Asus DSL-AC68U Upgrade to 3.0.0.4.384_81981. Was it me or them?

[Tattz The Bear]

On Friday I noticed an alert on my router for new firmware so hit download. Part way through the process I noticed I was still connected to my VPN so disconnected; Bad move.

Needless to say the download aborted and I subsequently manually downloaded the firmware from the Asus support site and installed it.

However, I now note that the Client List in the Network Map appears empty and shows zero with the message "no data in table". But my devices all seem to function fine and still appear as 'offline devices' on the DHCP Server tab (manually assigned IP dropbox).

There's a few other glitches also (e.g. an IP camera that is port forwarded doesn't show as such and directory paths on media server have disappeared. But it's the missing Client List that annoys me the most.

I have tried all the usual stuff, reloaded earlier firmware, rebooted the router, swore at the router whilst threatening it with a large hammer, but nothing seems to have helped.

So I'm assuming I may have screwed up the NVRAM in the router and a factory reset may be called for?

But prior to inserting the paperclip of doom just thought I would throw it out there to see if anyone knew of a better (easier) way of getting things back to the way they were? Would installing Merlin (GNUton) firmware solve the issue? Would the Asus restore tool still wipe all my settings? I made a back-up config file about 6 months ago - would this help?

Look forward to any and all constructive advice.

 

[Grisu]

You can try with your backup file and before load same firmwhere you made this backup off.
Try GNUton, it cant be worse and at the end you can still make the needed factory reset.

 

[L&LD]

I would recommend GNUton too for your DSL-AC68U device.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/dsl-ac68u-asuswrt-merlin-builds-for-dsl-routers.55985/

Forget about that backup from six months ago. Install GNUton and do a minimal and manual configuration to secure your router and connect to your ISP.

The following links may also be helpful, particularly the M&M Config, Nuclear Reset, and the amtm Step-by-Step Guide too if you become interested in running scripts from your router (I would recommend at the minimum using amtm to install a swap file on a spare USB drive).

https://www.snbforums.com/members/l-ld.24423/

 

[Tattz The Bear]

Thanks Grisu and L&LD.

I've spent the last year tweaking this router to run things just how I like them and am trying to avoid starting from scratch.

There's about 18 devices running on it including IP cameras, smart switches, media streaming etc. so you can understand my reticence to perform a full factory reset if at all possible.

It's just weird how it all still seems to function fine, just that I can no longer see (or control) my devices via the network map.

Anyhow, I will get to it and report back on the outcome. Thanks again.

 

[Tattz The Bear]

SOLVED!!

OK, I thought, here goes nothing and loaded the configuration file I had saved last May, not really expecting it to work. But it did!

It fired off the Client List (albeit a bit out of date) but slowly newer devices on my network popped up. The new ones got renamed and it's back to where it was.

The HTTPS certificate had to be reinstalled and the media server (a WD portable HDD plugged into the USB port) took a bit of coaxing but is now back up and fully operational again.

So all in all a great result. I will be certain to save off a configuration file on a monthly basis from hereon in.