RT-AC68U Asuswrt-Merlin 386.7.2 can't access login since firmware update

[Jaime Alvarez]

Try https://192.168.0.39

 

[bennor]

Yes, computer is on 192.168.0.xx
At present, only the AC68U and another Access Point are connected wired to Fritz!Box LAN ports (AC68U WAN is connected to Fritz!Box LAN).
The AC68U Access Point is providing wireless 2.4G and 5G networks, which some devices are connected to; others are connected to 2.4G or 5G wireless networks direct from the Fritz!Box

If you connect a wired computer to one of the AC68U networking ports while that Asus router is connected to the Fritz!box can you access the Asus GUI screen?

Also, are you http://192.168.0.39/ or are you using https://192.168.0.39/ when trying to access the Asus AP? If using https then try using http instead.

 

[IanCD]

Do you change anything here:

View attachment 43528

No. Apart from that brief period after hard reset, I haven't been able to access the GUI

 

[IanCD]

Try https://192.168.0.39

Yep, that's what I've been trying. Screenshot attached.

 

[Jaime Alvarez]

If you connect a wired computer to one of the AC68U networking ports while that Asus router is connected to the Fritz!box can you access the Asus GUI screen?

Yep, that's what I've been trying. Screenshot attached.

Maybe try http then, as @bennor suggested:

If using https then try using http instead.

 

[Tech9]

http://192.168.0.39

or

https://192.168.0.39:8443 (if the default port wasn't changed)

 

[Yota]

Seems to be the same problem, the mitigation I provide here, may help you

router.asus.com not working on Firefox anymore?

Strange, saw the new firmware for AX88U and went to install it with Firefox, as usual. Unable to connect An error occurred during a connection to router.asus.com. The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments. If you are unable to load any pages...

www.snbforums.com

 

[IanCD]

Seems to be the same problem, the mitigation I provide here, may help you

router.asus.com not working on Firefox anymore?

Strange, saw the new firmware for AX88U and went to install it with Firefox, as usual. Unable to connect An error occurred during a connection to router.asus.com. The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments. If you are unable to load any pages...

www.snbforums.com

Thanks Yota, that looked like a hopeful solution but unfortunately not. Connection being refused every time. Connection also gets refused from within Asus Device Discovery/Configure

 

[IanCD]

http://192.168.0.39

or

https://192.168.0.39:8443 (if the default port wasn't changed)

Thanks Tech9, tried both, no joy

 

[bennor]

One troubleshooting step I suppose, one could try is to see if you can access the AP using SSH. This assumes one enabled SSH when initially setting up the router into AP mode.

 

[IanCD]

One troubleshooting step I suppose, one could try is to see if you can access the AP using SSH. This assumes one enabled SSH when initially setting up the router into AP mode.

I hard reset again this morning to see if I could get into the GUI again, as yesterday.
No joy, it just brought up the QIS wizard... not many configuration options there, so if SSH isn't enabled by default I guess it won't be. I'd need a tutorial on how to use that anyway..! ;-)

Wondering whether setting it up as an Access Point is contributing to the issue..?
Also, wondering if there are different port options to try appending to the IP addresses (http://192.168.0.39:xxx / https://192.168.0.39:xxx)..?

It's still working as an Access Point so I have that functionality, but I've lost network storage (HDD via USB) that I was using for backup and, of course, won't be able to update firmware or do anything else 'inside' the router...

 

[bennor]

but I've lost network storage (HDD via USB) that I was using for backup and,

If you had a USB hard drive attached to the router you were trying to set to AP mode then having GUI access issues, remove that USB hard drive and do a hard reset of the router without the drive attached. Configure the router to AP mode, again without the drive attached then see if you can access the GUI (again without the drive attached). Assuming you haven't already been doing this.

Another troubleshooting step is to flash the stock Asus firmware to the router, set it to AP mode and see if the issue persists. Hard reset,, configure as default wifi router, flash Asus firmware, hard reset the router again, then configure as AP. In a quick test with stock Asus firmware on a RT-AC68U set to AP mode, no problem accessing the AP's GUI from either the main LAN side or from being directly connected to the AP router's networking port(s).

 

[Tech9]

flash Asus firmware

Correct. Asuswrt-Merlin is not needed in AP mode.

 

[IanCD]

If you had a USB hard drive attached to the router you were trying to set to AP mode then having GUI access issues, remove that USB hard drive... Assuming you haven't already been doing this.

Yep, that's what I've been doing... removed USB before any reset and haven't reattached it.

Another troubleshooting step is to flash the stock Asus firmware to the router, set it to AP mode and see if the issue persists. Hard reset,, configure as default wifi router, flash Asus firmware, hard reset the router again, then configure as AP. In a quick test with stock Asus firmware on a RT-AC68U set to AP mode, no problem accessing the AP's GUI from either the main LAN side or from being directly connected to the AP router's networking port(s).

How do I flash any firmware to the router without access to the GUI..?

I see in the manual that I could put the router into Recovery mode to do this IF the router wasn't working. But there's a warning:
"NOTE: This is not a firmware upgrade utility and cannot be used on a working Asus Wireless Router..."

Do I use Rescue mode (Firmware Restoration) as described here: https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1000814/

 

[bennor]

How do I flash any firmware to the router without access to the GUI..?

Each time you've done a hard reset of the router and been presented with the configuration page upon first GUI access have you always been choosing Access Point? If so; don't and don't connect anything else other than a single wired PC to that router. Select Wireless Router Mode instead then proceed through the rest of the quick start setup and see if you can access the GUI without having anything other than one single wired PC connected to the router. If you can then flash the stock Asus firmware from the GUI.

Otherwise yes, try the firmware restoration mode detailed at that link you provided and see if that will let you push the stock Asus firmware to the unit.

 

[Yota]

Thanks Yota, that looked like a hopeful solution but unfortunately not. Connection being refused every time. Connection also gets refused from within Asus Device Discovery/Configure

Sorry, it doesn't look like your problem is coming from the browser.

You can try this, connect the router directly to your computer with an ethernet cable, then reset it, set it to router mode in the QIS wizard, then go to Admin -- System and enable SSH.

Finally, modify it to AP mode before plugging it into your Fritz!Box.

You could try using SSH access if that works.

 

[IanCD]

Thanks for your help with this, folks.
I think I've sorted it without any further resets / restoration / firmware change...
Thought I'd try accessing through a different OS... tried an old Asus Infinity tablet (Android)... no joy...
Installed Linux (FossaPupx64) on a USB flash drive, running PaleMoon browser => accessed GUI login (using http://192.168.0.39)
Changed AiCloudAccess port as you suggested a few posts back, Yota... I didn't / don't know the numbers of available / valid ports so I just took a guess and set it to 993 (I'm not using AiCloud so it maybe doesn't matter whether it works..?!)
Bingo! I can now login to the GUI from the tablet, phone and Windows using http://192.168.0.39/
Still rejects https://192.168.0.39/
And have the USB HDD NAS running and accepting file copying
Thanks again,
Ian

 

[ahyrych]

if https://192.168.0.39/, then port must be 8443

 

[Jaime Alvarez]

I'm still puzzled by this. Was it a browser problem then? It doesn't make sense to me that the problem was the operating system of the client.

 

[IanCD]

if https://192.168.0.39/, then port must be 8443

https://192.168.0.39:8443 still doesn't work => gives connection error
Whereas http://... does work, but only now