BL 1.0.1.1 Unable to Overclock RT-AC68R

[IanEnc]

This question is posed to those who are overclocking their AC68 router, or to those who have tried in the past.

I have the RT-AC68R. My understanding is that the R designation is for units sold at major retailers, such as Best Buy/Costco.

My unit was manufactured in 2013.

The Bootloader version in the GUI is 1.0.1.1, meaning I did not run the DDR Configuration Utility from ASUS to upgrade the memory. This Bootloader after one runs the utility is 1.0.1.6, which I am told disables the ability to overclock the router.

Yesterday I attempted to overclock the CPU and memory with the commands found through this board.

nvram set clkfrq=1200,800
nvram commit && reboot

After the reboot, I go to confirm the overclock by using

nvram get clkfrq

This returns: 1200,800.

I'm psyched because, silly me, I believe that the unit is overclocked and running fine.

I later notice the web GUI still shows 800MHz for the CPU clock.

I then see a post from RMerlin saying to check the BogoMIPS to confirm the unit is being overclocked.

I run

cat /proc/cpuinfo

And unfortunately for me, the BogoMIPS returned is between 1595 and 1600. According to RMerlin, this means that the clock is still at 800MHz and the nvram is resetting the clock back to default.

Am I doing something wrong? I've tried these commands in the web GUI and also via telnet. I get the same result.

I've tried these commands with the Overclock function enabled and disabled on RMerlin's firmware.

To those who are overclocking the unit, do your BogoMIPS value commensurate with the higher CPU clock you have set? Or are people thinking their unit is overclocked, when it really isn't?

 

[Kris404]

nvram set clkfrq=1200,800
nvram commit && reboot

As far as I know, it is: clkfreq

Did you also try with a different memory value, like 666?

 

[IanEnc]

I tried 1000,666 as well. I tried different combinations. None worked.

800,666
1000,533
1200,533
1200,666

I'll try the clkfreq command and see if that works.

 

[IanEnc]

As far as I know, it is: clkfreq



Did you also try with a different memory value, like 666?

You rock, Kris! Curse me for not paying attention to the syntax.

After realizing I didn't set the modem to OverClock, your correction worked.

Thanks again!

 

[Kris404]

You rock, Kris! Curse me for not paying attention to the syntax.

After realizing I didn't set the modem to OverClock, your correction worked.

Thanks again!

Glad it worked

 

[IanEnc]

Glad it worked

I spoke too soon. The overclock didn't work. I was fooled.

I turned on the OverClock and Turbo mode was on without me knowing.

I set the clkfreq to 1000,666. So when the BogoMIPS score corresponded with 1000MHz, I thought it was overclocked.

I tried to go higher to 1200,800 to check for stability. When I checked the BogoMIPS again, the score was the same as 1000MHz. Sysinfo showed the clock at 1200MHz, but it must be wrong.

I guess I'm stuck with either default clocks (800,533), or Turbo mode (1000,533).

This is upsetting.

 

[Adamm]

Try upgrading the bootloader, my AC68R shipped this week with 1.0.1.6 by default and I had no issues overclocking it to 1000/800 via the cklfreq value. The only downside is the overclock feature being broken at the moment, but no functionality is lost as the nvram value can still be modified.

admin@RT-AC68R:/tmp/home/root# nvram get clkfreq
1000,800

admin@RT-AC68R:/tmp/home/root# cat /proc/cpuinfo
Processor : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
processor : 0
BogoMIPS : 1998.84

processor : 1
BogoMIPS : 1998.84

Features : swp half thumb fastmult edsp
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x3
CPU part : 0xc09
CPU revision : 0

Hardware : Northstar Prototype
Revision : 0000
Serial : 0000000000000000

admin@RT-AC68R:/tmp/home/root# nvram get bl_version
1.0.1.6

 

[IanEnc]

Try upgrading the bootloader, my AC68R shipped this week with 1.0.1.6 by default and I had no issues overclocking it to 1000/800 via the cklfreq value. The only downside is the overclock feature being broken at the moment, but no functionality is lost as the nvram value can still be modified.

Thanks Adamm. I'll have to give this a try, since nothing else is working for me with the old bootloader.

 

[IanEnc]

I wonder:

Does it make a difference if the nvram set clkfreq is run in the web GUI, telnet, or ssh?

The only environment I haven't tried is SSH. I'll download a client and give that a go tonight.

Also, does it matter if the OverDrive option is enabled in Merlin's f/w under Administration > Performance tuning (with the LED button depressed, since it locks up the unit with BL 1.0.1.6).

 

[Adamm]

I wonder:

Does it make a difference if the nvram set clkfreq is run in the web GUI, telnet, or ssh?

The only environment I haven't tried is SSH. I'll download a client and give that a go tonight.

Also, does it matter if the OverDrive option is enabled in Merlin's f/w under Administration > Performance tuning (with the LED button depressed, since it locks up the unit with BL 1.0.1.6).

Running the command in the web GUI shouldn't matter as it doesn't have any secondary input required (and can be tested using nvram get clkfreq)

Also it's probably best to disable that option as it may conflict with custom values and as its currently broken with newer bootloaders. But as previously said the same functionality can be gained from the nvram command.

 

[IanEnc]

Also it's probably best to disable that option as it may conflict with custom values and as its currently broken with newer bootloaders. But as previously said the same functionality can be gained from the nvram command.

The reason I ask about the OverDrive option is because my unit's nvram would not retain a different value other than 800,533 upon reboot in normal mode (where the LED button toggled if the lights work or not). After setting higher clocks and running nvram commit && reboot, I would let the router start up and nvram get clkfreq would always return 800,533.

I guess I'll get back to tinkering with the router later today.

Thank you again for your input, Adamm.

 

[Paralel]

As far as I'm aware, if you have the Overdrive/Turbo option enabled it will prevent the manual setting of the frequencies.

 

[IanEnc]

As far as I'm aware, if you have the Overdrive/Turbo option enabled it will prevent the manual setting of the frequencies.

For me, when Overdrive is disabled, nvram doesn't commit the values set manually.

When Overdrive is enabled, the nvram values stay after the reboot, but the BogoMIPS still correspond with the CPU running at 1000MHz (even if I set the clock to 1200 or even 800.)

 

[IanEnc]

I continued to troubleshoot my router with BL 1.0.1.1. I reset the NVRAM and reset the router using the WPS button. I flashed ASUS' official firmware 4561. No matter what I did, the nvram wouldn't accept my clkfreq.

I decided to go ahead with the DDR Config Utility and upgrade the bootloader to 1.0.1.6.

I was freaked at first, because it would pause during progress and prompt that it could not find the Bootloader file. I restarted my computer, and the utility triggered my firewall. After disabling the firewall, the upgrade went through and passed.

Overclocking worked with the new BL. Now running 1000,666 and the correct BogoMIPS are being displayed.

4561 doesn't support IPv6, however. It worked on Merlin's alpha8 build. Alpha9 didn't work for IPv6 either.

Thanks again for all of your assistance!

 

[Paralel]

Strange, makes me wonder if your original bootloader, as programmed, wasn't screwed up in some way from the factory. I have rarely seen that happen before. But, I'm glad it worked out after the upgrade.

 

[soniamukerjee]

I continued to troubleshoot my router with BL 1.0.1.1. I reset the NVRAM and reset the router using the WPS button. I flashed ASUS' official firmware 4561. No matter what I did, the nvram wouldn't accept my clkfreq.

I decided to go ahead with the DDR Config Utility and upgrade the bootloader to 1.0.1.6.

I was freaked at first, because it would pause during progress and prompt that it could not find the Bootloader file. I restarted my computer, and the utility triggered my firewall. After disabling the firewall, the upgrade went through and passed.

Overclocking worked with the new BL. Now running 1000,666 and the correct BogoMIPS are being displayed.

4561 doesn't support IPv6, however. It worked on Merlin's alpha8 build. Alpha9 didn't work for IPv6 either.

Thanks again for all of your assistance!

Can you help me? I am also stuck with the "unable to check bootloader file" prompt in the middle of the upgrade.

 

[IanEnc]

Can you help me? I am also stuck with the "unable to check bootloader file" prompt in the middle of the upgrade.

Do you have a firewall on your computer? I had to disable mine in order to let the DDR utility communicate with the router properly.

Let me know if that works.

 

[soniamukerjee]

I have Norton Security Suite. I disabled all settings, but still it is giving the same error.

Do I need to be on a particular FW version. Currently I am on Merlin's 40 beta 1.

 

[soniamukerjee]

I downgraded to 3.0.0.4.374.339 FW and was able to flash it successfully.

 

[IanEnc]

I downgraded to 3.0.0.4.374.339 FW and was able to flash it successfully.

Glad you got it sorted out.