[Fork] Asuswrt-Merlin 374.43 LTS releases (Archive)

[john9527]

Anyone have any issues with Amazon FireStick not working on 5G after version 38E3.

On my AC68, I have one FireTV stick on 2.4GHz and one on 5GHz without problems.

But back to @ColinTaylor 's comment....I need to use the lower 5GHz channels since my NexusPlayer won't see any of the upper band channels (The FireStick could see the upper channels....don't have DFS channels in my region).

 

[john9527]

Upgraded RT-N16 37EA to 38E3 and JFFS has survived.

Appearances can be deceiving....even if by chance everything is now still OK, at some point you'll likely encounter a failure writing into JFFS. Still recommend that you save/reformat/restore.

 

[john9527]

Welcome back @john9527.

I had a question earlier about Stubby and adding watchdog support. Just in case you want to consider it for a future release.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/f...lts-releases-v38e3.18914/page-447#post-459889

Done for the next release....
1c443817e watchdog: check both stubby and dnsmasq in new combined dns_check

 

[sbailey4]

Try manually setting the 5GHz channel to 36. Some devices don't support DFS.

On my AC68, I have one FireTV stick on 2.4GHz and one on 5GHz without problems.

But back to @ColinTaylor 's comment....I need to use the lower 5GHz channels since my NexusPlayer won't see any of the upper band channels (The FireStick could see the upper channels....don't have DFS channels in my region).

Thanks guys, I have been on channel 36 for a while and it was working. I have used some of the upper channels too in the past with no issues (typically on Merlins branch up to 380.70.) Its been working fine until the update. Anyway I will research a bit further. Thanks for the input.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Thanks guys, I have been on channel 36 for a while and it was working. I have used some of the upper channels too in the past with no issues (typically on Merlins branch up to 380.70.) Its been working fine until the update. Anyway I will research a bit further. Thanks for the input.

I read that there was a firmware update for the FireTV a couple of days ago. Maybe it's related to that. Have you tried "forgetting" the network connection on the FireTV and recreating it?

 

[john9527]

Thanks guys, I have been on channel 36 for a while and it was working. I have used some of the upper channels too in the past with no issues

There was an AC66 fix in the latest level if you tried to enable the DFS channels (previously it either would not correctly set radar detection or possible cause a crash). If you have DFS enabled via setting the nvram var, try disabling it.

 

[sbailey4]

There was an AC66 fix in the latest level if you tried to enable the DFS channels (previously it either would not correctly set radar detection or possible cause a crash). If you have DFS enabled via setting the nvram var, try disabling it.

I saw that and thats why I wondered if v38 was maybe causing it even though I never enabled DFS. Also it finally got to where even 2.4g wasn't working quite right either. Turns out it I downgraded to v37 and the issue remained. So I decided to update the router back to v38 and restore the FireStick to factory default. It seems to have corrected the issue now! So most likely the update @ColinTaylor mentioned may have corrupted it and it just happened to be a timing issue when v38 was released. Thanks again to you both, especially you John for keeping this firmware alive for us older router users. (the older router not people )

 

[rtn66uftw]

Time for a fork release (no, I haven't abandoned it )...

Sorry for the length of time between releases, but I'm still 'upside down' with my father having some serious health problems. It was good to finally take some time for some 'fun' on the fork!
I haven't caught up with all the forum activity, so please forgive me if I missed something critical. Please repost with a fresh callout.

Thank you John! Sorry to hear about your father. Hope he's doing well now!

 

[Hankenstein]

Today went with some trepidation
from (RT-N66U_3.0.0.4_)374.43_2-11E1j9527.trx (May 2015)
to 374.43_2-38L3j9527.trx (28Feb 2019).

Seems fine, ie. much the same. Have nvram/jffs saved, but nothing requiring it has turned up so far.
Many thanks!

 

[john9527]

Today went with some trepidation
from (RT-N66U_3.0.0.4_)374.43_2-11E1j9527.trx (May 2015)
to 374.43_2-38L3j9527.trx (28Feb 2019).

Seems fine, ie. much the same. Have nvram/jffs saved, but nothing requiring it has turned up so far.
Many thanks!

That may be a record 'jump'!

I'd still recommend doing the jffs reformat to avoid problems in the future.

 

[bbunge]

Loaded up my two AC68Us today with the latest 38E3 release. Cloudflare set for DoT. Was surprised that the Cloudflare Help test page showed both DoT and DoH used. Latest Firefox browser used. Very pleased!

Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk

 

[v1rtu2004]

Hey ! I want to change my firmware to the most secure and it seems the latest official is from May 2018. Version 3.0.0.4.382.50470 for my AC66U . Does this fork here have a more up to date security fixes? Which Version do I need to install exactly 38 E3 or L3? I am kind of a noob , please be gentle

 

[ColinTaylor]

Hey ! I want to change my firmware to the most secure and it seems the latest official is from May 2018. Version 3.0.0.4.382.50470 for my AC66U . Does this fork here have a more up to date security fixes? Which Version do I need to install exactly 38 E3 or L3? I am kind of a noob , please be gentle

At the moment this firmware is more up to date with security fixes. Use the "E" version. What firmware version are you currently running?

 

[Gravityz]

@colin
will QOS also help with wifi dropouts.

i have a wifi camera which aparently sometimes does not get enough wifi bandwidth (something else is consuming the wifi bandwidth like another camera or an iphone streaming videos)

in this case i need to have dedicated bandwidth on wifi, not on regular throughput

 

[enimalx]

Thank you! Whereas I was previously getting 1 mbps 2 floors away with my RT-N66U and struggling to get 2.5 mbps on the same floor, now I'm getting a solid 10 mbps out of 40 mbps 2 floors away and the full 40 mbps throughout the same floor. Simply unbelievable what the stock firmware did to the range of the once called King of WiFi! I'm currently using the version L, I will test with the version E tonight or early in the next morning. I also haven't changed the Tx power value (I won't lie I'm scared of it affecting my personal health, especially because the router is right on my desk, next to me.).

 

[ColinTaylor]

@colin
will QOS also help with wifi dropouts.

i have a wifi camera which aparently sometimes does not get enough wifi bandwidth (something else is consuming the wifi bandwidth like another camera or an iphone streaming videos)

in this case i need to have dedicated bandwidth on wifi, not on regular throughput

It depends what you mean by "WiFi dropouts" and whether the camera is uploading to the internet. QOS can't directly effect local wireless communications.

 

[Hankenstein]

That may be a record 'jump'!

I'd still recommend doing the jffs reformat to avoid problems in the future.

Just to check, that means use the gui and
(1) under admin/system, check format jffs next boot. Reboot.
(2) When rebooted, check /jffs mounted. If not, sigh (it happens...), then reboot. (Or reflash the trx?)

Sorry to be annoying, but I'd like to understand a little. On my N66U, there are five divisions of
some weird flash memory chip: /dev/mtdblock[0-4]. On boot, they show up thus:

Creating 5 MTD partitions on "Physically mapped flash":
0x00000000-0x00040000 : "pmon" 0
0x00040000-0x01fe0000 : "linux" 1 (some boot code? The kernel?)
0x001758f4-0x01480000 : "rootfs" 2 (mounted on /, 100% full)
0x01fe0000-0x02000000 : "nvram" 3 (size 52195, 13341 left)
0x014e0000-0x01fe0000 : "jffs2" 4 (mounted on /jffs, 6% full)​

The purpose of formatting is (I guess!) to expand the nvram space? Or some more drastic reorg?
I appreciate this is a very nooby question, and would be delighted for *anyone* to tell me
a link that I could pore over to get enlightenment. I had a look in the git repository, to try to
find stuff about mtdblock.., but got lost.

 

[ColinTaylor]

(2) When rebooted, check /jffs mounted. If not, sigh (it happens...), then reboot.

Yes. I can't remember the exact circumstances but IIRC a second reboot is often required after the initial formatting.

The purpose of formatting is (I guess!) to expand the nvram space?

The 'nvram' partition doesn't change, but occasionally the 'jffs2' partition does. That's because (due to the limited amount of flash memory on the N66U) it's created out of the "left over" space in the linux partition between the end of the operating system and the beginning of nvram. If the operating system grows beyond a certain size the jffs partition must be shrunk (and therefore reformatted) to allow for it.

 

[Hankenstein]

Many thanks, @ColinTaylor, for the explanation/hint. Just the kind of thing I needed.

 

[john9527]

@Hankenstein
@ColinTaylor beat me to a response Thanks Colin