RT-AX88U Pro Hard Crashing every couple of days

[The_Bishop]

I'm starting to think my router is having hardware issues.

I was running into issues with my RT AX88U Pro crashing about two weeks ago. It would run fine for a few days, then crash hard, go completely unresponsive (wired or wifi). Was running Firmware 3004.388.8.4. No custom scripts, nothing aside from the built-in stuff. AI Protection on, traffic analyzer on. Only 1 access point, the router itself.

I decided to do a complete reset and move to 3006.102.5.0 about a week ago. Did the 'Factory default/wipe all data' in the menu system, followed up by the 'hold WPS button down while powering up until the power light goes out' procedure prior to installing 3.006.102.5.0, and re-ran the menu system factory default. I wanted to make sure there were no vestiges of the old firmware. I then reconfigured the router from scratch to no uploaded configuration files.

It'll run for a few days then crash hard, same behavior prior to the upgrade to 3006. A reboot gets it back online, but it's super inconvenient to have it crashing ever 3-4 days.

I know when it crashed, as I get an email notification is my VOIP adapter goes offline. It crashed some time around 11:30 last night. Unfortunately the system log only goes back to 2:17am last night so nothing useful to glean from it.

I've had it a bit less than two years; it's still under warranty but I might just go buy a replacement as I can't do the downtime of all the asus support diagnostics plus the probable need to send it in for repair/replacement. I may do that after getting a new router to get my network up and running first.

Anyone have any ideas on what I should check? Should I try the factory firmware first?

 

[jksmurf]

Anyone have any ideas on what I should check? Should I try the factory firmware first?

The power supply. Seriously, always the first port of call. Don’t rush out and buy a replacement just yet. If you can find one with the right exact Voltage, barrel size and min rated Amps, more is ok, it’ll only draw what it needs, try that first. Or borrow a friend’s with the same router.

Second is a failing USB drive, thumb drive specifically and especially if you have amtm Addons on it and cache.

After that then start looking at firmware and setups.

 

[The_Bishop]

I have a USB drive attached as network shared storage (samba). There is nothing on the router that would access it aside from as network storage and it's relatively new. The drive tests out fine when attached to a standalone PC and checked for errors.

I have no add-ons, and as far as I can tell there is no cache on it (No swap file enabled in router) This is a less then week olf od a complete wipe and flash of the latest 3.0.0.6 firmware with nothing else added to it.

I've got a power supply on the way here later today, stock one is 19.5V 2.31A/45W. The replacement is a 19.5V/4.62A/90W max unit. Hopefully it makes a difference, it'll be a cheaper fix than a new router.

I would think the power supply would either work or not work, how could it make the router crash every couple of days?

Edit: All the networking equipment is connected to a UPS so it's unlikely that a surge damaged the power supply as far as I can tell.

 

[jksmurf]

I have a USB drive attached as network shared storage (samba). There is nothing on the router that would access it aside from as network storage and it's relatively new. The drive tests out fine when attached to a standalone PC and checked for errors.

I have no add-ons, and as far as I can tell there is no cache on it (No swap file enabled in router) This is a less then week olf od a complete wipe and flash of the latest 3.0.0.6 firmware with nothing else added to it.

I've got a power supply on the way here later today, stock one is 19.5V 2.31A/45W. The replacement is a 19.5V/4.62A/90W max unit. Hopefully it makes a difference, it'll be a cheaper fix than a new router.

I would think the power supply would either work or not work, how could it make the router crash every couple of days?

Edit: All the networking equipment is connected to a UPS so it's unlikely that a surge damaged the power supply as far as I can tell.

Ok sounds like you’re doing all the right things, I’d suggest perhaps unplugging the usb and running it for a week just to rule it out.

I don’t have an answer for you on whether the PS failing would make it a binary event, I’m not sure how much extra load those units undergo when there’s a number of things all cranking along at full noise simultaneously but I don’t think it’s necessarily a binary on/off thing, capacitors, transistors etc. can misbehave due to heat and aging. I’m not claiming to be an expert on this although my better half is a professional electronics engineer (albeit more micro electronics SMD and small sized stuff). She vouches for me .

Did you manage to catch System logs (might need to change debug level) after a crash? Folks more experienced than I could possibly spot something if it is setup related.

 

[The_Bishop]

I have logs turned on but the latest crash happened at about 11:30 last night and the logs only show entries from about 2:17am on, guess it wraps around. Log was chock full of this, essentially over and over:

Oct 3 02:17:51 hostapd: eth6: STA a0:6a:44:df:ee:01 IEEE 802.11: deauthenticated due to local deauth request
Oct 3 02:17:59 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth E85:2B:4B:BC:4E, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 3 02:17:59 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth7: Assoc E85:2B:4B:BC:4E, status: Successful (0), rssi:-69
Oct 3 02:17:59 hostapd: eth7: STA e8:d5:2b:4b:bc:4e IEEE 802.11: associated
Oct 3 02:18:00 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth 44:27:45:62:7E:C2, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 3 02:18:00 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc 44:27:45:62:7E:C2, status: Successful (0), rssi:-72
Oct 3 02:18:00 hostapd: eth6: STA 44:27:45:62:7e:c2 IEEE 802.11: associated
Oct 3 02:18:03 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind E85:2B:4B:BC:4E, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-69
Oct 3 02:18:04 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind E85:2B:4B:BC:4E, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-69
Oct 3 02:18:04 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 44:27:45:62:7E:C2, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-72
Oct 3 02:18:04 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 44:27:45:62:7E:C2, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-72
Oct 3 02:18:08 hostapd: eth7: STA e8:d5:2b:4b:bc:4e IEEE 802.11: deauthenticated due to local deauth request
Oct 3 02:18:09 hostapd: eth6: STA 44:27:45:62:7e:c2 IEEE 802.11: deauthenticated due to local deauth request
Oct 3 02:18:10 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth 34:6F:92:27:EC:5B, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 3 02:18:10 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc 34:6F:92:27:EC:5B, status: Successful (0), rssi:-43
Oct 3 02:18:10 hostapd: eth6: STA 34:6f:92:27:ec:5b IEEE 802.11: associated
Oct 3 02:18:14 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 34:6F:92:27:EC:5B, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-43
Oct 3 02:18:15 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 34:6F:92:27:EC:5B, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-43
Oct 3 02:18:19 hostapd: eth6: STA 34:6f:92:27:ec:5b IEEE 802.11: deauthenticated due to local deauth request
Oct 3 02:18:25 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth 44:27:45:62:7E:C2, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 3 02:18:25 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc 44:27:45:62:7E:C2, status: Successful (0), rssi:-72
Oct 3 02:18:25 hostapd: eth6: STA 44:27:45:62:7e:c2 IEEE 802.11: associated
Oct 3 02:18:29 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 44:27:45:62:7E:C2, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-72
Oct 3 02:18:30 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth A0:6A:44F:EE:01, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 3 02:18:30 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc A0:6A:44F:EE:01, status: Successful (0), rssi:-44
Oct 3 02:18:30 hostapd: eth6: STA a0:6a:44:df:ee:01 IEEE 802.11: associated
Oct 3 02:18:30 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 44:27:45:62:7E:C2, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-72
Oct 3 02:18:34 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind A0:6A:44F:EE:01, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-39
Oct 3 02:18:34 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind A0:6A:44F:EE:01, status: 0, reason: 4-way handshake timeout (f), rssi:-39
Oct 3 02:18:34 hostapd: eth6: STA 44:27:45:62:7e:c2 IEEE 802.11: deauthenticated due to local deauth request
Oct 3 02:18:39 hostapd: eth6: STA a0:6a:44:df:ee:01 IEEE 802.11: deauthenticated due to local deauth request
Oct 3 02:18:44 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth CC:9E:A2:145:4B, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 3 02:18:44 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth7: Assoc CC:9E:A2:145:4B, status: Successful (0), rssi:-52
Oct 3 02:18:44 hostapd: eth7: STA cc:9e:a2:14:d5:4b IEEE 802.11: associated
Oct 3 02:18:46 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth A0:6A:44F:EE:01, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 3 02:18:46 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc A0:6A:44F:EE:01, status: Successful (0), rssi:-39
Oct 3 02:18:46 hostapd: eth6: STA a0:6a:44:df:ee:01 IEEE 802.11: associated