Asuswrt-Merlin - custom build of the Asus RT-N66U firmware

[Jola]

OK, I have tried it out.

For the first time I can set up the 3G modem properly (ie correct settings, Primary WAN = USB), and it does accept the settings with the pin feature enabled.

However, the USB will not become active, so I cannot get internet at all. It does show the 3G modem, but will not use it. I tried both USB ports, as well as a number of modems (2xE372, E1820, E367, E1762), but nothing works.

Unfortunately I am going away for a few weeks starting tomorrow, and I have to get a few things done, so I have switched back to my old RT-N13U, at least that works.

I will have another look at this in July, but I do not have much confidence in being able to use the RT-N66U at all.

But many thanks for your efforts.

 

[tonydickinson]

RT-N66U - Merlin Build 3.0.0.3 130 Build 9

Thanks Merlin - this works fine for me and the No-IP prob is fixed - thank you.

One thing which bugs me with the Asus Routers (had same issue with RT-N56U) is their Manually Assigned Ip addresses - a function I use for most of the equipment that connects wirelessly and wired. We are only able to input the MAC Address and the IP Address which for me is a PIA when trouble shooting as there is no description field and I cannot remember that 00:1F:F3:03D:1D is my Airport Express that resides in the kitchen. I have to use an IP scanner to find out which one is which.

I think it is padvan that fixed this on The RT-N56U as a description would be very useful and save loads of time as I have 17 items on that list and I haven't a clue which on is what.

Perhaps Padvan would share his code....

 

[RMerlin]

I think it is padvan that fixed this on The RT-N56U as a description would be very useful and save loads of time as I have 17 items on that list and I haven't a clue which on is what.

Adding a description field is easy, however it would break complete compatibility with the original Asus firmwares as there is no provision for an additional field in the value stored in nvram. I would have to store that information separately - something I'd rather wait until the next firmware release from Asus, since it will require a good amount of code changes.

 

[RMerlin]

Asus published the firmware to the RT-AC66U, which is 3.0.0.4.140. Hopefully the sources will soon follow... I foresee more lack of sleep in my future.

 

[Harsh132]

I could be wrong of course, but we have to N56U was also a problem. MAC is seen as the name does not appear. Padavan did fix for this, an additional field is absolutely necessary. If I understand what it is talking.

 

[Kusuri]

Hello,

I've been trying to have LAN4 work as normal like LAN1, LAN2 or Wireless when using ISP Profile Manual in IPTV configurations, as my ISP only has Internet + VoIP, but even leaving VID and PRIO blank no devices are associated when connected to LAN4. They don't even appear in the router's client list...

I still don't know if this is normal for the official firmware or my router is defective, as no one has still confirmed/answered this for me, but would this custom build of the firmware allow me to fix that?

Thanks.

 

[RMerlin]

Hello,

I've been trying to have LAN4 work as normal like LAN1, LAN2 or Wireless when using ISP Profile Manual in IPTV configurations, as my ISP only has Internet + VoIP, but even leaving VID and PRIO blank no devices are associated when connected to LAN4. They don't even appear in the router's client list...

I still don't know if this is normal for the official firmware or my router is defective, as no one has still confirmed/answered this for me, but would this custom build of the firmware allow me to fix that?

Thanks.

I didn't change anything related to LAN interfaces.

 

[Gitsum]

Asus published the firmware to the RT-AC66U, which is 3.0.0.4.140. Hopefully the sources will soon follow... I foresee more lack of sleep in my future.

Alot of new firmwares from ASUS for other products lately. Wonder what the hold up is for updating the N66U?

 

[RMerlin]

Alot of new firmwares from ASUS for other products lately. Wonder what the hold up is for updating the N66U?

Only one single Asuswrt-based device was updated in the past 4-6 weeks - the RT-N53U. They were probably busy finalizing the RT-AC66U firmware (which is 3.0.0.4.140).

 

[cowst]

Hi, I just got a N66U and immediately installed the latest custom FW.
I still have to play around (I only tried on Ubuntu), but so far I noticed the following:

- if I keep the same SSID for 2.4 and 5Ghz, my laptop (the only 5Ghz device I have) will connect to the 2.4. It is 3m from the router, so it is not a range issue. And I don't know if I am supposed to see the network twice and select the 5Ghz.

- if I keep different SSID and connect to 5Ghz, I tried to stream with PSM to TV (3D 1080p, 1080p, dvdrip) and all of them stutter badly, the speed seems to be 4Mbit. Am I doing something wrong? (the same dvdrip was running fine with previous 2.4ghz router - dlink dir-300)

These might be noob things, I never had a dual band, and I don't know if these problems could be related to the FW at all, but I thought this is a good point to start.

 

[doc octopus]

Coverage and speed appear to have declined with the updates released after 3.0.0.3.112 (I refer to the beta).
I note that the version of Merlin (RM9) suffers from the same slowness and NVRAM is 32k, not 64k like the beta version 9.0.0.3.128

 

[zbeyuz]

Hi, can you let me know where I can download the beta version that you are referring to ?
I would like to give it a try.
Thanks in advance.

 

[RMerlin]

Hi, can you let me know where I can download the beta version that you are referring to ?
I would like to give it a try.
Thanks in advance.

Betatest is completed, 3.0.0.3.130.xxx has been released since.

 

[RMerlin]

Hi, I just got a N66U and immediately installed the latest custom FW.
I still have to play around (I only tried on Ubuntu), but so far I noticed the following:

- if I keep the same SSID for 2.4 and 5Ghz, my laptop (the only 5Ghz device I have) will connect to the 2.4. It is 3m from the router, so it is not a range issue. And I don't know if I am supposed to see the network twice and select the 5Ghz.

- if I keep different SSID and connect to 5Ghz, I tried to stream with PSM to TV (3D 1080p, 1080p, dvdrip) and all of them stutter badly, the speed seems to be 4Mbit. Am I doing something wrong? (the same dvdrip was running fine with previous 2.4ghz router - dlink dir-300)

These might be noob things, I never had a dual band, and I don't know if these problems could be related to the FW at all, but I thought this is a good point to start.

Those are all generic questions unrelated to this custom build.

For 2.4/5 GHz, some wireless adapters (like my Centrino 6230) have an option if you edit your device settings in Device Manager that lets you set a band preference. By default it's set to "no preference", so it can connect to either band. You have to set it to "Prefer 5 GHz" if you want to connect to it by default.

For the performance issue, all the usual caveats apply: make sure it's set to 40 MHz on the 5 GHz band, that you are using WPA2-AES for security and encryption, make sure you have the latest drivers installed for your wireless interface, etc...

 

[zbeyuz]

Coverage and speed appear to have declined with the updates released after 3.0.0.3.112 (I refer to the beta).
I note that the version of Merlin (RM9) suffers from the same slowness and NVRAM is 32k, not 64k like the beta version 9.0.0.3.128

Betatest is completed, 3.0.0.3.130.xxx has been released since.

Sorry, but I am talking about this beta version: 64k NVRAM - 9.0.0.3.128.

 

[AnthonyArmato]

Don't think NVRAM was fixed in 9.0.0.3.128. Not that I saw anyway.

 

[RMerlin]

Sorry, but I am talking about this beta version: 64k NVRAM - 9.0.0.3.128.

Then why ask in a thread about my custom builds - I have nothing to do with Asus's beta releases...

That beta is unusable anyway. They only half-fixed it, and that firmware is highly unstable.

 

[xrecar]

rmerlin- thanks for all the hard work! I've been trying out various builds to maximize my 5ghz streaming to wdtv and tablet. Network shares show instantly, media sever seems to update slowly, and sometimes even miss the second USB drive that is connected.

Would there be a reason why the signal seems to be better for me running .116 or now 9.0.0.3.128? I'm using wifi analyzer and wifi info apps from my hp touchpad and see about a -10 dBm difference between asus's and yours (from the same location). If I bump up the transmit power at all I see a noticeable drop across all firmwares. I've reinstalled back and forth 2x each to verify.

Anyways, thanks again for trying to get all the bugs out.

-x

PS - I think I do see nvram as 64 k with 9.0.0.3.128

00:00:07 kernel: _nvram_init: allocat header: 2280849408, size= 65536

 

[RMerlin]

rmerlin- thanks for all the hard work! I've been trying out various builds to maximize my 5ghz streaming to wdtv and tablet. Network shares show instantly, media sever seems to update slowly, and sometimes even miss the second USB drive that is connected.

Would there be a reason why the signal seems to be better for me running .116 or now 9.0.0.3.128? I'm using wifi analyzer and wifi info apps from my hp touchpad and see about a -10 dBm difference between asus's and yours (from the same location). If I bump up the transmit power at all I see a noticeable drop across all firmwares. I've reinstalled back and forth 2x each to verify.

Anyways, thanks again for trying to get all the bugs out.

-x

PS - I think I do see nvram as 64 k with 9.0.0.3.128

00:00:07 kernel: _nvram_init: allocat header: 2280849408, size= 65536

Don't see why performance would be different, as it's still the same driver in all of Asus's firmwares so far. Something is odd in general with this router's radios anyway - I'd sometimes see a quite clear difference in attenuation just by rebooting the router, despite using a fixed channel. I've also seen other people reporting that anything newer than 108 gives them worse performance (including 112, 116, and my 130-based builds). So, I think it's fairly random. Could be perhaps a side-effect of AiRadar, where performance can vary a lot between each reboot? Just a theory.

MiniDLNA is a fairly fragile DLNA server when it comes to scanning (I'm familiar with it since I also built the MiniDLNA app.bin for WDLXTV). A single corrupted media can crash its scanner, tho version 1.0.24 is much better than earlier versions. Considering the RT-N66U has 256 MB of RAM, I'm tempted to compile Mediatomb for it...

Build 9.0.0.128 indeed has a fix for nvram, however that fix is quite unstable. I know that a new firmware version is being tested by Asus at the moment, so I suspect the promised June release shouldn't be too far away now.

 

[xrecar]

Thanks for the tip on corrupted media. I gave it an hour and both drives are fully listed under media server now. Do you know if they have anything in there to idle the drives on inactivity, or do they constantly spin? I've been unplugging them at night hoping to save some of their life.

Yes I've noticed the signal difference on reboot as well.

Keep up the good work.