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

[clweb]

Here the Beta5 is running for 29 hours without problem. Updated from Beta 4, no reset.
The temperature problem with th 2.4GHz chip has disapeared.

Thank you Merlin.

 

[alan6854321]

Updated from Stock to B5 yesterday, did a factory reset / initialize all before configuring it by hand. Everything is running fine but I've noticed something odd...

I run PiHole and I'm seeing lots of DNS requests for the hostname "162.62.57.325" (Note - not a valid IPaddr). They seem to come in batches of 25 every 10 minutes or so. PiHole is returning NXDOMAIN.

Before the update I think it used to regularly try "dns.msftncsi.com", but these have now stopped.

Any ideas what's going on?

 

[RMerlin]

Is this problem specific to me? coz I didn't see anybody else have this problem.

Very few people even know what WSD is, and even fewer know how to test it (i.e. configuring Explorer to add the "Discovery Method" column to the Network Places window).

While the fix worked for me, that test router didn't have IPv6, nor anywhere as many interfaces as your own router does, so that might be a factor. However I already suspected that my fix may carry a few side effects, and might require a more complex solution than the quick fix that I am testing.

How do you think "Roaming assistant" working?

No idea, the code is closed source.

The only detail I still see is that download/upload speeds are shown incorrectly in the Adaptive QoS section. This only happens when traffic goes through a VPN:

That's a long-standing issue for which I have no solution.

 

[RMerlin]

Another observation with the GPL is that when using an HTTPS connection to the router, the new WAN DNS dropdown fields do not work due to mixed-content errors in the browser console (loading http URL from asus.com in an https page). Not Merlin's issue to fix, but another discrepancy I've found between using http versus https in the GUI (the first being the drawing of the Speedtest page under http in iPadOS Safari). Can't seem to have it both ways.

I know. Until Asus add a certificate with a proper SAN rather than a generic AWS hostname, there's nothing that can be done about it.

 

[Chuckles67]

AX-86U 386.1 Beta 5 - dirty update on Beta 4 (before that Beta 3 and Beta 2), with power-off reboot of router after update.
After ten minutes:
Internet speeds working as expected (WiFi, LAN, VPN client).
VPN clients connected.
USB drive working as expected: amtm scripts all good (Diversion, Skynet, FlexQoS, conmon, disk check).
DDNS is active (asuscomm.com)
=> all good, thanks Merlin!

 

[folfox]

Currently on beta3 on ax88u - will I have any issues flashing to beta5?

thanks

 

[roboots21]

Currently on beta3 on ax88u - will I have any issues flashing to beta5?

thanks

I went this route (as I had previously rolled back from beta 4B), and you should have no issues.

 

[tlacko]

Have you tried using a Parental Control timer for that MAC? From watching the behaviour of the systems affected here it appears that this prevents the camera accessing DNS requests. It wouldn't break an existing link, but once set to have no access time a re-boot of the camera should switch off external comms. Unless the camera has a fixed-IP call-home embedded within it, which is unlikely.

Thanks for the tip, I also tried it, but unfortunately it didn't work.

 

[Howard_inGA]

After an unsuccessful try to join the beta (version 2), I held off till b5. I did a dirty upgrade from 19, and it took 34 minutes for the GUI to become responsive. Due to the release notes, I wasn't alarmed-thanks, Merlin!
The only residual hitch is when attempting to access the cable modem via url to the GUI. It causes an immediate failure of internet access, and after a while, an auto reboot of the router?? After that, access to the modem is restored, and things start to hum along just fine. Of course, the modem uses an ethernet wired connection to the router, and actual internet access is continuously available at the modem itself. That make this a router WAN access problem.
Just for info, I haven't noted any increase in router temps after installation, and after the initial hour of spin-up, the wifi seems rock solid. That said, overnight the media bridge router (3200) connection was lost on the 5G wifi. I'm going to try this for a few days, then if all else fails, I'll do the nuke reset and watch.
Conclusions: It is working pretty well. So far, there isn't a clean slate in my setup, but it is tolerable (if a little weird). I don't see any log entries that point to a particular item, but I am not totally sure that is the case...I AM NOT Merlin!!-)

 

[ajp2k14]

Still seeing around 50% reduction in openvpn client download speed compared to 384.19 on my AC86U, CPU usage seems higher when downloading through vpn as well. Anyone else notice this?

 

[Stephen Harrington]

For me on my RT-AC68U, the following Timezone seems to be broken for Daylight savings:

(GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

If I select:

(GMT+10:00) Hobart

The time shown on the system log is correct and has Daylight Savings applied to it.
If I select the Sydney timezone above, it shows the time as an hour earlier.

@athua Just confirming I am also seeing this error in the (latest?) 386 stock firmwares for the RT-AC68U, so it’s not specific to the Merlin builds - Asus will probably have to fix it not @RMerlin.

 

[mromero]

Installed on RT-AC86U. Here is the temperature report, no streaming, current room temp 30°C.

It appears that despite the Asus mod, the radios are steady, but this firmware version is cooking the CPU by an additional 6°C.

Legend: 2.4 GHz - 5 GHz - CPU

Current Temperatures: 48 °C - 54 °C - 77 °C 27 Jan version 384.19

Current Temperatures: 48 °C - 54 °C - 83 °C 27 Jan version 386.1_beta5

 

[RMerlin]

Currently on beta3 on ax88u - will I have any issues flashing to beta5?

thanks

No, the issue was with beta4, which was broken and failed to handle firmware upgrade to anything else.

 

[EdoAsus]

Hello everyone,

I upgraded my RT-AX88U from 386.1 B1-B2-B3-B4b and now to B5, all seems well except for DNS Privacy protocol , as long as it's enabled (DNS-over-TLS) all clients have normally access to internet, but if I disable it (None), access to internet stops working for all clients, this didn't happen with the previous Beta's. Are some of you using this settings? (WAN - DNS Privacy protocol - DNS-over-TLS) and tried to put to "None"? Next step I try a factory reset, but I want to know first if it's a bug.
I also use Transmission-Entware, VPN client (only for Torrent), Share Samba and FTP, (got a SSD attached on USB) all of this services are working fine and im happy with Merlin-firmware.

 

[RMerlin]

Hello everyone,

I upgraded my RT-AX88U from 386.1 B1-B2-B3-B4b and now to B5, all seems well except for DNS Privacy protocol , as long as it's enabled (DNS-over-TLS) all clients have normally access to internet, but if I disable it (None), access to internet stops working for all clients, this didn't happen with the previous Beta's. Are some of you using this settings? (WAN - DNS Privacy protocol - DNS-over-TLS) and tried to put to "None"? Next step I try a factory reset, but I want to know first if it's a bug.
I also use Transmission-Entware, VPN client (only for Torrent), Share Samba and FTP, (got a SSD attached on USB) all of this services are working fine and im happy with Merlin-firmware.

What do you have configured for your WAN DNS?

 

[Howard_inGA]

Been a while since I did a factory reset. Is the GUI Admin page factory reset sufficient to get the beta 5 installed on a clean slate? Do I need to do a full recovery tool reset to get it done?

 

[L&LD]

@Howard_inGA are you having issues that you want to do a reset?

 

[Howard_inGA]

Yes indeed. The issue previously mentioned with accessing the cable modem, along with general issues of random wifi restarts, and the fact that I haven't had to pay the piper with a full up reconfig in a VERY long time (thanks to Merlin!) all have lead me to just get it done...
For other's needing the same antidote, see here: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-nvram-and-factory-default-reset.22822/

 

[L&LD]

If the resources you found on your own work to get your router/network back to a good/known state, great!

If you need further help, the following links may help you too.

New M&M 2020

M&M 2020 Specifics

L&LD | SmallNetBuilder Forums


And if you really need to reset everything, then try the following too (and repeat the first two links above).

Fully Reset Router and Network

 

[heysoundude]

Installed on RT-AC86U. Here is the temperature report, no streaming, current room temp 30°C.

It appears that despite the Asus mod, the radios are steady, but this firmware version is cooking the CPU by an additional 6°C.

Legend: 2.4 GHz - 5 GHz - CPU

Current Temperatures: 48 °C - 54 °C - 77 °C 27 Jan version 384.19

Current Temperatures: 48 °C - 54 °C - 83 °C 27 Jan version 386.1_beta5

with all of these "my router is running hotter" posts, I wonder how many people have had a look at the venting on the backs of their routers?
I'm betting that some people may benefit from a small amount of dust removal maintenance from the vents with a vacuum and possibly some compressed air.
There are options to add fans for active airflow to compliment the passive cooling if people deem it necessary...but even 80-85 is well within design spec for the machine to work correctly...and there are places in the world where a 30C room is uncomfortably warm, so even with unblocked vents and added airflow, it still might not cool off much
<shrug> take a breath and check the situation beyond what the router is reporting, people @RMerlin is trying to get 386.1 to release - chasing your thermometers is a bit counterproductive this close to the finish line, wouldn't you agree?