Beta Asuswrt-Merlin 386.1 Beta (stage 2) is now available

[LimJK]

Hi, I am late in the game, just got back home . I can confirm like others that the re-built Firmware is working for RT-AX88U. Specifically: Broken beta4 FW -> with Asus Firmware Restoration Tool -> Uploaded RT-AX88U_386.1_beta4b-gb9175c6a96

• I can flash / load firmware over this version
• Speedtest under QOS is working with AiProtection Enabled and I get full speed with Speedtest on my MacBookPro

Thank you! Thank you!

 

[Vimes]

Used the firmware restoration utility, learned something new. Used it to flash to 384.19.
Worked a treat and now setting up policy routing etc.
All good

Best of luck to everyone else using the original beta 4 and their AX88U.

Thanks Eric for the 4b, I'll hold on for now as I'm getting 384.19 up and going and I know that one from experience is most stable.

 

[ollimoe]

On the 3rd attempt I was able to flash 384.19 over 386b4 - will stay on this version a bit as the AX88U is my main router. Will continue to monitor and take another upgrade attempt when getting closer to a final version. Thanks for all your hard work and support Merlin!

 

[tommy76]

See post# 202 from Merlin......there is a new b4b image for this router.....have you tried that new build yet? People are already reporting, a lot of good things about this revised firmware.

Beta - Asuswrt-Merlin 386.1 Beta (stage 2) is now available

I guess we're looking at a few more weeks of debugging until I can finally get 386.1 finalized. At this point maybe I should just pull a Brainslayer, and give up on pushing out "final" releases, and just push a constant stream of betas... Seen on Twitter: 2020: I’m going to be the most crazy...

www.snbforums.com

I know that. I wanted to mark that the validation issue is strange as I was able to update fw through GUI on 4th attempt.

 

[tommy76]

Just tested the beta4b on my AX88U and it works as expected with trend enabled in my case.

 

[LaMpiR]

Hi, I am late in the game, just got back home . I can confirm like others that the re-built Firmware is working. Specifically: Broken beta4 FW -> with Asus Firmware Restoration Tool -> Uploaded RT-AX88U_386.1_beta4b-gb9175c6a96

• I can flash / load firmware over this version
• Speedtest under QOS is working with AiProtection Enabled and I get full speed with Speedtest on my MacBookPro

Thank you! Thank you!

I cant find the Firmware Restoration Tool for AX88U. Could you please provide me with the link?

 

[8uckles]

Updated successfully to beta4b and everything seems back to normal, still see a download speed drop off of around 15-20% when AI Protection enabled

 

[Vimes]

I cant find the Firmware Restoration Tool for AX88U. Could you please provide me with the link?

Drivers and tools....

RT-AX88U｜WiFi Routers｜ASUS USA

ASUS gaming routers provide the very best gaming experience, with an arsenal of features and tools designed to improve online gaming performance and give you the competitive edge you need to win.

www.asus.com

Expand all to show ASUS Firmware Restoration version 2.1.0.2

direct link....

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/4G-AC53U/Rescue_2102.zip

 

[PavelBab]

C


Not wanting to hi-jack this thread. I use the AC86U and never had any luck with getting apcupsd to communicate with my UPS. I think it had more to do with the UPS than Merlin (Cyber Power - have read that they don't talk apcupsd by business choice). I switched to NUT and have had no problems with NUT.

One thing, I also had to load the input-core.ko module to get NUT to work. On the AC86U, that module was hiding at /lib/modules/4.1.27/kernel/drivers/input/input-core.ko.

We can always take this to another thread if you want to give NUT for a spin.

I'am using the apcupsd for long time (wl550g/N16/AC68U) without any problem.
The module input-core is loaded but it is missing in my post by my mistake.
Merlin mentioned that some config file have to be defined (page 7). I have to found what does it means. First I try to find it on the internet before directly asking to Merlin.

 

[kernol]

I still see my log flooded with this "debug-info" several times per second. I posted the same question in the Alpha-thread, but now Asus have released 386 to public so shouldn't it be turned off?!
PS. I'm only using Guest 2 so should't be the Guest 1 bug spamming the logs.

Jan  9 06:43:04 kernel: CONSOLE: 098224.813 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:04 kernel: CONSOLE: 098224.814 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:04 kernel: CONSOLE: 098224.814 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:04 kernel: CONSOLE: 098224.814 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:04 kernel: CONSOLE: 098224.814 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:04 kernel: CONSOLE: 098224.976 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:04 kernel: CONSOLE: 098225.014 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:05 kernel: CONSOLE: 098225.824 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:05 kernel: CONSOLE: 098225.934 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:06 kernel: CONSOLE: 098226.805 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:06 kernel: CONSOLE: 098226.805 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1
Jan  9 06:43:06 kernel: CONSOLE: 098226.805 wl1: wlc_ampdu_recv_addba_resp: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx: Failed. status 37 wsize 64 policy 1

The Asus Stock Firmware Version 3.0.0.4.386.41535 released for the RT-AX86U seems to have toned down the log spamming - even when using Guest WiFi 1 for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz with Aimesh nodes. I did not get those "errors" with clean install after factory reset on stock firmware.

The other difference between stock and Merlin in the RT-AX86U is in the power management. In stock you can set pwr config --cpuwait to "on" or "off" as you please and it sticks [until reboot] - but in Merlin it records "N/A" for that and several other pwr settings with no change possible?. I assume he is carrying sections of his own code into his merges which overwrite the stock version.

 

[LaMpiR]

Drivers and tools....

RT-AX88U｜WiFi Routers｜ASUS USA

ASUS gaming routers provide the very best gaming experience, with an arsenal of features and tools designed to improve online gaming performance and give you the competitive edge you need to win.

www.asus.com

Expand all to show ASUS Firmware Restoration version 2.1.0.2

direct link....

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/4G-AC53U/Rescue_2102.zip

This was so stupid, I was doing the see all downloads for the wrong column. Sorry. Thank you.

 

[LimJK]

I cant find the Firmware Restoration Tool for AX88U. Could you please provide me with the link?

LaMpiR,
For Windows:

[Wireless Router] How to use Rescue Mode (Firmware Restoration)? | Official Support | ASUS Singapore

For Mac: Go to AppStore to look for Asus Firmware Restoration

‎ASUS Firmware Restoration

‎ASUS Firmware Restoration is a utility to upgrade/downgrade firmware version on your ASUS router. Features: 1. Upgrade/Downgrade the firmware version on your ASUS router

apps.apple.com

You may need to go to Apple Store for your region / country

 

[Rendo]

... as I was able to update fw through GUI on 4th attempt.

Thanks for this, saved me the trouble of messing around with rescue mode and restoration. It worked after some attempts and now running beta 4b on AX88U (coming from 9.0.0.4_386_41535)

 

[Neil62]

I know that. I wanted to mark that the validation issue is strange as I was able to update fw through GUI on 4th attempt.

Ok understood.

 

[Darkje]

@RMerlin on my 86u temps are still 90 degrees after a night doing nothing.

 

[LaMpiR]

I've made it, thought I have managed to reset to factory settings along the way. Luckily had a backup.
Asus restoration tool is not a fun thing. Is it safe to restore JFFS partition from beta3?

 

[Vimes]

I've made it, thought I have managed to reset to factory settings along the way. Luckily had a backup.
Asus restoration tool is not a fun thing. Is it safe to restore JFFS partition from beta3?

We survived tho

For me going back from beta 4 (initial one) to 384.19 and I had issues with the VPN client. Restoring the JFFS partition was not going to work. Guess a part of that was due to the OpenVPN client going to 2.50 in the 386 release.
I formatted the JFFS partition and rebooted as the VPN client was showing errors.
I was then able to install a config for the VPN client and setup policy routing as required.
I had not kept a restore backup from 384.19.

Yours might vary, but I just grabbed a cup of tea, big one, and then manually restored my custom settings etc.

 

[Ian Macdonald]

I've just successfully upgraded two AX88U units from the now notorious beta4 build to beta4b. TrendMicro has been re-enabled and all is well with the world again.

Methinks it may be time to donate to Merlin again. He really went above and beyond for us yesterday.

One lingering thought I have is about the usefulness of QoS. Withdrawing from the TrendMicro agreement didn't just fix the chronic bandwidth issue with beta4. It restored a good chunk of bandwidth that I'd never even known was missing. All the QoS in the world wouldn't really compensate for the loss of that headroom. On the other hand, one also loses the traffic analysis tools without TrendMicro.

What are others' thoughts about this?

 

[vladsuk]

RT-AC86u, after flashing beta4b CPU wait enabled. temperature 77deg. Thanks,Merlin

 

[slidermike]

** update **
So after several attempts, the update to merlin beta4, it went on to update as expected.
I have rebooted the router and will see how it fairs.
I should mention that currently the router is in AP mode. I run a pfSense box as my FW.

** original post **
I have an ax86u and coming from stock firmware ver 3.0.0.4.386_41535.
I would like to install Merlin beta4.

I have rebooted the router.
Unsuccessfully tried installing the beta firmware manually.
It says something to the effect to wait while the upgrade is performed. However it never goes back or says anything further.
Eventually I refresh the page and its still on stock firmware.

The beta4 file is the correct ax86u .w file roughly 85meg in size.

I assume it is something I am missing.
Any assistance would be appreciated.
Thank you
Mike