Found bug in 384.12 on RT-AC86U

[Jordan Klein]

Hey RMerlin,

Been a huge fan of you and your firmware for the past several years on my old ASUS router and now new one.

I just updated to 384.12 and discovered a problem. I've been playing with the Time Machine support and can say that I'm thoroughly disappointed. Not with your firmware but with Apple and it in general. Never had it work consistently. Anywho, that's not the issue.

The issue I've run into is that I want to disable it and now the web UI throws an error dialog when I click the Apply button. It does this whether or not I've changed any settings. The message in the dialog is "Please enter a value between 0 to 3392." with only an Ok button or a Close button, depending on browser. But it won't accept the Apply button and make the change no matter what. So, I'm currently unable to disable it from the web UI. I suspect that if it were disabled and I tried to enable it, I'd end up with the same issue.

Please let me know if you need any more info from me.

Thanks!

 

[Jordan Klein]

Hey RMerlin,

Been a huge fan of you and your firmware for the past several years on my old ASUS router and now new one.

I just updated to 384.12 and discovered a problem. I've been playing with the Time Machine support and can say that I'm thoroughly disappointed. Not with your firmware but with Apple and it in general. Never had it work consistently. Anywho, that's not the issue.

The issue I've run into is that I want to disable it and now the web UI throws an error dialog when I click the Apply button. It does this whether or not I've changed any settings. The message in the dialog is "Please enter a value between 0 to 3392." with only an Ok button or a Close button, depending on browser. But it won't accept the Apply button and make the change no matter what. So, I'm currently unable to disable it from the web UI. I suspect that if it were disabled and I tried to enable it, I'd end up with the same issue.

Please let me know if you need any more info from me.

Thanks!

View attachment 18364

I found something else just now. It appears to be a bounds issue with the Volume Size field. I had it set to 3500 MB of a 4TB drive before and it was fine. But I think the 0-3392 meant that field was too large and that was why the error message was being displayed. It didn't state what the range was for so I didn't understand it.

Even when attempting to disable the Time Machine support, it was still looking at that field value and throwing the error. If I changed the number to something within that range, it allowed me to apply the changes.

Question. Is the 3392 MB limit intentional? The last firmware didn't have any issue with that value.

Thanks!

 

[L&LD]

Was this a dirty upgrade to 384.12_0?

When was the last time you reset the router? Maybe it's time to test?

From RMerlin's installation page:

https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/Installation

• If something looks weird, don't waste too much time: save your settings, reset to factory default, reconfigure the basics, and see if the issue is resolved. If not, you can always restore your saved settings and do some more advanced troubleshooting.
• It is not recommended to restore settings saved under a different firmware version. It might work, but there is no guarantee.

 

[Jordan Klein]

I'm not sure what you mean by a dirty upgrade. I had bought it only recently and started with 384.11_2. I upgraded and manually rebooted it the other day. Other than that issue, it's been behaving just fine.

I'll see about doing a reset on it later. That'll take some time.

Thanks.

 

[L&LD]

I'm not sure what you mean by a dirty upgrade. I had bought it only recently and started with 384.11_2. I upgraded and manually rebooted it the other day. Other than that issue, it's been behaving just fine.

I'll see about doing a reset on it later. That'll take some time.

Thanks.

A dirty upgrade is when you flash a much newer firmware (which 384.12 is) without doing a full reset on the router.

You may want to have a look at the link in my signature below for the M&M Config guide (M&M=minimal and manual).

If you're viewing this on a mobile phone and can't see the signature below, physically turn it to landscape mode and you should see it then.

 

[dave14305]

I found something else just now. It appears to be a bounds issue with the Volume Size field. I had it set to 3500 MB of a 4TB drive before and it was fine. But I think the 0-3392 meant that field was too large and that was why the error message was being displayed. It didn't state what the range was for so I didn't understand it.

Even when attempting to disable the Time Machine support, it was still looking at that field value and throwing the error. If I changed the number to something within that range, it allowed me to apply the changes.

Question. Is the 3392 MB limit intentional? The last firmware didn't have any issue with that value.

Thanks!

From your screenshot, the available space is only 3392 GB, so it’s based on the current free space on the drive. When you had more than 3500 GB free, that value was fine. Now, not-so-much.

 

[Grisu]

A dirty upgrade is when you flash a much newer firmware (which 384.12 is) without doing a full reset on the router.

NO, coming from 384.11_2 to 384.12 is NOT a dirty upgrade!

There is nothing between ...

 

[ppfoong]

The term Clean Flash and Dirty Flash actually originated from Android custom ROM.

Can refer to the link below for some explanation.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/sthr8/dirty_flashing_what_it_is_and_is_not_lets_set_the/

 

[L&LD]

The term Clean Flash and Dirty Flash actually originated from Android custom ROM.

Can refer to the link below for some explanation.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/sthr8/dirty_flashing_what_it_is_and_is_not_lets_set_the/

NO, coming from 384.11_2 to 384.12 is NOT a dirty upgrade!

There is nothing between ...

Yes, it is.

 

[Grisu]

An update is not a new installation of OS or firmware!

So all those updates are not dirty!
Upgrade to 386 may be called dirty in you terms, still not in mine.

You want all of us doing factory reset every time with completely new installation of OS and apps, that may be useful because of bad programming, but doesnt be the meaning of an update!

These are routers running Linux - not android!

 

[L&LD]

An update is not a new installation of OS or firmware!

So all those updates are not dirty!
Upgrade to 386 may be called dirty in you terms, still not in mine.

You want all of us doing factory reset every time with completely new installation of OS and apps, that may be useful because of bad programming, but doesnt be the meaning of an update!

These are routers running Linux - not android!

Not my definition. It's dirty because it is, as shown in the post above.

Nobody said anything about a factory reset either (needlessly), Linux is also not as robust as some think it is from my experience.

Particularly the changes between 384.11_2 to 384.12_0, it may as well be a new installation. Many changes, many fixes, and many more new options. And in my experience, even when those changes aren't listed as well as RMerlin lays them out for us, the underlying code (closed source blobs) changes enough that issues are still caused for at least some of us with our varied network environments and setups.

 

[Val D.]

Particularly the changes between 384.11_2 to 384.12_0, it may as well be a new installation.

Good thing is you are not a car mechanic. We'll see our engines replaced at every oil change.

This is what my backup file contains:

- Router access User and Password
- Router IP address
- SSID names
- WiFi channels
- Few options in WIFI Professional Disabled
- DHCP range
- DHCP reservations
- DNS settings
- DNS Filter settings
- DDNS settings
- Port Forwarding settings
- Traffic Analyzer file location
- Dual WAN settings

What exactly is not the same in those settings between 384.10 and 384.12, for example?

VPN, DoT, Scripts... anything mentioned in Merlin's or other developers change-logs is Default and I set it manually in 5min, in case I need it.

 

[L&LD]

Good thing is you are not a car mechanic. We'll see our engines replaced at every oil change.

This is what my backup file contains:

- Router access User and Password
- Router IP address
- SSID names
- WiFi channels
- Few options in WIFI Professional Disabled
- DHCP range
- DHCP reservations
- DNS settings
- DNS Filter settings
- DDNS settings
- Port Forwarding settings
- Traffic Analyzer file location
- Dual WAN settings

What exactly is not the same in those settings between 384.10 and 384.12, for example?

VPN, DoT, Scripts... anything mentioned in Merlin's or other developers change-logs is Default and I set it manually in 5min, in case I need it.

If I could do for my car what I can do with an Asus router, I wouldn't let another mechanic touch my car again.

For the changes you ask for, simply look in the changelogs. The changes are real (and internal processes and defaults have changed, whether listed or not).

 

[Val D.]

For the changes you ask for, simply look in the changelogs. The changes are real (and internal processes and defaults have changed, whether listed or not).

No changes in those fields as per change-logs. Backup file works perfectly every single time. Simple configuration firmware upgrades works perfectly every single time. I'm sorry, but your recommendations are more based on beliefs and fears and less on technical knowledge. Calm down a bit with your posts about constant restores and resets. You'll reach 10.000 post on SNB one day, don't worry. No need to post in every single thread same things over and over again, knowing or not what the thread is actually about.

 

[skeal]

This is what my backup file contains:

- Router access User and Password
- Router IP address
- SSID names
- WiFi channels
- Few options in WIFI Professional Disabled
- DHCP range
- DHCP reservations
- DNS settings
- DNS Filter settings
- DDNS settings
- Port Forwarding settings
- Traffic Analyzer file location
- Dual WAN settings

Having a backup with these settings saved is not going to break a newly updated router when uploaded. This is good advice and IMHO adding to the list of saved stuff, a change log of settings you change on your systems. A change log has helped me out of poor setting decisions a lot.

 

[Dantess]

Hello there. I can confirm that the new 384.12 software is not ok. After the upgrade (with general reset and so on!!), the router has no longer recognized the username and password provided by my ISP. I return, of course to 384.11.2!
...and by the way, I use windows 10 pro.

 

[thiggins]

Gentlemen, please stop the personal back and forth. L&LD is free to give advice. Others are free to take it or leave it. Locking thread.