Release [Fork] Asuswrt-Merlin 374 LTS release 46E8 (Superseded)

[absolution]

Hi John,

Thanks for this.

I did wonder about whether I'm just hitting the limit of the router but I believe I didn't see the same problems when using the merlin firmware.

I was also finding that, for example, loading websites on my laptop would take an incredibly long time when I'd already have a 4k stream running from my local server to my TV. The 4K video's bit rate was ~60Mbps so I figured the wireless 802 N router should be able to handle both things at the same time. Restarting the router would solve the problem (for a few hours).

By 'exact data', are there some logs I can extract from the router or were you asking for some more descriptions of the kind of things I'm seeing?
Basically, when I power on/boot up the router, I find that I am able to run multiple video streams from my local media server to our various devices (laptops/phones) and simultaneously browse the web. After about a day (sometimes less), I struggle to watch a single stream and browse the web at the same time. Restarting the router makes the problem go away. Sorry if this is still too vague...

One big thing I've tried today is formatting the JFFS partition (I'd missed that part from the instructions). So far today, everything seems to be pretty solid. Fingers crossed that this was the issue...

Unfortunately it looks like my system is still struggling a bit.

It felt like I was able to more consistently handle multiple HD streams without buffering but, towards the end of the day (5 mins ago), my system was unable to stream a single 4k video from my local media server (connected via ethernet to my rtn66u) to my TV (connected via wireless) without regular buffering. Restarting the router again resolved the problem.

One new clue is that, while my system is struggling to stream, I am unable to access the router via 192.168.1.1 (my webpage hangs). After restarting the router and attempting to stream again, I --am-- able to access router GUI while the stream is running (but the GUI is slow to load).
I don't know if this illuminates anything or not...
One other new clue: I've enabled ssh as I wanted to check `top` when the router was struggling. The ssh connection becomes unresponsive (I cannot make top update) when the stream is struggling. It's almost as if the 4k stream is overwhelming the router. Should streaming a 60Mbps movie do that to a rtn66u?

When the stream is struggling but top manages to update, it looks like ksoftirqd/0 is using up a lot of CPU time...

 

[walttheboss]

There is no 380.7, this must be 380.70.

Yes. Thanks. Great to see RMerlin here. Tons of respect.

John, thanks for your note. Will try the other two methods you mention and report back.

 

[jeff288]

Unfortunately it looks like my system is still struggling a bit.

I know this is a thing with PCs that when their PSU starts to fail, capacitors in particular, software can seem pretty flaky. Have you tried another power supply?

 

[absolution]

I know this is a thing with PCs that when their PSU starts to fail, capacitors in particular, software can seem pretty flaky. Have you tried another power supply?

I've not tried changing anything on the PC. What makes me think it isn't the PC is that restarting the router makes everything flow smoothly again.

I --think-- I've made some progress on this. Reformatting the JFFS partition did help with multiple streams being more stable. I think the 4k stream stability + router GUI access issue is actually related to how I've (recently) reconfigured my access to my media server.
So, background:
- Win10 PC running jellyfin server
- Same Win10 PC is running a caddy server with a reverse proxy (so I can use https access)
- The caddy server accepts requests from my DDNS address, registered using my rtn66u, and redirects them to the jellyfin server
- All of the media clients on my LAN use the DDNS address to access the jellyfin server
- My router uses NAT loopback when the requests originate from within the LAN

I --think-- the loopback was causing the problem. I've now tried to configure split DNS with my rtn66u as the DNS server and the 4K streaming problem seems to have resolved (I think).
I think the reason why I didn't notice this when I was running the Merlin fw was because my TV originally used the direct ip of my media server for access (I've only recently changed this to use the DDNS name+caddy). I don't think I've attempted to play these 4k files since I made that change...


I've now got a new challenge to overcome.
My media server and TV are both connected via ethernet to a switch. The switch connects to my router which is now using split DNS. I've temporarily connected my laptop to my router via ethernet.
Using nvidia gamestream/moonlight to stream from my media server (it doubles up as a gaming PC) to my laptop, I'm finding the game stream is pretty stuttery when I'm also streaming videos from my media server to my TV.

 

[jeff288]

I've not tried changing anything on the PC. What makes me think it isn't the PC is that restarting the router makes everything flow smoothly again.

Hah. I meant the power supply/charger on the router. I've heard this was an issue for someone before. After all, N66U has many years on it. Thankfully mine's still doing great.

 

[absolution]

Hah. I meant the power supply/charger on the router. I've heard this was an issue for someone before. After all, N66U has many years on it. Thankfully mine's still doing great.

haha I'm so sorry. I totally misunderstood what you were saying. In hindsight, it's obvious what you meant. Thanks for the suggestion.

It's starting to look like nat loopback with the 4k files was causing the sluggishness. Hopefully its still stable in the morning...

 

[ColinTaylor]

It's starting to look like nat loopback with the 4k files was causing the sluggishness. Hopefully its still stable in the morning...

Yes NAT loopback would be the reason for the high CPU usage and sluggish response. It was a bit confusing because you said you were streaming from your local file server. That said, in my experience the N66U runs out of steam at about 100Mbps so when you said you were streaming at 60Mbps that should have been OK.

Also make sure that you have hardware acceleration enabled to minimise the load on the CPU as much as possible.

 

[absolution]

Yes NAT loopback would be the reason for the high CPU usage and sluggish response. It was a bit confusing because you said you were streaming from your local file server. That said, in my experience the N66U runs out of steam at about 100Mbps so when you said you were streaming at 60Mbps that should have been OK.

Also make sure that you have hardware acceleration enabled to minimise the load on the CPU as much as possible.

Hi Colin,

Yeah sorry my initial details were vague and confusing.
I am streaming from my local media server but the requests go via DDNS to a local caddy server.

Yeah, I figured 60Mbps would have been OK as well...

I actually cannot find the HW acceleration setting. This thread( https://www.snbforums.com/threads/hw-acceleration-on-rt-n66u.9888/) said that HW acceleration is automatically enabled if per IP monitoring and QOS are disabled, which they both are in my case. So, am I good?

 

[ColinTaylor]

I actually cannot find the HW acceleration setting. This thread( https://www.snbforums.com/threads/hw-acceleration-on-rt-n66u.9888/) said that HW acceleration is automatically enabled if per IP monitoring and QOS are disabled, which they both are in my case. So, am I good?

Go to Tools > System Information > Network > HW acceleration to check its status.

 

[absolution]

Go to Tools > System Information > Network > HW acceleration to check its status.

Looks good. Thanks so much.

 

[nev39]

Can't download it from OneDrive. Some error occurs
Is there any other links for Gdrive or some other file hosting?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Some error occurs

Works for me. What is the exact release and model are you trying to download?

 

[nev39]

Works for me. What is the exact release and model are you trying to download?

I just click to download link in main post (https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ainhp1nBLzMJgXEJCQVqKPjosiia) and after ~20 seconds of loading it says something like oops, sorry and advised me to follow OneDrive for authentification.
I just remember that in Nov/Dec2020 i was able to check this releases but now it doesn't work for me.

 

[L&LD]

No issues here either.

Can you use a different browser, computer, MS account, etc. to download with? How about incognito/InPrivate mode?

 

[nev39]

Can you use a different browser, computer, MS account, etc. to download with? How about incognito/InPrivate mode?

I tried Firefox, Firefox in private mode, iexplore, edge. everywhere is this "something went wrong" and can't download it.
Regarding ms account - is it needed now? i don't have it and i clearly remember that few months ago in year 2020 I downloaded it without ms drive account. (have RT-AC66U_374.43_45ECj9527 downloaded)

 

[ColinTaylor]

I tried Firefox, Firefox in private mode, iexplore, edge. everywhere is this "something went wrong" and can't download it.
Regarding ms account - is it needed now? i don't have it and i clearly remember that few months ago in year 2020 I downloaded it without ms drive account. (have RT-AC66U_374.43_45ECj9527 downloaded)

You don't need a Microsoft account or anything special. Do you have any scripts on your router, like Skynet or Diversion, that might be blocking access to Microsoft sites (e.g. for telemetry)? Are you using a VPN or are outside the USA or EU?

 

[ekze]

Is there a way to use TOR / Onion with this firmware?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Is there a way to use TOR / Onion with this firmware?

This firmware doesn't specifically support Tor, but there are some Tor packages in Entware.

 

[nev39]

You don't need a Microsoft account or anything special. Do you have any scripts on your router, like Skynet or Diversion, that might be blocking access to Microsoft sites (e.g. for telemetry)? Are you using a VPN or are outside the USA or EU?

Yes, i'm from Russia.
I do not have VPN or any other addons (like skynet or diversion) on my router. Have blocked telemetry by WPD (wpd.app) application, but I have it for long period of time, and few months ago it was ok.
Any recomendations?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Yes, i'm from Russia.
I do not have VPN or any other addons (like skynet or diversion) on my router. Have blocked telemetry by WPD (wpd.app) application, but I have it for long period of time, and few months ago it was ok.
Any recomendations?

Have you tried using a different computer that doesn't have WPD (wpd.app) installed? Have you tried temporarily turning off WPD.