[Coming Soon] New version notification system

[sfx2000]

This thread was started specifically for that kind of feedback/discussions, so I welcome it.

Test builds were uploaded to Mediafire. In any case, you won't find much to "play with" as there's not much changes at this point.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/preview-asuswrt-merlin-380-64-test-builds.35914/

There's is also a "fake" alpha 3 beta on the update server, so people can test the Check button on the Update Firmware page. This won't trigger the notification icon at the top of the webui since it's a beta and not a release update.

Be careful not to go down a serious rat hole here...

Esp. with Asus tightening up their source, and what happens if they go down another path outside of the old Broadcom SDK?

Like I mentioned earlier, your efforts might be better place providing leadership on a couple of other more "Open" platforms, and fwiw, they would perhaps appreciate the effort...

 

[RMerlin]

Be careful not to go down a serious rat hole here...

Esp. with Asus tightening up their source, and what happens if they go down another path outside of the old Broadcom SDK?

I don't see what "rat hole" you are referring to here.

 

[RMerlin]

Just opted in for beta then checked for newer firmware and didn't find the "fake" alpha 3 beta, it says "The router's current firmware is the latest version."

Sorry, the alpha 3 update was only published for the RT-AC88U. I will publish it for the other models as well, it should become visible in the coming hours.

 

[RMerlin]

This spam filtering is getting out of hands, it's the third message I have to approve tonight in this thread God knows why.

Somebody please send the XenForo devs some documentation on Bayesian filtering. Even frigging games have implemented it in their in-game mail to block spam, rather than rely on useless keyword-based filter that block more legitimate posts than spam.

 

[sfx2000]

don't see what "rat hole" you are referring to here.

Things well beyond your control... there is going to be a point where it will be pretty tough to do anything with that code base, and perhaps it's for the better...

And the "rat hole" I refer to is not the code...

 

[bobiii]

Just loaded .64 beta 2. Worked flawlessly! Was able to check for update and saw the beta 3 description. This is on the RT-AC5300. Just to mention IPV6 working great!

 

[skeal]

Hi everyone,

I didn't have time to finalize it for 380.63, so it will finally appear in 380.64. An often requested feature: the addition of new version notification within the webui. The system will be mostly based on the same code Asus uses for their own notification system, with a few changes:

1) The check will be made against my own server, rather than against's Asus's server (obviously!)
2) It will notify you about new version, and will let you see the changelog (like with stock FW), however it will NOT allow you to automatically download and install. Instead, you will be pointed at the main download site. You will still need to download and flash like before. This is both for security and performance reasons (too many security variables involved in providing such a service, and I'm not willing to get into that kind of responsibility).
3) The option will be opt-out (while Asus's own is hardwired and cannot be disabled). I chose opt-out rather than opt-in because the goal is to help protect more casual users.
4) The ONLY information received on my server will be your IP address (which is for technical reasons - you will be connecting to a web server to download a manifest file, so the web server will know your IP, just as if you had visited with a web browser). I will have a privacy disclosure mumbo-jumbo published on the Wiki soon (it's written, just needs to be published), for people still worried about that sort of thing

Things that remain the same as with Asus:

1) Checks done automatically every 48 hours (with a few hours of variation to spread out the load)
2) Can manually initiate the check from the Firmware Upgrade page
3) Changelog will be shown after a check if a new FW is available
4) The notification area at the top of the page will show a flashing exclamation mark if an update is available
5) Both Release and Alpha/Beta versions will be looked for (you have to opt-in for Beta releases)


I will soon publish a few early alpha builds (like usual) with this new feature enabled, so to start doing load and reliability tests. I might publish a few "fake" new versions on the update server so to trigger notifications, to test out the whole system. I will start the usual [preview] thread at that time, however I'd like all feedback as well as discussions related to this specific feature to be located in this thread here, to better focus that specific area.

One feature I considered but decided against implementing at least for now was pointing you directly at the correct model on the download site. The reason I decided against this for now was for privacy reasons, as it would mean you would be disclosing your actual router model (currently, zero information is being sent) when connecting to the update server (which would redirect you to the download folder on Mediafire). I admit it might be a nice convenience however, and would also help me better figure out which models are most popular among users. Thoughts?

Note that the result of these tests and the gathered feedback will determine the final fate of this feature. If any major issue (such as server load) appears during that test, I might end up disabling that feature, and re-evaluate things out.

I'm posting this a bit early ahead of the release of the first test builds so people can begin discussing things (I already announced the new feature on Twitter a couple of days ago).

Thanks everyone!

 

[skeal]

I think you're changes are all good ideas.
I don't mind you knowing my ip or my model version.
Please continue your excellent work my router runs like a charm!

 

[stambeccuccio]

flashed:

Check

Result

Get Beta

Popup

 

[Tom Ames]

Getting the popup on both my router and access point.

 

[jack901]

works here but is checking every 48 worth it? seems like monthly would work.as most people who use custom fw know where to look to see if there are updates avail.
great idea tho and would be useful.
thanks

 

[jack901]

have to check include betas

Just opted in for beta then checked for newer firmware and didn't find the "fake" alpha 3 beta, it says "The router's current firmware is the latest version."

 

[thegeneralguy]

Is there any reason you don't upload binaries to the github releases? You could then use the github api to query for releases. There's no file limit right now

 

[stambeccuccio]

Me too it seems that an automatic firmware control every 2 days is too much. It could be just a monthly check or at most 1 every two weeks.
Furthermore at the moment (alpha 2), I do not see the option to enable/disable automatic firmware check

 

[RMerlin]

works here but is checking every 48 worth it? seems like monthly would work.as most people who use custom fw know where to look to see if there are updates avail.
great idea tho and would be useful.
thanks

Monthly is far too long apart. When a firmware is released with a security fix, it means there's suddenly a large spotlight on that security hole. People shouldn't wait more than a few days to upgrade.

 

[RMerlin]

Is there any reason you don't upload binaries to the github releases? You could then use the github api to query for releases. There's no file limit right now

Because Github has no way for me to allow providing 9 different builds for every release. It's only useful if the code builds only into one single binary.

 

[RMerlin]

Me too it seems that an automatic firmware control every 2 days is too much. It could be just a monthly check or at most 1 every two weeks.

Monthly is definitely far too long. One of the goals of this functionality is to ensure that routers get updated more frequently when an important security update is released.

Any specific reason why every two days would be a problem, considering it only transfers about 3-5 KB per attempts? 48 hours is the frequency Asus uses themselves.

Furthermore at the moment (alpha 2), I do not see the option to enable/disable automatic firmware check

The option is under Tools -> Other Settings for now. I cannot put it on the Firmware Upgrade page because that page wasn't designed to allow people to change settings - nothing gets written back to nvram since there's no Apply button on that page. And making it automatically apply when you change the radio button proved to be too problematic, so I gave up after experimenting with it a bit.

I might move it under System -> Administration to give it more visibility. I also still need to add it to the QIS process, so on first setup you will be asked if you want to disable it.

 

[RMerlin]

Later today, I will publish a fake "Release" to the server. Please confirm tonight if you see the flashing exclamation mark at the top of the router's webui after clicking on "Check".

 

[eddiez]

The type of router is not really 'personal information'. Even when combined with the IP address it does not disclose anything personal. Only when a backdoor or vulnerability is present this data can potentially be abused.

Nonetheless ... if you are really 'privacy driven': Make it opt-in. That can hardly lead to moaning users. Since parties like Google collect even more data just by using their search, the people objecting have already measures in place to prevent any detection anyway. And they would just not opt-in

 

[RMerlin]

The type of router is not really 'personal information'. Even when combined with the IP address it does not disclose anything personal. Only when a backdoor or vulnerability is present this data can potentially be abused.

Nonetheless ... if you are really 'privacy driven': Make it opt-in. That can hardly lead to moaning users. Since parties like Google collect even more data just by using their search, the people objecting have already measures in place to prevent any detection anyway. And they would just not opt-in

In a way, the "disclosure" of the router model would kinda be opt-in, as it would only occur if you clicked on the "Get Firmware" button on the release note popup.

Just to be clear, I totally agree with you guys - "disclosing" the router model is a non-issue really. But I've seen some people complain about it for other software projects, even when it was an opt-in feature, which was why I wanted to be cautious, and poll the community first for your feedback. At this point however, I'm considering making the button lead you to the correct model folder instead of just the general download page. I just need to do some low-level changes to be able to also handle different URLs based on whether it's a release, beta, or alpha release - the latter usually residing in a separate Test Builds for convenience. I don't want to go through the same amount of work involved with an "official" release every time I publish such early test builds.