"The network cable is unplugged" on RT-AX88U@ .11

[st923]

I've just upgraded the firmware to the latest .11 version released yesterday and now router just says, that the network cable is unplugged for the external connection. The corresponding led on the router is turned off, there is no red indications or something like that.

I've tried to fallback to .10_2 I've had previously, the UI looks like updating, then it asks to reboot manually and after rebooting it's still stuck at .11.

I've tried resetting the jffs partition and flash the .11 again - still the cable is unplugged.

Just right now, after waiting for 10 minutes - The status light suddenly goes red, the notice on the network map changed to "Disconnected" and soon after that everything starts working again.
I've checked again, cycled the power - and here we are again, the led is off, "the cable is unplugged" in the status is displayed again.

What can I do in order to check what's wrong with the router? The fact I'm unable to rollback to 10_2 really bothers me.

 

[L&LD]

I've just upgraded the firmware to the latest .11 version released yesterday and now router just says, that the network cable is unplugged for the external connection. The corresponding led on the router is turned off, there is no red indications or something like that.

I've tried to fallback to .10_2 I've had previously, the UI looks like updating, then it asks to reboot manually and after rebooting it's still stuck at .11.

I've tried resetting the jffs partition and flash the .11 again - still the cable is unplugged.

Just right now, after waiting for 10 minutes - The status light suddenly goes red, the notice on the network map changed to "Disconnected" and soon after that everything starts working again.
I've checked again, cycled the power - and here we are again, the led is off, "the cable is unplugged" in the status is displayed again.

What can I do in order to check what's wrong with the router? The fact I'm unable to rollback to 10_2 really bothers me.

Your post is a little contradictory, at least to me.

If you want to get your router to a good/known state again, please follow the M&M Config guide in my signature below.

 

[st923]

Your post is a little contradictory, at least to me.

If you want to get your router to a good/known state again, please follow the M&M Config guide in my signature below.

You guide involves resetting and forgetting all settings. Since I've not changed anything during the firmware update, and the issue I'm experiencing (10 minutes delay until wan status LED lighting up) - I'm not sure how this could help to understand what is causing my problem.

 

[L&LD]

You guide involves resetting and forgetting all settings. Since I've not changed anything during the firmware update, and the issue I'm experiencing (10 minutes delay until wan status LED lighting up) - I'm not sure how this could help to understand what is causing my problem.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-nvram-and-factory-default-reset.22822/

Why do I sometime need to do a factory default reset?
In addition to those user-entered settings, there's all those system level settings I previously mentioned. Sometimes, the manufacturer will need to change some of those low-level settings, either to resolve an issue, or to adapt to a newer wireless driver that they started using.

If you fail to do a factory default reset, then your router will still have the old values, and it will keep using them. That can lead to performance issues (especially in changes related to the wireless driver), or flat out odd behaviour (if one of the settings no longer works the same way as before).

 

[ColinTaylor]

Look for clues in the router's syslog.

 

[Treadler]

I've just upgraded the firmware to the latest .11 version released yesterday and now router just says, that the network cable is unplugged for the external connection. The corresponding led on the router is turned off, there is no red indications or something like that.

I've tried to fallback to .10_2 I've had previously, the UI looks like updating, then it asks to reboot manually and after rebooting it's still stuck at .11.

I've tried resetting the jffs partition and flash the .11 again - still the cable is unplugged.

Just right now, after waiting for 10 minutes - The status light suddenly goes red, the notice on the network map changed to "Disconnected" and soon after that everything starts working again.
I've checked again, cycled the power - and here we are again, the led is off, "the cable is unplugged" in the status is displayed again.

What can I do in order to check what's wrong with the router? The fact I'm unable to rollback to 10_2 really bothers me.

Maybe try a different cable, just to eliminate that as a reason?

 

[st923]

Look for clues in the router's syslog.

Somehow the forum is blocking me from posting the log texts

 

[st923]

I've managed to put the syslog text here:
https://gist.github.com/tutushkin/22ad0e34e30cd8ee41a9b67b3f82c273

 

[st923]

Maybe try a different cable, just to eliminate that as a reason?

Can't do that - the cable is mounted by provider and going outside of my appartments.
It is working fine however - downloading torrents now at quite a high speed.
Anyway, according to the docs about the LED indication - the router now isn't even trying to look for the cable for a good 10-14 minutes after startup.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I've managed to put the syslog text here:
https://gist.github.com/tutushkin/22ad0e34e30cd8ee41a9b67b3f82c273

Thanks for that. It would be useful to see the entire log from boot up until this log starts.

 

[st923]

Thanks for that. It would be useful to see the entire log from boot up until this log starts.

Here it is:
https://gist.github.com/tutushkin/546ff0418cfc135b1b3eab8e1f1f04ab

PS. I hope it does not contains anything sensitive

 

[ColinTaylor]

Here it is:
https://gist.github.com/tutushkin/546ff0418cfc135b1b3eab8e1f1f04ab

PS. I hope it does not contains anything sensitive

Thanks. (Can't see anything sensitive )

Well, I've gone through it and there's nothing leaping out as obviously being wrong. But that doesn't mean much because I don't own that model router so I don't know what's "normal".

That said, I tried searching on the internet to see if anyone else had uploaded their syslog which could be used as a comparison. The only thing I've found so far is actually the interactive demo of the RT-AX88U from Asus. Interestingly, if we look at the syslog of the demo it also has the same sort of delay until the WAN becomes active.

Compare your log:

May  5 08:05:05 kernel: eth0: <Int sw port: 3> <Logical : 03> MAC : 0C:9D:92:02:BE:D0
May  5 08:17:45 kernel: eth0 (Int switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 3) (phyId: c) Link UP at 100 mbps full duplex

To theirs:

May  5 05:05:13 kernel: eth0: <Int sw port: 3> <Logical : 03> MAC : 18:31:BF:31:31:30
May  5 05:15:07 kernel: eth0 (Int switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 3) (phyId: c) Link UP at 1000 mbps full duplex

Are you sure this delay wasn't always there?

 

[st923]

Thanks. (Can't see anything sensitive )

Are you sure this delay wasn't always there?

Wow!
Yep, I'm absolutelly sure the delay wasn't there. For example, on the first setup I was on the phone with my provider in order to register MAC address change and the connection attempts (indicated by red LED) was alsmost instant (comparing to this 10 minutes lag).

Anyway, this logs you've found indeed looks similar.
May be I'll resort to full factory reset in a few days if nothing else helps.

Thank you!

 

[ColinTaylor]

May be I'll resort to full factory reset in a few days if nothing else helps.

Yes I think that is the next course of action. It's quite possible that some obscure setting got turned on or off and that is causing the problem. Tracking it down could be quite time consuming, which is why a factory reset is often a faster way to get things working again.

If you haven't made any significant changes to the router's settings it pretty quick to set it up again after a reset. If you do have a lot a changes but still want to do a quick test you can save your current settings from the router's GUI. Then you could do a factory reset followed by the minimum required to get it online again. Then do your tests. After you're finished you can reload your settings file and you should be back to how you were previously.

 

[st923]

If you haven't made any significant changes to the router's settings it pretty quick to set it up again after a reset.

A lot's of changes, but they are on external entware USB stick and safely unplugged
Rebinding all the DHCP adresses for all my infrustructure devices will be a pain though. Having homekit appliances to be offline during setup is another major pain

If you do have a lot a changes but still want to do a quick test you can save your current settings from the router's GUI. Then you could do a factory reset followed by the minimum required to get it online again. Then do your tests. After you're finished you can reload your settings file and you should be back to how you were previously.

Yes, that's the plan. But another problem still remain: if the router fails to reflash to .10_2, is there a chance it would brick after factory reset?

 

[L&LD]

A lot's of changes, but they are on external entware USB stick and safely unplugged
Rebinding all the DHCP adresses for all my infrustructure devices will be a pain though. Having homekit appliances to be offline during setup is another major pain


Yes, that's the plan. But another problem still remain: if the router fails to reflash to .10_2, is there a chance it would brick after factory reset?

It is very hard to almost impossible to brick an Asus router using stock or RMerlin firmware forks.

 

[st923]

It is very hard to almost impossible to brick an Asus router using stock or RMerlin firmware forks.

Way to go with your reset guide then

 

[RMerlin]

The first step in troubleshooting link issues is to replace the Ethernet cable.

 

[st923]

The first step in troubleshooting link issues is to replace the Ethernet cable.

But there are no link issues! The cable works just fine.
It's the router does not tries the cable for 10 minutes.

 

[RMerlin]

But there are no link issues! The cable works just fine.
It's the router does not tries the cable for 10 minutes.

Link UP at 100 mbps full duplex

The vast majority of modern modems have a 1 Gbps interface. If it only rises at 100 Mbps then it usually indicate a faulty cable, causing the connection to fallback to 100 Mbps.