Solved Merlin AC-68U 386.2_4 firmware failed to update afraid.org DDNS

[wzhong]

I setup the afraid.org DDNS username, password, and hostname on Merlin 386.2_4. It shows registration successful, but actually failed to update new IP address on afraid.org. The following is the log info:

May 5 19:33:43 watchdog: start ddns.
May 5 19:33:43 rc_service: watchdog 761:notify_rc start_ddns
May 5 19:33:44 start_ddns: update FREEDNS.AFRAID.ORG default@freedns.afraid.org, wan_unit 0
May 5 19:33:44 inadyn[27307]: In-a-dyn version 2.8.1 -- Dynamic DNS update client.
May 5 19:33:45 inadyn[27307]: Update forced for alias xxx.mooo.com, new IP# 24.13.xx.xx

 

[RMerlin]

Enable debugging:

nvram set ddns_debug=1

Then try again. It's most likely an authentication issue in your config.

 

[wzhong]

Debugging Enabled, still no go. The log is the same even typing in wrong password.

 

[RMerlin]

Debugging Enabled, still no go. The log is the same even typing in wrong password.

With debugging enabled there should be a lot more log entries.

 

[wzhong]

ddns debugging enabled as following:
ASUSWRT-Merlin RT-AC68U 386.2_4 Fri Apr 30 21:00:24 UTC 2021
admin@RT-AC68U-80A0:/tmp/home/root# nvram set ddns_debug=1
admin@RT-AC68U-80A0:/tmp/home/root# nvram get ddns_debug
1

System log entries as following:
May 6 13:53:24 dropbear[3641]: Password auth succeeded for 'admin' from 192.168.1.13:53230
May 6 13:54:20 Mastiff: Got AAE_SIG_REMOTE_CONNECTION_TURNED_ON
May 6 13:54:21 rc_service: httpd 756:notify_rc restart_ddns
May 6 13:54:21 start_ddns: update FREEDNS.AFRAID.ORG default@freedns.afraid.org, wan_unit 0
May 6 13:54:21 inadyn[3764]: In-a-dyn version 2.8.1 -- Dynamic DNS update client.
May 6 13:54:22 inadyn[3764]: Update forced for alias xx.mooo.com, new IP# 24.13.xx.xx
May 6 13:54:41 watchdog: start ddns.
May 6 13:54:41 rc_service: watchdog 760:notify_rc start_ddns
May 6 13:54:41 start_ddns: update FREEDNS.AFRAID.ORG default@freedns.afraid.org, wan_unit 0
May 6 13:54:41 inadyn[3790]: In-a-dyn version 2.8.1 -- Dynamic DNS update client.
May 6 13:54:42 inadyn[3790]: Update forced for alias xx.mooo.com, new IP# 24.13.xx.xx

 

[RMerlin]

Looks like debug logging uses debug priority, so by default it won't show. Go to System Log, then set "Log only messages more urgent than" to "debug".

Afraid is updating without any error here with my own DDNS domain.

May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: In-a-dyn version 2.8.1 -- Dynamic DNS update client.
May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: Resolving hostname myhome.ddnsdomain.com => IP# 24.200.0.0
May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: Checking for IP# change, querying interface eth0
May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: No IP# change detected for default@freedns.afraid.org, still at 24.200.0.0
May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: Update forced for alias myhome.ddnsdomain.com, new IP# 24.200.0.0
May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: Fetching account API key, connecting to freedns.afraid.org([69.42.215.252]:443)
May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: Fetching account API key, initiating HTTPS ...
May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: SSL connection using ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: SSL server cert subject: /CN=freedns.afraid.org
May  6 17:31:04 inadyn[2054]: SSL server cert issuer: /C=GB/ST=Greater Manchester/L=Salford/O=Sectigo Limited/CN=Sectigo RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA
May  6 17:31:05 inadyn[2054]: Sending IP# update to DDNS server, connecting to freedns.afraid.org([50.23.197.95]:443)
May  6 17:31:05 inadyn[2054]: Sending IP# update to DDNS server, initiating HTTPS ...
May  6 17:31:05 inadyn[2054]: SSL connection using ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
May  6 17:31:05 inadyn[2054]: SSL server cert subject: /CN=freedns.afraid.org
May  6 17:31:05 inadyn[2054]: SSL server cert issuer: /C=GB/ST=Greater Manchester/L=Salford/O=Sectigo Limited/CN=Sectigo RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA
May  6 17:31:05 inadyn[2054]: Successful alias table update for myhome.ddnsdomain.com => new IP# 24.200.0.0
May  6 17:31:05 inadyn[2054]: Remove old cache file /var/cache/inadyn for myhome.ddnsdomain.com
May  6 17:31:05 inadyn[2054]: Updating cache for myhome.ddnsdomain.com

 

[wzhong]

The log shows "cannot find your DNS name in the list of API keys"

May 6 21:42:49 inadyn[18828]: In-a-dyn version 2.8.1 -- Dynamic DNS update client.
May 6 21:42:49 inadyn[18828]: Resolving hostname xx.mooo.com => IP# 24.15.71.169
May 6 21:42:49 inadyn[18828]: Checking for IP# change, connecting to freedns.afraid.org([50.23.197.95]:443)
May 6 21:42:49 inadyn[18828]: Checking for IP# change, initiating HTTPS ...
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: SSL connection using ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: SSL server cert subject: /CN=freedns.afraid.org
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: SSL server cert issuer: /C=GB/ST=Greater Manchester/L=Salford/O=Sectigo Limited/CN=Sectigo RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: Current IP# 24.13.xx.xx at default@freedns.afraid.org
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: Update forced for alias xx.mooo.com, new IP# 24.13.xx.xx
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: Fetching account API key, connecting to freedns.afraid.org([69.42.215.252]:443)
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: Fetching account API key, initiating HTTPS ...
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: SSL connection using ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: SSL server cert subject: /CN=freedns.afraid.org
May 6 21:42:50 inadyn[18828]: SSL server cert issuer: /C=GB/ST=Greater Manchester/L=Salford/O=Sectigo Limited/CN=Sectigo RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA
May 6 21:42:51 inadyn[18828]: Cannot find your DNS name in the list of API keys

 

[RMerlin]

Then it's an issue with your Afraid account. Log to its web interface to ensure it hasn't expired, and double check your settings.

 

[wzhong]

Thanks a lot. Replaced the email address with the user id as username for registration and it worked. It is really confusing since they are both good for login on afraid.org.