Release Asuswrt-Merlin 386.1 is now available

[marko]

Lets make a petition to include DLSreports and bufferbloat scripts in the upcoming merlin releases?

 

[QuikSilver]

Lets make a petition to include DLSreports and bufferbloat scripts in the upcoming merlin releases?

Why?? I don't see why adding this "bloated" (pun intended) stuff to Merlin's firmware would be needed.

 

[Jeffrey Young]

Why?? I don't see why adding this "bloated" (pun intended) stuff to Merlin's firmware would be needed.

Speaking of unneeded bloat, I wonder if compiling 386.1 via Adam's scripts just leaves all things Trend Mico disabled or completely absent. As I don't use anything Trend Micro, having the extra space on the router would be nice (thinking aloud this morning).

 

[jjtally]

Two points to consider:

1. Network map components are not open source, so Merlin has no control over how it works, nor do we know exactly how it behaves.
2. There are many reports of issues with the new ASUS behavior of Guest Network #1, so try moving IoT to Guest Network #3, which still behaves like you would expect.

That seems to have done the trick, although at first none of my LAN devices would show in the network map. rebooted again and I think OK now. Thanks!

 

[KevTech]

Any details of how to do that?
How to create the backup, and how to restore that?

To backup just copy the files then to restore just overwrite the files.
Example of WinSCP GUI with local drive in left pane and router on the right.

 

[RMerlin]

having the extra space on the router would be nice (thinking aloud this morning).

Why? It's a read-only partition, so that extra unused flash wont do anything for you.

 

[Fred2u]

Did you extract the RT-AC86U_386.1_0_cferom_ubi.w file first?

Did you verify the SHA5 hash with a utility like Hashtab?

HashTab (implbits.com)

Did you Safely remove any USB drives attached to the router before trying to flash?

Did you Safely remove any USB drives and then physically remove them from the router, reboot it, and try flashing the file above again?

I wouldn't be using any 'app' to flash a new firmware on my router.

Thank you for these reminders, L&LD.

"Yes" on the extraction and the hash verification of the firmware that I downloaded to my Mac, but "not yet" on the USB drive removals, the reboot, and new flashing attempt. I hoped that the update would work without these steps, but I'll do that as soon as I can afford some longer downtime on the router use here.

I'm still confused though, and maybe you can help clarify this? What might be causing the UI (Asus Merlin 384.19_0) -- whenever I try to navigate to the Administration>>Firmware Upgrade options section of the UI-- to immediately force me to this "Firmware Download" (image) screen (which is superimposed on the Upgrade options) without allowing me the usual choices of either uploading of the verified firmware I already have on my Mac or a direct upgrade via the site?

Somehow this forced download screen is triggered by the fact that an update is available, but at least in my situation, it negates any options. I would be grateful for any suggestions...

 

[Mutzli]

It is safe to install the alpha beta release.....I ask because apparently the "parental control" time scheduling is fixed on this.........C86U_386.2_alpha1-g18f27b0693

It's pretty safe. There are no major changes like the last upgrade from the 384 to 386 code base. The alpha is mostly about fixing some issues in 386.1. I have it installed on two AX88U and one AX58U without any problems.

 

[zd59]

SSH with Ed25519 cryptography on Rmerlin 386.1 with RT-AC86U?

FW changelog:
384.16 (5-Apr-2020)
- NEW: Added ed25519 support in Dropbear (themiron)

Is this mean, that I can create SSH keypair with Ed25519 cryptography, copy/paste a public key to Authorised key on the router GUI and SSH to it?
Any experience with it would be nice, as I can not find it here.

 

[Fred2u]

What if you login via SSH and run these commands and try again?

nvram get webs_state_upgrade
nvram unset webs_state_upgrade
nvram commit

Post the output of the first command to see if I am on the right track.

Many thanks, dave14305. I tried the SSH commands (see below), but wound up with the same forced Firmware Download screen superimposing itself upon the Adminstration>>
Firmware Upgrade options UI interface.
Here is a screenshot of the SSH...

Would you have any other advice? Thanks again

 

[bobhope]

It's pretty safe. There are no major changes like the last upgrade from the 384 to 386 code base. The alpha is mostly about fixing some issues in 386.1. I have it installed on two AX88U and one AX58U without any problems.

Thank you very much.....I shall upload now....

 

[dave14305]

Would you have any other advice? Thanks again

Post the output of:

nvram show 2>/dev/null | grep ^cfg_

I'm guessing that at some point you flashed from stock to Merlin without doing a factory reset, since Merlin firmware doesn't auto-download. Do you have AiMesh nodes running stock firmware?

 

[Soul_]

Something strange, possibly this is normal, or possibly this is something that needs to be looked into. Let me know what you guys think.

No matter what I do to the IGMP Config, IGMP snooping stays enabled. I have tried rebooting after making config changes, does not help. Problem this creates is, it seems to be conflicting with my actual IGMP router sitting on an ASR.

Please see the Config page and PCAP shots as below.

 

[Fred2u]

You're correct, dave14305 -- I did move from Asus stock to Merlin 304.19 without a factory reset!

Here's the latest SSH output:

ASUSWRT-Merlin RT-AC86U 384.19_0 Fri Aug 14 19:19:51 UTC 2020
ATrouter1x@RT-AC68U-C600:/tmp/home/root# nvram show 2>/dev/null | grep ^cfg_
cfg_alias=Living Room
cfg_check=7
cfg_cost=0
cfg_device_list=<RT-AC86U>192.168.1.1>D4:5D:64:0D:6A:08>1
cfg_fwstatus=7
cfg_group=5FAA0AC7763855A7C562C78E32A5EB91
cfg_master=1
cfg_maxlevel=0
cfg_obstatus=1
cfg_recount=0
cfg_rejoin=0
cfg_relist=
cfg_upgrade=1
cfg_wifi_quality=-65
ATrouter1x@RT-AC68U-C600:/tmp/home/root#

Appreciate your advice... would a factory reset resolve this issue?

 

[dave14305]

You're correct, dave14305 -- I did move from Asus stock to Merlin 304.19 without a factory reset!

Here's the latest SSH output:

ASUSWRT-Merlin RT-AC86U 384.19_0 Fri Aug 14 19:19:51 UTC 2020
ATrouter1x@RT-AC68U-C600:/tmp/home/root# nvram show 2>/dev/null | grep ^cfg_
cfg_alias=Living Room
cfg_check=7
cfg_cost=0
cfg_device_list=<RT-AC86U>192.168.1.1>D4:5D:64:0D:6A:08>1
cfg_fwstatus=7
cfg_group=5FAA0AC7763855A7C562C78E32A5EB91
cfg_master=1
cfg_maxlevel=0
cfg_obstatus=1
cfg_recount=0
cfg_rejoin=0
cfg_relist=
cfg_upgrade=1
cfg_wifi_quality=-65
ATrouter1x@RT-AC68U-C600:/tmp/home/root#

Appreciate your advice... would a factory reset resolve this issue?

Run this and then upgrade to 386.1 and reset after the upgrade. Do it before @L&LD wakes up.

nvram set cfg_check=9
nvram unset cfg_upgrade
nvram commit

 

[Jeffrey Young]

Why? It's a read-only partition, so that extra unused flash wont do anything for you.

Good point - chuck it up to a Friday moment. Thanks

 

[Fred2u]

Run this and then upgrade to 386.1 and reset after the upgrade. Do it before @L&LD wakes up.

nvram set cfg_check=9
nvram unset cfg_upgrade
nvram commit

Wow!! Thank you, dave14305 -- that did it all's well... ready to upgrade, but not sure I can do it before L&LD wakes up (grin).

 

[dave14305]

You're correct, dave14305 -- I did move from Asus stock to Merlin 304.19 without a factory reset!

Here's the latest SSH output:

ASUSWRT-Merlin RT-AC86U 384.19_0 Fri Aug 14 19:19:51 UTC 2020
ATrouter1x@RT-AC68U-C600:/tmp/home/root# nvram show 2>/dev/null | grep ^cfg_
cfg_alias=Living Room
cfg_check=7
cfg_cost=0
cfg_device_list=<RT-AC86U>192.168.1.1>D4:5D:64:0D:6A:08>1
cfg_fwstatus=7
cfg_group=5FAA0AC7763855A7C562C78E32A5EB91
cfg_master=1
cfg_maxlevel=0
cfg_obstatus=1
cfg_recount=0
cfg_rejoin=0
cfg_relist=
cfg_upgrade=1
cfg_wifi_quality=-65
ATrouter1x@RT-AC68U-C600:/tmp/home/root#

Appreciate your advice... would a factory reset resolve this issue?

I'm also very confused by your command prompt showing RT-AC68U as the device hostname, but you say you have an RT-AC86U. Did you also restore a config from a 68U to an 86U? You will be in @L&LD's doghouse if you did.

 

[dave14305]

not sure I can do it before L&LD wakes up (grin).

Too late!

 

[L&LD]

Thanks for the good laugh gentlemen. lol...

@Fred2u the following link may be useful to stay out of the doghouse, er, I mean to get your router back to a good/known state where the router is using the expected defaults of the firmware installed on it.

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021