AX58 - Merlin First-timer

[AxelBigDog]

Tried the latest merlin firmware upgrade on the AX58 (using the GUI firmware updater) and it continues to fail with the "unsuccessful" message. Running latest GA firmware, did a reboot. What am I missing? Sorry, been looking all through here and don't see this simple? answer. Thanks.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Tried the latest merlin firmware upgrade on the AX58 (using the GUI firmware updater) and it continues to fail with the "unsuccessful" message. Running latest GA firmware, did a reboot. What am I missing? Sorry, been looking all through here and don't see this simple? answer. Thanks.

Do a Factory Reset and flash .18 here: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AGY2taGX02nVmWA&id=CCE5625ED3599CE0!1427&cid=CCE5625ED3599CE0

 

[AxelBigDog]

I was attempting the latest in the "Release" bucket. This alpha is the way to go? Is this a known issue? And thanks!

 

[John Fitzgerald]

I was attempting the latest in the "Release" bucket. This alpha is the way to go? Is this a known issue? And thanks!

Yes, known issue, alpha is the way to go.

EDIT: You also need to do a "Factory Reset" after a successful flash from stock to merlin.

If you need to, download the rescue application from ASUS to flash the firmware.

https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1000814/

Version 2.1.0.2 2018/07/234.08 MBytes
ASUS Firmware Restoration version 2.1.0.2
OS support: Windows XP/7/8/8.1/10
Firmware Restoration is used on an ASUS Wireless Router that failed during its firmware upgrading process. It uploads the firmware that you specify.

NOTE: This is not a firmware upgrade utility and cannot be used on a working ASUS Wireless Router. Normal firmware upgrades must be done through the web interface.

2020/05/15 Downloaded DOWNLOAD
SHOW MORE DESCRIPTION

 

[AxelBigDog]

Thanks I will give it a shot. Curious how that release version even made it to "release" status. I also have it's clone of a different name, the AX-3000. I assume I'll use the same file?

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Thanks I will give it a shot. Curious how that release version even made it to "release" status. I also have it's clone of a different name, the AX-3000. I assume I'll use the same file?

Yes, AX58U and AX3000 same.

The AX line had a late release of updates that was not available when .17 was issued.
This is AX model specific.

Link above tells how to put the router into rescue mode. (Paper manual may also have the info, I have not looked at the manual.)

I had the hiccup and Factory Reset twice, didn't need to use rescue mode.

 

[AxelBigDog]

Works great thanks! Not to fork too much but quick Q: when you have two of these, with ethernet drops available at both ends (one being in router mode), what is the best mode for the secondary? Would you still use AIMesh or AccessPoint with all the same WiFi settings to extend?

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Works great thanks! Not to fork too much but quick Q: when you have two of these, with ethernet drops available at both ends (one being in router mode), what is the best mode for the secondary? Would you still use AIMesh or AccessPoint with all the same WiFi settings to extend?

Use the "AiMesh Mode", 1st choice.

 

[zackattack784]

Works great thanks! Not to fork too much but quick Q: when you have two of these, with ethernet drops available at both ends (one being in router mode), what is the best mode for the secondary? Would you still use AIMesh or AccessPoint with all the same WiFi settings to extend?

I tested both and ended up going the AP route. I had times when the 2.4 band would drop to less than 1 Mbps and I think it was largely due to wireless interference. Setting the second router up as an AP allows you to manually choose non overlapping channels. Not sure if that was my issue or not but it fixed my problem and the handoffs between router and AP were the same in mesh and AP mode. I have an AX88U as my main router and an AX58U as my AP as an FYI.

 

[AxelBigDog]

Ok, I put one AX58U in Router mode on my Frontier FiOS, the second one backhauled (in WAN port) on the other side of the house. Everything was working great...until this morning. Now iPhone 11 Pro won't connect to WiFi on the "Router" AX. If I walk to the back of the house (connecting to the AIMesh node), it works great. Walk back into the office, no dice. Keeps the signal, just no internet access. What have I done wrong?

 

[zackattack784]

Ok, I put one AX58U in Router mode on my Frontier FiOS, the second one backhauled (in WAN port) on the other side of the house. Everything was working great...until this morning. Now iPhone 11 Pro won't connect to WiFi on the "Router" AX. If I walk to the back of the house (connecting to the AIMesh node), it works great. Walk back into the office, no dice. Keeps the signal, just no internet access. What have I done wrong?

Same issue even after a router reboot?

 

[AxelBigDog]

Didn't want to try a reboot since it's my main router and kids are playing =). Should I expect to reboot this on a schedule? Is it a best practice to schedule reboot?

 

[zackattack784]

My AX58U is setup as an AP and an AX88U is my main router and I’ve never had a need to have a scheduled reboot. I’d reboot and see if it fixes it. If it does just see how long it runs without issue. If the problem reoccurs again and is fixed by a reboot, scheduling a weekly reboot wouldn’t be a bad idea.
You could also factory reset everything and reconfigure from scratch if the problem reoccurs but that’s more time consuming.

 

[AxelBigDog]

Reboot did fix it, though I'm wondering how often I will have to do this, grrr. I had AirPort Extreme for 7 years or so and never had to touch that thing once. I really hope rebooting is not the norm, especially after being ~$500 into this config...

 

[zackattack784]

Reboot did fix it, though I'm wondering how often I will have to do this, grrr. I had AirPort Extreme for 7 years or so and never had to touch that thing once. I really hope rebooting is not the norm, especially after being ~$500 into this config...

You can schedule a weekly reboot to take place in the middle of the night when everyone’s asleep if you need to go that route, but I’d just watch it and see if it reoccurs for now.

 

[GHammer]

Reboot did fix it, though I'm wondering how often I will have to do this, grrr. I had AirPort Extreme for 7 years or so and never had to touch that thing once. I really hope rebooting is not the norm, especially after being ~$500 into this config...

For my use, I have an AX58 as router and used my older 86U as a wired AP.
Why? Because I don't like/want all the wireless config/setting changes done by Aimesh. Plus, though it is certainly not secure at all, I have a need for the guest WiFi and it is not available on the nodes of Aimesh.

I've got a mix of Android, iPhone, Windows, IoT devices on WiFi here and so far, no issues.
If Aimesh screws up for you again, you might wish to try AP mode with the proper WiFi settings.

 

[gerardr]

Hi! I'm a new to Merlin-Asuswrt person as well, also with the RT-AX3000. I came with several questions, some of which might be addressed by the alpha 18 firmware, so I'll hold off until I test that. (I had seen the new open source drop on the Asus website, and was going to ask when it might get integrated.) I was also going to ask about _blog_emit errors in dmesg, running the 17 release, but I'll try 18 alpha first. But in searching for _blog_emit I found a closed thread where @JWoo asked about it and load averages. I found no answer about the load averages so I thought I'd contribute that here:

2) The CPU "load average" reported under Tools in the GUI and identically using command "top" shows a very odd result. The result BTW is the same on stock firmware so probably a kernel issue.

CPU Load Average (1, 5, 15 mins) 0.33, 0.45, 0.45

My immediate CPU load is 2 - 7% all the time as shown by "top" command CPU load. Never gets above 7% on any core.

My belief is that the immediate CPU load is correct and the CPU average is wrong in the Linux kernel. Not sure why as I have never seen this wrong before.

The issue here is that "load average" is a different measurement unit than "CPU utilization". The "load average" indicates, for the given time period, the average number of processes waiting for their active time slot. "CPU utilization" is a measure of the non-idle activity on a given processor or system. So, if there's usually less than 1 process waiting for an active timeslot, the load average is a fraction below 1.

I came from an OpenWRT environment, where I built my own working firmware, so I've been hacking around on this as well. It requires a different set of expectations, but is workable. Many thanks to @RMerlin for his efforts.