Unless it`s a specific event that when it occurs ends up filling it up within a short period of time.
Release Asuswrt-Merlin 386.12_6 is now available for AC models
- Thread starter RMerlin
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Any other suggestions? Do I just have to let it crash again, and then hopefully the /tmp/ folder will show something? (Will it, considering that an automatic restart occurs?)
How to gather information about what really happened, if the logs don't show anything but what I posted earlier after the last crash? (they're in "debug" message log level, btw)
Remove any third party addons, and monitor through top.
All I can say is I have two routers here running multiple weeks with no sign of any memory leak.
I have a shell script that I've used in the past for diagnostics purposes to monitor & check scenarios leading to OOM crashes. The script takes a snapshot of RAM usage stats from a few sources and logs it into a file. When running as a cron job (e.g. logging every hour), it can provide clues about any RAM usage trends & show correlations that might point to the problem causing the OOM condition, especially if an unexpectedly large file is filling up the "tmpfs" filesystem.
If you're interested in trying it for your particular case, let me know and I can put it in my GitHub repository.
No scripts. I have "Enable JFFS custom scripts and configs" set to Disabled (Administration/system).
Here is a printout of top (not much load on the network atm. only internet use from 2 clients). Nothing looks out of the usual here?:
Thanks for the offer!
@RMerlin do you think this would be helpful in this case?
/tmp/ is rock stable around 2.6-2.9M every time I check, so my uneducated guess is that this is some sort of "flash-crash" event where something goes.... well, "heywire" very fast? Or how long does such an even usually take? Hence, I don't know if logging it every hour would be often enough?
Are there any other ways to catch and gather data from this memory leak event as it happens, that would gain further insight which can help diagnosis?
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If you use a high-capacity USB-attached drive for the logfile path, you can log the stats every 15 minutes, or whatever you think is appropriate for your case.
Not on routers, but I've diagnosed OOM crashes that have happened within hours of the initial event that leads to the crash. But if it happens faster than that on your router, perhaps logging every 10-15 minutes might work for you.
Just my 2 cents.
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Tomo
Regular Contributor
Are your temperatures ok? If you have the option, use another power supply.
In 5 years my ac86 with jffs, usb, script ( adguardhome ), imesh has not had any anomalous restarts, i only took care to fix the thermal pads with copper plates and i brought the temperatures back between 50-70 degrees, i think you have some hardware problem on your router.
Temperatures 2.4 GHz: 45°C - 5 GHz: 51°C - CPU: 74°C
CPU Load Average (1, 5, 15 mins) 3.39, 3.03, 2.96
I don't have the exact indoors temperature, but about 22°C (winter in Norway outside, heating by thermostat electric oven inside, so no wild swings to higher temperature).
This doesn't seem out of the ordinary from what I can remember from before when I have had stable firmware versions installed.
(btw. I upgraded to .11 again, because the same crashes after seeming stability for days (unlike .12) were happening with both).
With respect to power supply, are issues with these known to have caused memory leaks? I guess it could destabilize something and lead to it, but I think it would have happened more frequently, and not days and weeks between?
People have been drumming my ears full of that before when I had a hell of a time with intermittent connection drops and crashes, and it turned out to be a firmware issue. So I'm skeptical of such claims..
Tomo
Regular Contributor
if you are convinced that the problem is the firmware then mount on the original one and go backwards until you find the stability you are looking for, but I doubt you will find it, it seems clear to me that there is something wrong with the hardware, I repeat it is not has ever had a reboot, ever.
This makes a lot of sense! If @heywire believes that there was a magic past firmware that worked forever, it could be chased down by bi-section.
386.7_2 was a multi-month stretch without updates, so good to try that one first. Router temperatures seem OK, so a temperature related issue is probably not the first on the list.
As @bibikalka said above, 386.7_2 was one of the most stable versions (GPL 386_48966), so it's worth a try, @heywire .
Then stability issues started occurring with newer GPLs, as far as I can see:
386.9 - 386.11 (GPL 386_50757)
386.12+ (GPL 386_51997)
Then stability issues started occurring with newer GPLs, as far as I can see:
386.9 - 386.11 (GPL 386_50757)
386.12+ (GPL 386_51997)
The script "LogMemoryStats.sh" is available on GitHub:
Bash:
curl -kLSs --retry 3 --retry-delay 5 --retry-connrefused \
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Martinski4GitHub/CustomMiscUtils/master/Diags/LogMemoryStats.sh \
-o /jffs/scripts/LogMemoryStats.sh
chmod 755 /jffs/scripts/LogMemoryStats.shI'd recommend looking at the script file header for some brief comments/documentation I added for new users. Also, check the "CUSTOMIZABLE PARAMETERS SECTION" section below the script header. You might need to modify the directory path where the log file will be created to suit your own router setup:
Bash:
scriptLogDPath="/opt/var/log"For diagnostics purposes, here's a suggestion to run it as a cron job:
Bash:
cru a LogMemStats "*/20 * * * * /jffs/scripts/LogMemoryStats.sh"HTH
cebu99
Occasional Visitor
Is there a big security risk to using such an old firmware?
Yes, if there have been patches and likely there have been many.
learning_curve
Senior Member
Or, they did not, depending on your own Asus Router and the specific config you've applied to it.
I sold my AC-68U - C1 to a colleague, way back when it was running 386.7 (Merlin).
He's since regularly upgraded it and is now running it on 386-12_6 (Merlin) without ANY issues on his (quite simple, to be fair) home setup.
The usual caveat YMMV etc but it's very rarely, JUST the firmware, all on its own, that is the sole reason for people having stability issues.
Config (including choice of ISP and their config...) will usually be a factor too
What you are saying here defeats the whole purpose of it. If your colleague's config is one that doesn't bring the issues to light, then that's not evidence, just anecdotes.
For example, let's say your colleague restarts his AC68U every night. He will probably won't report anything of issue to you or us, for that matter. I hope you see my point.
learning_curve
Senior Member
Not really. I can only see semantics if I'm honest.
Your own post included the phrase; "...as far as I can see" which is quite speculative.
I had no issue with your post, other than it appeared to just be speculative, firmware, finger pointing.
The example I posted, was an AC68U running problem free on 386-12_6 (Merlin) that I have physically seen myself i.e. fact not speculation.
FWIW No he doesn't restart his AC68U every night and / or even regularly.
Why would he or should he, when it works perfectly well (for him) as it is?
Yes others will have problems with their AC68U / 386-12_6 (Merlin) hence the last two lines in my previous post.
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