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RT-AC68U can't get past login screen after 386.1 update

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iliyan

New Around Here
I just updated my RT-AC68U to 386.1 from 384.19. The router seems to works fine, SSH too, but I can't get past the login screen on the GUI via HTTP (I don't have HTTPS configured). I tried power cycling the router, no luck. Also tried "service restart_httpd" from SSH, and each time I do it I get back to the login screen but after entering the password I just get stuck on a blank page with the browser (Chrome) waiting for it to load. Tried Safari, also iPhone, same thing.

Any suggestions? First time I've had a real issue with Merlin.

Many thanks in advance!
 
Update: After a long wait, the page actually managed to load so the GUI seems to work now. Another thread mentioned issues with QoS (on older firmware) so I disabled mine just in case. Hopefully the issue will not return. In any case, it would be good to know if others have experienced this issue too. Cheers!
 

Note - #2
- NOTE: Some users upgrading might have to go through some
database maintenance on first boot, which means the
router might be slower or have a non-responsive webui
for a while.
This can take anywhere from 5 minutes up to an hour,
depending on your model, just give it time to complete
the process.
 
Does power cycling during this database maintenance cause any issues?

I'm also interested on this question.

I've did read the changelog for the last 2 or 3 updated before updating, but just skipped 386.1, which was the one that I've should read on first placer... (Murphy's law).
So I've updated the router and manually power cycled it for the first time like the GUI recommended to me.
After waiting 5-10 minutes without being able to get pass through login screen, I've power cycled the unit again (a bit afraid of having bricked the unit).
After about another 10 minutes, I've used forum search and got this thread, and then realized what was the cause of the issue.

Finally, about 30 min after the second power cycle I managed to login in without issues but I'm wondering if the second power cycling could messed something in the database maintenance process.

Is there a way to know or check if the maintenance process went well?

Thank you in advance!
 
Is there a way to know or check if the maintenance process went well?
It's an SQL database, it's fairly resilient, and doesn't contain anything critical anyway.
 
It's an SQL database, it's fairly resilient, and doesn't contain anything critical anyway.
Thank you, that info reassures me.

I've never had any issues before with Merlin but I've had a shattering experience with OpenWRT bricking my previous router, so now I'm extra cautious with the FW upgrading process.
Next time I'll read the whole changelog, no excuses :)
 
Thank you, that info reassures me.

I've never had any issues before with Merlin but I've had a shattering experience with OpenWRT bricking my previous router, so now I'm extra cautious with the FW upgrading process.
Next time I'll read the whole changelog, no excuses :)
After going through the same thing as you, I ended up factory-resetting it and putting in my settings again manually. Not sure if that has any effect on resetting the SQL database as well, but I figured I'd try and was due for factory-resetting after all the "dirty" upgrades I've done over the years. Either way, my router worked fine both before and after the factory reset.
 
I have an update on this matter.

After noticing that some internal services weren't reachable from outside I find out the virtual services list has been wiped out after the update.
I've loaded a config backup (a little old, created with FW version 380.67) and yet no virtual server is shown.

Could this be related with the database ending up corrupted?
 
(a little old, created with FW version 380.67)
380.67 is not a little old, it's 4 years old and two major releases behind. There have been significant changes to the firmware since the 380 release. I wouldn't trust a router that had imported that config file.
 
380.67 is not a little old, it's 4 years old and two major releases behind. There have been significant changes to the firmware since the 380 release. I wouldn't trust a router that had imported that config file.
I've never said I'll be keeping that config, I've just used it to perform a quick test.
I made a backup before loading it, and reverted back after checking virtual server list was still empty.
BTW old config file import went well and router was running fine besides internal services not reachable due port forwarding config missing.
Well designed config files have backwards compatibility, using a config file from a newer FW on an older FW is more prone to fail due new parameters or additional fields being added.

While I appreciate your answer, I think it misses the point about my question.
The point is virtual services configuration went lost after upgrading FW from 384.19 to 386.2_4, not from 380.67.
I've double checked the changelog and doesn't seem anything related with port forwarding has changed, correct me if I'm wrong.

If someone knows where virtual server's configuration is stored (SQL database, flash, jffs, ...), that would be very useful to find what went wrong.
Thanks in advance!
 
nvram get vts_rulelist
Thank you.
Unfortunately the command returns no results, so I assume the update or maintenance process went wrong and nvram got corrupted.
Unless someone has some further tip of advice I think it's time to perform a factory reset and configure the device from scratch.
 

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