Noob afraid to upgrade Merlin

[BGood]

I recently got a new router, RT-AC5300, and I went ahead and flashed to Merlin 380.69_2, figuring I had nothing to lose if things went wrong. Well, it all went just fine! But now I'm seeing there's a new version and I see: "It's generally recommended to do a factory default reset when coming from 380 to 384/NG."

So I did a screen capture of my settings, but I've also looked through a thread here about the new version. I have to say I'm a bit nervous about doing the upgrade. I'm concerned I'll overlook something or encounter an issue that I can't handle. Basically, I'm thinking I should wait a few weeks before trying it--maybe do more reading first.

So, is there any harm in waiting? Meaning, is what's fixed so important I should just install it now?

Thanks, everyone!

 

[gffmac]

Personally that's half the fun, its a risk tinkering with custom firmware for anything. But as long as you have reference to the settings you had and flash the new firmware then restore defaults and reconfigure from scratch it should be fine. Go for it!

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[scjr]

I agree with @gffmac and by what you posted, it appears you’re ready to upgrade. Flash, reset and input your saved settings. Enjoy your router.

 

[Sinner]

I recently got a new router, RT-AC5300, and I went ahead and flashed to Merlin 380.69_2, figuring I had nothing to lose if things went wrong. Well, it all went just fine! But now I'm seeing there's a new version and I see: "It's generally recommended to do a factory default reset when coming from 380 to 384/NG."

So I did a screen capture of my settings, but I've also looked through a thread here about the new version. I have to say I'm a bit nervous about doing the upgrade. I'm concerned I'll overlook something or encounter an issue that I can't handle. Basically, I'm thinking I should wait a few weeks before trying it--maybe do more reading first.

So, is there any harm in waiting? Meaning, is what's fixed so important I should just install it now?

Thanks, everyone!

I would totally. 384 has been great for reliability and performance on my 3100 which is basically same hardware without the extra 5g radio. Just do it properly.

-Update the firmware

-After it reboots initialize

-After it reboots give it 10min to settle and then unplug it for 30 secs

-after it boots up give it again a few min and then proceed to manually setting it back up and youll be fine

 

[ThanksForThis]

I recently got a new router, RT-AC5300, and I went ahead and flashed to Merlin 380.69_2, figuring I had nothing to lose if things went wrong. Well, it all went just fine! But now I'm seeing there's a new version and I see: "It's generally recommended to do a factory default reset when coming from 380 to 384/NG."

So I did a screen capture of my settings, but I've also looked through a thread here about the new version. I have to say I'm a bit nervous about doing the upgrade. I'm concerned I'll overlook something or encounter an issue that I can't handle. Basically, I'm thinking I should wait a few weeks before trying it--maybe do more reading first.

So, is there any harm in waiting? Meaning, is what's fixed so important I should just install it now?

Thanks, everyone!

Regarding an issue you can't handle:
Asus routers are virtually indestructible when it comes to firmware upgrade failures. The only way you can effectively 'brick' an Asus router is with an actual brick usually.
They have an emergency recovery option that makes recovering from what would be a complete disaster on other hardware a breeze.

 

[noworries]

I went tab by tab through the interface and took screenshots <alt-printscreen> of them all and pasted them into a Word document and keep it as my reconfiguration guide. As new screens or options appear in later firmware releases, I update those pages.

 

[jerry6]

Go for it , best to stay up to date . As long as you're on a release not alpha or beta you're good to go

 

[martinr]

.......
-After it reboots give it 10min to settle and then unplug it for 30 secs
-after it boots up give it again a few min and then proceed to manually setting it back up and youll be fine

You forgot to mention the oven temperature! Seriously, though, I’ve not done anything like that before. Are you simply playing safe or have you found it necessary to incoporate these rest/stabilisation periods?

 

[Treadler]

I recently got a new router, RT-AC5300, and I went ahead and flashed to Merlin 380.69_2, figuring I had nothing to lose if things went wrong. Well, it all went just fine! But now I'm seeing there's a new version and I see: "It's generally recommended to do a factory default reset when coming from 380 to 384/NG."

So I did a screen capture of my settings, but I've also looked through a thread here about the new version. I have to say I'm a bit nervous about doing the upgrade. I'm concerned I'll overlook something or encounter an issue that I can't handle. Basically, I'm thinking I should wait a few weeks before trying it--maybe do more reading first.

So, is there any harm in waiting? Meaning, is what's fixed so important I should just install it now?

Thanks, everyone!

Go for it!
It’s always a good idea to keep up to date with firmware, for security reasons, if nothing else.
Then:
Do a factory reset (or preferably, initialise if you have the option) & reconfigure your device manually. (Not from a saved file).
Have fun!

 

[Find the Door]

Regarding an issue you can't handle:
Asus routers are virtually indestructible when it comes to firmware upgrade failures. The only way you can effectively 'brick' an Asus router is with an actual brick usually.
They have an emergency recovery option that makes recovering from what would be a complete disaster on other hardware a breeze.

I disagree - I just bricked an RT-5300 this weekend by way of a bad DD WRT flash. It can happen, and your only option is serial at that point. Wouldn't boot to recovery mode for anything. Wouldn't even ping - she was a gonner otherwise.

Saved by way of a 2 years later Amazon exchange lol.

 

[Sinner]

You forgot to mention the oven temperature! Seriously, though, I’ve not done anything like that before. Are you simply playing safe or have you found it necessary to incoporate these rest/stabilisation periods?

The power cycles are possibly the most important part. Makes sure the memory and radios are clear of any previous settings before setting up new ones. Not doing this is i think is the cause of most peoples issues that flash back and forth between versions and have major issues with radios etc.

 

[kab]

OK. let's look at this another way: The router is still new(ish) for you, so just treat it like you did when it was brand new -- nothing to lose! What's really changed?

I tend to reflash and reprogram a new router 8-10 times, with several different ROMs, wander through all the options (and read up on any "surprises" I encounter) *before I replace my old router*, just to avoid getting the yips over an update. I learn far more from making mistakes and recovering than from just reading manuals and guides (though I do read everything I can find). I also always keep a couple of working spares, just in case.

I've also been known to pull a running disk out of a NAS, just to make sure it behaves as expected.

 

[BGood]

Just to follow up on my thread, I decided to postpone this upgrade until some extended-stay guests departed. I did this yesterday and it went pretty well, though I did learn one lesson. I didn't realize my screen captures cut off the bottom of every screen! So I had to guess at a few settings. Lesson learned.

 

[dlandiss]

I didn't realize my screen captures cut off the bottom of every screen!

I have found (Windows 10, Chrome browser) that if I hold down the {Control} key while scrolling the mouse button I can shrink the size of screen displays so that more information is visible. The "3-dot" menu at the top right of Chrome permits the same display size control. Sample attached.

 

[RMerlin]

Get Full Page Screen Capture for Chrome.

 

[58chev]

I would totally. 384 has been great for reliability and performance on my 3100 which is basically same hardware without the extra 5g radio. Just do it properly.

-Update the firmware

-After it reboots initialize

-After it reboots give it 10min to settle and then unplug it for 30 secs

-after it boots up give it again a few min and then proceed to manually setting it back up and youll be fine

I was in the same boat as @BGood , got my new ASUS router and hesitated to upgrade to Merlin after bricking a Linksys with DD-WRT but read that it's unheard of bricking an ASUS.

Only thing is I've never done any of the procedures mentioned prior to any upgrades. No resetting, no screens taken. Just hate the thought of having to reset all wireless devices and VPN clients back up.
I have yet to encounter any issues with any upgrade I installed.

 

[skeal]

It would not be a great idea to try out these alpha and beta builds without a visual backup like screen shots. When trying these non-stable builds you should very well expect to reset to defaults and manually configure. This happens all the time if you are here to test and explore solutions this is what we do. No problems can be resolved really without a reset to know that with nothing configured that the problem still exists. All this being said these are less than perfect builds they need testing. If you run extra scripts as a lot of us do take all this into consideration before flashing to work out a problem you haven't fully researched. For screen shots use @RMerlin 's suggestion.

Get Full Page Screen Capture for Chrome.

 

[dvohwinkel]

what about https://www.snbforums.com/threads/user-nvram-save-restore-utility-r26-2.19521/page-38#post-402438 ?

Which says it doesn't work but check out https://x3mtek.com/asuswrt-merlin-firmware-upgrade/

 

[skeal]

what about https://www.snbforums.com/threads/user-nvram-save-restore-utility-r26-2.19521/page-38#post-402438 ?

Which says it doesn't work but check out https://x3mtek.com/asuswrt-merlin-firmware-upgrade/

John's utility worked before the arrival of the 382 and 384 code base changes. It is not compatible with the settings in the NG versions. It is not advisable at all to rely on it. Screen shots again are the best.
EDIT: The blog you have posted is the best.
https://x3mtek.com/asuswrt-merlin-firmware-upgrade/

 

[dvohwinkel]

It's sad that John's util doesn't work because it was the "Bee's knees" ( https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Talk:bee's_knees ) of backup utils for Merlin..

https://x3mtek.com/asuswrt-merlin-firmware-upgrade/ is a good read on how to do a backup by hand today with the new 384 codebase.