Low NVRAM Asus RT-AC66U?

[n0ir]

Hi!

I recently noticed that my Asus RT-AC66U running Merlin 380.70 (installed following the installation guide carefully) sometimes erased my port forwarding rules. After some searching this seems to be related to low NVRAM. I checked under Tools -> Sysinfo and this seems true for my router; I'm currently using 65404/65536 bytes.

The wifi is turned off (running Unifi AP). I have about ~40 clients connected to the router. ~50 entries in the DHCP list. 5-10 blocked URL:s in the URL filter. I'm not running anything else AFAIK. Running reboot schedules twice a week.

I'm not very good with networks and routers are mostly a mystery. Is there something I could do? Shouldn't the Asus RT-AC66U handle the above? Thankful for all help!

 

[L&LD]

I would jump ship from that old firmware into the RMerlin fork by john9527's LTS release instead.

Flash john9527's firmware and then do a full M&M config (see my signature below) and pay particular attention to format the jffs at next boot too.

This should fix your issue and get you a more secure router too, in addition to not needing a biweekly reboot either.

 

[n0ir]

Can I check what CFW I'm running more specifically? I'm having a vague memory of installing a fork which promised better wifi range but I'm not sure. Is the john9527 firmware recent?

 

[L&LD]

Can I check what CFW I'm running more specifically? I'm having a vague memory of installing a fork which promised better wifi range but I'm not sure. Is the john9527 firmware recent?

In your first post, you stated you're running RMerlin 380.70. Is that not correct? That firmware was current on April 8, 2018. Today it is hopelessly out of date.

john9527's firmware is current as of March 5, 2019, for the RT-AC66U_3.0.0.4_374.43_2-38L4j9527 version.

 

[n0ir]

Under Administration -> Firmware Upgrade it states the FW is 380.70 (se below) but it also says that "the router's current firmware is the latest version" when I check it. That's why I thought the CFW version maybe was something else.

I'll reset the router anyhow and install the latest john9527's firmware!

 

[L&LD]

Under Administration -> Firmware Upgrade it states the FW is 380.70 (se below) but it also says that "the router's current firmware is the latest version" when I check it. That's why I thought the CFW version maybe was something else.

I'll reset the router anyhow and install the latest john9527's firmware!

View attachment 16580

It is the latest version of that branch. That has long been abandoned for the 384.XX branch now in the main RMerlin fork.

Don't forget to flash john9527's firmware first, then do a full M&M Config afterward.

 

[n0ir]

OK, that's cleared things up!

So first flash https://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-asuswrt-merlin-374-43-lts-releases-v38e4.18914/ using ASUS Firmware Restoration (becasue current CFW >380.60) and then https://www.snbforums.com/threads/n...l-and-manual-configuration.27115/#post-205573 ?

 

[n0ir]

Thank you! Flashed the new FW and did a full M&M config according to the instructions. After the install I now use 50395 / 65536 bytes (76% utilized).