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MerlinWRT - compile instructions?

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Starbuck99 said:
Well guys, if the guru's are having trouble, just think about us folks who aren't linux guru's.
Click to expand...

Hmm... if one can't install a cross compile toolchain under linux and get it to work - then one shouldn't go there in the first place.

I'm not saying this in a mean way, but there are dragons... comments earlier in the thread made me realize that I should stop where I was at.
 
I successfully built an RT-AC86U firmware with these script.

Code: 
### Install fresh Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver)
ubuntu-18.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso


### Apply OS updates and make bash the default shell (reboot required)
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade && sudo rm -f /bin/sh && sudo ln -sf bash /bin/sh && sudo reboot


### Install Linux kernel headers and essential development tools
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install git build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)


### Install dependencies for AsusWRT
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install libtool-bin cmake libproxy-dev uuid-dev liblzo2-dev autoconf automake bash bison bzip2 diffutils file flex m4 g++ gawk groff-base libncurses5-dev libtool libslang2 make patch perl pkg-config shtool subversion tar texinfo zlib1g zlib1g-dev git gettext libexpat1-dev libssl-dev cvs gperf unzip python libxml-parser-perl gcc-multilib gconf-editor libxml2-dev g++-multilib gitk libncurses5 mtd-utils libncurses5-dev libvorbis-dev git autopoint autogen sed build-essential intltool libelf1 libglib2.0-dev xutils-dev lib32z1-dev lib32stdc++6 xsltproc gtk-doc-tools libelf-dev:i386 libelf1:i386 libltdl-dev


### Install other programs
sudo apt-get -y install lzip patchelf


### Clone the toolchains
cd
if [ ! -d am-toolchains ]; then
  git clone https://github.com/RMerl/am-toolchains
fi


### Fix the toolchain symlinks
sudo mkdir -p /opt ; sudo rm -rf /opt/toolchains ; sudo ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-arm-hnd /opt/toolchains ; sudo rm -f /opt/brcm-arm ; sudo ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-arm-sdk/hndtools-arm-linux-2.6.36-uclibc-4.5.3 /opt/brcm-arm ; sudo rm -f /opt/brcm ; sudo ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-mips-sdk/tools/brcm /opt/brcm


### Clone the repo
cd
if [ ! -d asuswrt-merlin.ng ]; then
  git clone https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng
  cd asuswrt-merlin.ng
#  git checkout master
  git checkout mainline
else
  cd asuswrt-merlin.ng
#  git checkout master
  git checkout mainline
  git pull
fi


### Create a build tree from the repo and fix the symlinks
cd
rm -rf asuswrt-merlin.ng-build
#rsync -aq asuswrt-merlin.ng/ asuswrt-merlin.ng-build --exclude .git
cp -a asuswrt-merlin.ng/ asuswrt-merlin.ng-build

# fix symlinks for HND toolchain
rm -rf ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-5.02hnd/bcmdrivers/broadcom/net/wl/impl51/main/src/toolchains
ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-arm-hnd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-5.02hnd/bcmdrivers/broadcom/net/wl/impl51/main/src/toolchains

# fix symlinks for ARM toolchain
rm -rf ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-6.x.4708/toolchains
ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-arm-sdk ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-6.x.4708/toolchains


### Build RT-AC86U firmware (HND)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/toolchains/crosstools-arm-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/lib
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=/opt/toolchains
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/toolchains/crosstools-arm-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/toolchains/crosstools-arm-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/toolchains/crosstools-aarch64-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/toolchains/crosstools-aarch64-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-5.02hnd
make rt-ac86u


### Build RT-AC56U firmware (ARM)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-6.x.4708
make rt-ac56u


### Build RT-AC68U firmware (ARM)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-6.x.4708
make rt-ac68u


### Build RT-AC87U firmware (ARM)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-6.x.4708
make rt-ac87u


### Build RT-AC88U firmware (ARM)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-7.14.114.x/src
make rt-ac88u


### Build RT-AC3100 firmware (ARM)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-7.14.114.x/src
make rt-ac3100


### Build RT-AC5300 firmware (ARM)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-7.14.114.x/src
make rt-ac5300


### Build RT-AC3200 firmware (ARM)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-7.x.main/src
make rt-ac3200
 
Last edited:
I would like to thank every contributor on this thread..
A lot of ideas were exchanged and I appreciate it.
Especially Fitz Mutch - for the first time I could also compile the firmware without a glitch.
Your script is excellent.

I would like to start a new thread regarding a total new modular firmware design from scratch.... any votes for it?
 
Starbuck99 said:
I would like to start a new thread regarding a total new modular firmware design from scratch.... any votes for it?
Click to expand...
I don't think that's practical (IMHO). If you want to go down that route look at (and use) OpenWRT. Consider how long and how much effort it took to get it to where it is today.
 
Starbuck99 said:
I would like to start a new thread regarding a total new modular firmware design from scratch.... any votes for it?
Click to expand...
Several drivers are only available in binary format, so starting from scratch might be really hard...

Why do you want to vote? And who do you expect to act on the result?
 
Starbuck99 said:
I would like to start a new thread regarding a total new modular firmware design from scratch.... any votes for it?
Click to expand...

It's called OpenWRT - the ARM based AC56U/AC68U/AC87U have some support - the MIPS devices of interest for most of the SNB community, e.g. RT-N66U is also supported.

You might miss out on some of the closed source sweetness - e.g. FA/CTF...

But I guarantee you it's an easier build.

Netgear's Orbi platform is built on a fork of OpenWRT, FWIW...
 
Morning fun :) Fitz Mutch script, thanks!


Code: 
Creating ASUS RT-AC68U firmware to image/RT-AC68U_384.7_alpha1.trxit
TRX Image:
 Total Size .... : 37310464 (36436.0 KB) (35.6 MB)
 CRC-32 ........ : C3BA92F3

Ubuntu 18.10 dev
 
Starbuck99 said:
I would like to start a new thread regarding a total new modular firmware design from scratch.... any votes for it?
Click to expand...
I like it!

If there is any way you can leave the feature AiMesh that works in the router and install the scripts like OpenWRT, that there are for Asuswrt-Merlin and that you're always up to date with the official firmware updates like Asuswrt-Merlin. I would use it.
 
Last edited:
How much space do you need?

I started with a 10 GB VirtualBox image on macOS, but it got completely full when cloning the repo...
 
Fitz Mutch said:
I successfully built an RT-AC86U firmware with these script.

Code: 
### Install fresh Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver)
ubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso


### Apply OS updates and make bash the default shell (reboot required)
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade && sudo rm -f /bin/sh && sudo ln -sf bash /bin/sh && sudo reboot


### Install Linux kernel headers and essential development tools
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install git build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)


### Install dependencies for AsusWRT
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install libtool-bin cmake libproxy-dev uuid-dev liblzo2-dev autoconf automake bash bison bzip2 diffutils file flex m4 g++ gawk groff-base libncurses5-dev libtool libslang2 make patch perl pkg-config shtool subversion tar texinfo zlib1g zlib1g-dev git gettext libexpat1-dev libssl-dev cvs gperf unzip python libxml-parser-perl gcc-multilib gconf-editor libxml2-dev g++-multilib gitk libncurses5 mtd-utils libncurses5-dev libvorbis-dev git autopoint autogen sed build-essential intltool libelf1 libglib2.0-dev xutils-dev lib32z1-dev lib32stdc++6 xsltproc gtk-doc-tools libelf-dev:i386 libelf1:i386 libltdl-dev


### Clone the toolchains
cd
if [ ! -d am-toolchains ]; then
  git clone https://github.com/RMerl/am-toolchains
fi


### Fix the toolchain symlinks
sudo mkdir -p /opt ; sudo rm -rf /opt/toolchains ; sudo ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-arm-hnd /opt/toolchains ; sudo rm -f /opt/brcm-arm ; sudo ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-arm-sdk/hndtools-arm-linux-2.6.36-uclibc-4.5.3 /opt/brcm-arm ; sudo rm -f /opt/brcm ; sudo ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-mips-sdk/tools/brcm /opt/brcm


### Clone the repo
cd
if [ ! -d asuswrt-merlin.ng ]; then
  git clone https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng
  cd asuswrt-merlin.ng
  git checkout master
else
  cd asuswrt-merlin.ng
  git checkout master
  git pull
fi


### Create a build tree from the repo and fix the symlinks
cd
rm -rf asuswrt-merlin.ng-build
rsync -aq asuswrt-merlin.ng/ asuswrt-merlin.ng-build --exclude .git

# fix symlinks for HND toolchain
rm -rf ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-5.02hnd/bcmdrivers/broadcom/net/wl/impl51/main/src/toolchains
ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-arm-hnd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-5.02hnd/bcmdrivers/broadcom/net/wl/impl51/main/src/toolchains

# fix symlinks for ARM toolchain
rm -rf ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-6.x.4708/toolchains
ln -s ~/am-toolchains/brcm-arm-sdk ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-6.x.4708/toolchains


### Build RT-AC86U firmware (HND)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/toolchains/crosstools-arm-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/lib
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=/opt/toolchains
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/toolchains/crosstools-arm-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/toolchains/crosstools-arm-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/toolchains/crosstools-aarch64-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/toolchains/crosstools-aarch64-gcc-5.3-linux-4.1-glibc-2.22-binutils-2.25/usr/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-5.02hnd
make rt-ac86u


### Build RT-AC68U firmware (ARM)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-6.x.4708
make rt-ac68u


### Build RT-AC88U firmware (ARM)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
export TOOLCHAIN_BASE=
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/bin
echo $PATH | grep -qF /opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin || export PATH=$PATH:/opt/brcm-arm/arm-brcm-linux-uclibcgnueabi/bin
cd ~/asuswrt-merlin.ng-build/release/src-rt-7.14.114.x/src
make rt-ac88u
Click to expand...

I see your script removes ng, is it possible to edit the script for legacy devices like N66?
 
Hm. Lots of fatal errors on first attempt to build AC86U firmware...

Code: 
fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git


(after increasing the size to 20 GB and cloning again)
 
Last edited:
XIII said:
Hm. Lots of fatal errors on first attempt to build AC86U firmware...

Code: 
fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git


(after increasing the size to 20 GB and cloning again)
Click to expand...
My VM is 100GB size with 23% virtual disk space used after successfully compiling RT-AC86U firmware.
 
Fitz Mutch said:
My VM is 100GB size with 23% virtual disk space used after successfully compiling RT-AC86U firmware.
Click to expand...
Hm. Tried again with a 30 GB virtual disk (64% used), but build failed again... (after several hours of compiling)
 
XIII said:
Hm. Tried again with a 30 GB virtual disk (64% used), but build failed again... (after several hours of compiling)
Click to expand...
I don't know why it's different for you. Try keeping the .git directory when copying from the repo to the build tree.

I make this change to my script.
Code: 
#rsync -aq asuswrt-merlin.ng/ asuswrt-merlin.ng-build --exclude .git
cp -a asuswrt-merlin.ng/ asuswrt-merlin.ng-build
 
Fitz Mutch said:
I make this change to my script.
Code: 
#rsync -aq asuswrt-merlin.ng/ asuswrt-merlin.ng-build --exclude .git
cp -a asuswrt-merlin.ng/ asuswrt-merlin.ng-build
Click to expand...
This again failed for me, but this time not on filesystem issues. The 1 GB I assigned to the VM was not enough...

When I increased the VM memory to 4 GB I finally had a successful build (after several more hours)!

("successful" meaning a file called RT-AC86U_384.7_alpha1_ubi.w being created; I don't know how to verify it)
 
XIII said:
... When I increased the VM memory to 4 GB I finally had a successful build (after several more hours)! ...
Click to expand...
Very good point. For the HND toolchain (routers RT-AC86U, AC2900, GT-AC5300), I wouldn't try it with anything less than 4GB memory, otherwise it will crash the Linux OS. Here's my VM details.
Memory: 4GB
Processors: 2
 
Grisu said:
make a checksum and compare it with others, isnt this the way how to do, or will everyone get different firmwares?
Click to expand...

Everyone is different, due to different paths, datestamps, etc...
 
Fitz Mutch said:
My VM is 100GB size with 23% virtual disk space used after successfully compiling RT-AC86U firmware.
Click to expand...

On your VM - rather than use swap (which will absolutely kill speed), allocate enough RAM (for HND, 2GB is plenty), and then install the zram-config package for the guest OS - makes a big difference...
 
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