Upgrading from a REALLY old Asuswrt version

[Wapkaplet]

Hi all,

I have an ASUS RT-AC68U and I've been running Asuswrt on since I bought it. I haven't upgraded the firmware, as everything's been working properly, but I think it's finally time. Problem is, I don't seem to be able to make the upgrade work.

The version of the firmware I have running now is: 3.0.0.4.374.39

I rebooted the router and attempted to update to 380.59 by downloading and unzipping RT-AC68U_380.59_0.zip and uploading RT-AC68U_380.59_0.trx using the administration panel.

What happened was the progress bar went all the way through and then told me it succeeded. However, when I came back to the main router control screen it was still showing the the old firmware version. I rebooted to see if that would make a difference, and it didn't.

At that point I did a full factory reset on the router (backing up my configuration first) and then tried the upgrade again. It did the exact same thing, telling me the upgrade succeeded, but actually doing nothing.

So, for the time being I've reloaded my old configuration file, and I'm stuck on 374.39.

Can anyone suggest what I might do here? It's obviously been a LONG time since I upgraded. Do I need to do a series of firmware upgrades? Like install a few legacy versions to get to current? Am I just stuck?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Wapkaplet]

Thanks so much for the speedy reply! Apologies, but where do I check my Boot Loader version? I've just been looking through the UI and don't see an intuitive place where that information might be.

 

[Wapkaplet]

Ah. Right there in plain sight then.

Boot loader (CFE) version is 1.0.1.1

 

[Wapkaplet]

Wait, do you mean load that fork in order to get the BootLoader version? Because I know it, both from the SysInfo tab and from running nvram get bl_version. It's 1.0.1.1

Or do you mean that I need to be over on that fork instead of the main Asuswrt path? Or is that the interim step I should be taking before upgrading to the latest firmware.

Apologies, you're being very responsive and helpful, and I'm just a little confused.

 

[Wapkaplet]

Oh, I see. One more question: Would I need to start from a factory reset and rebuild my entire configuration, or could I potentially upload my cfg file after moving to this fork?

I'm assuming the former, but, you know, hope springs eternal.

 

[Blinkyz]

Bootloader for Ac68 is 1.0.2.X normally

Step to flash .59

Flash with 378.55 , reboot, flash with .59 and "reset to defaults factory" and reconfig from beginning
CFE version is Under TOOLS section

 

[Wapkaplet]

They... they will?

Seems like maybe not?
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/2...ill-support-third-party-router-firmware.shtml

 

[john9527]

You need to update your bootloader (CFE) to load any of Merlin's recent builds. My fork won't do this for you. Either use ASUS OEM code 376.3626 or Merlin 378.55 to do the update.

Then you can load my fork or Merlin's code. If you load my fork V17 level, you'll need an intermediate load of either of the above codes again (for a different reason, not the bootloader) to go to Merlin's code. If you load the V18 beta code, you can go directly to Merlin's latest without any intermediate steps.

If you load the latest ASUS code, 380.3264, you won't be able to go back to any other code via the gui (the FCC restriction). You will need to use the recovery utility or CFE mini-server to load an older level. (I expect these methods to also be eventually closed as well).

 

[Wapkaplet]

Thanks so much for all the info everyone! Incredibly helpful, and exactly what I was looking for.