Merlin not installed after flashing

[cyborg]

Hi guys,

I recently came across this firmware and though about giving it a try.
Says it should be really easy to install .. ok that's what I thought at least.

Info:
Router: Asus RT-N66U
Current Asus Firmware: 3.0.0.4.380_8120
Merlin Firmware I tried: 380.68_4

When I upload the firmware, it says successful, I pull the plug and restart it and voilá are presented again with the original Asus firmware. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[martinr]

Do you have anything, in the USB ports on the router, even just a 5V usb power take-off? If so, get rid whilst you flash.

 

[joegreat]

Do you have anything, in the USB ports on the router, even just a 5V usb power take-off? If so, get rid whilst you flash.

And reboot without USB devices attached - then flash - typically memory shortage is causing this. Of course re-check if you have downloaded the right version for your router N66U (not AC66U)...

In some rare cases you need to factory reset the router (Menu Administration - Restore/Save/Upload Setting - Factory default), then do a minimal config and flash then the new firmware - you can save the config with John's backup tool and restore it from USB after the update (and again factory reset with then new firmware).

 

[Ryansr]

Worked fine for me with the same router. I did however remove my USB disk from the router after I've installed the firmware and before I manually reset the router by using the reset button on the device. Moved from 378.56_2 to 380.68_4 and works great!

 

[cyborg]

Thanks for your help guys, it finally worked.
For everyone who is encountering the same problem.

What I tried before it worked:

- No USB attached anyway, so I tried to unplug the modem and NAS => no success
- I did a factory reset, minimal config, flashing again => no success
- Flashing 3 times in a row => no success

So what was the mistake? Seems the router needed more time to handle the new flashed firmware than expected. Normally, a few seconds to minutes after it said "Flash successful" I manually restarted the router.
Then I thought, maybe the router needs some more time and I waited around 10 minutes after it said the flash was successful and then I restarted it => success!

Thanks again guys, the firmware is really awesome!

 

[RMerlin]

The RT-N66U has fairly slow flash - give it up to 5 minutes for a flash procedure to complete.