RT-AX86U - Stuck on old firmware (solved!), WiFi not working (unsolved)

[getrikt]

Hey y'all, I'm new to this forum and like many, I come here with a problem I cannot solve myself. Up until this morning, my RT-AX86U has been happily trucking along without issue for the past 3.5 years without any problems whatsoever. This morning, however, I woke up to:
- No wifi network visible on any of my devices
- No connection via the Ethernet ports

A simple power cycle did not solve this, so I held down the reset button to do, well, a reset. And, at first glance, this worked! I could see a happy, working connection on my Ethernet-connected desktop once more. But then I realized: The wifi network was still not back. So I checked the settings via the web interface and... Everything looks normal, wifi is on, the network has the same name and setup that it used to. It's just... Not showing up. The wifi lights on the router aren't even lighting up.

So I tried the obvious: Update to the latest firmware! I hit the "Check Update" button and... Nothing happened? Well, it's possible it has the latest firmware already, so I checked which version it was running:

3.0.0.4.386_42095

That is not the latest firmware. The latest firmware is 3.0.0.4.388_24243, so I tried manually updating it. The process completed without any complaint, the router rebooted, and upon check the firmware version, it reads:

3.0.0.4.386_42095

Huh? But I just updated it? Okay, so I tried a factory reset, making sure to check the box that reads "Initialize all the settings, and clear all the data log for AiProtection, Traffic Analyzer, and Web History." just to be sure that everything is wiped. So I do that, the router reboots, and... Nothing has been wiped. All the settings (username/passwsord/wifi/etc) are as they were before.

So then I tried a "hard reset" with the WPS button. That was successful! My settings were actually wiped! But the wifi still wasn't working, and the firmware wasn't updated. So I tried to install the same firmware update again. And then the router rebooted, and upon coming back up told me the firmware version was:

3.0.0.4.386_42095

Okay, at this point, I'm out of ideas. Nothing I do seems to fix this. The wifi still isn't working, and the firmware refuses to update. I have tried:

• Power cycle
• Reset via the web interface (this did not reset anything)
• Reset via the reset button (this did not reset anything)
• Reset via "hard reset" (this actually reset the settings but fixed nothing)
• Installing the latest firmware (still stuck on 3.0.0.4.386_42095)
• Installing older firmware (still stuck on 3.0.0.4.386_42095)
• Installing custom firmware (latest version of Merlin) (still stuck on 3.0.0.4.386_42095)

Is there anything left to try? Or am I stuck with a half-working router? Any help would be vastly appreciated.

 

[tiddlywink]

..

 

[getrikt]

1. Power off the device.
2. Press and hold the reset button, and power on the device.
3. Wait until the Power LED starts blinking slowly - in about 8 - 10 seconds. Release the reset button.

Upload firmware at "AUSTek - CFE miniWeb Server"

OR

[Wireless Router] How to use Rescue Mode (Firmware Restoration)? | Official Support | ASUS Global

Good news! This took some fiddling to get the router updated, but it did work! Router is now on 3.0.0.4.388_2424 so thank you so much for that suggestion!

Bad news: Still no wifi. I checked the Wireless log and I see this:

Not associated. Last associated with
Mode    : AP Only

Not associated. Last associated with
Mode    : AP Only

Not sure if that helps diagnose things at all.

 

[getrikt]

Oh! One thing that might be important: When I go to the Wireless tab in the settings, I get a popup box that says "The Country Code is not exist! Please enter Country Code." (to be clear this started happening before I successfully updated the firmware, I just didn't clock it as an important issue until now)

Looking this up now shows me this thread covering a similar issue: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ax86u-dead-wifi-asking-for-country-code-solved.82312/

Since it came up in that thread (and elsewhere): AFAIK this isn't some wacky hacked router. I bought it brand new from AMZN in February of 2021, it's been rock solid until this happened. So now I guess I get to be another person pinging @ColinTaylor for help (or maybe even @Sildur in case you remember the steps that fixed your router).

 

[bennor]

Yeah not having a country code could could be a potentially serious issue since some of the WiFi settings and capabilities are based on the specific country or region.

Using SSH, access the router and run each of the following three lines of code and report back what they return. It may help others determine what your issue.

nvram show | grep ccode
nvram show | grep location
nvram show | grep country

 

[BlueOrbit]

Try the excellent Merlin Firmware. I am sure it will solve your issues (if this is not HW related).

 

[getrikt]

Yeah not having a country code could could be a potentially serious issue since some of the WiFi settings and capabilities are based on the specific country or region.

Using SSH, access the router and run each of the following three lines of code and report back what they return. It may help others determine what your issue.

nvram show | grep ccode
nvram show | grep location
nvram show | grep country

ccode:

0:ccode=US
sb/1/ccode=US
size: 54029 bytes (77043 left)

location:

location_code=
size: 54029 bytes (77043 left)

country:

fb_country=
modem_country=
size: 54029 bytes (77043 left)
wl0_country_code=US
wl0_country_rev=
wl1_country_code=
wl1_country_rev=
wl_country_code=US
wl_country_rev=

 

[bennor]

ccode:

0:ccode=US
sb/1/ccode=US
size: 54029 bytes (77043 left)

location:

location_code=
size: 54029 bytes (77043 left)

country:

fb_country=
modem_country=
size: 54029 bytes (77043 left)
wl0_country_code=US
wl0_country_rev=
wl1_country_code=
wl1_country_rev=
wl_country_code=US
wl_country_rev=

The Location may be empty (it is on mine, also in the United States) but the country probably/likely should have information there, yours doesn't.
Example of a grep country from a US sold RT-AX86U Pro.

@RT-AX86U:/tmp/home/root# nvram show | grep country
modem_country=
size: 80447 bytes (116161 left)
wl0_country_code=US
wl0_country_rev=615
wl1_country_code=US
wl1_country_rev=615
wl_country_code=US
wl_country_rev=615

No idea if one could manually set those NVRAM entries using a NVRAM commit, to fix the issue, or if there are other fields that may contain WiFi related information that might be causing your issue. It is also pssible the NVRAM entries WiFi are not the cause of the problem.

Have you tried using a different web browser and or a different computer wired directly to the router as a troubleshooting step?

As a last resort you could, if you haven't already, try using the Asus Firmware Restoration tool to flash your firmware outside of the web browser.

 

[aex.perez]

Pulled these from one of the AX86U mesh nodes if it helps

ASUSWRT-Merlin RT-AX86U 3004.388.8_2 Wed Jul 31 23:48:50 UTC 2024

AX86U:/tmp/home/root# nvram show | grep ccode
0:ccode=US
1:ccode=US
size: 85240 bytes (45832 left)

AX86U:/tmp/home/root# nvram show | grep location
location_code=
size: 85240 bytes (45832 left)

AX86U:/tmp/home/root# nvram show | grep country
fb_country=
modem_country=
wl0_country_code=US
wl0_country_rev=741
wl1_country_code=US
wl1_country_rev=741
wl_country_code=US
wl_country_rev=741
size: 85240 bytes (45832 left)

 

[Twiglets]

One possible route to take, pun intended, would be to go into the Administration Tab and perform the 'Factory Default' option [including ticking the 'Initialize all the settings' tickbox.]