Unable to update ASUS RT-AC68R to Merlin 386.10_0

[rodd]

Dear all,
I have been updating my home network consisting of one RT-AC68 and a RT-AC1900 (configured as AiMesh) without problems up to this late version.
The firmware uploads and there is no error message, but no update really occurs.
I have done many factory reset and factory defaults restore (with the initialize checkbox marked).
The NVRAM usage is 58377/65536.
I do not have any parameters set other than the network and wifi configurations.
So, my questions are:
1 - Is this NVRAM usage normal?
2- If not, Why my attempts to clean the NVRAM have failed?
3- Can anyone help me to correct this issue to allow me to continue to update the firmware of my routers?

Thanks to you all.
Roger

 

[ColinTaylor]

1 - Is this NVRAM usage normal?

Yes.

 

[A Purohit]

What version are you coming from?
Did you do a full factory reset before the install, or are you trying a dirty upgrade?

 

[bennor]

1 - Is this NVRAM usage normal?
2- If not, Why my attempts to clean the NVRAM have failed?
3- Can anyone help me to correct this issue to allow me to continue to update the firmware of my routers?

1. Yes.
2. See #1.
3. Use the forum search feature to search this subforum and the ther subforums dealing with the AC series of Asus routers. There are a number of recent thread discussions on trying to deal with NVRAM issues with the RT-AC68U and the later Asus-Merlin firmware. Typically a hard factory reset is enough. There are a number of other suggestions ranging from removing or moving manual DHCP IP address assignments (or using YazDHCP) to running various code/script commands via SSH to nock down the NVRAM by removing or clearing certain values. Generally those code/script methods do not survive reboot and have to be run again post boot.

Edit to add: Other troubleshooting steps if firmware update fails.

• Use a different web browser.
• Use a computer wired to the router with NO other devices connected to the router.
• If a USB hard drive is attached to router, disconnect the USB drive before flashing new firmware.
• Do not load a saved router CFG file after performing a firmware update/upgrade.
• Do not connect or setup AiMesh until the main router's firmware has been updated and running properly.
• TM-AC1900 (T-Mobile) routers have a separate issue that prevents later Asus (and Asus-Merlin) firmware from being installed. Search the internet for discussions about that specific router and firmware update issues on other websites.

 

[rodd]

Thank you for the replies.
Answering the questions:
1 - I was using Tomato until March 2022
So I had to flash the 386.4_0 firmware to allow the repartition.
2- The newer versions were loaded as "upgrades"
3- After the first attempt of installing 386.10_0 as an upgrade (several times), I did some 30-30-30 resets and the WPS "hard reset" (with and without WAN and LAN cables connected).
However, I had never tried other browsers and/or disconnecting the external USB.
4- My AC-1900 is NOT the T-mobile version, just the "regular" RT-AC1900.

 

[rodd]

Upgrade successful after running the SSH command " for line in `nvram show | grep ^[^=]*=$ `; do var=${line%*=}; nvram unset $var; done; nvram commit " with all LAN cables connected as well as the USB external drive.
My question now is: can I do this with the AiMesh node? It seems to have the same IP address>
Thank you all

 

[rodd]

Hi again,
After some thinking I realized that it is impossible(?) that two devices have the same IP so I fumbled a little more on the router GUI and discovered the IP of the AiMesh router.
I did the same as above and was able to update the firmware.
PROBLEM SOLVED
Thank you