[Release] Asuswrt-Merlin 380.64_2 is now available

[RMerlin]

Asuswrt-Merlin 380.64_1 is now available for all supported models.

EDIT3 (6-Jan-2017): Published 380.64_1, which contains security fixes (some from Asus's GPL 4180, and additional ones from myself).

EDIT4 (8-Jan-2017): Published 380.64_2. Fixes a regression on the IPv6 client list (hostnames truncated to 3 characters), and a few more potential buffer overruns fixed in httpd.

The main change of this release is the addition of a scheduled check for the availability of a new firmware (in part similar to what Asus has for the stock firmware).

The highlights of this release:

• New firmware availability notification. When a new firmware is available for download, there will be a flashing icon at the top of the webui. Going to the Firmware Upgrade page will display a popup containing the changelog, and a button that will take you directly to the download folder for your router model. You must still manually download and flash your firmware - for security reasons, online flashing is not implemented. The automated check is run every two days, and you can also manually launch the check from the Firmware Upgrade page (you can also select to check for the availability of beta firmware versions). Finally, the automated check can be completely disabled, under Tools -> Other Settings (there's also a link to that setting on the Firmware Upgrade page).
• Component updates for OpenVPN, nano and curl.
• Tor will now route all TCP ports, not just 80/443.
• Improvements to the QoS Stats page: automatic refresh, and fixed the number rounding.
• Improvements to the IPTraffic charts: slices are now sorted, and the consolidated slices will always be the least active clients.
• Improvements to the webui performance - better cache handling, large static Javascript files are now cached.
• Download Master installers has been removed from the firmware image for models that still contained them. The latest packages are always downloaded from Asus' servers at DM's install time. This results in smaller firmware images for some models (for instance, the RT-AC88U firmware went from 44 MB to 33 MB)
• Security enhancements to the webui, to better protect against cross-site attacks (backport from Asus's 4164 GPL)
• Webui fixes specific to Firefox (popup linked to the App icon at the top now works, JS errors when accessing the client list under certain situations was fixed)
• Fixes to the .ovpn config file import (crash on invalid key/certs, misconfigured HMAC setting)

As usual, please review the Changelog for the complete list of changes.

Downloads are here.
Changelog is here.



What's next?
theMIROn (software developer who's involved with the WL500G firmware project, among other things) has ported Busybox 1.25.1 to Asuswrt. The code has already been merged into Asuswrt-Merlin and tested for a few days, without any issue. 380.65 will introduce the switch from 1.20.2 to 1.25.1. There will most likely be early test builds available so people can give these a thorough test run. Look for a separate thread announcing the availability of these test builds in the near future (once the 380.64 dust has settled down).

 

[RMerlin]

Curl is missing SSL (and various other features) on the RT-N66U and RT-AC66U for some reason. I'll take a look at it when I get back home tonight.

 

[nova]

If i install this on my RT3200 (im on 380.59 or there about at the moment) will i still be able to use my VPN with expressVPN? i read ASUS did something weird with closing their firmware off a bit in June/July and i dont want to install a new firmware if it will make me lose options etc.

regards,

 

[Paulm]

Thanks You Merlin Great firmware!!
I have an 87R and I also use a open vpn connection to Torguard for the whole network, when I select check for new firmware I receive can't connect to server error, if I disconnect the vpn it works. Not sure if this is a Torguard problem or not, also my IP with Torguard is a dedicated IP
Paul

 

[RMerlin]

I have an 87R and I also use a open vpn connection to Torguard for the whole network, when I select check for new firmware I receive can't connect to server error, if I disconnect the vpn it works. Not sure if this is a Torguard problem or not, also my IP with Torguard is a dedicated IP

Cloudflare probably blocks access to your tunnel provider's IP. I keep Cloudflare's security at a minimum, however they might still be blocking a few things.

If i install this on my RT3200 (im on 380.59 or there about at the moment) will i still be able to use my VPN with expressVPN? i read ASUS did something weird with closing their firmware off a bit in June/July and i dont want to install a new firmware if it will make me lose options etc.

I see no reason for expressVPN to stop working. You can also still downgrade using the firmware recovery mode.

 

[Paulm]

Thank You Sir.

 

[tomsk]

The entire contents of my AB-solution adblocking folder were removed after the update.... weird

Dec 17 02:33:26 RT-AC68U-4690 kernel: EXT2-fs (sda2): error: ext2_check_page: bad entry in directory #182897: : rec_len is smaller than minimal - offset=0, inode=0, rec_len=0, name_len=0
Dec 17 02:33:26 RT-AC68U-4690 kernel: EXT2-fs (sda2): error: ext2_readdir: bad page in #182897

Bad USB stick?

 

[RMerlin]

Fixed builds have been re-uploaded for the RT-AC66U and RT-N66U.

 

[bobiii]

Upgraded to 380.64 on my rt5300 and everything is working great. Including ipv6

 

[Falco]

EDITED 12/17/2016 (Now that I am more awake) ...

WOW! Cool!

I didn't have to reset NVRAM and recover, I was able to upgrade the router normally with the 380_64 Stable without issue which was not the case for beta in which I had to recover to 380_61. But I was able to upgrade from 380_61 to 64 Stable without issue. Maybe there was something in the beta code my router did not like?

I wonder if this will cause issues in the future?

Everything seems to be working great even the association between my Cisco 1811s and the RT-AC88U!

Thanks Merlin!

 

[MarkRH]

Put 380.64 on. I did have to uncheck the Get Beta Firmware box for the firmware Check to see 380.64. I restarted the browser and when I went back to the router, I did see the flashing yellow icon on the top, so that bit works. It then took me to the proper place to download the firmware. It found my USB thumb drive and traffic data remains intact.

Thanks for all your work!

 

[MarkRH]

Hmmm.. question. Just noticed this. Is the last 24-hour Traffic Monitor information stored in the "traffic history location" data file or is that only in RAM? My daily information remains intact after the firmware update but the last 24hour just shows since then. If that's just the way it work, I am fine with that.

 

[bigeyes0x0]

I'm having problem with nano and putty with terminal type any other vt100 I have tried. This does not happen on previous 380.63_2. This is the error

Error opening terminal: putty-256color.

xargs was removed as well. I use it in one of my scripts and I need to find other way.

 

[ChatmanR]

So far so good; DANKE!

 

[Beherit]

Once again, I get the same error when I try to update using the webUI as I've reported repeatedly ever since v380.63beta2, forcing me to use mtdwrite2 instead.

THIS time however, doing that BRICKED my RT-AC87U, which has never happened before! I used Rescue mode and the ASUS utility to flash an official ASUS firmware.

From then on, I could flash v380.64 using the webUI and restore my backuped settings.

 

[adrianis]

The "Get Beta Firmware" box can be marked/unmarked only on top 10% of the box. Chrome and Safari

 

[hellboy2]

Saw "new firmware" notification on 380.64_beta2 .. thought it was a mistake, because beta2 was only 1 day old. That feature definitely works as designed, and it is great!

Downloaded the stable release from mediafire, which took 1 minute today, where ysterday's beta2 took 14 minutes to download. After the update, the "new firmware" notification turned off, as expected.

All in all: A very good experience, and seems to work very well on my RT AC68u. Thank you!

 

[nova]

Cloudflare probably blocks access to your tunnel provider's IP. I keep Cloudflare's security at a minimum, however they might still be blocking a few things.



I see no reason for expressVPN to stop working. You can also still downgrade using the firmware recovery mode.

Thankyou Merlin, When i update do i have to reset the routers configurations or just literally update to this new firmware?

Edit: Flashed this and its working fine, i found my answers in the readme in the files. Thanks.

 

[Torulf]

Updated my RT-AC87U to 380.64 from 380.63_2 so far without issues.
Thanks RMerlin

 

[cowboy]

Updated my RT-AC87U, everything seems to be working fine.