Compiling a extreamly basic Asus firmware stripped of every single add-on made

[johnchaney28031]

Hello all, I have had two Asus firewalls RT-AX92U and the RT-AX96U. I would like to work on creating a completely back to basics router with a firewall. None of the add-ons. My dream would be only to have or include the following to this firmware-slim.
I would keep the following based on the ASUS Factory pages
____________________
-Wireless-
General
Wireless MAC Filter
Professional
Roaming Block List

-LAN-
LAN IP
DHCP
Route

-WAN-
Internet Connection
Dual WAN
Port Trigger
(Port forwarding allows multiple devices to share a single open port and port trigger only allows one client at a time to access the open port.)
and/or Virtual Server-Port Forwarding

-IPv6-
IPv6

-Firewall-
General

-Administration-
System
Firmware Upgrade
Restore/Save/Upload Settings
-----------------------------------

That is it. I turn every single other thing off on my routers every time. I don't use and turn off everything below so I would even like to remove the code and services completely. If anything is needed, I would run a ssh session into the device and with a batch.sh the service on like httpd and only that one service like logging. I would know that I would have no data except waiting for a few minutes for live data to start logging in. Then turn the service off with a script and httpd off. Slim slim slim slim slim. Did I say small, tiny? Yes like the good old days.

Here is everything I would remove from this firmware in no order at all. And yes I would be blind. No fancy graphs or logs. No Antivirus and no VPN. But I have other tools I can manually install and compile locally to see what's going on when I need to on each of my devices. I can move devices behind this firewall where I would secure them from this. This front end would be mainly for my Playstation only. I have a new echo devices, A few Tablets, and a few TV's that connect. That is it. I don't have millions or even thousand of dollars to my name so nothing I am going to lose is going to hurt me except my emails were compromised or I can't log into social media. Oh no! End of the world. My credit is so bad that I can't even open a credit card or even think about buying a house or a car,. So not the End of the world. Not for me. (Too personal but no big deal)

My dream "old School" Firmware would not include the following.
_________________
-Network Map-
Remove Internet Status
Security Level
AiMesh Node
USB Devices
System Status
Internet Status
CPU/RAM Status
Ethernet Ports Status
LAN IP Config Info Box
ASUS Router APP Google Play and Apple APP stores
Quick Internet Setup button
Guest Network Icon
Internet Status Icon
USB Disk Detection
System Reboot Button
Logout (Auto TTL 1 min)

-MiMesh-
Topology
ASUS Wifi System
Clients Tab
Network Tab
Management Tab
Client List Box
System Settings
Ethernet Backhaul Mode
Roaming List
System Restore to Factory
System Reboot Button

-Guest Network-
2.4 Ghz
5 GHz

-AiProtection-
Network Protection
Malicious Sites Blocking
Two way IPS
Infected Devices Prevention

-Parental Controls-
Web Apps Filters
Time Scheduling

-Adaptive QoS-
Bandwidth Monitor
QoS
Web History
Internet Speed

-Traffic Analyzer-
Statistic
Traffic monitor

-Game-
Gear Accelerator
Mobile Game Mode
Open NAT 3 step setup
??WRT Service VPN

-Open NAT-
Port Forwarding Only & Remove Game Profiles

-USB Application-
AI Disk
Servers Center
Network Printer (CUPS)
3/4G
Time Machine
Download Master

-AICLOUD 2.0-
AiCloud Sync - Sync Server
Settings for Ai Cloud
AiCloud Log

-Wireless-
WPS
WDS
Wireless MAC Filter
Radius Setting
Roaming Block List

-LAN-
IPTV

Switch Control

-WAN-
Dual WAN
Port Trigger (with only one instance sharing the same port)
DMZ
DDNS
NET Passthrough

-Amazon Alexa-
Alexa Skill

-VPN-
VPN Server
-VPN Server PPTP
-VPN Server OpenVPN
-VPN Server Wireguard
VPN Fusion
Instant Guard

-Firewall-
URL Filter
Keyword Filter
Network Services Filter

-Administration-
Feedback
Privacy

-System Log-
General Log
Wireless Log
DHCP Licenses
Routing Table
Port Forwarding
Connections

-Network Tools-
Network Analysis
Netstat
Wake on LAN
Smart Connect Rule
________________________

Is this even possible to make something like this. I'm starting to download the files now and working with Multipass building now on my Mac. Should I just stop this thought and forget about it or what can I do to make the lightest firmware build ever? Imaging how jslinux running with 1mb of ram light but this is what inspired me to start this creation. https://busybox.net/live_bbox/live_bbox.html

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @johnchaney28031.

I don't think you can build it like you want. I also don't recognize that second model either.

What I would do is only do a full reset to factory defaults and then only change/touch the options you need to be enabled. Keep in mind that toggling some options on/off isn't the same as leaving them off in the first place (and some options change the router's behavior if you just land on their page).

You can also search here for the RMerlin script to build your own firmware too, but as far as I remember, you need a Linux build (not Mac) as a base to do that.

Use the Better Search link to find those discussions and other relevant information you may need.

 

[Tech9]

I would like to work on creating a completely back to basics router with a firewall.

You don't need the Asus router at all. Build your own Linux Router on something like Ubuntu Server and better x86 hardware.

 

[RMerlin]

Is this even possible to make something like this.

No. A lot of the closed-source portions of the firmware expect these components to be there.

 

[Hawk]

To further state what merlin said, many components dependent on others, even if somehow you could manage it. It will break everything dependent on it. Best thing would be just built you on router, there are literally many open source based software.