Happy 4th anniversary to us!

[RMerlin]

Through a pure bit of luck, I found out tonight that exactly 4 years ago, the first Asuswrt-Merlin firmware was released

Asus RT-N66U Modded Firmware - build 3.0.0.3.108.1 (4-April-2012)
=================================================================

About
-----
These builds of the RT-N66U (Rev B1) firmware are versions I have modified and
recompiled.  The list of changes (so far):

- Updated MiniDLNA from 1.0.21 to 1.0.24 (all Asus patches to the
  MiniDLNA sources were reapplied).
  MiniDLNA Changelog: http://sourceforge.net/projects/minidlna/files/minidlna/1.0.24/
- Added wol (wakeonlan command)


Usage
-----
Simply flash it like any regular update.


Notes
-----
The mods-xxx.tgz archive will contain the files that I added/modified.
In this case:
- minidlna 1.0.24 + Asus patches reapplied
- wol 0.7.1 + cross-compiling patch
- Modified router/Makefile that adds wol


Versioning
----------
To make it simple to determine which version you are running, I am simply
appending another digit to determine my build version.
For example, 3.0.0.3.108 becomes 3.0.0.3.108.1.


History
-------

3.0.0.3.112.1:
   - Unreleased (radvd is broken in this version)

3.0.0.3.108.1:
   - Initial release.

A few tidbits:

• The project didn't even have a name back then, as it was just a patch applied on top of the Asus GPL code. (one of the names I initially considered when came the time to name the project was "Tomato-Regrowth", as a lot of the initial work consisted in re-enabling Tomato features that had been removed by Asus).
• Version numbers were Asus's full GPL version, with a single digit added at the end to denote my own revision to their version
• Only the newly released RT-N66U was supported.
• Starting with version 3, a Github repo was setup here: https://github.com/shantanugoel/asus-rt-n66u-merlin/tree/merlin . I eventually setup my own Github repo, after I had grown comfortable enough with it (I was more used to SVN, from a past project I was involved in).

Things sure have evolved, 3945 git commits later

 

[mirage22]

Congratulations Eric!.. What you started was one of the best things that happened to Asus routers!

Love the security first approach you have taken!

 

[DanielCoffey]

My RT-N66U was the first router where I used your firmware too. I still have it boxed as a backup for my RT-AC87U (yes, yes - I know).

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks

(I replaced the original post - for some reason my edited version had ended up in a new, separate thread)

 

[RMerlin]

My RT-N66U was the first router where I used your firmware too. I still have it boxed as a backup for my RT-AC87U (yes, yes - I know).

I remember waiting for nearly a year after the initial announcement to get an RT-N66U (and it took even longer than expected, as Canadian availability only happened a few months after the US release). The specs were slightly below the original product announced (the SD slot was no longer an "official" feature even tho it was still there), but it was still the first "true high end home router" on the market back then. 32 MB of flash? We were used to struggling with getting DD-WRT to fit on those routers with only 4-8 MB of flash back then

I still have mine too, amongst my other development devices. Its cover is permanently unscrewed, as I would often use it to do debugging over its serial port. Now I rarely power it on anymore, its flash is much slower than all other models, making it less interesting as a development/testing platform. The RT-AC56U replaced it for that primary development purpose.

 

[oversim]

Congratulations!!!
An Asus RT-N66U was the first router where I used your firmware too. I'm still proud to use it on an AC87U!!

 

[Nullity]

Eric, your technical abilities are obviously valued, but I would like to thank you for your social skills. Sure, your firmware brought me here, but as a leader your constant willingness to share knowledge and help others is what kept me here.

Thanks!

 

[steelskinz]

Congrats Merlin !

 

[Skywalker]

Congratz! And thanks for all the work you put in to this!

 

[appleseed]

thank you for your social skills.

I would like to echo this..I'm continually amazed you never said "the heck with this sh--" when you read some of the replies/questions in threads. and then multiply that by twitter, other forums, fb, etc...I would not have the strength.

 

[martinr]

Eric, your technical abilities are obviously valued, but I would like to thank you for your social skills. Sure, your firmware brought me here, but as a leader your constant willingness to share knowledge and help others is what kept me here.

Thanks!

Absolutely right, And to quantify that, at 17.6k messages to the forum, it means Merlin is posting a quite incredible average of 12 a day.

I had no idea the project was so young. Many thanks.

 

[sfx2000]

Through a pure bit of luck, I found out tonight that exactly 4 years ago, the first Asuswrt-Merlin firmware was released

Congrats - it's a great milestone, and watching the evolution of both the firmware and the community have added great value.

Well done!

six

 

[nagle3092]

Congrats, hope to see your work around for another 4 great years!

 

[RMerlin]

Congrats - it's a great milestone, and watching the evolution of both the firmware and the community have added great value.

The community (the "us" in that post topic) is a major part of this whole project. Without it covering for me for the end-user support, I would never have been able to get where I am today.

 

[Quiller]

Congratulations Eric!! You're doing a great job and all the senior contributors are thanked as well. It makes my router run great. Keep up the good work.

 

[nubyOz]

Hi Eric,

May the Fourth (of April) be with you.

My first router was the RT-N66U, put your amazing firmware on shortly after I bought it and never looked back.
When asked I recommend ASUS routers because they are good but more importantly because they get great firmware thanks to you.

Congrats

 

[thelonelycoder]

I can savely say I would have to find another hobby if it weren't for you providing the basis for it.
Thank you, Eric.

 

[JohnOCFII]

Through a pure bit of luck, I found out tonight that exactly 4 years ago, the first Asuswrt-Merlin firmware was released

Things sure have evolved, 3945 git commits later

Congratulations! What a great contribution to the community. Thank You.

 

[shooter40sw]

Thanks Eric, I still have and don't plan to change my n66u and like you say it's one of the first high end router, thanks to you and many other people hear make it even better. And with the DSL where I live about 4mbit doesn't make much sense upgrading. Thanks!

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[sfx2000]

The community (the "us" in that post topic) is a major part of this whole project. Without it covering for me for the end-user support, I would never have been able to get where I am today.

Amen - and I think that Asus owes a fair amount of gratitude and appreciation - not only for your insightful bug analysis and fixes that they've merged back, but also to the you and the community for driving sales to Asus.

To the community - it's a friendly village for the most part (a couple of dark and dangerous alleys, but let's not talk about them). I've met a lot of really smart folks here, and I think I can speak for others - thanks to everyone for being part of this.