Solved I cannot upgrade Merlin on my RT-AC88U to 386.7_2

[Stick]

I am running Asus Merlin 386.7_beta2 and I downloaded 386.7_2 to upgrade.
However, the upgrade failed and reloaded the beta2 version.
How should I proceed?

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forum @Stick.

Do you have any USB devices plugged into the router? Safely remove them via the GUI, then physically remove them. Then reboot the router and try flashing again.

Be sure to check and double-check you've downloaded the correct firmware meant for your router. Download the file again and check the file hash to verify it hasn't become corrupted too.

You can also remove the USB drives as stated above, remove the power from the unit, and remove all Ethernet cables too (except the WAN and a single cable to Port 1, 2, 3, or 4 (only), to connect with your computer to do the flash with.

Leave the power off/unplugged (from the router, and the AC power plug that goes into the wall) for a couple of minutes. Then, plug in the WAN cable, plug in the Ethernet cable to Ports 1 to 4 and to your laptop, and finally plug in the power adaptor to the wall and into the router and boot it up.

Even now, you may need to try flashing the firmware a few times. If you've double-checked that you've got the correct file, just keep trying (it will work eventually).

Note that with your router, Ports 5-8 will often start to fail and make the router go wonky. Use only ports 1-4 and if needed, just buy an additional 5 or 8 Port switch to connect all the devices you need. Don't use Ports 5-8 at all afterward.

 

[RMerlin]

That message usually means you are trying to flash the wrong model, or you are trying to flash a much older version rather than a newer one - the firmware validation failed before writing to flash.

 

[L&LD]

No, I've seen that message too when trying to flash the correct firmware to the matched router.

 

[RMerlin]

No, I've seen that message too when trying to flash the correct firmware to the matched router.

Different message. This one didn`t say that flashing failed, it says that the firmware failed validation before beginning the flash.

 

[Stick]

Different message. This one didn`t say that flashing failed, it says that the firmware failed validation before beginning the flash.

I have checked the download several times. It is from the same Merlin download directory as previous successful firmware upgrades. I've re-downloaded it several times... always the same file details (the hash matches the one listed at https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/download).

I loaded 386.5 remotely (openVPN) ... but the connection didn't come back up, so I'll need to reboot it next week (it's about 80km away). Once I've got it up (on site), I'll try going from 386.5 to 386.7_2.
I'll also disconnect LAN and USB things in case this is a factor.

Thanks for your interest and suggestions.

 

[Stick]

I went on site to the RT-AC88U and power cycled. I then re-attempted to upgrade 386.5 to 386.7_2 but got the previous message (firmware failed validation).

I then disconnected all cables except the WAN cable and power cycled again. I was then able to successfully upgrade from 386.5 to 386.7_2 (no problems with validation). I then re-connected the LAN cables (five ports) and everything works as before including openVPN connection to other site

I had previously been able to update the RT-AC88U remotely (over the openVPN inter site) but now I wonder whether the problems are related to port 5 as suggested by L&LD:

Note that with your router, Ports 5-8 will often start to fail and make the router go wonky. Use only ports 1-4 and if needed, just buy an additional 5 or 8 Port switch to connect all the devices you need. Don't use Ports 5-8 at all afterward.

Anyhow, port 5 seems to be working now that the upgrade has gone through.