RT-AX89X suddenly started using a lot more CPU and memory leak leads to lockup every ~10mins

[meatballs21]

Hi, question about all this, please - I had issues like this, so I updated my Merlin from 386.5 to current (388.2.2) and the router now seems to be fine, however, there's still two things:

1. My RP-AX56 node is not reliably connecting or staying connected (someone here or elsewhere said it's a flashing blue paperweight now), which started around the same time.

2. I went and checked my chknvram, it's chknvram20210830. Is this a problem that it's so old? If so, how do I fix it? I tried removing it and then rebooting, and it was back again after reboot. Do I need to reflash to the official firmware to get a new version, and then back to Merlin? Will that affect any cron jobs I have set up (I have one called ChkWAN which does a ping to Google every five minutes and reboots if it fails multiple times, due to an issue I was having two years ago).

Any help gratefully received, and thank you!

 

[RMerlin]

Is this a problem that it's so old?

Ignore the date in the filename - Asuswrt-Merlin receives a different set of signatures, and for some reason the filename does not reflect the date (probably part of the mechanism Asus uses to have different signatures for Asuswrt-Merlin). You need to look at the date the file was changed to determine its actual age.

I know the actual date the current signature file is from, and it's no more than a few days old.

 

[meatballs21]

Ignore the date in the filename - Asuswrt-Merlin receives a different set of signatures, and for some reason the filename does not reflect the date (probably part of the mechanism Asus uses to have different signatures for Asuswrt-Merlin). You need to look at the date the file was changed to determine its actual age.

I know the actual date the current signature file is from, and it's no more than a few days old.

Unfortunately, I might have caused a problem for myself because I deleted the file, and now the date is showing as 12:33pm today (when I deleted and rebooted)

 

[SAL9K]

Ignore the date in the filename - Asuswrt-Merlin receives a different set of signatures, and for some reason the filename does not reflect the date (probably part of the mechanism Asus uses to have different signatures for Asuswrt-Merlin). You need to look at the date the file was changed to determine its actual age.

I know the actual date the current signature file is from, and it's no more than a few days old.

Why exactly does the Merlin build get a different set of signatures? You're providing your own security signatures, outside of Asus?

 

[RMerlin]

Unfortunately, I might have caused a problem for myself because I deleted the file, and now the date is showing as 12:33pm today (when I deleted and rebooted)

It's fine, the router will just download whatever is the latest off Asus' servers. The datestamp will be whatever was the time when it downloaded it.

 

[RMerlin]

Why exactly does the Merlin build get a different set of signatures?

Because Asuswrt-Merlin has different needs from the stock firmware, so Asus has to provide different rulesets for compatibility reasons. Can't get into details about the differences since this is all security-related.

You're providing your own security signatures, outside of Asus?

No, they are still provided by Asus. They just provide different ones specific to our needs.

 

[mlord]

Completely disabled asd on my router here now. No such issues in the future now.

 

[Paliv]

Completely disabled asd on my router here now. No such issues in the future now.

Until you wake up and it has VPNFilter on there.

 

[mlord]

That's not going to happen, unless ASUS has other built-in malware that also enables remote management for everyone else.

 

[Graybricks]

Made an account just to reply to this and hopefully have it show up on google.

Have an AC-1200GE. Low end big box model. 50 bucks. Doesn’t show up on forums much. One cpu and doesn’t even have AIProtect option on the left.

Same symptoms of pegged out high cpu usage and router crashing this week.

No amount of rebooting or checking for updates for factory reset worked.

It may have been listed in this thread, but I had to reboot the router, and before it crashed, enable ssh for the LAN, ssh into the router, and execute

rm /jffs/asd/chknvram20230516

reboot. Now cpu is down to 2-8 percent and memory steady at 72 percent.

This forum is a great resource. The verify process to register is a bummer. I thought I correctly selected which tiles showed motorcycles, stoplights, and buses about 10 times before it let me through.

 

[bennor]

It may have been listed in this thread...

Yeah it has been mentioned (deleting the offending file). Last Thursday, page 3, post #54. And several times since.

 

[Graybricks]

And several times since.

In an effort to help panicked consumers searching Google for the AC1200GE and coming up empty, I try and fill a void by making a post mentioning the model number and a solution. Also give a compliment to this website.

Within 10 minutes, I get an underhanded snipe from a senior member. Well done.

 

[bennor]

Within 10 minutes, I get an underhanded snipe from a senior member. Well done.

First welcome to the subforum. Second, just responding to your statement; "It may have been listed in this thread" to point out that yes it was mentioned days ago. Sorry if that offended you.

Asus Support has previously posted prominent notice in the form of a popup and news notice to their support website in an effort to explain to their customers how to resolve the issue. Asus's suggested fixes do not involve accessing the router via SSH and deleting a file.