AX88U crashes and reboots

[sleeps1007]

My AX88U which is running Merlin 3004.388.9_2 has been rebooting itself randomly lately. Upon checking my systemlog I see a bunch or crashlogs but can't seem to decipher them. I have a feeling it's a sign that the router could be on it's way. I've attached the crashlog to be analyzed.

 

[bennor]

More information about the router's configuration, any addon scripts running, and what troubleshooting steps you've tried may help others with their replies.

When was the last time you performed a hard factory reset followed by a manual configuration (no router.cfg import)?
Do you have a USB drive attached?

 

[sleeps1007]

It's been a long time since I've done a hard reset, I've only powered it off and unplugged it for about 10 minutes and I do have a USB drive attached that has a swap file. If I have to hard reset it I'll have to perform that later but if that's what you suggest I'll do that.

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MerlinAU

 

[bennor]

It's been a long time since I've done a hard reset, I've only powered it off and unplugged it for about 10 minutes and I do have a USB drive attached that has a swap file. If I have to hard reset it I'll have to perform that later but if that's what you suggest I'll do that.

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MerlinAU

Hard factory reset is a last resort troubleshooting step. It may help if you post the full system log, it might show what is happening right before the router goes into reboot mode.

As a troubleshooting step, disconnect and check the USB drive for issues on another PC. Sometimes a failing USB drive can cause unexpected behavior on the router, a USB swap file, and any installed scripts stored on the router.

 

[sleeps1007]

Here's my full log going back to Aug 27

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

@sleeps1007

The crash might be coming from the Wi-Fi PCIe driver "dhd"
Some indicators in the logs include:

• Unhandled fault: synchronous external abort (0x96000210) at 0xffffff80011c4154
• Workqueue: events dhd_deferred_work_handler [dhd]
• PC is at si_backplane_access+0x250/0x270 [dhd]
• bcm963xx-pcie: Core [0] UBUS Intr [UBUS_MEM_ACC_ERR]

These would mean something along the lines of:
"I touched a driver register for a Broadcom radio that wasn’t responding --> hard fault --> reboot."

Here are some suggestions you can try, but no promises..

- Disable roaming assistant, Wireless > Professional (both bands): set Roaming assistant to Disable.
- If you use Smart Connect, temporarily disable Smart Connect so each band has its own SSID.
- Try disabling things like Airtime Fairness, Universal and Explicit Beamforming, MU-MIMO (just temporarily for now).
- Fix channels manually (no Auto). Use 80 MHz on 5 GHz and avoid 160 for now..
- You can also try to disable AiProtection / Web & Apps Filters / Traffic Analyzer, etc
- Ensure the AX88U and power brick both have good airflow.. these SoCs get toasty and a thermal hiccups can cause flakiness.

Wait and test again to see if things stabilize between each step.
Finally if things still aren't working right, you can try doing a true factory default reset (using “Initialize all settings”) then reconfigure manually (don’t restore a settings backup).

 

[sleeps1007]

@sleeps1007

The crash might be coming from the Wi-Fi PCIe driver "dhd"
Some indicators in the logs include:

• Unhandled fault: synchronous external abort (0x96000210) at 0xffffff80011c4154
• Workqueue: events dhd_deferred_work_handler [dhd]
• PC is at si_backplane_access+0x250/0x270 [dhd]
• bcm963xx-pcie: Core [0] UBUS Intr [UBUS_MEM_ACC_ERR]

These would mean something along the lines of:
"I touched a driver register for a Broadcom radio that wasn’t responding --> hard fault --> reboot."

Here are some suggestions you can try, but no promises..

- Disable roaming assistant, Wireless > Professional (both bands): set Roaming assistant to Disable.
- If you use Smart Connect, temporarily disable Smart Connect so each band has its own SSID.
- Try disabling things like Airtime Fairness, Universal and Explicit Beamforming, MU-MIMO (just temporarily for now).
- Fix channels manually (no Auto). Use 80 MHz on 5 GHz and avoid 160 for now..
- You can also try to disable AiProtection / Web & Apps Filters / Traffic Analyzer, etc
- Ensure the AX88U and power brick both have good airflow.. these SoCs get toasty and a thermal hiccups can cause flakiness.

Wait and test again to see if things stabilize between each step.
Finally if things still aren't working right, you can try doing a true factory default reset (using “Initialize all settings”) then reconfigure manually (don’t restore a settings backup).

Cool will keep you posted

 

[oldgringo]

I understand all these suggestions, but it degrades the router two generations back. ASUS should be more meticulous with the Wi-Fi driver, the last 3-4 generations had problems with its stability.