. Merlin's firmware seems so much more stable.

@Merlin - I found this post of yours in another thread:
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=89320&postcount=10

That requires you to enable telnet, and to use a telnet client. If you aren't familiar with it, I recommend against doing that. Instead, either press the reset button for 5 seconds while the router is on, or turn it on with the WPS button pressed, wait 10 secs, then release it. EIther procedure should also clear nvram.

Is it safe to update to your RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_6_cfeupd this way then (I'm still on RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_5)?

1.) While my router is still on, I press and hold reset button for 5 seconds (in order to erase nvram),
2.) update the normal way to RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_6_cfeupd
3.) load my old settings from CFG file I made on RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_5 (or that's not safe to do this time?)

Thank you!

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Thank you, but unfortunately I am complete noob and I can't follow what's being talked about in that thread. I am not even sure how would I start erasing nvram, and hoping someone would have step by step tutorial, but wrong... I guess I'd be better off with regular ASUS firmware installed as much as I'd hate to go back. Merlin's firmware seems so much more stable.

To erase nvram is easy. Simply turn the router off wait about 10 seconds then power the router back on while holding down the WPS button continue to hold the WPS button for about 15 seconds then release and let the router boot up, nvram will be cleared and the router will be back to factory default.

 

[SmallNetGuy]

To erase nvram is easy. Simply turn the router off wait about 10 seconds then power the router back on while holding down the WPS button continue to hold the WPS button for about 15 seconds then release and let the router boot up, nvram will be cleared and the router will be back to factory default.

Thank you so much for your help, I appreciate it a lot. Thank you!

Would also another method of erasing nvram work (pressing and holding reset button for 5 seconds while router is still on), mentioned by Merlin in another thread?

...either press the reset button for 5 seconds while the router is on, or turn it on with the WPS button pressed, wait 10 secs, then release it. EIther procedure should also clear nvram.

I guess after erasing nvram, good thing would be to power cycle the router manually and then proceed as usual with updating firmware to RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_6_cfeupd. Am I correct?

EDIT: I've followed this tutorial here on how to set up SSH in my router and Putty:
http://www.howtogeek.com/68061/setup-ssh-on-your-router-for-secure-web-access-from-anywhere/

And after setting everything up as suggested and generating my SSH authentication key and password, I've successfully connected to my router using Putty.

I guess I can also erase router's nvram using this command (also from another Merlin's post):

mtd-erase2 nvram

I would probably try mtd-erase -d nvram, but I've read Merlin mentioned that one is for MIPS-based routers, and for the RT-AC68U (ARM-based router) the syntax is slightly different and it should be mtd-erase2. I just tried it and Putty doesn't give me any confirmation that nvram is successfully erased like I've seen in one video. When I type mtd-erase2 nvram, cursor simply jumps down to another prompt line. Is that how it's supposed to work?

 

[DaveMishSr]

Thanks for your help!

Two more questions:

1. If I perform factory reset, after the firmware update, can I load my configuration file I made with previous firmware to avoid setting everything from scratch, or is there something drastically different in this new firmware vs the old one?

Using a saved config file defeats the purpose of the factory reset. Use John's nvram save & restore utility available in this forum.

Thanks for your help!

2. How does one do nvram erase? I guess I'd have to use putty or some terminal, but I am not sure I am savvy enough for this task

You could use putty but the easiest method is to power off the router, press and hold the WPS button for 5 seconds, power up the router and continue to hold the WPS button for 7-10 seconds. The power LED should pulsate rapidly indicating the nvram is being erased.

 

[SmallNetGuy]

Using a saved config file defeats the purpose of the factory reset. Use John's nvram save & restore utility available in this forum.

You could use putty but the easiest method is to power off the router, press and hold the WPS button for 5 seconds, power up the router and continue to hold the WPS button for 7-10 seconds. The power LED should pulsate rapidly indicating the nvram is being erased.

I'll have to take a closer look at the John's restore utility that everyone is praising here. I believe it's great, I was just afraid to dig deeper into this, just to avoid screwing something terribly

I will do manual nvram erase then, but now when I tried Putty and successfully logged into my router, I got kind of interested as to why my attempt to erase nvram using mtd-erase2 nvram command, did not give me any results. After pressing ENTER key, cursor simply jumped down one prompt line.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

I'll have to take a closer look at the John's restore utility that everyone is praising here. I believe it's great, I was just afraid to dig deeper into this, just to avoid screwing something terribly

I will do manual nvram erase then, but now when I tried Putty and successfully logged into my router, I got kind of interested as to why my attempt to erase nvram using mtd-erase2 nvram command, did not give me any results. After pressing ENTER key, cursor simply jumped down one prompt line.

You dont need to putty in the router. The above WPS method gives the same result and is much easier. If you do use Putty you also have to enable telnet or ssh in the routers UI.

 

[mogulman]

Anything new with ipv6 on .49? Tried _5. Didn't think it would change anything and it didn't. Still not obtaining an ipv6 address on Comcast. .48 works.

 

[SmallNetGuy]

You dont need to putty in the router. The above WPS method gives the same result and is much easier. If you do use Putty you also have to enable telnet or ssh in the routers UI.

Yes, I did that and I also set my unique authentication key as well as I password protected it. Putty asks me for login name and password for my key. Putty connects just fine to my router, but the only weird thing is that after executing mtd-erase2 nvram command, I don't get any confirmation like nvram successfully erased or anything like that.

I can do it manually, but I opened can of worms I believe and now I am so interested why that command doesn't work for me.

 

[RogerSC]

Another easy way to erase the nvram ("reset to factory defaults") is to just press and hold in the "reset" button on the back panel any time the router is powered up, for about 10 seconds (or until the power light starts to flash), and then release the "reset" button. That way you don't have to fiddle with the power switch as well.

6 of one, half dozen of another, though...the WPS button also works if held in when the router is powered on, as others have said.

 

[mogulman]

Anything new with ipv6 on .49? Tried _5. Didn't think it would change anything and it didn't. Still not obtaining an ipv6 address on Comcast. .48 works.

ok... Since some of the posts mentioned Reseting to factory defaults, decided to try that.

Reseting to defaults with .49_5, IPv6 now works. Load Cfg file then causes it to break.

Reseting to defaults and manually entering values using screenshots and ipv6 is working. So maybe something was just hosed in my cfg.

 

[RMerlin]

Is it safe to update to your RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_6_cfeupd this way then (I'm still on RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_5)?

1.) While my router is still on, I press and hold reset button for 5 seconds (in order to erase nvram),
2.) update the normal way to RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_6_cfeupd
3.) load my old settings from CFG file I made on RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_5 (or that's not safe to do this time?)

No, it's the other way around.

The reason why you want to do a factory default reset is because you want all those factory defaults to be those of the *new* firmware. So, it has to be done after you flashed the new firmware, and you can't reload your old settings or otherwise you will just reapply the exact same old settings you were trying to change.

 

[RMerlin]

Anything new with ipv6 on .49?

Yes, actually some major changes. See the Changelog.

 

[RussellInCincinnati]

Pleased to see ipv6 work perfectly and immediately with "Time Warner Cable" in Cincinnati, Ohio USA. With _49 firmware, using the "native" connection type on the ipV6 configuration page of Merlin menus. Happening to be using the Google Public DNS server addresses of 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 set on the WAN page.

Interesting that ipV6 came to a halt when I tried changing the ipv6 DNS from automatic to manual, with the Google Public DNS ipv6 addresses set to 2001:4860:4860::8888 etc. Am sure that is related to the behavior RMerlin described in the changelog as

"...ip6tables ensures that you cannot override them, by rejecting connection to other DNS servers."

Anyway with the ipV6 DNS left on the default of "automatic" everything was great.

Actually a bit amusing to see how many websites with articles relating to ipV6 were not reachable when my Windows client was set to ipV6 protocol stack only. Wikipedia worked great though, as did pinging to "ipv6.google.com."

ipv6.google.com responds noticeably more quickly than pinging via ipv4 to google.com, interesting.

Nice to inch a bit closer to being ready for the future Internet.

 

[SmallNetGuy]

No, it's the other way around.

The reason why you want to do a factory default reset is because you want all those factory defaults to be those of the *new* firmware. So, it has to be done after you flashed the new firmware, and you can't reload your old settings or otherwise you will just reapply the exact same old settings you were trying to change.

Oh, OK. Much clearer now. So, basically I should proceed with updating firmware from my current one RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_5 to this new one called RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_6_cfeupd.

Once the update process is done, I should erase nvram and after that, proceed with manual configuration of my settings (all those entries for my DHCP server), port forwarding I had set up etc.

 

[DallasFlier]

Pleased to see ipv6 work perfectly and immediately with "Time Warner Cable" in Cincinnati, Ohio USA. With _49 firmware, using the "native" connection type on the ipV6 configuration page of Merlin menus. Happening to be using the Google Public DNS server addresses of 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 set on the WAN page.

Interesting that ipV6 came to a halt when I tried changing the ipv6 DNS from automatic to manual, with the Google Public DNS ipv6 addresses set to 2001:4860:4860::8888 etc. Am sure that is related to the behavior RMerlin described in the changelog as

Anyway with the ipV6 DNS left on the default of "automatic" everything was great.

Strange... I'm on TWC here in metro Dallas - on their fastest 100 Mb service, with latest Motorola DOCSIS3 modem, and I get nothing when I enable IPv6. Have it set to "Native" like you, and DNS set to automatic, and get absolutely nothing at all.

 

[RogerSC]

Oh, OK. Much clearer now. So, basically I should proceed with updating firmware from my current one RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_5 to this new one called RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_6_cfeupd.

Once the update process is done, I should erase nvram and after that, proceed with manual configuration of my settings (all those entries for my DHCP server), port forwarding I had set up etc.

Yes, exactly. Glad to see that you're on the right track.

 

[johtaja]

Oh, OK. Much clearer now. So, basically I should proceed with updating firmware from my current one RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_5 to this new one called RT-AC68U_3.0.0.4_376.49_6_cfeupd.

Once the update process is done, I should erase nvram and after that, proceed with manual configuration of my settings (all those entries for my DHCP server), port forwarding I had set up etc.

Yes, that's correct.

 

[Muyfa666]

Will a factory reset from the GUI do?