Prob with Sys log on AC 66

[jerry6]

it starts Jan 1 then 200 or so lines then changes date to may 13 , few hundred more lines , date changes to jan 1 few 100 more lines date changes to may 14 again a few 100 lines then date goes to dec 31 more lines then goes to this days date . So there are over 1000 lines of entries in sys log , this after a factory reset in gui or using button on router . What is with all the different dates , I understand dec 31 (DATE FW was made ) then goes to days date after time correction , but may 13 , to jan 1 to may 14 to dec 31 to days date sounds like some problem in the sys log .What is causing this ?

 

[ColinTaylor]

December 31st is not the date the firmware was made.

When the unit is first turned on or restarted the hardware clock starts at zero which is 00:00 1st January 2011.

Later in the boot process an offset is applied to correct for your time zone. So if you lived in New York the time would be adjusted by -4 hours giving 20:00 31st December 2010.

At some point the real date and time will be set from the NTP server.

You may also see files with a date of December 31st 1969 or 1st January 1970. This is the unix epoch time (again adjusted for time zone).

 

[RMerlin]

In short, the router has no battery-backed up clock, therefore clock has to be set over NTP every reboot.

 

[jerry6]

I understand that , if it went Dec 31 to todays date , but it goes jan 1 to may 13 to may 14 to dec31 to todays date may 19 , even after a factory reset , my other routers go from dec 31 to todays date , no pitstops at jan 1 may 13 and may14 then dec 31 and todays date /

Anyhow the said router has died, no longer works , back to Asus it goes

 

[RMerlin]

I understand that , if it went Dec 31 to todays date , but it goes jan 1 to may 13 to may 14 to dec31 to todays date may 19 , even after a factory reset , my other routers go from dec 31 to todays date , no pitstops at jan 1 may 13 and may14 then dec 31 and todays date /

This is because Syslog is preserved across reboots, as it's stored in the JFFS partition. You are effectively seeing the log of the last 6 days, starting with May 13th. Each time the router was rebooted, it was reverted back to Dec 31st. This is perfectly normal.

 

[jerry6]

not just a reboot , JFFS partition should be wiped after several resets , but after several factory resets it does not start with may 13 but jan 1 then a few hundred lines before it changes date to may 13 then few hundred lines jan 1 then lines ma 14 lines then dec 31 lines then the days date . After a factory reset it should not do this it should be dec 31` lines time sync today date . At least that's how it is in the other AC and N 66 . If the log were not over 2000 lines after a factory reset I'd include a screen cap . And the factory reset has been tried both ways 30/30/30 and through gui . It is strange !

Nothing gets rid of over 2000 lines of crap , clear logs , refresh , factory reset nothing

 

[ColinTaylor]

A factory reset does not clear the jffs. To do that you have to select "Format JFFS partition at next boot" on Administration > System.

Also, a 30-30-30 reset doesn't do anything special - that's a dd-wrt thing.

 

[RMerlin]

A factory reset does not clear the jffs. To do that you have to select "Format JFFS partition at next boot" on Administration > System.

Correct. A factory default reset only wipes the nvram partition. A firmware update will only wipe the linux/rootfs partitions. The jffs2 partition remains untouched in both cases, with one notable exception: routers with only 32 MB of flash like the RT-N16 and RT-N66 will dynamically allocate what's left of flash for the jffs2 partition, which means the partition can change size between firmware upgrade. This is why doing a backup of the jffs2 partition is required between FW flashes on these two cases.

But the newer routers starting with the RT-AC66U have 128 MB of flash, so I allocate a fixed dedicated 32 MB to JFFS (Asus actually allocates the whole remaining 96 MB to it, so switching back and forth between stock and my fw can lead to loss of content there).

 

[jerry6]

Thanks Colin and Merlin . Now the router is bricked , at least I'll know about this next router

 

[RMerlin]

Considering all the issues you've been having with different routers, is it possible you might have a power issue effectively damaging the routers over time? For instance, are you using a new AC adapter with each router replacement, or are you always reusing the original one?

 

[jlake]

Thanks Colin and Merlin . Now the router is bricked , at least I'll know about this next router

Unlikely the router is bricked. You're putting every router in to recovery mode by performing a 30-30-30 reset. Stop doing 30-30-30 resets. Read your online PDF user manual.

 

[jerry6]

Unlikely the router is bricked. You're putting every router in to recovery mode by performing a 30-30-30 reset. Stop doing 30-30-30 resets. Read your online PDF user manual.

I tried using the recovery disk , no luck , only the power light comes on , no lan lines are recognized cannot log into the router , what do you suggest ?
Only tried 30/30 after all other methods .

 

[RMerlin]

I tried using the recovery disk , no luck , only the power light comes on , no lan lines are recognized cannot log into the router , what do you suggest ?
Only tried 30/30 after all other methods .

The power led should be flashing while in recovery mode. Turn the router off, press the reset button, and turn the router on while still pressing it. Wait about five seconds, then release the reset button. At that point the power led should be slowly flashing - this is when you can use the firmware restoration tool.

 

[jerry6]

Tried that , power light comes on , but does not flash , stays on constant . Is there another trick ? Another thing is none of the lan lines light up with cable in .

 

[RMerlin]

Tried that , power light comes on , but does not flash , stays on constant . Is there another trick ? Another thing is none of the lan lines light up with cable in .

If it doesn't enter recovery mode then it means either the router is dead, or there is some corrupted nvram content preventing the router from checking the button states at boot time, in which case you'd need a serial cable to be able to wipe it clean.

 

[jerry6]

If it doesn't enter recovery mode then it means either the router is dead, or there is some corrupted nvram content preventing the router from checking the button states at boot time, in which case you'd need a serial cable to be able to wipe it clean.

Which means I'd have to open the case , if it were not under warranty I'd do that just for fun , but it has a warranty so I'll just send it back . Even when it worked the signal was weak , could no longer stream video without buffering every 10 seconds , files would transfer at 768 kbps , there was something wrong with this unit from the get go .
Thanks again for all your help .