Firmware upgrade not working, upload of firmware is timing out

[austenpowers]

I'm trying to upgrade to the latest f/w (384.18_0), but each time I try to upload the new f/w it times out. I've gotten as close as 93% uploaded and then it died, though sometimes it times out after 5% (seems quite random). Any ideas how to avoid this problem? Can I SCP the f/w to some location on the router instead? Or can i change some setting to extend the upload timeout?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Router model?
Current firmware version?

Remove any attached USB devices and reboot before attempting the upgrade.

 

[austenpowers]

RT-AC86U running 384.17_0

 

[dosborne]

If the basic steps above don't work (reboot etc) then you could reset to defaults, reboot, and try again. Will mean reconfiguring by hand, but sounds like it may be a good idea.

You may want to try a wired connection while updating in case you are having connectivity drops.

 

[ColinTaylor]

The % indicator isn't showing upload progress. The actual upload only takes a few seconds. The % indicator is a fixed timer on the web page while it waits for router to apply the update and perform a reboot. In other words, the % indicator isn't showing you anything at all really.

 

[austenpowers]

The banner says "Uploading, x%", so i figured it was showing what it says it's showing. And i'm not sure about it being a fixed timer, because sometimes it runs for 10mins or so, and sometimes it only runs for 30 seconds, before the router goes into a reboot cycle. I've seen it quit as early as 5% and as late as 93%. It's random. Anyway, i guess i will have to try a wired connection... seems needless when you have a wireless router. I've never had any trouble like this with f/w updates in the past... very strange.

 

[Toink]

If everything else fails, try the Asus recovery mode by flashing to the stock firmware, and then flash to Merlin 384.18_0

 

[austenpowers]

Ok, so I've determined I have a flakey WiFi NIC in my PC. I did notice the signal bars fluctuating quite a bit recently, so this all makes sense. I managed to find an old USB WiFi adaptor stick and used it to connect wirelessly (to avoid running an ethernet cable) and I immediately got full bars. Then, I tried the f/w update again and it worked, first crack! The upload took about 30 seconds and then the router proceeded with the f/w update in a minute or two. All went very smoothly. I'm glad this is finally resolved. Thanks so much to all who chimed in to help... the more ideas the better, always.

And this explains the problems I was having in the recent weeks with the WebUI just dying on me and becoming unresponsive... thankfully, I had scmerlin installed so I could give the WebUI a kick from time to time. But it was still annoying... turns out this was likely due to the flakey WiFi NIC as well.

Cheers!