Suggestions for Merlin Add-ons

[JonEngland]

Idea: A Gui page, or text file, or whatever, that shows any setting that does not match (i.e. has been changed) the default value.

This would aid when migrating/upgrading from one router to another or reconfiguring after a reset.

I'm terrible for making adhoc changes and forgetting what I changed days/weeks later and then have some issue or other and then have to remember what I changed to rule it in/out as the cause of the issue.

don't know how feasible it would be but how about in addition to the above a feature that identifies any changes against a known 'good' config to track intentional/unintentional config drift, colour coded of course

 

[dosborne]

Another thing that I would find useful......

When saving the configuration file, add a datestamp (and arguably timestamp) and FW version to the filename (or allow configuration of the name with tokens).

I rename my saved configuration files (example 2019-07-01 Settings_RT-AX88U 384.12.cfg). It would be nice if this was defaulted instead of using the same name.

The date is obviously useful (although you could argue it is included already - file creation date) but having the FW version can be critical, if you ever want to restore it.

 

[L&LD]

I'm terrible for making adhoc changes and forgetting what I changed days/weeks later and then have some issue or other and then have to remember what I changed to rule it in/out as the cause of the issue.

don't know how feasible it would be but how about in addition to the above a feature that identifies any changes against a known 'good' config to track intentional/unintentional config drift, colour coded of course

I use a notebook and pencil for that. For each supported router I'm responsible for.

The reason I can't see your suggestion working (for all) is that all settings possible are potentially 'good'. Depending on the network environment it is in and the expected behavior required of the router and clients.

Have a small notebook with a pen/pencil attached and log what you do each time you 'touch' the router settings.

Even better, I use Excel, because it's searchable too.

 

[ugandy]

I've noticed, with 384.19a1, I get occasional kernel dumps (maybe one every other day).
when this happens, services get killed/restarted but the resulting state is always incorrect (some things don't start/run, etc), forcing me to do a manual reboot.
maybe a service to do a reboot, when a kernel panic is detected, would be useful, if doable. and capture the syslog info leading to that event.
alternatively, the scripts offered via amtm should have a periodic check to see if they are ok, crontab entries still present, processes running, etc). i think some of them already do.

 

[Bluemosh]

A GUI task manager/activity monitor! It's great to be able to see the current cpu usage, but it would be even better to be able to see the current usage of processes themselves from a page in the GUI, rather than using SSH. And maybe renaming some of the system processes you'd get from the system command, to higher level things, like what that process does, making troubleshooting even easier!

I have literally no clue how this would be implemented, I use many scripts and can happily edit config files and tweak settings as needed, but I have no idea how to code these suggestions. Just something I feel as an end user, would be valuable, and a great addition on top of the custom firmware!

 

[Trent Hubbert]

Enable USB port to support apple phone as a USB modem.

 

[QuikSilver]

Enable USB port to support apple phone as a USB modem.

Don't think that falls under the Merlin "Addon" category. In this case "Addons" are scripts such as AMTM, SpdMerlin, ConMon, etc....that would have to be baked into the firmware itself by Merlin I believe.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Enable USB port to support apple phone as a USB modem.

Don't think that falls under the Merlin "Addon" category. In this case "Addons" are scripts such as AMTM, SpdMerlin, ConMon, etc....that would have to be baked into the firmware itself by Merlin I believe.

As the code for the use of an iPhone as a modem is Apple closed source, this feature will - IMO - never make it into Asuswrt-Merlin.

 

[thelonelycoder]

A GUI task manager/activity monitor! It's great to be able to see the current cpu usage, but it would be even better to be able to see the current usage of processes themselves from a page in the GUI, rather than using SSH. And maybe renaming some of the system processes you'd get from the system command, to higher level things, like what that process does, making troubleshooting even easier!

I have literally no clue how this would be implemented, I use many scripts and can happily edit config files and tweak settings as needed, but I have no idea how to code these suggestions. Just something I feel as an end user, would be valuable, and a great addition on top of the custom firmware!

The router WebUI - or to be precise - the proprietary closed source web server that Asus and Asuswrt-Merlin comes with does not allow direct interaction in any way with the shell.
Such a feature would have a significant delay to the real time shell output. Which in return would make it far less worth the effort. Irrespective of how monumental the coding effort would be.

 

[Jack Yaz]

The router WebUI - or to be precise - the proprietary closed source web server that Asus and Asuswrt-Merlin comes with does not allow direct interaction in any way with the shell.
Such a feature would have a significant delay to the real time shell output. Which in return would make it far less worth the effort. Irrespective of how monumental the coding effort would be.

well now you've set me a challenge

 

[john9527]

well now you've set me a challenge

Don't waste your time....there is no way to do it without helper code in the web server (for security reasons)

EDIT: You know, thinking some more, I may have to take that back. With some of the new addon api's, it may be possible, but probably pretty cumbersome.

 

[Jack Yaz]

Don't waste your time....there is no way to do it without helper code in the web server (for security reasons)

EDIT: You know, thinking some more, I may have to take that back. With some of the new addon api's, it may be possible, but probably pretty cumbersome.

doesn't seem too bad parsing top output (i'm aware it's not perfect yet, ive only spent 15mins so far!)

 

[Jack Yaz]

doesn't seem too bad parsing top output (i'm aware it's not perfect yet, ive only spent 15mins so far!)

View attachment 24885

might bundle this with uiscribe to try out. i've got it refreshing once a second, seems to work well (albeit 1s interval is quite fast). i suppose i need to implement sortable table headers to make it more useful

 

[thelonelycoder]

Don't waste your time....there is no way to do it without helper code in the web server (for security reasons)

EDIT: You know, thinking some more, I may have to take that back. With some of the new addon api's, it may be possible, but probably pretty cumbersome.

Never underestimate the things we come up with to outmanouver boundaries

 

[thelonelycoder]

might bundle this with uiscribe to try out. i've got it refreshing once a second, seems to work well (albeit 1s interval is quite fast). i suppose i need to implement sortable table headers to make it more useful

I know the basics are easily doable, but the OP's request to beautify/simplify names is the challange.

 

[netware5]

According to my memories the WebGUI used to have a shell interaction in the past, which had been later removed by Merlin due to security reasons.

 

[thelonelycoder]

According to my memories the WebGUI used to have a shell interaction, which had been removed by Merlin due to security reasons.

Yup, a long time ago.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

doesn't seem too bad parsing top output (i'm aware it's not perfect yet, ive only spent 15mins so far!)

View attachment 24885

I could only imagine what you could do in 30 minutes - an hour - a day- or a week .

 

[dave14305]

@dave14305 Great post, we noticed with the latest Asus stock FWs on some models, they have added additional QoS functions. Would it be possible (of course is possible, is more on commitment thing and alot of smart coders out there) for someone to update FreshJr script and implement the new additions to the API & to include IPV6. I think I am asking for too much and of course this is a big project no one wld be willing to take and/or have the time to commit on their own. Thought I would put that out there!

I was just reviewing this thread before it goes dormant tomorrow. This suggestion can be put in the “Done” column I think.

 

[dave14305]

doesn't seem too bad parsing top output (i'm aware it's not perfect yet, ive only spent 15mins so far!)

View attachment 24885

Hey, I’ve seen this recently somewhere else!