Firmware upgrade 388.3 to 388.4 for RT-AX88u Pro Not Taking

[OSSEOUS]

Single RT-AX88u Pro currently running Merlin 388.3.
Unable to go to 388.4. Manual firmware upload appears to work, indicates 100% complete. Both soft and hard reboot of router fails to load 388.4 and displays 388.3 as the current firmware.
Tried rebooting prior to upgrade to free memory, but same result.
Thanks for any help

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @OSSEOUS.

Verify that you are downloading the RT-AX88U PRO firmware and not the older RT-AX88U firmware.

You may also want to download, extract, and compare the hash of the firmware before trying to flash it.

If the above is still giving the same results after verifying the file you're trying to flash and also verifying the download isn't corrupted, try to pull the power plug from both the router and the AC wall plug and wait a minute or two before powering it back up again and flashing with the verified files you've downloaded.

 

[OSSEOUS]

Thank you for your prompt reply.
I have the correct 388.4 file for my RT-AX88u Pro and the checksum is correct.
Powered off the router for a few minutes, powered it on, and uploaded the 388.4 file, same result occurred.
The upload was 100% complete and UI brought me back to the login screen. After logging in, the firmware remains 388.3

 

[JGrana]

Do you have anything plugged into the single USB port? Running any Addons?

 

[OSSEOUS]

nothing in the USB port and no addons.
Strange because I went from the stock ASUS firmware to 388.3 without an issue a few months ago.

 

[OSSEOUS]

fwiw, I have had 2 different results/messages in my attempts to upgrade to 388.4:
One is that the UI screen brings me back to a login screen shortly following 100% completion of the upload.
The other result is that a message is displayed, following 100% completion, that says to do a manual restart of the router. Since there is no user interface from that message screen, I performed a cold reboot of the router.

 

[Diablo99]

Did You try Fully Reset Router and Network manual by L&LD?

Check this thread here > Merlin on ASUS ax86U Question post 9

ax88 packet loss

Hi, I recently upgraded to the ax88 router and have been having connectivity issues (laggy, jittery connections). i checked, and see anywhere from 20% to 50% packet loss, when measured with ping 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1 from multiple clients. this happens if client is connected to router via wifi...

www.snbforums.com

I did that & add a link to it

 

[OSSEOUS]

Did You try Fully Reset Router and Network manual by L&LD?

Check this thread here > Merlin on ASUS ax86U Question post 9

I did that.

I did not try a full reset.
Do not know what L&LD is.
I could not locate that thread.
Thanks

 

[Aiadi]

How about installing stock firmware and then back to the latest Merlin's?

 

[bennor]

I did not try a full reset.
Do not know what L&LD is.
I could not locate that thread.

L&LD is a user who made a post above. In their signature field is the following URL that you should see:
https://www.snbforums.com/members/l-ld.24423/#about

[Wireless Router] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset - Method 2

 

[OSSEOUS]

L&LD is a user who made a post above. In their signature field is the following URL that you should see:
https://www.snbforums.com/members/l-ld.24423/#about

[Wireless Router] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset - Method 2

 

[OSSEOUS]

Before a hard reset, I would try Aiadi's suggestion.
If I were to perform a reset and a successful upgrade, will my saved settings config file restore ALL my settings including reserved IPs, client names (over 100 of them), VPN settings, etc?
Thanks

 

[Squall Leonhart]

suggesting a full reset to resolve this is to show full ignorance to how the firmware update procedure actually works,

if the device is not updating, the firmware image is not for the hardware it is being applied to or it is failing Cyclic checks, given it matches the hash, this would indicate faulty nand, memory or the mini boot loader is corrupted for some reason.

 

[RMerlin]

suggesting a full reset to resolve this is to show full ignorance to how the firmware update procedure actually works,

if the device is not updating, the firmware image is not for the hardware it is being applied to or it is failing Cyclic checks, given it matches the hash, this would indicate faulty nand, memory or the mini boot loader is corrupted for some reason.

Or the browser isn't properly uploading the image. Some antivirus softwares have shown to be causing such issues in the past.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

Single RT-AX88u Pro currently running Merlin 388.3.
Unable to go to 388.4. Manual firmware upload appears to work, indicates 100% complete. Both soft and hard reboot of router fails to load 388.4 and displays 388.3 as the current firmware.
Tried rebooting prior to upgrade to free memory, but same result.
Thanks for any help

have you completely unmounted (and removed) any hard drives, and stopped any entware/custom scripts before trying to update your firmware?

cancel that,

I read your post here:

nothing in the USB port and no addons.
Strange because I went from the stock ASUS firmware to 388.3 without an issue a few months ago.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

nothing in the USB port and no addons.
Strange because I went from the stock ASUS firmware to 388.3 without an issue a few months ago.

Why don't you go back to stock, and try updating to 388.4?

 

[OSSEOUS]

Tried turning off anti-virus, firewall, VPN, and tried another browser without success.

 

[Lurkmaster]

Tried turning off anti-virus, firewall, VPN, and tried another browser without success.

Had the same issue (would not update) on a neighbor's device. The box from which the update attempt was being made was connected over wifi that had a weak signal. It was a laptop with no Ethernet port so I had him order a USB to Ethernet dongle. Once it arrived I hooked it up to his switch and retried the update and it succeeded on the first attempt.

 

[OSSEOUS]

Had the same issue (would not update) on a neighbor's device. The box from which the update attempt was being made was connected over wifi that had a weak signal. It was a laptop with no Ethernet port so I had him order a USB to Ethernet dongle. Once it arrived I hooked it up to his switch and retried the update and it succeeded on the first attempt.

Thanks, I tried an ethernet connection as well but the upgrade still did not take.

 

[Tech9]

When you see reboot manually message - wait another minute or two, the router will reboot itself. This message often comes before the router is ready.