RT-AC68U - Issues and problem with upgrading firmware

[pathe915]

I have som problem with RT-AC68U. At midnight it stops working and need to be rebootet. Ive tried upgrading the firmware but the upgrade isnt working.

Im on 3.0.0.4.386_51668 and try to upgrade to 3.0.0.4.386_51685-gd1be76f. The router downloads the firmware and start updating with a progress bar. After the bar reaches 100 % Im presented with the login screen. When I login its still on the old firmware.

 

[bennor]

Couple of suggestions if you haven't done them already:
Try clearing the browser cache.
Try using a different web browser or even a different computer.
Try manually downloading the firmware and manually updating it through the router GUI.
Power off the router, unplug the power adapter, wait a few minutes, the plug everything back in and power it on.

 

[andyross]

I have always done the "manual" upgrade as that guarantees what version I know I am updating to.

 

[cwerdna]

Try manually downloading the firmware and manually updating it through the router GUI.

I ran into the same problem as the OP with my home RT-AC68U and one at work. Actually, the router just goes down at midnight for 5 to 15 minutes, once or twice before self-recovering and not updating.

My home router and work router has stuff like this in the logs (some info redacted):
"Apr 21 00:00:07 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check7790)]periodic_check AM 2:4
Apr 21 00:00:07 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check7834)]do webs_update
...
Apr 21 00:00:07 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check7790)]periodic_check AM 2:4
Apr 21 00:00:07 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check7834)]do webs_update
Apr 21 00:00:15 kernel: DROP IN=eth0
...
Apr 21 00:00:24 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check7852)]retrieve firmware information
Apr 21 00:00:24 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check7867)]fimrware update check first time
Apr 21 00:00:24 rc_service: watchdog 243:notify_rc stop_upgrade;start_webs_upgrade
Apr 21 00:00:25 BWDPI: [BWANA] Revert process (pid=11184)
Apr 21 00:00:25 BWDPI: [sql_remove_journal(63)] remove /jffs/.sys/TrafficAnalyzer/TrafficAnalyzer.db-journal
Apr 21 00:00:25 BWDPI: [BWANA] remove /jffs/.sys/TrafficAnalyzer/TrafficAnalyzer.db
Apr 21 00:00:26 usb: USB is ejected
Apr 21 00:00:26 kernel: DROP IN=eth0 ...
...
Apr 21 00:00:27 WEBDAV Server: daemon is stoped
Apr 21 00:00:27 WEBDAV Server: arpping daemon is stoped
Apr 21 00:00:27 iTunes: daemon is stoped
Apr 21 00:00:27 FTP Server: daemon is stopped
Apr 21 00:00:27 Samba Server: smb daemon is stoped
Apr 21 00:00:27 kernel: gro disabled
Apr 21 00:00:27 Timemachine: daemon is stoped
Apr 21 00:00:27 WEBDAV Server: daemon is stoped
Apr 21 00:00:28 iTunes: daemon is stoped
Apr 21 00:00:28 FTP Server: daemon is stopped
Apr 21 00:00:28 Samba Server: smb daemon is stoped
Apr 21 00:00:28 kernel: gro disabled
Apr 21 00:00:28 Timemachine: daemon is stoped
Apr 21 00:00:32 ahs: ===Terminate ahs daemon===
Apr 21 00:00:32 disk_monitor: Finish
Apr 21 00:00:32 Mastiff: Got SIGTERM
Apr 21 00:00:32 Mastiff: Got SIGTERM
Apr 21 00:00:32 syslog: Got SIGTERM
Apr 21 00:00:33 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check7898)]no need to upgrade firmware
Apr 21 00:00:33 rc_service: watchdog 243:notify_rc stop_aae
Apr 21 00:00:33 rc_service: waitting "stop_upgrade;start_webs_upgrade" via watchdog ...
Apr 21 00:00:33 hour monitor: daemon is starting
Apr 21 00:00:34 AUTO_UPGRADE: To download fw/rsa, Start
Apr 21 00:00:34 AUTO_UPGRADE: cfg_trigger=
Apr 21 00:00:34 AUTO_UPGRADE: ! IS_BCMHND
Apr 21 00:00:34 rc_service: watchdog 243:notify_rc start_mastiff
Apr 21 00:00:34 rc_service: waitting "stop_aae" via watchdog ...
Apr 21 00:00:35 AUTO_UPGRADE: wget fw Real RT-AC68U_3004_386_51685-gd1be76f_un.zip
Apr 21 00:00:38 Mastiff: init
...
Apr 21 00:00:50 AUTO_UPGRADE: exit code: 0
Apr 21 00:00:50 AUTO_UPGRADE: wget fw Real RT-AC68U_3004_386_51685-gd1be76f_rsa.zip
Apr 21 00:00:50 AUTO_UPGRADE: exit code: 0
Apr 21 00:00:50 AUTO_UPGRADE: mv trx OK..."

I even found this article last night: https://www.asus.com/us/support/faq/1045585/.

Today, I finally downloaded
"ASUS RT-AC68U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386_51685
Version 3.0.0.4.386_51685
98.85 MB
2024/04/15" from https://www.asus.com/supportonly/rt-ac68u/helpdesk_bios/ and uploaded it back to the router via Asus's web UI and it worked. I'm now on 3.0.0.4.386_51685.

 

[andyross]

I have auto-update disabled on mine, but it still seems to go through the motions every day around 3AM CDT. No errors though. It just says No Update Needed.

I wonder if, being EOL, they moved something to a different folder that the router cannot find?

 

[ruggb]

I just upgrades to 386.13 on both my 68. I can't seem to get my Mesh node configured. I have followed all the steps and have previously had this router setup with a Mesh node.
It comes back unsuccessful saying someone else is trying to set up a mesh - that isn't possible and all the rest of the items are no the problem. Yes, I have factory reset it many times. It finds the router and runs to 100%.
What am I missing.

 

[Tech9]

I can't seem to get my Mesh node configured.

Wire the router and the node LAN to WAN and try again. If successful, disconnect the wire and it will fail back to wireless.

 

[Mr. Nightsea]

Yesterday I upgraded manually my AC68u, which I'm using at work.
I also did a full factory reset, because my NVRAM was full for some reason I don't know.

What I noticed was that while reconfiguring the wireless networks, I had a lot of troubles when switching between de 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks. I kept seeing the 5GHz network even if I selected the 2.4GHz. This resulted that the wireless passwords got mixed up every time I hit the apply-button. I also have MAC-Filtering activated, here the MAC addresses got mixed up between the two networks also.
The networks need to be hidden, work policy, but with the latest firmware I neither could connect to the wireless networks "No network found".

I think the 386.13 firmware has some bugs, or perhaps versions before but I just noticed this now.
I reverted to firmware 386.12.6, but didn't solve the problem. I'm now back at 386.12 and have everything working, but it's an old firmware and would like a newer one...of course.

I hope an update with fixed will come out soonest.

 

[bennor]

I also did a full factory reset, because my NVRAM was full for some reason I don't know.

If you use the forum search feature to search for NVRAM and the RT-AC68U you'll find numerous discussions about the NVRAM getting full on that specific router due primarily to the reduced/limited amount of NVRAM storage the unit has. There are various methods to try and deal with that low NVRAM message discussed in a number of past posts.

If you read the 386 change log you'll see that there is a specific process to deal with the NVRAM issue specificly on the RT-AC68U mentioned in the 386.11 firmware update. Performing the steps mentioned typically helps free up some of that low NVRAM.

386.11 (14-May-2023)
- CHANGED: Reduce max OpenVPN clients to 2 for RT-AC68U and
DSL-AC68U due to lack of NVRAM on these two
models. Note that existing settings are not
automatically removed, you must run the following
command over SSH to remove them from nvram and
the /jffs/openvpn/ directory:

clear_vpnclients.sh

A backup will be saved in /jffs/openvpn_backup.tgz.

As to all your other issues. Most seem to have no issues updating to the latest Asus-Merlin firmware (386.13) on the RT-AC68U. If you haven't done so already there are a few standard troubleshooting steps to try:
Ensure you performed the clear_vpnclients.sh step if you moved from pre 386.11 firmware to firmware post 386.11.
Make sure to use a computer connected by Ethernet directly to the RT-AC68U.
Don't have the computer connected to the router using WiFi or any sort of WiFi adapters or extenders.
Try a different web browser.
Temporarily disable any browser extensions or add-ons while using the router GUI or updating the router firmware.
Perform a hard factory reset after flashing the firmware to an RT-AC68U then perform a manual configuration, avoid using or importing a previously saved router.cfg file.