ASUS RT-N56U beta firmware

[baadnewz]

In the latest .342, when I click install media server, it proceeds up to 99% and just hangs. Tried deleting the asusware folder on the HDD as well as all other asus files on the disk but still hangs. Anyone get media server to install completely and work?

not likely

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...nguage=en-us&page=1&board_id=11&model=RT-N56U

Sometimes, the reboot command will write back the cached content of the nvram. It's best to boot the router with no USB disk plugged in (to avoid filesystem corruption), run the mtd-erase command, and then turn the router off and on rather than running the reboot command.

Now that you mention it, it makes sense. Thanks


I think 3.0.04.342 isn't the best firmware from asus, this morning when i turned on my laptop my tv.series autodownload started over 5.2 ghz wifi. 4 torrents of 1 gb each on a 100 mbps WAN connection. after 2 mins, the router froze, couldn't ping it, telnet it, nothing, had to cut its power. started the router and the download again, 2 more minutes another freeze.

so for now i've changed to padawan's custom firmware, mediaserver works, router doesn't freeze, wired transfer to and from usb attached hdd is better, only issue is that the transfer to usb attached hdd which is a bit slower than with the asuswrt (8.5 mB/s vs 7.8 mB/s )

 

[YASUKAWA]

Interesting, this is the first release where I've seen the MgmtRing messages in the router log, haven't seen them in previous Asus releases. Also, the "System Log" tab doesn't work on Chrome with .342, and I really don't like having to have IE up just so I can look at my router logs. I could put up with that, but the MgmtRing messages are the last straw.

I'm currently trying out the latest Padavan's firmware, but may go back to Asus .337 (Beta) since I'm having problems getting IPv6 working with Padavan's firmware. .337 worked well for me, but I didn't want to stay with it because it was a Beta.

Its really weird that some get that error while others don't. I usually factory reset the router after a fw upgrade, this time I just flashed the new fw and kept using it, been 46 hours now and still no problems. I had some kind of problem on every single fw after 206 while most people didn't, hard to believe that its fine now.

Btw System Log tab works fine for me on Chrome 24.0.1312.57 m. I don't have much extensions on it though! OS is Windows 7 Professional x64.

 

[RogerSC]

Its really weird that some get that error while others don't. I usually factory reset the router after a fw upgrade, this time I just flashed the new fw and kept using it, been 46 hours now and still no problems. I had some kind of problem on every single fw after 206 while most people didn't, hard to believe that its fine now.

Btw System Log tab works fine for me on Chrome 24.0.1312.57 m. I don't have much extensions on it though! OS is Windows 7 Professional x64.

Yes, oddly enough .342 is working fine for me now, too, since I flashed it from recovery mode. Flashing .342 the way that I usually flash firmware (using web GUI, "Administration" -> "Firmware Upgrade") seems to have led to funky behavior even though I erased the nvram and used "reset" button. "System Log" tab is now working fine in Chrome, and no "MgmtRing" messages since yesterday.

Don't know if this would help anyone else, but it sure helped me *smile*.

 

[kayakj]

i tried 3.0.0.4.342 again, and reset the NVRAM and restarted the router right after flashing it. Its been over a day and I have not gotten the kernel errors yet.. the first time I tried the firmware I got them after 5 minutes.. maybe it is some left over settings from previous versions that are causing the issues? or if their install is not perfect and flashed improperly before? (Note: the first time I flashed 3.0.0.4.342 I also erased the NVRAM and restarted it before configuring)

 

[Addictedtokaos]

are you guys restoring settings from a cfg file or reconfiguring from scratch?

 

[RogerSC]

are you guys restoring settings from a cfg file or reconfiguring from scratch?

I'm re-entering my settings manually.

 

[hiluke]

i tried 3.0.0.4.342 again, and reset the NVRAM and restarted the router right after flashing it. Its been over a day and I have not gotten the kernel errors yet.. the first time I tried the firmware I got them after 5 minutes.. maybe it is some left over settings from previous versions that are causing the issues? or if their install is not perfect and flashed improperly before? (Note: the first time I flashed 3.0.0.4.342 I also erased the NVRAM and restarted it before configuring)

I was on .342, getting a lot of kernel errors. Erased the NVRAM, unplugged and put the router into restore mode. Reloaded the .342 firmware through the restoration tool, and then unplugged and replugged the router again.
Manually configured my settings, and got the MgmtRing errors within 5 minutes. Granted, I was getting literally thousands of those errors in the logs before (I think it made it to 7000 one time before I had to restart), but now it was only at 34 after 90min and none in the 13 hours since then.

 

[RogerSC]

I was on .342, getting a lot of kernel errors. Erased the NVRAM, unplugged and put the router into restore mode. Reloaded the .342 firmware through the restoration tool, and then unplugged and replugged the router again.
Manually configured my settings, and got the MgmtRing errors within 5 minutes. Granted, I was getting literally thousands of those errors in the logs before (I think it made it to 7000 one time before I had to restart), but now it was only at 34 after 90min and none in the 13 hours since then.

Been up 2 days now, no "MgmtRing" messages, all good. But I'm not using VPN, torrents, dlna, no disk, no printer, etc., just using it for vanilla wired and wireless router *smile*.

On the other hand, when I tried .342 without flashing from recovery mode, I had "MgmtRing" messages within 3 hours of flashing.

The other thing is that I always erase the nvram after flashing, sometimes before flashing, but always after. You never know what you might be left with in router memory after flashing, so that's the best time to clear it as far as I'm concerned *smile*.

 

[cdbma]

Shouldn't have to be this hard

Flash, save, telnet, Nvram, boot, config.

Remind me again...this a consumer-oriented product, yes?

I'm above average technically, but I find all this to be intimidating and a waste of my time. If this is what has to done to upgrade to new versions, Asus should automate the process.

 

[kayakj]

So I updated to 3.0.0.4.342 and flashed the NVRAM and also restarted the router. Then I set up all of my settings and restarted it again. It took about 1 day and 4 hours and then my log started filling with the kernel errors again and I was unable to connect to the router or WAN... I left all of the settings the same except for enabling the DDNS/FTP/Samba for my USB Nas..I think the firmware still has the same issues the old ones had.

 

[RogerSC]

So I updated to 3.0.0.4.342 and flashed the NVRAM and also restarted the router. Then I set up all of my settings and restarted it again. It took about 1 day and 4 hours and then my log started filling with the kernel errors again and I was unable to connect to the router or WAN... I left all of the settings the same except for enabling the DDNS/FTP/Samba for my USB Nas..I think the firmware still has the same issues the old ones had.

Interesting...still okay here with the new firmware. Wouldn't surprise me to see that sort of thing if I was using it for a NAS. I figure when I want a NAS, I'll get one *smile*, but each to their own. The dlna functionality on these routers is usually a weak point, not sure if they ever got it right on the Linksys E4200 that I had. It was one of the biggest complaints from users in their forum.

 

[pogle]

Interesting...still okay here with the new firmware. Wouldn't surprise me to see that sort of thing if I was using it for a NAS. I figure when I want a NAS, I'll get one *smile*, but each to their own. The dlna functionality on these routers is usually a weak point, not sure if they ever got it right on the Linksys E4200 that I had. It was one of the biggest complaints from users in their forum.

New to this forum.. so I have a RT-N56U just received back from the factory do to incessant client drops with the original (new) unit. The current unit is running the .317 firmware, but still occasionally has issues, sometimes with the 2.4 and/or 5.0 LEDs turning off, then I need to recycle power. Client devices that are connected to the 2.4 SSID sometimes lose internet connection until manually moved to either the 5.0 freq or an Netgear ext unit.

I am seeing a lot of the mgmt ring errors in the logs, but it doesnt always seem to cause a problem (I guess it may be a memory leak but is reset by some logic in the router<?>) Whether I see a problem may depend on what device I am on at the time<?>

Following the thread here, I am conflicted as to whether I should upgrade the firmware to .342 or leave well enough alone. If I upgrade, should I use the firmware upgrade tab in the Admin section? If so, how do I erase the "NVRAM" manually? Thanks for all your help...

 

[RogerSC]

New to this forum.. so I have a RT-N56U just received back from the factory do to incessant client drops with the original (new) unit. The current unit is running the .317 firmware, but still occasionally has issues, sometimes with the 2.4 and/or 5.0 LEDs turning off, then I need to recycle power. Client devices that are connected to the 2.4 SSID sometimes lose internet connection until manually moved to either the 5.0 freq or an Netgear ext unit.

I am seeing a lot of the mgmt ring errors in the logs, but it doesnt always seem to cause a problem (I guess it may be a memory leak but is reset by some logic in the router<?>) Whether I see a problem may depend on what device I am on at the time<?>

Following the thread here, I am conflicted as to whether I should upgrade the firmware to .342 or leave well enough alone. If I upgrade, should I use the firmware upgrade tab in the Admin section? If so, how do I erase the "NVRAM" manually? Thanks for all your help...

If I were you, I would try upgrading to .342, but that's me *smile*.

The way that I would do this would be to remove power cable from your router. You would then hold the reset button in while plugging in the power cable, and keep holding the reset button until the power light starts blinking. You are then in the router's "recovery mode". You can use the "rescue" utility to upload the .342 .trx file to the router. So you'll need to have downloaded the rescue utility for the rt-n56u, and the .342 .trx firmware files to be ready to do this.

After the "rescue" utility is totally finished (it will most likely say that it cannot talk to the router when it's finished, ignore that *smile*), you can log into the administration web GUI at 192.168.1.1 with "admin" user and "admin" password. Then do a simple configuration to get to the full web GUI, go to "Administration" tab, then "System" tab there. Enable telnet, and log into the router using something like putty. Issue this command:

mtd-erase -d nvram

This clears the nvram. Then hold the reset button in for about 15 seconds, let the router sit until it comes up again (you can watch the lights), and then power-cycle the router.

At that point, you should be able into the web GUI again as you did before, and fully configure the router. It should be fine after that *smile*.

 

[pogle]

Roger:

Thanks very much for the quick reply.. I understand everything in your response except the part (Then do a simple configuration to get to the full web GUI, go to "Administration" tab, then "System" tab there. Enable telnet, and log into the router using something like putty. Issue this command:

mtd-erase -d nvram)

I found puttytel.exe on the internet, but have not used this before and a little unsure how to "log in " with Telnet per your instructions... Any help would be appreciated.

 

[RogerSC]

Roger:

Thanks very much for the quick reply.. I understand everything in your response except the part (Then do a simple configuration to get to the full web GUI, go to "Administration" tab, then "System" tab there. Enable telnet, and log into the router using something like putty. Issue this command:

mtd-erase -d nvram)

I found puttytel.exe on the internet, but have not used this before and a little unsure how to "log in " with Telnet per your instructions... Any help would be appreciated.

Logging in is pretty easy, at least once you've done it. You telnet into the same IP that you use for the web GUI, 192.168.1.1, and use your admin credentials (user name "admin", and your admin password, whatever you've set it to or "admin" if you haven't set it). After you log in you'll find yourself in a simple linux shell, and you can issue this command-line command:

mtd-erase -d nvram

and it will erase your nvram.

Does that help?

 

[kayakj]

another way to get to the telnet etc is to go to http://192.168.1.1/Main_AdmStatus_Content.asp in your browser ( I hope links show up here) and then enter the "mtd-erase -d nvram" there.. At least it works for me. You also dont need to enable telnet for it to work, it should just load the page that allows you to enter the command.


On a side note, I have used every combination of clearing the nvram/resetting by holding the reset button, power cycling etc.. and after about 24 hours I still get the mgmt ring errors kernel errors and the router is unresponsive during the errors. Could it be because I have a 1.5TB HD attached to the router and it just can't handle the size?

 

[RogerSC]

another way to get to the telnet etc is to go to http://192.168.1.1/Main_AdmStatus_Content.asp in your browser ( I hope links show up here) and then enter the "mtd-erase -d nvram" there.. At least it works for me. You also dont need to enable telnet for it to work, it should just load the page that allows you to enter the command.


On a side note, I have used every combination of clearing the nvram/resetting by holding the reset button, power cycling etc.. and after about 24 hours I still get the mgmt ring errors kernel errors and the router is unresponsive during the errors. Could it be because I have a 1.5TB HD attached to the router and it just can't handle the size?

You could just try the router for a while without the disk and see what happens? Doesn't answer your question about what size disk does work, but verifies that the problem is related to the disk if you don't see it when you've removed the disk.

I also see an Asus support guy out there looking for information on the MgmtRing messages for their support team, maybe you could help them fix this by sending them your information? Just a thought:

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=60723&postcount=1

 

[pogle]

Thanks for the tips.. I sent Jeremy a complete set of info including sys logs.. we'll see if it does anything. Apparently this has become a really big problem for ASUS.. Against my better judgement, I ordered a RT N AC66 router which should be here today. I'm betting it will have it's own set of issues, being a newer device. Don't plan on spending a lot of time with it if it starts dropping clients like the 56. Plan on updating the 56 F/W tonight before unwrapping the 66..

Sigh...

 

[pogle]

Well, that didn't take long.. Upgraded to .342, cleared nvram and started getting mgmt ring errors in under ten minutes.. not a happy camper.

Does anyone think this f/w reduces the frequency of client internet connection drops?

 

[RogerSC]

Well, that didn't take long.. Upgraded to .342, cleared nvram and started getting mgmt ring errors in under ten minutes.. not a happy camper.

Does anyone think this f/w reduces the frequency of client internet connection drops?

Yes, I used it for 3 days, and had no drops, no problems, no MgmtRing messages, IPv6 worked the whole time. All the wireless devices worked well. Great firmware as far as I'm concerned *smile*.

Hopefully, several people will send Asus their information about the MgmtRing problems they're having, thanks very much for doing that.

Right now I've switched over to using the rt-n66u with new Merlin firmware.