MerlinAU MerlinAU v1.3.10 - The Ultimate Firmware Auto-Updater (GNUTON SUPPORT!)

[ExtremeFiretop]

Martinski and I reached a new milestone yesterday which was having my router flash to the latest firmware from the WebUI; no CLI/SSH needed.

Still no ETA; but progress is moving along and improvements are being made and bugs are being identified and fixed as we go!
Here is another preview below with no updates found:

And one with an update found:

 

[dave14305]

Every so often I go back and re-read the original thread with all the naysayers screaming what a bad idea this was. Good times!

 

[visortgw]

Every so often I go back and re-read the original thread with all the naysayers screaming what a bad idea this was. Good times!

I was skeptical at first, but I'm completely sold now. It saves me a lot of frustration when a router refuses to update manually for whatever reason. I have NEVER had one not update using MerlinAU! @ExtremeFiretop and @Martinski are the Dynamic Duo.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

Every so often I go back and re-read the original thread with all the naysayers screaming what a bad idea this was. Good times!

I just want to say that still to this day; I really appreciate having you @dave14305 along with all the others push me forwards in that thread.

Lots of hate in one place can be a lot for someone to take, being on the receiving end of that I try to keep that experience in mind when online for sure.

We are all emotional beings. I have ups and downs like everyone else, but having the positive vibes around give me the confidence to give it a shot.

And look were we are today! Just over a year later, it's amazing what can be done with the positive feedback.

 

[visortgw]

I just want to say that still to this day; I really appreciate having you @dave14305 along with all the others push me forwards in that thread.

Lots of hate in one place can be a lot for someone to take, being on the receiving end of that I try to keep that experience in mind when online for sure.

We are all emotional beings. I have ups and downs like everyone else, but having the positive vibes around give me the confidence to give it a shot.

And look were we are today! Just over a year later, it's amazing what can be done with the positive feedback.

And then there's @Martinski — just fixin' stuff in the background...

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

And then there's @Martinski — just fixin' stuff in the background...

Oh man, don't get me started on @Martinski ! Stuff would take me twice as long to implement if it wasn't for him! For sure. He's great. If I sell an idea to him, step back and watch out cause his keyboard is about to catch fire with how fast the guy codes!

I always say the more the better! More help, more ideas, more brain power! Martinski has a lot of it for sure, he catches bugs I don't even think about; or haven't even been found in the wild/reported all the time.

 

[vlord]

Martinski and I reached a new milestone yesterday which was having my router flash to the latest firmware from the WebUI; no CLI/SSH needed.

Still not ETA; but progress is moving along and improvements are being made and bugs are being identified and fixed as we go!
Here is another preview below with no updates found:

View attachment 63443

And one with an update found:

View attachment 63445

So the real question is when ya’ll going to throw this out there for some public beta testing?

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

So the real question is when ya’ll going to throw this out there for some public beta testing?

LOL

 

[nlurker]

Every so often I go back and re-read the original thread with all the naysayers screaming what a bad idea this was. Good times!

I admit that I was firmly in the naysayers camp back then. But since then, all of my stated concerns and problems with the process were addressed and improvements were promptly made. I never thought I would be happy with automated firmware updates, but here we are.

 

[RMerlin]

I admit that I was firmly in the naysayers camp back then. But since then, all of my stated concerns and problems with the process were addressed and improvements were promptly made.

Right. The original plan that involved directly writing to the partition could have led to many disasters, so it was important that these risks be pointed out, and addressed before an actual public product was released.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

Right. The original plan that involved directly writing to the partition could have led to many disasters, so it was important that these risks be pointed out, and addressed before an actual public product was released.

Your help in leading the way turned a simple question into a final product! That help will never be overlooked by me.

The original thread was seeking people with knowledge in the firmware and update process; and you immediately chimed in with valuable input and remained level headed about the topic while helping me understand the limitations of the original method.

I always understood why you didn't want to take on this responsibility (on top of the firmware!) it's still lots of work, but I'm happy you remained neutral to see the value in it (if I did it right) and helped lead the way!

You immediately pointed out concerns with writing to the partition that helped shape the method we use today. That method has been proven to be reliable to many people to this day.

That thread introduced me to many amazing people, from @thelonelycoder to @Martinski and too many other amazing people to count, the entire thing has been a learning experience and a fun journey at that! Looking forwards to new year of being apart of the SNB community!

All that to say, I thank you, for your assistance and for your guidance on the topic and for the amazing firmware you provide @RMerlin ; I'm sure we all do.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

Hi everyone,

Friendly note I wanted to get out earlier rather than later.
@Martinski and I are soon preparing to release the next production release.

This next production release will be version 1.3.10 and it will be required as a prerequisite to properly update to the expected 1.4.0 release with the WebUI.
We will give some time between 1.3.10 and 1.4.0 for everyone to get to 1.3.10 before hand, but just wanted to stress that 1.3.10 will be a prerequisite to getting the WebUI loaded in 1.4.0; and if you somehow skip 1.3.10 you will have issues with 1.4.0's WebUI.

With all that said, here is the next preview screenshot of the WebUI:

Once 1.3.10 is out in the wild/production, we will start beta testing 1.4.0 with the WebUI in the developer branch.
Thanks!

 

[AppleBag]

apologies if I missed it posted, lots of stuff to read in 5 pages, but MAU just recently ignored my build preference (rog) and flashed the non-rog build.

Above screenshot shows the notice I got saying it flashed it to the non-rog build (right), while my settings show that it's set to only flash rog build (left).

Also, in the notice to the right where is says the version previously installed, it also doesn't mention that it was the ROG build, which may either be just a cosmetic issue, or maybe a sign of something bugged under the hood in the code?

I've been very careful to avoid flashing non-rog builds only to see this happen, so while I'm not mad atcha, it's a bit frustrating.

 

[Tech9]

but MAU just recently ignored my build preference (rog)

There is no ROG build available.

Release - Asuswrt-Merlin 3004.388.8_4 is now available

Asuswrt-Merlin 3004.388.8_4 is now available for all Wifi 6 models. 3004.388.8_4 (17-Nov-2024) - CHANGED: VPN killswitch will now only be active if the VPN client itself is enabled. If you stop/start the client yourself over SSH, you need to also...

www.snbforums.com

Note: Only if available.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

apologies if I missed it posted, lots of stuff to read in 5 pages, but MAU just recently ignored my build preference (rog) and flashed the non-rog build.

View attachment 63979


Above screenshot shows the notice I got saying it flashed it to the non-rog build (right), while my settings show that it's set to only flash rog build (left).

Also, in the notice to the right where is says the version previously installed, it also doesn't mention that it was the ROG build, which may either be just a cosmetic issue, or maybe a sign of something bugged under the hood in the code?

I've been very careful to avoid flashing non-rog builds only to see this happen, so while I'm not mad atcha, it's a bit frustrating.

Hi @AppleBag

As @Tech9 reported, this is expected behavior if it's not available. Please read more from RMerlin here for the status of ROG builds currently: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/a...for-3-wifi-7-routers.90126/page-5#post-909548
In short they won't be around outside of 3004 it seems so we factored that in to the logic.

The option will be available to you to select because you have a "GT" model of router, but the current logic will ignore the build preference if it's not available.
As @Tech9 pointed out, it's actually a notice we put on the new upcoming WebUI "Note: only if available"

When I open the GT-AX6000 zip, there is no ROG build available:

So MerlinAU is working as designed in this case, it did preference the ROG build type, but if none is available, it only has one choice which is to update to you to the "pure" non-rog UI.

Thanks for being a user of MerlinAU!

 

[AppleBag]

Hi @AppleBag

As @Tech9 reported, this is expected behavior if it's not available. Please read more from RMerlin here for the status of ROG builds currently: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/a...for-3-wifi-7-routers.90126/page-5#post-909548
In short they won't be around outside of 3004 it seems so we factored that in to the logic.

The option will be available to you to select because you have a "GT" model of router, but the current logic will ignore the build preference if it's not available.
As @Tech9 pointed out, it's actually a notice we put on the new upcoming WebUI "Note: only if available"

When I open the GT-AX6000 zip, there is no ROG build available:

View attachment 63981

So MerlinAU is working as designed in this case, it did preference the ROG build type, but if none is available, it only has one choice which is to update to you to the "pure" non-rog UI.

Thanks for being a user of MerlinAU!

ok, I see. thank you for letting me know that Merlin bailed out on the ROG theme. I wasn't aware of that.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

MerlinAU 1.3.10 Released!

What's Changed/Fixed?:

As previously mentioned you must update to this version if you wish to have a smooth transition to the upcoming 1.4.0 release.

PR: [ #383 ] - Code Improvements for Downloads

• Just a couple of code changes in preparation for the future 1.4.0 release.
• (Thanks @Martinski4GitHub @Martinski)

PR: [ #385 ] - Minor Fix for Changelog Approval

• Just a minor fix in regards to resettings the approval status.
• (Thanks @Martinski4GitHub @Martinski)

PR: [ #405 ] - Improvements for Updating to 1.4.0 WebGUI Version

• Various code improvements and fine-tuning for updating to the latest 1.4.0 WebGUI version.
  The goal is to allow for a "smooth transition" from the previous 1.3.10 to the new 1.4.0 version with WebGUI support.
  The latest changes allow users to update to 1.4.0 using the 1.3.10 CLI menu option to update the script or via a direct SSH command:

/jffs/scripts/MerlinAU.sh forceupdate

• Fixed a long standing bug with "Toggle F/W Build Type" menu option
  A "buildtypechoice: parameter not set" error was found when using the CLI menu option to "Toggle F/W Build Type" and the user presses only the <ENTER> key.
• (Thanks @Martinski4GitHub @Martinski)

PR: [ #408 ] - Improved SHA256 Signature Extraction

• Code improvements for extracting SHA256 signatures.
• This is to resolve bug: [BUG] - SHA256 signature from extracted firmware file does not match the SHA256 signature from the website. #406 reported by @fpellicciotti
• (Thanks @Martinski4GitHub @Martinski)

As always, we highly recommend you update ASAP as this includes functional improvements and little bug fixes.

Significant Screenshots:

Thanks!