Overclocking on Asuswrt-Merlin 378.56_2 (RT-AC68U and RT-N66U)

[kvic]

So whilst Kvic provided a command line method to tediously enter a script, his parting comment was

so clearly a single typo would require you to delete all of the invalid script and try again by tediously retyping every single character again (until you get it right)

What's so tedious? it's simple cut & paste...

my tongue-in-cheek comment that you will be at a serious disadvantage.

thank for the british style tongue-in-cheek. You're blowing this out of proportion.

Walk away from your keyboard. Get some fresh air, dude.

 

[Laylomo]

Be gentle first post on the topic - trying to overclock and need a little more guidance on where to look or what I've done wrong.

I've read through all the steps and guides, have installed 378.56_2 on my N66U without issues. Opened up SSH permissions through the control panel, used Putty to login and inserted the codes from command.

nvram set clkfreq=660,330,165
nvram commit
reboot

Once it reboots, logging into the router and going to http://192.168.1.1/Tools_Sysinfo.asp page - it still shows 600MHZ.

Purpose I'm trying to overclock it is to improve my Open Client VPN speeds (limited to about 10-11mbps now) on a solid 90mbps line.

Any support or help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[HeadBanger]

Thanks kvic, Martineau and hervon. I'll give it all another go tomorrow. I don't fancy the wrath of my family if I break something and there's no wifi tonight!!

And Martineau, you did help. I was just making comment on the way you deliver your help. Try to be a little nicer and not ridicule your 'pupils' in front of the whole class!

HB

 

[ASAT]

Need some brave souls to verify this. My router is RT-AC68U Asuswrt-Merlin 378.56_2. No scripts required for this overclocking method.

First, here is my router details:

echo $(nvram get buildno)_$(nvram get extendno)
378.56_2

nvram get model
RT-AC68U

nvram get boardtype
0x0646

nvram get bl_version
1.0.2.1

Next, I can only recommend this to be safe on my router and firmware version.

# verify that the CFE clkfreq is the factory default
nvram set asuscfe_dump=1 && dmesg | grep clkfreq
# clkfreq=800,666

# override the NVRAM clkfreq by doing this, or whatever you are comfortable overclocking to like "1000,800" or "1200,800", but no more than "1400,800"
nvram set asuscfeclkfreq=1400,800 && nvram commit

# see that the NVRAM clkfreq was also updated
nvram get clkfreq
# 1400,800

# verify that the CFE clkfreq did not change; it should not change
nvram set asuscfe_dump=1 && dmesg | grep clkfreq
# clkfreq=800,666

# either reboot or power cycle the router
reboot

# notice that the NVRAM clkfreq has reverted back to the CFE clkfreq, but wait...
nvram get clkfreq
# 800,666

# BogoMIPS shows that we are indeed overclocked to 1400MHz
cat /proc/cpuinfo

Processor       : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
processor       : 0
BogoMIPS        : 2798.38

processor       : 1
BogoMIPS        : 2798.38

Features        : swp half thumb fastmult edsp
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant     : 0x3
CPU part        : 0xc09
CPU revision    : 0

Hardware        : Northstar Prototype
Revision        : 0000
Serial          : 0000000000000000

Lastly, I will try to revert back to factory defaults by pressing the WPS button at power ON. However, I have not tried this yet.

 

[kvic]

# override the NVRAM clkfreq by doing this, or whatever you are comfortable overclocking to
nvram set asuscfeclkfreq=1400,800 && nvram commit

# see that the NVRAM clkfreq was also updated
nvram get clkfreq
# 1400,800

# verify that the CFE clkfreq did not change; it should not change
nvram set asuscfe_dump=1 && dmesg | grep clkfreq
# clkfreq=800,666

Are you saying that asuscfeclckfreq is the mother of clock values, and the Asus programmer who wrote the override function just re-writing clkfreq?

If so after he reads this, next release will be re-writting asuscfeclckfreq..lol

 

[RMerlin]

mkdir -p /jffs/scripts

echo "#!/bin/sh" > /jffs/scripts/services-stop
echo "nvram set clkfreq=1000,666" >> /jffs/scripts/services-stop
echo "nvram commit" >> /jffs/scripts/services-stop
chmod 755 /jffs/scripts/services-stop

cat /jffs/scripts/services-stop

Tip: look up "heredoc". Makes it easier when providing copy/paste instructions for creating a script.

 

[kvic]

Tip: look up "heredoc". Makes it easier when providing copy/paste instructions for creating a script.

Interesting stuff. Let me try next time.

A few days ago I just learned Here String!

 

[ASAT]

Are you saying that asuscfeclckfreq is the mother of clock values, and the Asus programmer who wrote the override function just re-writing clkfreq?

I think "asuscfeclkfreq" would be the father value. However, "asuscfeclkfreq" is not the real name. It seems to be the NVRAM default value for "clkfreq". The mother value is in the CFE, which we shouldn't change without an officially endorsed JTAG recovery method.

 

[FlyByWire]

Finally made it with WinSCP ant the link to the wiki! Thanks a lot to all of you for your help. My 68U is now running stable with 1000Mhz
What temperature level with be acceptable? I do have 79 C now. With the default 800 Mhz it has been 73 C.

FlyByWire

 

[RMerlin]

I've said it plenty of times already, but I feel this needs be repeated one last time:

Any tinkering with the CFE carries the risk of permanently bricking your router. Don't do it unless you have a VERY good reason to do so, and are willing to assume the risk.

ASAT's method *is* CFE-level tinkering, and therefore carries the risk of permanently bricking your router. Be aware of it before you attempt it.

Overclocking will give you next to zero benefit unless you need to reach higher speeds with OpenVPN, or you are forced to disable NAT acceleration and your ISP is providing you WAN speed that exceeds what your CPU can NAT.

Overclocking will NOT improve LAN or wireless performance.

 

[FlyByWire]

My aim to overclock is that I'm running OpenVPN client on a 200 Mbit line. If it doesn't speed up the download I will go back to the default as I do think that less temperature meens longer life for the CPU....

 

[ASAT]

/usr/sbin/openssl speed aes-256-cbc

Doing aes-256 cbc for 3s on 16 size blocks: 6291285 aes-256 cbc's in 3.00s
Doing aes-256 cbc for 3s on 64 size blocks: 1696029 aes-256 cbc's in 2.99s
Doing aes-256 cbc for 3s on 256 size blocks: 434940 aes-256 cbc's in 2.98s
Doing aes-256 cbc for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 111714 aes-256 cbc's in 3.00s
Doing aes-256 cbc for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 13867 aes-256 cbc's in 2.95s
OpenSSL 1.0.2d 9 Jul 2015
built on: reproducible build, date unspecified
options:bn(64,32) rc4(ptr,char) des(idx,cisc,16,long) aes(partial) idea(int) blowfish(ptr)
compiler: arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi-gcc -I. -I.. -I../include  -fPIC -DOPENSSL_PIC -DOPENSSL_THREADS -D_REENTRANT DDSO_DLFCN -DHAVE_DLFCN_H -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -O3 -Wall -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_MONT -DOPENSSL_BN_ASM_GF2m DSHA1_ASM -DSHA256_ASM -DSHA512_ASM -DAES_ASM -DBSAES_ASM -DGHASH_ASM
The 'numbers' are in 1000s of bytes per second processed.
type             16 bytes     64 bytes    256 bytes   1024 bytes   8192 bytes
aes-256 cbc      33553.52k    36302.96k    37363.97k    38131.71k    38507.95k

 

[FlyByWire]

Temperature is 85 C meanwhile. Is this normal when running at 1000 Mhz?

Thanks

FlyByWire

 

[ASAT]

Temperature is 85 C meanwhile. Is this normal when running at 1000 Mhz?

Even without overclocking I think you need additional cooling. Just direct a fan onto the back of the router.

cat /proc/dmu/temperature

CPU temperature : 57°C

EDIT: Ambient temperature : 19°C

 

[jim769]

Even without overclocking I think you need additional cooling. Just direct a fan onto the back of the router.

Yes just to give an example how poor Asus has there cooling of there routers. I have the 68U and a Netgear R-7000 both have almost the same hardware with the 7000 having a 1 ghz cpu the 68U 800 mhz cpu. The 68U runs at 78-80 C and the 7000 runs at 57-60 C for the cpu, you do the math the netgear runs much cooler with the same settings and requires no active cooling.

 

[GreGHM]

What exactly you are getting benefitial after overclocking cpu from 800 to 1000-1200 except these nice numbers? Where it works faster? Not using usb clients you will never see this, am i correct or wrong?

 

[kvic]

Not sure what's your computing history..and have experienced the heydays of PC going from 8086, 286, 386, 486 and pentium..

So imagine processing power for devices such as home routers at this moment in history parallel the PC history of that past time frame. Boost in MHz benefits every single way including wireless. Albeit for wireless, CPU power is not a decisive factor at all.

What exactly you are getting benefitial after overclocking cpu from 800 to 1000-1200 except these nice numbers? Where it works faster? Not using usb clients you will never see this, am i correct or wrong?

 

[GreGHM]

Thats fine. I'm 36 years old, so perfectly remember even 5" floppy discs.
But question is about router - if i have now connection router-client on 5Hz n only with 300 Mbt, and download speed is around 140-150 Mbt. (you can say about any other connections like that) - how 1200 GHz speed of cpu will improve this process? I'm not getting that.

 

[kvic]

I overclock to get fraction of a second faster response from WebUI...

 

[slvrscoobie]

Does anyone notice a speed increase when using an OpenVPN? my connections are kinda slow, but i dont think I want to mess with the CFE. Im currently on 1.0.2.3 with Firmware 78.56_2.
And my routers been ~80C for a long time, since it was basically stock i never worried about it.