[Release] Asuswrt-Merlin 384.18 and 384.13_10 is now available

[Jaime Alvarez]

It sounds like the "stability" issue you are having is what alot of people have reported. The webui doesn't respond but the router itself still works fine. I recommend using a tool by the great @Jack Yaz called scmerlin. That script includes the ability to restart just the web browser (or other services it you need).

Edit: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/scmerlin-service-and-script-control-menu-for-asuswrt-merlin.56277/

Aha! This is what happened to me so I went back to 384.17...

 

[ozzed]

Finally got around to updating my 87U from 380.70, Did a factory reset and entered everything manually since it's such a big jump. I've been running it for a few days now. Big improvement in WiFi stability and performance over 380.70 and webui seems cleaner and smoother. The only issue I've had so far is that httpd sometimes hangs and I can't access the webui, but running "service restart_httpd" via SSH fixes it. I haven't been running it long enough to know if this is a frequent issue or if It's just occasional hickups. But I'm gonna have to live with it either way since this is (probably) the last release for the 87U. All in all I feel it's really solid and stable and worthy of being the swan song for the 87U.

 

[Maverick009]

When I just had the RT-AC3100 Router, I used Merlin WRT. I recently upgraded to the Asus GT-AX11000 Tri-Band Wireless Router, and like what it has to offer, but wish Merlin would create a special firmware for it like he has done for the RT series of routers. I cannot even seem to find any third party firmware that would work with the top of the line router I have. Not that I am complaining about the Asus firmware, but I do like options, plus ASUS seems to be slow with new releases especially on their flagship routers. Hoping Merlin will consider adding support for the GT-AX11000 please....

 

[MDM]

When I just had the RT-AC3100 Router, I used Merlin WRT. I recently upgraded to the Asus GT-AX11000 Tri-Band Wireless Router, and like what it has to offer, but wish Merlin would create a special firmware for it like he has done for the RT series of routers. I cannot even seem to find any third party firmware that would work with the top of the line router I have. Not that I am complaining about the Asus firmware, but I do like options, plus ASUS seems to be slow with new releases especially on their flagship routers. Hoping Merlin will consider adding support for the GT-AX11000 please....

No he wont, did you even look at the sticky post and on his site?

 

[faux123]

Had to revert to 384.17. Something changed drastically on how the wireless devices associated between .17 and .18. With .18 many of my wireless devices would bounce between auth to de-auth multiple times per minute and would eventually lead to a disconnected state even though the wireless signal was strong (due to too many auth/de-auth events). Not sure if this was part of the binary blob portion updated from Asus or the open source portion. I did full reset with .18 with default settings, still getting the same issue above.

 

[L&LD]

@faux123, what router are you talking about? What client devices? What steps, if any, did you take to debug this issue on your network?

 

[MDM]

Had to revert to 384.17. Something changed drastically on how the wireless devices associated between .17 and .18. With .18 many of my wireless devices would bounce between auth to de-auth multiple times per minute and would eventually lead to a disconnected state even though the wireless signal was strong (due to too many auth/de-auth events). Not sure if this was part of the binary blob portion updated from Asus or the open source portion. I did full reset with .18 with default settings, still getting the same issue above.

Did you also forget the network on the devices...?

 

[sdmf74]

Having recurring wifi issues since updating to 384.18 on my 86u & 68u.
I'm pretty sure I did a factory reset & I dont reload saved presets. I also redid my ssid's just in case. I'm having disconnects and slow wifi etc.
Anyone else having weird issues since updating to .18?

 

[routerbattles]

I'm having issues on 384.17 on my 86u. Just carried out a full factory reset and reinstalled scripts etc. Some devices do not connect without me rebooting the router. Happened to a couple of devices. I did not forget the network on my devices though and used the same ssid and passes... Is this not advisable?

 

[faux123]

@faux123, what router are you talking about? What client devices? What steps, if any, did you take to debug this issue on your network?

Sorry, should have given more details, I have RT-86U as main router with 2 RT-68U in a AiMesh configurations. Factory reset to all 3 routers on .18 and had constant auth/de-auth with many of my wireless devices (I have 42 wireless devices in my home). On .17 I still have auth/de-auth activities, just much less frequently in comparison with .18. Again not sure why .18's behavior changed in terms of frequency of auth/de-auth.

 

[faux123]

Having recurring wifi issues since updating to 384.18 on my 86u & 68u.
I'm pretty sure I did a factory reset & I dont reload saved presets. I also redid my ssid's just in case. I'm having disconnects and slow wifi etc.
Anyone else having weird issues since updating to .18?

Check your system log, you could be having the same issue I experienced where the wireless clients went thru rapid auth/de-auth multiple times per minute, I reverted to .17 (factory reset of course), my network has been stabilized since.

 

[MarkyPancake]

Having recurring wifi issues since updating to 384.18 on my 86u & 68u.

It's strange how we're getting different experiences with the same firmware and models. I've got an AC86U router and AC68U AiMesh node, the former dirty upgraded many times over the years and up to this point and the latter dirty upgraded from 384.17, and both are running solid on 384.18 with no wired or wireless issues and c. 20 concurrent devices regularly connected via Wi-Fi.

 

[Maverick009]

No he wont, did you even look at the sticky post and on his site?

Yes I saw his sticky and knew about it when I purchased the GT series router, but I can only hope and be wishful he may change his mind at some point. I purchased this router as it was the best AX series router available and the price was decent when I purchased from BestBuy. Only problem I did not expect was ASUS to be slower with the GT router firmware releases, and now with the pandemic, it is not helping any. I get that they may be higher quality builds when they release but since the chipset and 802.11AX in general is so new, the router firmware is still full of bugs and has not fully matured yet. I can only Hope Merlin may change stance, and/or DD-WRT or Tomato begin to build for the AX routers and can target the Asus GT-AX11000 soon or later.

 

[sdmf74]

It's strange how we're getting different experiences with the same firmware and models. I've got an AC86U router and AC68U AiMesh node, the former dirty upgraded many times over the years and up to this point and the latter dirty upgraded from 384.17, and both are running solid on 384.18 with no wired or wireless issues and c. 20 concurrent devices regularly connected via Wi-Fi.

Not all that strange as I have not isolated the cause as of yet

 

[MDM]

I purchased this router as it was the best AX series router available

This is the part where you were mislead by marketing and not facts.
GT series is "bragging rights" series, not that popular or mainstream (low sales) and always had slower support...

 

[ech]

It sounds like the "stability" issue you are having is what alot of people have reported. The webui doesn't respond but the router itself still works fine. I recommend using a tool by the great @Jack Yaz called scmerlin. That script includes the ability to restart just the web browser (or other services it you need).

Edit: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/scmerlin-service-and-script-control-menu-for-asuswrt-merlin.56277/

I've had occasional "stability" issues like this as well - where ssh works, but the webui won't respond. When logged in via ssh I find a lot of watchdog errors in the syslog and attempts to cp syslog files to jffs hanging (probably why the web server is hanging)... when I reboot from the ssh command line, it doesn't complete and requires hitting the power button to get things back up and running again.

This is on a 68u which I'd just done a full reset and restore of settings using nrsu. Hasn't happened again (uptime of 2 days now) but if it does I may try to see if the log timestamps line up with anything... I wonder if it's just something where jffs gets in a wonky state and requires a reboot (possibly a reformat) to clear things up.

 

[L&LD]

@Maverick009, RMerlin may change his stance (I can't speak for him), but everything points to the fact he won't.

If you want the best RMerlin supported router today, the RT-AX88U is the one to have.

 

[RMerlin]

Heads up - this lead will be locked down soon as it has served its purpose.

 

[Lotta Cox]

384.18_beta1
Uptime 25 days 18 hour(s) 18 minute(s) 25 seconds
Over 60 wireless devices. 10 wired
Logs clean in warning level
.18 final has minor difference from b1
Rock on RMerlin

 

[ech]

I've had occasional "stability" issues like this as well - where ssh works, but the webui won't respond. When logged in via ssh I find a lot of watchdog errors in the syslog and attempts to cp syslog files to jffs hanging (probably why the web server is hanging)... when I reboot from the ssh command line, it doesn't complete and requires hitting the power button to get things back up and running again.

This is on a 68u which I'd just done a full reset and restore of settings using nrsu. Hasn't happened again (uptime of 2 days now) but if it does I may try to see if the log timestamps line up with anything... I wonder if it's just something where jffs gets in a wonky state and requires a reboot (possibly a reformat) to clear things up.

Shouldn't have said anything - as this is happening to my router starting about an hour ago.

Looks like these are the processes getting wedged:

209 admin 5100 D nt_center
6685 admin 3472 D TrafficAnalyzer -e
7210 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs
7350 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs
7493 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs
7633 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs
7769 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs
7913 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs
8072 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs
8216 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs
8390 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs
8816 admin 1424 D cp /tmp/syslog.log /tmp/syslog.log-1 /jffs