L&LD’s Guides and Tutorials

[martinr]

I’ll be replacing my RT-AC68U, and I’ve become a little stale and forgetful on setting up Merlin as well as AMTM and the Add-ons. Looking for L&LD’s famous guides, I discovered he hasn’t been around for a while, and his signature block - to locate his guides - no longer works.

Fortunately, I emailed a link to myself a few years ago on “Best practice for uploading Merlin.”

So, for anyone looking for L&LD’s guides, this link is a good starting place.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/best-practice-to-uploading-latest-merlin-386-1.69847/post-658263

Does anyone know what happened to him? I tried sending a direct message, but that didn’t work, either.

 

[dave14305]

He earned a permanent ban. But good to see you around again martinr!

 

[martinr]

Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. You’ve reminded me that I now remember seeing some exchanges that were uncharacteristic of this forum, and in which he was a correspondent. That’s a shame.

But, talking of the forum’s characteristics, thank you so much for your kind words, Dave; I really mean it. I’ve been preoccupied with other matters, but your kind words will spur me on to get back into the swing of things and climb back up my learning curve, which shouldn’t be too difficult, as it plateaued well before the air started to getrarified.

 

[martinr]

One more link

Post in thread '(NOOB) Definition of "minimal and manual configuration"'
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/n...al-and-manual-configuration.27115/post-205573

 

[Tech9]

setting up Merlin as well as AMTM and the Add-ons

Keep in mind a lot of things have changed since new 3006 based firmware and not all add-ons are compatible. Even common router settings are in different places and done in a different way. You better do some research for more recent information. Long add-ons compatibility related thread here:

Compatibility Findings with AddOns with GT-BE98 Pro

I am starting a thread to summarize my findings to date with my recently purchased GT-BE98 Pro (Merlin 3006.102.1_beta1 firmware) with the "traditional" add-ons. amtm v4.8: Works as designed, including swap file creation and entware installation. diversion v5.1.3: Works as designed, including...

www.snbforums.com

 

[jerry6]

He earned a permanent ban. But good to see you around again martinr!

that is a shame . Must have missed that post . thought something was missing the last few months

 

[sfx2000]

He earned a permanent ban. But good to see you around again martinr!

Didn't know that he got the perma-banhammer...

Not sure how it got to that point - what I can say is that he spoke his voice, and was a bit on the hard side of things...

 

[bbunge]

One more link

Post in thread '(NOOB) Definition of "minimal and manual configuration"'
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/n...al-and-manual-configuration.27115/post-205573

Yup, another of his procedures that is really out of date. Best to not recommend any of the stuff he wrote. And that is not just my opinion today. I have always thought that!

 

[martinr]

Yup, another of his procedures that is really out of date. Best to not recommend any of the stuff he wrote. And that is not just my opinion today. I have always thought that!

Thanks. I did wonder, given when they were written, how long before they not only become out of date but are also counterproductive. Are there any up-to-date equivalent guides for newcomers, that you’re aware of?

Thanks.

 

[jsbeddow]

Yup, another of his procedures that is really out of date. Best to not recommend any of the stuff he wrote. And that is not just my opinion today. I have always thought that!

A perfect encapsulation of my thoughts as well: he remains the only forum user (of any kind) that I had to setup the blocking of viewing his content on my feed.

 

[dave14305]

So does anyone have any useful advice for martinr?

Reset to defaults and only change settings if you can think of a good reason to change them. Only install add-ons you cannot live without because they either improve performance or protect privacy (e.g. QoS or ad-blocking). Avoid eye candy.

 

[Tech9]

Are there any up-to-date equivalent guides for newcomers

Basic setup is in your Asus User Manual, no different for Asuswrt-Merlin. You end up with minimal configuration. You know this already without a guide. From this point on @thelonelycoder made the best guide for AMTM. Script developers have their own on top for what the scripts do, how to install, how to use, what changes were made recently, expected compatibility, etc. Things change over time and the best approach is to use the original source of information.

AMTM:

amtm - the Asuswrt-Merlin Terminal Menu - Diversion

diversion.ch

This (perhaps new to you) thread is maintained by the forum's grumpy cat , may be useful:

Asuswrt-Merlin Addon Software Catalog

Asus-Merlin Addon Software Catalog This sticky post functions as a software catalog (with links to threads, scripts, and author names), grouped by functionality, to make it easier for Asus-Merlin users to find and install addons for their Asus routers without having to search through massive...

www.snbforums.com

Follow @dave14305 advice - keep it simple.

 

[dave14305]

Also, for better or worse, many addons were considered “stable and mature” until the 3006 firmware arrived. Unfortunately many of the devs lost interest or moved on, and their addons are on life support, surviving thanks to occasional contributions from helpful members like Martinski.

TL;DR Assume most older addons may have problems on the new firmware as time goes on.

In transparency, I stopped using FlexQoS when I realized (last week) that I had better latency without any QoS than with Adaptive QoS (with or without FlexQoS).

 

[sfx2000]

Didn't know that he got the perma-banhammer...

I also acknowledge that this is a social community, so there had to be a sound reason for the perma-ban...

 

[sfx2000]

lso, for better or worse, many addons were considered “stable and mature” until the 3006 firmware arrived. Unfortunately many of the devs lost interest or moved on, and their addons are on life support, surviving thanks to occasional contributions from helpful members like Martinski.

Some of the add-ins likely have broken because of major changes under the hood - and as mentioned, folks have moved on...

 

[Tech9]

Adaptive QoS

This thing is still broken on Wi-Fi 7 models, no?

 

[martinr]

Many thanks to everyone.

As for the add-ons, Diversion is the main add-on I want, having been with it since AB Solution days. Thanks for drawing to my attention to the fact that, whilst AMTM and Diversion work fine, for Skynet, the “web UI does not work. Installation must be completed using command line as amtm installation fails.

And as for setting up the new router, it’s a good opportunity to refresh my memory and get familiar with new content and where everything is. And the rest is just being careful and methodical…. and getting back into the swing of it.

Hopefully, this tip I found will still work and possibly make setting up slightly easier:
“Firefox Menu>File>Save Page As and then choose "Web page, complete" (it is the default choice). I am doing this since 2013 Just to note that some fields then remain "hidden" when you open the relevant .htm/.html file, but when you select them they become visible.

This method is much better then screen capture not only because it is solving the scrolling problem, but also because you may use copy/paste from saved pages to web gui.”

From post in thread 'Asuswrt-Merlin 386.1 is now available'
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-386-1-is-now-available.69783/post-657763


Thanks again to everyone.