[Dev] Asuswrt-Merlin 388.1 development

[DJones]

An RMerlin supported mini PC router would be so nice

lol maybe. But it’s kind of reinventing the wheel at that point since what makes Asuswrt-Merlin shine is the freedom to go further then what is stock supported. Any Linux machine can be a router and projects like pfsense or webmin already exist. I could maybe picture him making modules for these systems, but the freedom we get from asuswrt-Merlin already exists on Linux,

 

[Amiga]

I wouldn't spend over $200 on a router, I would spend it on a fanless mini PC instead.

Would that $200 CAD cap also apply to Apple products? ;-)

 

[DJones]

Lol well I get the sarcasm. Apple hell yeah let’s rock that one Ethernet port, and no expandability or driver support.

 

[RMerlin]

Would that $200 CAD cap also apply to Apple products? ;-)

My opinion has been the same for a very long time. Remember the Bawt faq?

 

[Tech9]

For $200 I see only low specs CPU, RAM-less and SSD-less fanless mini PCs.

 

[Ranger802004]

Assuming Entware has installed an updated $PATH, the gawk version should be found first. Its probably installed in /opt/bin or some other /opt location.
The Busybox awk is still around - likely in /bin

Interesting point - if a shell script author puts in full path (i.e. /bin/awk) the Entware version wont fix the problem. For many of my scripts I do indeed often use full path for commands. Not all (shame on me) and awk is one I likely wouldn’t since it’s usually somewhere in a long line of other commands and variables ;-)

Maybe we should just wait for Asus/RMerlin to fix it up.

Or just set the script to use system paths instead of optional binaries.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

For $200 I see only low specs CPU, RAM-less and SSD-less fanless mini PCs.

While it may be a low spec CPU, the important factor is that it is not a Broadcom ARM CPU.

 

[DJones]

For $200 I see only low specs CPU, RAM-less and SSD-less fanless mini PCs.

Probably wouldn’t be a X86_64 type cpu. Even though arm is getting better it’s still too weak. I wouldn’t use anything less then a X86_64 type cpu with at least 2-4 cores. And unless you really need that mini pc feel the used market for computers or servers would work wonders. Maybe avoid a 1U rack server as upgrading nics might be a pain in the butt if you need more then 1. My cringe with older hardware is cpu and bios vulnerabilities.

 

[jsbeddow]

For $200 I see only low specs CPU, RAM-less and SSD-less fanless mini PCs.

At the risk of derailing this thread, my apologies in advance: true, $200 won't go very far buying new equipment with any real CPU power (I've been studying these fanless mini-PCs for the last couple of days), but it will buy you quite a decent off-lease/business class SFF-PC in the used marketplace (think EBay). However, the mini fanless machines will likely use half the KwH of the larger machines, so it's all about tradeoffs and personal choices. It seems that if all you want to do is build is a basic pfSense firewall machine (without IDS/IPS), you could buy some of the better mini-fanless machines (with RAM and NVME drive) for ~$300-$350. Add-in enough CPU power for IDS/IPS will up the ante $$ considerably.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

For $200 I see only low specs CPU, RAM-less and SSD-less fanless mini PCs.

This one is pretty decent. It has a CPU fan as well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09G6H64WM/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[RMerlin]

For $200 I see only low specs CPU, RAM-less and SSD-less fanless mini PCs.

I didn't mean that a $200 x86 PC would replace a $200 router. What I said is if I'm going to spend more than $200, then I would rather spend it on a PC, and get more out of it.

 

[RMerlin]

The GT-AXE16000 should be a bit less constrained now.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

The GT-AXE16000 should be a bit less constrained now.

View attachment 44828

What was the issue that prompted the corrections?

 

[RMerlin]

What was the issue that prompted the corrections?

Close to 117 KB were already used out of 128 KB out of the box. And that was before the additional nvram settings for wireguard were added.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

Close to 117 KB were already used out of 128 KB out of the box. And that was before the additional nvram settings for wireguard were added.

That's crazy. What all did you do to resolve the issue?

 

[Slawek P]

UiDivstats & Skynet are both broken with 388 so far as I can see.

Yes looks this way, but overall pretty encouraging release - I have done a clean update on both AXX88Us

 

[Slawek P]

The Asus firewall works fine.
I updated the Skynet lists manually, it then advised nothing was blocked.

Same here

 

[Tech9]

then I would rather spend it on a PC, and get more out of it.

You are going to spend >$600 and end up with much faster, but also not as user friendly setup. As you said, not for everyone. Most folks around rely on your work behind on/off buttons in simple GUI.

 

[GHammer]

For $200 I see only low specs CPU, RAM-less and SSD-less fanless mini PCs.

I have this and it runs perfectly well. Never hits even 45C, handled my 600/20 cable connection without breaking a sweat. At the time I bought this, it was <USD 100.

[OpenWrt Wiki] FriendlyARM NanoPi R4S

openwrt.org

 

[Tech9]

This is weaker hardware than AX86U.