Solved DSL-AC68U running 384.17_0-gnuton1 AsusWRT-Merlin disconnections

[inakaya]

Hi All

Hopefully this is the right place to post...

My DSL-AC68U running 384.17_0-gnuton1/atmt (packages below) periodically disconnects from broadband. I recently started using the amtm reboot scheduler and this happened this morning when the router was automatically restarted to the schedule. Although it may not represent reality...the Network Map > Internet Status shows Disconnected but if I click though for the DSL details there appears to be a connection to my exchange??? (see picture).

View attachment 27678

If I soft/hard reboot the router it hasn't connected automatically so far but it does connect if I use QIS to re-enter my ISP/Login details so am wondering if my ISP connection/login are somehow getting forgotten?

Unfortunately as there is normally a need for someone in the household to get back online ASAP for all the usual reasons there hasn't been an opportunity to test further so far.

I had considered reverting to stock firmware and seeing if the problem re-occurs as that should indicate if it was a problem with the router or the firmware?

Anyone seen this before or that has any idea of how I might be able to resolve this? I'm not sure what level of logging or what I'm even looking for in the logs so any advice about this or what else I should test would be more than welcome.

Regards
inakaya

atmt (Diversion v4.1.12; Skynet v7.2.2; YazFi v4.1.4; connmon v2.7.0; spdMerlin v3.6.1; uiDivStats v2.2.2)

 

[inakaya]

Not sure why the screenshot didn't attach first time....

 

[L&LD]

In the WAN section, do you have Auto DNS enabled? If so, test using Manual DNS settings (I use 1.0.0.1 and 1.1.1.1, for example).

 

[inakaya]

It was set to Auto DNS and was pointing to my ISP Zen DNS servers have just reset to manual DNS and pointed to OpenDNS Family Shield.

L&LD can you elaborate on why you suggested manual instead of auto DNS please?

 

[L&LD]

Because that is what worked for many people about a year ago, including myself (still using it).

So, are you saying it is working now?

If not, don't use a filtered DNS, use a more open/public-facing one.

 

[inakaya]

Hi L&LD

I set to the IPs for OpenDNS filtered DNS (for the kids) and after a soft reboot the line had not connected again and I was about to give up and start QIS to re-enter my ISP settings and it reconnected so I'm hopeful the problem is resolved .

I'm interested to see if the connection is re-established the next time the router restarts on the amtm (thanks CT!) schedule and will continue to monitor in the meantime; if there are any more problems I will try non-filtered DNS as you suggest.

Thanks for your help and fingers crossed!

 

[ColinTaylor]

If the problem happens again look in the routers system log for clues as to the reason.

P.S. It's amtm not atmt.

 

[kernol]

It is highly unlikely, in my view, that the @GNUton firmware is causing your issue ... however it is possible that some remnants of the stock firmware you used prior to flashing 384.17_0-gnuton1 may be conflicting. For e.g. the latest Asus stock for the DSL-AC68U is on the new 386 branch with a lot of changes made to the DSL component of the firmware - so if you did a "dirty upgrade" from there to GNUton's offering ... it may cause issues.

If I have to fully rebuild any DSL-AC68U router/modems I start with flashing Asus Stock Version 3.0.0.4.384_81981 [the Rescue version if the normal one fails - see Asus Firmware support site] - then do minimal setup including all required DSL settings with login account details. This stock version is closest to the base upon which GNUton built his 384.17 Merlin version.

Once that is stable [10 minutes of running] - I dirty flash 384.17_0-gnuton1 and then go on to deploy all the Merlin Add-On magic [per my signature].

If you still having issues - the above may be worth a try - had never failed to give me a rock solid DSL-AC68U router.

 

[inakaya]

I think I spoke too soon as I had the opportunity to test with a hard reboot early this morning and the disconnect problem re-occurred. Checking the WAN > DNS settings it had lost the manual config and reset to connect the DNS Server automatically??? Reconfiguring to manual and re-entering OpenDNS server IPs resulted in a reconnection moments later.

@kernol - I don't think the GNUton firmware is the issue as I had flashed from stock firmware, before the new 386 branch was released, and set-up from scratch but I have to start from where I am. I was also probably conflating the auto reboot via amtm with the disconnect problem as I'm erring on the router being faulty given the above. Added to this I've also just noticed that in the Advanced Settings on the left the list stops at Network Tools and there is no Add-Ons (?) at the bottom to let me see speedtest and conmon data but I can see a Diversion tab in the LAN page.

(This DSL-AC68U I'm having the disconnect problem with was a replacement in April this year for a DSL-AC68U that had worked faultlessly since 2015 until it gave up.)

I think I should reflash, via recovery firmware, to Asus stock firmware, reconfigure and re-test as presumably Asus will not entertain a support ticket on non-standard firmware?

Any further advice as to whether this is the right course of action (or alternative actions) to resolve this issue would be very much appreciated.

 

[kernol]

I'm not sure what Asus' attitude would be to a RMerlin firmware router return - other's may comment on that [I've never had the misfortune of having to return an Asus].

However - I would certainly see my previous post about the way to do a rebuild back to stock first - and see how that goes for a few days - if it fails - you have your remedy - return to Asus. If it holds good - then try to reapply stable gnuton and format jffs partition and the USB drive. Slowly bring in the addons.

Good luck .

 

[GNUton]

Hi,
I am sad to hear you are facing these issues with your DSL-AC68U unit. I moved to a new appartment and I got a new DSL connection.
Here I have been fighting wih the DSL for one week, going also deep in the ppp protocol to get what was wrong.
So I know your pain. In my case in the end the problem was realated to the ISP.
Got a technician who canged some wires in the basement and it worked out.
It was an interesting problem btw becasue the modem was able to communicate to the DSLAM but it the connection was failing with a pppd "wrong password" error.
BTW in oder to understand what's wrong it would be nice to have a look at your logs.

 

[inakaya]

I did a sofware reboot this afternoon after I set the General Log > "Default message log level" to Debug and "Log only messages more urgent than" to All on the router which is still running 384.17_0-gnuton1. I'll reconfigure with stock firmware this Saturday and see if I can re-create the problem/raise a ticket with Asus and will update as that, hopefully progresses...

@GNUton - I'll post the logs I captured above when I've had chance to top and tail properly later. However in summary I got the disconnect status again but it looked connected in DSL Internet Status (as per screenshot above) but the WAN DNS server settings were still set manually to the OpenDNS servers. I left it as long as I could to see if it would re-connect but eventually had to use QIS to re-enter my ISP login settings and it reconnected within 30 seconds.

 

[inakaya]

So I sent the logs to GNUton on PM and there were errors with NTP and the disconnect was visible but with no directly discernable cause (@GNUton please correct if you think otherwise)

I then re-flashed with stock firmware (v3.0.0.4.386_39648) yesterday and the NTP erros have gone. I've also not been able to reproduce the disconnect error after auto, soft and hard rebooting this morning so will have to wait a while and see if it happens again, or if any settings like DNS reset.

I'll re-post if it does as well as save the syslog so I can raise a ticket with ASUS...

 

[GNUton]

NTP Errors were most probably due to entware or some misconfiguration. The rest of his problem from the logs could be something related to this https://www.snbforums.com/threads/ac68u-wan-disconnets-every-5-10min.16115/

 

[inakaya]

I'm also PPPoE so don't get the option in the WAN settings

Further to my post above I may have to downgrade the stock firmware to before the problems with AI Protection> Time Scheduling not working (I think v3.0.0.4.386_38287) as my son started complaining that his online games/discord are having problems now

However I will test if turning off Time Scheduling for his devices fixes the problem first... although I'd still need to downgrade as Time Scheduling is my go to last resort parenting tool

If I do downgrade can I just use the Administration - Firmware Upgrade > Manual Firmware Update or should I be using the Firmware Restoration Rescue application? Assume a reset and configuration re-entry would be sensible regardless.

EDIT - I think I found the answer regarding Downgrading Firmware although I may no longer need to since I've also just remembered to turn NAT Acceleration off for Time Scheduling to work properly

 

[inakaya]

I've had another disconnect on stock firmware (v3.0.0.4.386_39648) this afternoon @ just before 15:00 (So GNUton is off the hook ).

I tried QIS immediately but this didn't move on from Detecting Connection Type after entering the router admin username/password, so I cancelled this and soft rebooted via ASUSWRT (~line 102) which also did not connect, then hard rebooted (~line 704) which resulted in a connection. I checked WAN DNS, as this had changed previously, but it was set to manual and the OpenDNS server IPs were both still there...

Syslog pastebin'ned (linked) and would welcome any comments/advice in advance of me raising a ticket with ASUS

 

[bmn1]

Hello everyone these days I have upgraded my asus dsl-ac68u, I come from a previous firmware always by @ gnuton1, I have updated because I have to switch from adsl to fttc. however i can say that by updating the firmware and replacing the modem cable my line is more stable at the moment i am talking about ADSL, on 1 December 2020 i will switch to fttc and i will update you on the line.
PS: I chose @gnuton1 as the firmware because I've never had any problems, and i will continue to use its firmware.

 

[GNUton]

Ciao bmn1,
40 ms as ping seems quite high. So check if you can get something better by tweeking the settings of the DSL modem.
You can also check the quality of the DSL line from the info DSL page.

 

[bmn1]

Ciao bmn1,
40 ms as ping seems quite high. So check if you can get something better by tweeking the settings of the DSL modem.
You can also check the quality of the DSL line from the info DSL page.

Hi GNUton, thanks for the support, ping I have tried to improve it, but my skills are basic I have a PPoE connection.
The current state of my line is this:
[

 

[inakaya]

Raised the ticket with Asus and they have come back saying it looks like wireless interference? Which is a little bit surprising as its the connection to the internet that I beleive the problem is with and not any wireless devices.

I even hard reset the router at an opportune moment last week and after starting the problematic router reported Network MAP > Internet Status that the Network Cable was unplugged as per picture below; but it was connected. I tested with another spare DSL-AC68U router (also F/W 3.0.0.4.386_39648) and this connected successfully first time. I unplugged and replugged in the DSL cable from the wall telephone socket and tried with the problematic router again and it still would not connect with exactly the same error. I then reconnected my spare router and this connected immediately.

I can see this lasting a while; but I will try the modifications they suggest, changing band (to a uncongested channel although I'm already there), setting frequency to 20Mhz on both 2.4/5 wireless networks and moving my antennae around (no joke) to see whether this resolves the problem