Firmware Update for RT-AX88U Pro - New Install

[Louis James]

Good Afternoon:

Just purchased the RT-AX88U Pro and I'm impressed. Very easy to setup and use. My next step was to switch to Asus Merlin. I have al RT-AX88U with Merlin. The RT-AX88U Pro is still with the Factory Asus Firmware.

I have them setup in a Mesh (again, very easy to setup)

You can see that the RT-AX88U Pro is at V.3.006.102 While the AT-AX88U (Node) is with Merlin V. 3.004.388. In other words the Asus Factory seems later than the Asus Merlin. Should I just wait until Merlin catches up? I would think to would eventually be wise that both firmware matches.

Thank you for any thoughts.

Louis

 

[bbunge]

Your pro is on newer firmware. Also it is best to run the node on Asus firmware.

 

[Tech9]

In other words the Asus Factory seems later than the Asus Merlin. Should I just wait until Merlin catches up?

Asuswrt for Pro models is on different firmware base. You won't get 3.0.0.6 Asuswrt-Merlin any soon.

 

[L&LD]

Yes, I would have both matched for the most stable network possible.

Don't forget After flashing the firmware you want to fully reset the router and to not use any saved backup config files to secure it and connect to your ISP (that will effectively negate the reset you performed).

 

[Tech9]

The same release number firmware for different hardware platforms is actually a different firmware. Not exactly matching.

 

[Deleted member 89090]

Good Afternoon:

Just purchased the RT-AX88U Pro and I'm impressed. Very easy to setup and use. My next step was to switch to Asus Merlin. I have al RT-AX88U with Merlin. The RT-AX88U Pro is still with the Factory Asus Firmware.

I have them setup in a Mesh (again, very easy to setup)

View attachment 53215


You can see that the RT-AX88U Pro is at V.3.006.102 While the AT-AX88U (Node) is with Merlin V. 3.004.388. In other words the Asus Factory seems later than the Asus Merlin. Should I just wait until Merlin catches up? I would think to would eventually be wise that both firmware matches.

Thank you for any thoughts.

Louis

I'm curious as to why you chose to go with Merlin over ASUS' firmware. Do you have a specific usage scenario not able to be handled by the stock firmware?

 

[manup85]

Guys i have a problem with my router performance. i'm using latest Merlin firmware and i have attached 2 HDD 4TB each. it seems the router is unable to handle it. 100% RAM all the time. i tried to remove one disk but same issue. do you know if router can be the problem? tnx

 

[Ripshod]

@manup85 That 100% is not solid. A lot of it is cache for your large drives, and there's a buffer as well. These caches and buffer will be reduced if more ram is needed.
In Linux, empty ram is wasted ram.
That said, if these are spinning platters, and draw power from the usb you may likely hit instability at some point. Some ssds also draw a large current.
For example:
What you see

What you don't see

 

[manup85]

@manup85 That 100% is not solid. A lot of it is cache for your large drives, and there's a buffer as well. These caches and buffer will be reduced if more ram is needed.
In Linux, empty ram is wasted ram.
That said, if these are spinning platters, and draw power from the usb you may likely hit instability at some point. Some ssds also draw a large current.
For example:
What you see
View attachment 54255

What you don't see
View attachment 54256

how do i see what i dont see?
i can confirm you that the instability came in.
i couldnt remote connect the router as i losted ETH ports.
that i supposed is related to 100% ram.

Thank you

 

[Ripshod]

how do i see what i dont see?

You have merlin so the simplest way is to view a live readout of ram usage. In ssh

watch -n 5 free -m

This is a live readout of your RAM state, and you'll be able to see it change.

For the graphical version I used install scMerlin.

 

[glens]

i can confirm you that the instability came in.
i couldnt remote connect the router as i losted ETH ports.
that i supposed is related to 100% ram.

In that pie chart above you see almost half the ram is being used as "drive" 'cache' which will be discarded in an instant if more of what's shown as 'used' (by running programs) is needed.

It's /possible/ the instability occured because not enough ram could be freed, but it's equally or even more likely the result of something else, like one or more CPU cores staying pegged due to a too-busy or otherwise misbehaving task.

Not saying it's the case, but you might have misconfiguration to blame.