Upgrading from Merlin 380.57 Firmware

[steve_togo]

Hello Everyone,

I have the T-Mobile RT-AC68u router running Merlin's firmware(380.57). I have a few questions and it will be great if you can assist me.

1. On DSLReports when I run the speed test I was getting a bad score for buffer bloat and after enabling QOS and tweaking the settings the score went to an A. But the Quality is D which means I have a lot of packet loss. Do you think If i go to the latest version of Merlin will it resolve it.

2. How do I update to the new version, the GUI is not accepting the new firmware.

3. Has anyone got a chance to test with Tomato or OpenWRT to check how it works?

 

[L&LD]

Use the Rescue Mode to install the firmware you want.

https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1000814


When was the last time you did a full reset to factory defaults followed by a minimal and manual configuration to secure the router and connect to your ISP (without using a saved backup config file)?

The following may help you get better results from your router by putting it into a good/known state.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/no...l-and-manual-configuration.27115/#post-205573

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac66u-slow-wan-to-lan.12973/page-3#post-269410

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-nvram-and-factory-default-reset.22822/



Use the following utility to get a human readable backup of your settings, along with other benefits too. I would not recommend using this to save your current settings for reuse later (via the user interface), but you can use it after you verify that the above steps have fixed your issues first.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/user-nvram-save-restore-utility-r24.19521/


Does a low score on Quality mean packet loss (I didn't think so)?

What is the ISP speeds that you're paying for?

 

[steve_togo]

Hi L&LD,

Thanks for all the info. I do understand the backups, factory reset etc. Isnt there a way to jump to a higher version of Merlin without using Asus utilities? I am already on Merlin firmware. I dont want to connect everything to my desktop again to do these. I wish I can do it directly in the GUI using Merlin's software.

Low score on Quality is indeed packet loss. I have around 8 % of lost packets.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[L&LD]

You're welcome.

If the gui isn't letting you flash a different version, then the Asus Rescue mode is about the only other way to do so.

 

[john9527]

I have the T-Mobile RT-AC68u router running Merlin's firmware(380.57). I have a few questions and it will be great if you can assist me.

If this an early TM1900, and you haven't updated the CFE to an AC68 CFE, 380.57 is around the last code that will work (specifies a 64M rootfs but will still fit in a 32M space). If this is the case, you won't be able to load any newer code, even via firmware restoration, until the CFE update is done.

 

[steve_togo]

Thanks, Will the Asus firmware restoration update the CFE, I was aware of the old version. Also what happens if we ever want to return it tmobile?

 

[john9527]

Thanks, Will the Asus firmware restoration update the CFE, I was aware of the old version. Also what happens if we ever want to return it tmobile?

If you are indeed falling into this case (early TM-1900 without the tmobile firmware lock), the only way to update the CFE is manually (if you try later Merlin, the router types don't match and it won't update, it you load a tmobile firmware it will update - but then you will be locked out of ASUS/Merlin AC68 firmware).

Do a search here for posts by @Engineer or look at his guide on slickdeals.net for the manual procedure (it's not for the faint of heart).
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=73690012&postcount=3895

 

[Engineer]

Do a search here for posts by @Engineer or look at his guide on slickdeals.net for the manual procedure (it's not for the faint of heart).
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=73690012&postcount=3895

Oh, it's not that bad!

Well...maybe!