Release Asuswrt-Merlin 386.5 GNUton's builds are now available

[GoNz0]

Tiny problem, AX5400 lights are on as a mesh node, they're turned off on the mesh page for the main router.
I couldn't care less personally, just a light green glow on top of my kitchen cabinet

 

[IAmImagined]

Thanks very much for your work to add support for the XT8. I hope it solves the issues I had with stock ASUS firmware, namely a) the frequent disconnection and/or degradation of IoT-devices, and b) the drop in 5GHz-2 backhaul bandwidth after a day or so from 160 to 80MHz. I just upgraded - all went smoothly - and I'll report back in a few days.

 

[Tech9]

the frequent disconnection

Unlikely. Asuswrt-Merlin AiMesh functions, all TrendMicro components and Wi-Fi drivers are identical to stock Asuswrt.

 

[IAmImagined]

Unlikely. Asuswrt-Merlin AiMesh functions, all TrendMicro components and Wi-Fi drivers are identical to stock Asuswrt.

ASUS fixed the IoT issues (well almost) in their latest beta, and it used to work in build 42095. I think the problems may have been related to an issue with routing and/or auto-blocking some types of traffic, and not AiMesh specifically. I don't think it was a WiFi driver issue because the devices remained connected, just unreachable. And I don't make use of the TrendMicro options.

 

[Tech9]

I understand, but Asuswrt-Merlin is mostly features added firmware. What you are interested in fixing has to come from Asuswrt base first.

 

[IAmImagined]

I understand, but Asuswrt-Merlin is mostly features added firmware. What you are interested in fixing has to come from Asuswrt base first.

It has been my experience in the past - many years of Asuswrt-Merlin running on my routers - that his firmware resolves many bugs and is more stable than the ASUS-base. I also understand that ASUS incorporates Merlin's bugfixes into their firmware. Anyway, we'll see... and I'm an optimist when in comes to Merlin

 

[Tech9]

Test it an see how it works for you. Support the developer to keep the project going.

 

[garysteel]

I'd Like to understand the naming convention for XT8 I thought was the AX660 but now we have RT-AX95Q. There must be logic here ps I have installed on my 2 XT8's and will feedback any oddities .

Thanks, I painfully had to put up witht he loss of my merlin 68U and use stock asus with xt8 until now. (Although its been so long i've lost track of what I loved about it

 

[IAmImagined]

I'd Like to understand the naming convention for XT8 I thought was the AX660 but now we have RT-AX95Q. There must be logic here ps I have installed on my 2 XT8's and will feedback any oddities .

Thanks, I painfully had to put up witht he loss of my merlin 68U and use stock asus with xt8 until now. (Although its been so long i've lost track of what I loved about it

As I understand it, the model was originally intended to be called the RT-AX95Q, then I think the Marketing department got ahold of it because they're more targeted towards high-end home users with taste for interior design, than gamers . The "AX6600" is more a label indicating wifi-protocol and total speed, than the model name.

 

[KingBravery]

As I understand it, the model was originally intended to be called the RT-AX95Q, then I think the Marketing department got ahold of it because they're more targeted towards high-end home users with taste for interior design, than gamers . The "AX6600" is more a label indicating wifi-protocol and total speed, than the model name.

the best explanation you have..

 

[jj351]

Cool thx. Now I just need a fork for my AX92Us.

 

[030basti]

Can someone share the difference between this fork and the standard asus firmware?

 

[IAmImagined]

Can someone share the difference between this fork and the standard asus firmware?

See the changelog(s) for the ASUS Merlin firmware - that's where all the differences are documented.
Roughly summarising: the differences are various bug fixes and feature enhancements; The basis is the same, and the interface is generally the same, with some improvements to information and settings for the enhancements.

 

[030basti]

Thanks for the swift reply. How has your experience with this firmware been so far?

 

[IAmImagined]

Thanks for the swift reply. How has your experience with this firmware been so far?

My experience with Merlin firmware in general has been excellent - rock-solid with extra features. I've used his firmware for years, and I've always preferred it on my ASUS-routers when it's available for a particular model. MUCH more reliable than stock ASUS firmware. I've been running it for a couple of days now on my pair of XT8 routers (in mesh with 5GHz-2 backhaul) and it's been very good - not a single problem so far.

 

[Dodgydrains]

My experience with Merlin firmware in general has been excellent - rock-solid with extra features. I've used his firmware for years, and I've always preferred it on my ASUS-routers when it's available for a particular model. MUCH more reliable than stock ASUS firmware. I've been running it for a couple of days now on my pair of XT8 routers (in mesh with 5GHz-2 backhaul) and it's been very good - not a single problem so far.

Did you have to add the node manually?

Can you see the PHY Rate in web UI?

Do you see this in the logs:

Apr 4 07:56:55 kernel: ^[[0;33;41m[ERROR archer] archer_mcast_activate,554: ADD_PORT: WLAN SSID has already been added: egress_port 7, current 0x0002, new 0x0002^[[0m

Apr 4 08:02:52 kernel: protocol 0000 is buggy, dev archer

 

[IAmImagined]

Did you have to add the node manually?

I did a 'dirty upgrade' directly from ASUS stock firmware, and the node was therefore already added. (I tend to try a dirty upgrade from stock to merlin first, it saves me a huge amount of configuration-work).

Can you see the PHY Rate in web UI?

I'm not sure where in the web UI you want me to look. In the Wireless Log, I see the stream info, for example for the node it's listed as "4 (ax) 160MHz".

Do you see this in the logs:

Apr 4 07:56:55 kernel: ^[[0;33;41m[ERROR archer] archer_mcast_activate,554: ADD_PORT: WLAN SSID has already been added: egress_port 7, current 0x0002, new 0x0002^[[0m

Apr 4 08:02:52 kernel: protocol 0000 is buggy, dev archer

No, I'm not seeing any unusual system log entries. Are you sure you're looking at log entries from after your upgrade to this firmware?

 

[Dodgydrains]

PHY Rate is shown under AiMesh - Network:

The log entries are all recent and after the upgrade:

May be normal but not sure.

I always factory reset after upgrade which is why I had to add the nodes. This process had to be done manually with ethernet cable. Looks like known bug?

AiMesh pairing works only with ethernet backhaul · Issue #145 · gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng

Firmware 386.4 Issue: AX routers: node scanning cannot detect any node AC rouers: node scanning works, but pairing fails. Progression bar goes fast. Currently AiMesh setup works only if the routers...

github.com

 

[IAmImagined]

PHY Rate is shown under AiMesh - Network:

View attachment 40621

The log entries are all recent and after the upgrade:

View attachment 40622

May be normal but not sure.

I always factory reset after upgrade which is why I had to add the nodes. This process had to be done manually with ethernet cable. Looks like known bug?

AiMesh pairing works only with ethernet backhaul · Issue #145 · gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng

Firmware 386.4 Issue: AX routers: node scanning cannot detect any node AC rouers: node scanning works, but pairing fails. Progression bar goes fast. Currently AiMesh setup works only if the routers...

github.com

PHY for the backhaul is indeed all listed as 0, however under Wireless Log it indicates 4 (ax) 160GHz with a rate around 2700Mbs up and down.

My log level was set to "info", but when I set the log level to "debug," I indeed get the "protocol 0000 is buggy" entries.

I will probably do a factory reset in a couple of days, but everything looks normal now, and it's running well, so I'll continue a bit of testing first, then reset when I commit to this firmware. I have a wireless backhaul, because in my situation, it's actually faster than a 1Gb wired connection (the cable is available, but I've disconnected it).

 

[bradbort]

So we should use the RT-AX95Q firmware file for the XT8?

I'm not seeing it on the Merlin site. Is it under stable releases or test builds?