nvram staticlist will not clear

[mugginsjm]

Hi
I have ASUS Merlin AC86U 386.11. Entries to static list will not amend nor delete. I have done several hard resets and the 27 entries just keep re-appearing.
I have tried nvram set dhcp_staticlist=""
nvram commit
reboot
Nothing works.
Any advice please.

 

[drinkingbird]

Hi
I have ASUS Merlin AC86U 386.11. Entries to static list will not amend nor delete. I have done several hard resets and the 27 entries just keep re-appearing.
I have tried nvram set dhcp_staticlist=""
nvram commit
reboot
Nothing works.
Any advice please.

You've reset to factory defaults using the WPS method (or whichever "hard reset" method applies to your model) and they reappear? You're not restoring a backup? If all of that is true the only thing I can think is the memory on your router is bad/corrupted.

FYI the command should be "nvram unset dhcp_staticlist" then commit and reboot. But if a hard factory reset didn't clear it, doubt that will.

 

[mugginsjm]

thanks for that.
I just did a nvram unset dhcp_staticlist and no change. All 27 reservations still there.
Is there any recovery from this?

 

[drinkingbird]

thanks for that.
I just did a nvram unset dhcp_staticlist and no change. All 27 reservations still there.

After unsetting and doing nothing else, "nvram show" shows them still there? Sounds like your router is hosed unfortunately. Your flash has gone "read only". Maybe someone else can think of something to try but if you've done a hard reset, don't see anything else that would fix it. Do you have the same issue with other nvram variables like the custom client list? It may be one memory cell gone bad, may be the whole thing.

You can try an mtd-erase to format nvram but pretty sure the hard reset does that....

Some models it is mtd-erase -d nvram others it is mtd-erase2 nvram - but pretty uncommon so not even sure if they still support it.

 

[mugginsjm]

Is there any method of loading firmware from USB, or is that no use either. Quite an expensive router to just bin.

 

[RMerlin]

rm /jffs/nvram/dhcp_staticlist

 

[gerardr]

Expanding upon Merlin's command above, add /jffs/nvram/custom_clientlist, as on my router, it, too, contains a mapping of host name to MAC address. Or maybe change the 'rm' to 'cp /dev/null' with a separate command for each file, as that would leave empty versions of those two files.

 

[mugginsjm]

rm /jffs/nvram/dhcp_staticlist

this produces
admin@ATTIC-ROUTER:/tmp/home/root# rm /jffs/nvram/dhcp_staticlist

rm: can't remove '/jffs/nvram/dhcp_staticlist': No space left on device

 

[ColinTaylor]

this produces
admin@ATTIC-ROUTER:/tmp/home/root# rm /jffs/nvram/dhcp_staticlist

rm: can't remove '/jffs/nvram/dhcp_staticlist': No space left on device

Do a hard reset as described here:

[Wireless Router] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset - Method 2 | Official Support | ASUS Global

 

[mugginsjm]

Do a hard reset as described here:

[Wireless Router] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset - Method 2 | Official Support | ASUS Global

As I said in my opening post, I've done that several times.

 

[ColinTaylor]

As I said in my opening post, I've done that several times.

I know you said that. I wanted to confirm that you were using the correct method because a hard reset will erase the contents of /jffs.

It ought to work regardless of the firmware version currently installed. But as a last resort you could try installing an older version of the firmware, say 386.9, and then trying the hard reset again.

 

[mugginsjm]

I know you said that. I wanted to confirm that you were using the correct method because a hard reset will erase the contents of /jffs.

It ought to work regardless of the firmware version currently installed. But as a last resort you could try installing an older version of the firmware, say 386.9, and then trying the hard reset again.

OK thanks I'll try that.

 

[mugginsjm]

OK thanks I'll try that.

Ok I loaded 386.9 and did the WPS hard reset. The dhcp range is default and the router IP is default but all 27 assigned IP still exist as well as port forwarding info. Does this mean the router is dead......

 

[ColinTaylor]

Maybe. Can you post the entire system log for us to look at? That might provide some clues as to what's happening.

 

[mugginsjm]

thanks for your help on this.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Thanks. That seems to confirm that the problem is the /jffs partition being full. It doesn't explain why the hard reset doesn't fix it though.

I think at this point I would install the current stock Asus firmware as it's more recent (April 2023) than Merlin's. Once it's installed do yet another hard reset and see if that fixes /jffs.

Remove your USB drive while doing all these things.

RT-AC86U｜WiFi Routers｜ASUS Global

ASUS has a range of wireless routers suitable for every purpose. Whether it's for your home, for business trips, or for any other need or environment, there's an ASUS router for you.

www.asus.com

 

[mugginsjm]

OK stock ASUS, hard reset, and still showing 27 reserved IPs as well as port forwarding info.

Have to go out now but will respond later....

 

[ATLga]

OK stock ASUS, hard reset, and still showing 27 reserved IPs as well as port forwarding info.

Have to go out now but will respond later....

After you do the hard reset and power on off the router, what is the first screen you see when it’s at the setup stage. Is it asking you to change the default web admin username and password? Whenever I do a hard reset that’s the first screen. A regular gui reset the first screen is picking ssid and password, then comes the screen changing the admin login. Asking this silly question to make sure you’re hard reset is working…..

 

[ColinTaylor]

As per this post, have you tried the Factory default Restore (Administration - Restore/Save/Upload Setting) with the Initialize all the settings... option checked?

 

[mugginsjm]

After you do the hard reset and power on off the router, what is the first screen you see when it’s at the setup stage. Is it asking you to change the default web admin username and password? Whenever I do a hard reset that’s the first screen. A regular gui reset the first screen is picking ssid and password, then comes the screen changing the admin login. Asking this silly question to make sure you’re hard reset is working…..

Yes first screen is web admin etc then ssid etc, so yes hard reset.