MerlinAU MerlinAU v1.6.0 - The Ultimate Firmware Auto-Updater

[ExtremeFiretop]

Assuming your nodes support Merlin... fortunately, my 3 nodes at one location and 1 node at another all do .

Very true. I sometimes forget people run stock for nodes. I definitely run Merlin/Gnuton on all my nodes (since they are all compatible)

 

[cc666]

This is a geat addition, thank you to the developer!

A few questions:
1 - On the Administration - Firmware upgrade tab do I uncheck this as this new scrypt takes that over? Or do I leave it on?

2 - There is no option to add my email info, its greyed out and no option on the SSH - AMTM menu. How do I enable this?

CC

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

This is a geat addition, thank you to the developer!

Welcome to the team!
MerlinAU has been apart of AMTM for a few years now, and we hope to continue to provide updates for a long time

A few questions:
1 - On the Administration - Firmware upgrade tab do I uncheck this as this new scrypt takes that over? Or do I leave it on?

This MerlinAU script controls that setting, if you disable auto updates in the MerlinAU script (option 3 of our CLI menu), you will see the checkbox on that tab update accordingly.

2 - There is no option to add my email info, its greyed out and no option on the SSH - AMTM menu. How do I enable this?

You need to enable email notifications within AMTM.
Within AMTM use the "em" option to configure your email settings.

Please make sure to refer to our wiki which answers most questions:

Home

Merlin(A)uto(U)pdate is a Merlin router script which allows you to remotely identify a stable firmware update for an ASUS Merlin router, and automatically download and update via an unattended meth...

github.com

 

[cc666]

Welcome to the team!
MerlinAU has been apart of AMTM for a few years now, and we hope to continue to provide updates for a long time



This MerlinAU script controls that setting, if you disable auto updates in the MerlinAU script (option 3 of our CLI menu), you will see the checkbox on that tab update accordingly.



You need to enable email notifications within AMTM.
Within AMTM use the "em" option to configure your email settings.

View attachment 70874

Please make sure to refer to our wiki which answers most questions:

Home

Merlin(A)uto(U)pdate is a Merlin router script which allows you to remotely identify a stable firmware update for an ASUS Merlin router, and automatically download and update via an unattended meth...

github.com

Thank you so much for the replies. This is really a great addition!

CC

 

[junior120872]

I noticed when I updated to version 1.60, the check goes off at Midnight, and although there was no update to merlin, it rebooted by be96u. I installed it on Thursday and it rebooted that night. I thought it was a fluke last night, but it did it again at midnight Friday night. I've uninstalled for the moment and will see if I get a reboot again Saturday night. I've only seen reboots since I updated from 1.59 to 1.60, but I'll confirm if I still get reboots after uninstall. It might not even be related and maybe just a coincidence.

Mar 28 00:00:01 MerlinAU_[22038]: Cron job hook already exists in '/jffs/scripts/services-start' script.
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: MerlinAU v1.6.0
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: Running the update task now. Checking for F/W updates...
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: Successful Login for AiMesh Node [192.168.254.188].
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: Successful Login for AiMesh Node [192.168.254.102].
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: Successful Login for AiMesh Node [192.168.254.228].
Mar 28 00:00:11 MerlinAU_[22038]: No new firmware version update is found for [RT-BE96U] router model.
Mar 28 00:00:11 kernel: klogd started: BusyBox v1.25.1 (2026-03-24 16:25:19 EDT)
Mar 28 00:00:11 kernel: Linux version 4.19.294 (merlin@ubuntu-dev) (gcc version 10.3.0 (Buildroot 2021.02.4)) #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Mar 24 16:32:03 EDT 2026
Mar 28 00:00:11 kernel: ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_1 missing from firmware
.
.
.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

I noticed when I updated to version 1.60, the check goes off at Midnight, and although there was no update to merlin, it rebooted by be96u. I installed it on Thursday and it rebooted that night. I thought it was a fluke last night, but it did it again at midnight Friday night. I've uninstalled for the moment and will see if I get a reboot again Saturday night. I've only seen reboots since I updated from 1.59 to 1.60, but I'll confirm if I still get reboots after uninstall. It might not even be related and maybe just a coincidence.

Mar 28 00:00:01 MerlinAU_[22038]: Cron job hook already exists in '/jffs/scripts/services-start' script.
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: MerlinAU v1.6.0
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: Running the update task now. Checking for F/W updates...
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: Successful Login for AiMesh Node [192.168.254.188].
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: Successful Login for AiMesh Node [192.168.254.102].
Mar 28 00:00:02 MerlinAU_[22038]: Successful Login for AiMesh Node [192.168.254.228].
Mar 28 00:00:11 MerlinAU_[22038]: No new firmware version update is found for [RT-BE96U] router model.
Mar 28 00:00:11 kernel: klogd started: BusyBox v1.25.1 (2026-03-24 16:25:19 EDT)
Mar 28 00:00:11 kernel: Linux version 4.19.294 (merlin@ubuntu-dev) (gcc version 10.3.0 (Buildroot 2021.02.4)) #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Mar 24 16:32:03 EDT 2026
Mar 28 00:00:11 kernel: ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_1 missing from firmware
.
.
.

I'm not experiencing any such an issue on my 3 personal routers or the 2 routers I handle for "friends and family", and unfortunately this report is currently too vague to properly investigate at the moment.
What I can say is that the based on the logs you shared, the script has finished checking for updates, and only needs to exit after the last message you sent in your logs:

Mar 28 00:00:11 MerlinAU_[22038]: No new firmware version update is found for [RT-BE96U] router model.

So if you see that message above, it should mean the script is "done" and likely has exited by the time it's rebooting, the chances seem low so far that it's related?
I did a quick review of the 5 PR's in version 1.6.0 , the only change I see which would be encountered by the cron job at midnight, would be the _ReleaseMutexFLock_ that was implemented in PR 554.
Every other change would not be encountered by your nightly cron job run, but again I have no such issue so it's hard to say for sure.

Can you share the entire output of:

cru l

with us? What other cron jobs would run at midnight, if any?

 

[dave14305]

Mar 28 00:00:11 MerlinAU_[22038]: No new firmware version update is found for [RT-BE96U] router model.
Mar 28 00:00:11 kernel: klogd started: BusyBox v1.25.1 (2026-03-24 16:25:19 EDT)
Mar 28 00:00:11 kernel: Linux version 4.19.294 (merlin@ubuntu-dev) (gcc version 10.3.0 (Buildroot 2021.02.4)) #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Mar 24 16:32:03 EDT 2026
Mar 28 00:00:11 kernel: ARM_SMCCC_ARCH_WORKAROUND_1 missing from firmware

What Asus router reboots without resetting its clock?

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

What Asus router reboots without resetting its clock?

Great callout @dave14305 !
I didn't even notice that, I was too focused on the MerlinAU specific log entries.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

@junior120872

Just in case you didn't follow Dave's post above. He's basically saying the router did NOT reboot, or at least did not reboot that the time/location you pointed out in the logs.

Maybe it rebooted further down in the logs, but we cannot see what was not shared. So again hard to know.

 

[dave14305]

Great callout @dave14305 !
I didn't even notice that, I was too focused on the MerlinAU specific log entries.

Unless it’s amtm routerdate, but I can’t remember when it used to restore the time relative to the logging starting.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

Unless it’s amtm routerdate, but I can’t remember when it used to restore the time relative to the logging starting.

I also use that script, but it does not appear to restore the time that early in the boot process.
It seems to only restores the time once JFFs is mounted in init-start (which makes sense)

User scripts

Enhanced version of Asus's router firmware (Asuswrt) (legacy code base) - RMerl/asuswrt-merlin

github.com

init-start​

Called right after JFFS got mounted, and before any of the services get started. This is the earliest part of the boot process where you can insert something.

 

[junior120872]

I'm not experiencing any such an issue on my 3 personal routers or the 2 routers I handle for "friends and family", and unfortunately this report is currently too vague to properly investigate at the moment.
What I can say is that the based on the logs you shared, the script has finished checking for updates, and only needs to exit after the last message you sent in your logs:

Mar 28 00:00:11 MerlinAU_[22038]: No new firmware version update is found for [RT-BE96U] router model.

So if you see that message above, it should mean the script is "done" and likely has exited by the time it's rebooting, the chances seem low so far that it's related?
I did a quick review of the 5 PR's in version 1.6.0 , the only change I see which would be encountered by the cron job at midnight, would be the _ReleaseMutexFLock_ that was implemented in PR 554.
Every other change would not be encountered by your nightly cron job run, but again I have no such issue so it's hard to say for sure.

Can you share the entire output of:

cru l

with us? What other cron jobs would run at midnight, if any?

45 */6 * * * /jffs/addons/amtm/routerdate cron #amtm_RouterDate#
18 5 * * * /bin/sh /jffs/addons/amtm/sc_update.mod -run #amtm_ScriptsUpdateNotification#
05 2 * * * sh /jffs/scripts/backupmon.sh #RunBackupMon#
*/1 * * * * check_wgc_ep #WGC_CHK_EP#
13 8 */7 * * service restart_letsencrypt #LetsEncrypt#
*/10 * * * * /jffs/scripts/ntpmerlin generate #ntpMerlin_generate#
7 3 * * * /jffs/scripts/ntpmerlin trimdb #ntpMerlin_trimDB#
25 19 * * * sh /jffs/scripts/firewall banmalware #Skynet_banmalware#
7 1 * * Mon sh /jffs/scripts/firewall update #Skynet_autoupdate#
0 * * * * sh /jffs/scripts/firewall save #Skynet_save#
29 */12 * * * sh /jffs/scripts/firewall debug genstats #Skynet_genstats#

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

45 */6 * * * /jffs/addons/amtm/routerdate cron #amtm_RouterDate#
18 5 * * * /bin/sh /jffs/addons/amtm/sc_update.mod -run #amtm_ScriptsUpdateNotification#
05 2 * * * sh /jffs/scripts/backupmon.sh #RunBackupMon#
*/1 * * * * check_wgc_ep #WGC_CHK_EP#
13 8 */7 * * service restart_letsencrypt #LetsEncrypt#
*/10 * * * * /jffs/scripts/ntpmerlin generate #ntpMerlin_generate#
7 3 * * * /jffs/scripts/ntpmerlin trimdb #ntpMerlin_trimDB#
25 19 * * * sh /jffs/scripts/firewall banmalware #Skynet_banmalware#
7 1 * * Mon sh /jffs/scripts/firewall update #Skynet_autoupdate#
0 * * * * sh /jffs/scripts/firewall save #Skynet_save#
29 */12 * * * sh /jffs/scripts/firewall debug genstats #Skynet_genstats#

Could be a cron job collision of some kind.
You have the following cron jobs that run at Midnight:

• */1 * * * * check_wgc_ep
  Runs every minute, including midnight
• */10 * * * * /jffs/scripts/ntpmerlin generate
  Runs every 10 minutes, including 00:00, 00:10, etc.
• 0 * * * * sh /jffs/scripts/firewall save
  Runs at the top of every hour, including 00:00 (midnight)

 

[junior120872]

Could be a cron job collision of some kind.
You have the following cron jobs that run at Midnight:

• */1 * * * * check_wgc_ep
  Runs every minute, including midnight
• */10 * * * * /jffs/scripts/ntpmerlin generate
  Runs every 10 minutes, including 00:00, 00:10, etc.
• 0 * * * * sh /jffs/scripts/firewall save
  Runs at the top of every hour, including 00:00 (midnight)

I don't think anything has changed here. I can definitely adjust them if needed. I'll see what happens tonight at midnight to see if it reboots again. If it does, I'll touch this file. I appreciate the suggestion and insight! Thank you!

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

I don't think anything has changed here. I can definitely adjust them if needed. I'll see what happens tonight at midnight to see if it reboots again. If it does, I'll touch this file. I appreciate the suggestion and insight! Thank you!

Happy to help. Even if it stops, I would just reinstall MerlinAU and adjust the cron job away from midnight and see if that helps at all.
(That can be done in the advanced menu of MerlinAU)

Looking at your signature you are also a bit behind on the wireless report add-on.

It seems to have 2 releases newer than your signature.
But looking at the thread, I don't see any changelogs for those 2 releases so who knows what changed.

 

[junior120872]

Happy to help. Even if it stops. I would just reinstall MerlinAU and adjust the cron job away from midnight and see if that helps at all. (That can be done in the advanced menu of MerlinAU)

Looking at your signature you are also a bit behind on the wireless report add-on.

It seems to have 2 releases newer than your signature. But looking at the thread, I don't see any changelogs for those 2 releases so who knows what changed.

I will definitely give it another shot. I'll update my sig. Sometimes I forget to update. . I am actually on 1.2.3, so 1 behind. I'll browse through that thread as well. Thanks.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

I will definitely give it another shot. I'll update my sig. Sometimes I forget to update. . I am actually on 1.2.3, so 1 behind. I'll browse through that thread as well. Thanks.

Keep us the loop for any developments, as you learn more we might be able to narrow stuff down. Best of luck!

 

[jksmurf]

It seems to have 2 releases newer than your signature.
But looking at the thread, I don't see any changelogs for those 2 releases so who knows what changed.

Eagle-eyed Cherry!

See thread but seems more options for refresh and increased SSID name chars. Now on v1.25, IP alignment. Changes referred to briefly in update posts.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

Eagle-eyed Cherry!

See thread but seems more options for refresh and increased SSID name chars. Now on v1.25, IP alignment. Changes referred to briefly in update posts.

I wouldn't say eagle-eyed, I can miss stuff all the time. but I'm definitely looking for clues.

Updating the add-ons to the latest is always the smartest place to start