Cannot flash DSL-AX82U with GNUton firmware

[Eclipse11]

Hello

I have a DSL-AX82U with the the latest ASUS firmware (3.0.0.4.388_23756-gc732440).

I have been trying to flash to the latest GNUton firmware (DSL-AX82U_3004_388.6_0-gnuton1_puresqubi.w) but without success.

Everything seems to go to plan; the new firmware takes a couple of minutes to upload, no error messages and then it says to manually reboot for the change to take effect. However, after reboot, I'm still on the ASUS firmware, not the GNUton firmware. Again, no errors. I've tried it a few times with the same results.

Any ideas on what the issue may be?

(side note: clicking the "reboot" button on the admin page sometimes doesn't do anything. It gives the warning message but doesn't actually reboot and when this happens the only option is to physically power it off and on at the router. No idea if this is related but thought I'd mention it.)

Thanks

 

[Tech9]

and then it says to manually reboot

After this message appears - wait for 2-3 minutes and see if the router reboots itself. This message sometimes pops up too early before the process is completed. When you reboot the router manually the process is interrupted and the router boots on the previous firmware version. I have seen it happening on few different Asus routers.

 

[Eclipse11]

Thanks. It's strange. I just tried again but slightly different results:

• It accepts the firmware and upgrade progresses
• During the upgrade, I lose connectivity to the router
• The upgrade status in the browser continues (even though my continuous ping stops) and completes in a couple of minutes
• I regain access to the router but I'm still on the original firmware. Nothing has changed.

This time, it looks like it rebooted itself without a message which is good, but it still doesn't update. It has definitely rebooted as I see the uptime is a couple of minutes. Very little info in the logs.

 

[bennor]

Is the computer connected directly to the router via Ethernet? Don't use WiFi.
Have you tried a different web browser?

 

[Eclipse11]

Tried both just now but no luck I'm afraid. Same result as my most recent post above.
I wonder if downgrading to an older Asus firmware before upgrading to the GNUton firmware might help. Or any other suggestions?

 

[Tech9]

There was a similar discussion here:

Cant flash RT-AX82U gnuton

Hello, I have a RT-AX82U V1 with stock Firmware-Version:3.0.0.4.388_22525 It doesnt matter which merlin gnuton version I choose, its always says "failed Can anyone help me? kind regards

www.snbforums.com

The owner of RT-AX82U decided to replace the router.

There are ways to force flash the firmware, but you have to be absolutely sure you have the correct firmware file and correct router hardware version. Otherwise you'll end up with a dead router. I don't know how comfortable are you going this way. Why do you need so badly 3rd party firmware on your router? What do you expect to get?

 

[Eclipse11]

There are ways to force flash the firmware, but you have to be absolutely sure you have the correct firmware file and correct router hardware version. Otherwise you'll end up with a dead router. I don't know how comfortable are you going this way.

Not particularly comfortable, but I'd be interested in seeing how to do it and then make a decision. Do you have a document that describes how to do it? This is the firmware I believe is the correct one for my router: DSL-AX82U_3004_388.6_0-gnuton1_puresqubi.w.

Why do you need so badly 3rd party firmware on your router? What do you expect to get?

Firstly, the reason I chose this (very expensive) router was because I needed a device that has a combination of DSL, Proton VPN configuration and mesh functionality.

Then, I need more granular configuration of the VPN using VPN director and/or PBR. I looked into all of this before buying.

With all of that said, I can't be the only one who has run into this. I wonder what I'm doing wrong or if I've run into a bug. There is no mention of the gnuton firmware in the logs. All suggestions are much appreciated but I prefer to avoid the rigmarole of returning this router if possible.

 

[Tech9]

I wonder what I'm doing wrong

Perhaps nothing. In one of the official Asus documents there was a text saying Asus can make a firmware version minimum required for specific hardware. This means any firmware seen as older will be rejected. I don't know what Asuswrt is looking for and why 3rd party firmware doesn't flash, but this may be the cause of similar issues.

Alternative methods are Firmware Restoration tool, miniCFE Web server, flash in SSH, etc. Two of them have no firmware verification and may kill the router. Your idea of integrated xDSL modem actually narrowed your hardware choice to a single model. I would prefer separate xDSL modem instead and more popular and capable router.

 

[Eclipse11]

Ok, I'll continue to troubleshoot. Hopefully without bricking the damn thing.

Your point about separating the modem and the router is valid and is actually what I was doing previously with old kit that I wanted to upgrade. I *thought* the DSL-AX82U would be a good alternate solution to keep it minimal/simple.

Anyway, thanks for the quick replies.

 

[Tech9]

DSL-AX82U is a mid-range router built around the same hardware as RT-AX58U. Similar routers are TUF Gaming AX3000/AX5400, ROG Strix AX3000/AX5400, RT-AX3000/AX5400, etc. They are all the same hardware, AX3000 marketed models are with locked to 2-stream 5GHz radios. Some of them have V2 versions already. None are very popular around here except perhaps the original RT-AX58U V1. If you decide to replace the router look for RT-AX86U Pro or better.

 

[Eclipse11]

Good call, thanks. Will note it down in case I go that *ahem* route.

 

[Eclipse11]

I tried the steps below which were still not successful, but mentioning in case anyone is interested/bored

1. Connected via wired.
2. Reset to factory default.
3. Uploaded latest GNUton firmware via the Asus firmware restoration tool.
4. No errors and all looked good, but no luck.
5. For fun, I also tried the previous stable version of GNUton. No luck.

No matter what I've done so far, the GNUton firmware just will not take. All indications during the process are that it worked... until I reboot and check the version which is the Asus firmware.

In one of the official Asus documents there was a text saying Asus can make a firmware version minimum required for specific hardware. This means any firmware seen as older will be rejected.

This seems to be a pretty strong theory.

One (possibly final) question: can I increase the verbosity of the logging on the Asus firmware? It would be nice to have a bit more visibility into what is going wrong.

 

[ColinTaylor]

@Eclipse11 The firmware you're trying to flash only came out five days ago. Perhaps there's a problem with that specific version. Have you tried the previous stable release (https://github.com/gnuton/asuswrt-m.../DSL-AX82U_3004_388.5_0-gnuton1_puresqubi.w)?

I don't know whether this works on the DSL models, but to increase the logging level try SSH'ing into the router and issuing these commands:

nvram get log_level

Assuming that returns a number, then:

nvram set log_level=8
nvram commit
service restart_logger

 

[Eclipse11]

@Eclipse11 The firmware you're trying to flash only came out five days ago. Perhaps there's a problem with that specific version. Have you tried the previous stable release (https://github.com/gnuton/asuswrt-m.../DSL-AX82U_3004_388.5_0-gnuton1_puresqubi.w)?

Yep, point 5 above. No dice.

Will try the log level. Thanks.

 

[L&LD]

@Eclipse11, you need to flash the firmware you want to use, then perform a full reset to factory defaults. Do not import any saved backup config files, do not insert any USB drive that was previously used for amtm/scripts.

Minimal and manual configuration after flashing, then resetting the router fully.

 

[Tech9]

Yep, point 5 above. No dice.

Even if you manage to flash it - do you want similar issues with future firmware updates and after your return window? You know what to do.

 

[Eclipse11]

@Tech9 I hear you and yep that did occur to me also. I'm admittedly being a bit stubborn at this point.

(just tried again and nothing interesting in the level 8 logs)

 

[Katana1074]

Works ok for me ....

 

[Katana1074]

As for having a separate modem and router, I used to run an ac86u and separate modem
, however for my needs the dsl-ax82 has been flawless,

In fact there have been more Pluses like vdsl stability adjustment ,only issue I have is with slow samba which is to be expected with any asus routers....