when installing merlin - do all settings get reset?

[Alenknight]

so i'm just starting out. got me an ac68u... and planning to add the merlin firmware. just a heads up... does it blow out all the configurations and settings i set up? i spent quite a bit of time configuring my router just the way i want... particularly opening ports for multiple NAS drives on my network..... so it'd be a shame to have to redo all that.

thanks

 

[RMerlin]

Configuration is preserved if coming from the original firmware. Note that this is however not recommended if coming from a much older firmware, where a factory default reset is recommended.

 

[Alenknight]

thanks for the info, RMerlin! i just got the router, and using the latest stock firmware.....
as a follow up... if i end up going back to stock firmware... does the settings reset (i doubt that'll happen... just in case of instability or issues... as the features in the merlin firmware are kind of necessary for me)

 

[RMerlin]

thanks for the info, RMerlin! i just got the router, and using the latest stock firmware.....
as a follow up... if i end up going back to stock firmware... does the settings reset (i doubt that'll happen... just in case of instability or issues... as the features in the merlin firmware are kind of necessary for me)

Going from stock to my firmware is fine. Going back to stock firmware might have a few quirks however. For instance, the DHCP reservation page will be corrupted, as Asus doesn't support the extra hostname field that my firmware supports. So in general, I recommend doing a factory default reset when going back to the stock firmware.

 

[Alenknight]

ahhhh ok... so a factory reset will just bring back the original asus firmware, with original settings.. fair enough. so the firmware doesn't update over the factory memory onboard firmware

 

[RMerlin]

ahhhh ok... so a factory reset will just bring back the original asus firmware, with original settings.. fair enough. so the firmware doesn't update over the factory memory onboard firmware

That's not what I wrote.

Doing a factory default reset will ONLY affects the settings, it does not change the firmware itself. You have to flash whichever firmware version you want to use, be it mine or the original firmware.

 

[Alenknight]

oops. now i get it. thanks! ok, so if i wanted to go back to factory firmware... get firmware from asus, flash the firmware... THEN factory reset to ensure original settings are all brought back.

thanks, again.

 

[L&LD]

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

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/no...l-and-manual-configuration.27115/#post-205573

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac66u-slow-wan-to-lan.12973/page-3#post-269410

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/user-nvram-save-restore-utility-r24.19521/


The last link above is what you need to switch seamlessly between different firmware versions.

• Make a backup of your current settings on your current firmware with the excellent utility john9527 has provided us.
• Download the identical firmware version (from Asus) and keep in a safe place with the backup you just made.
• Flash the new firmware you want to try/test.
• Perform a full reset to factory defaults (see links above).
• Manually and minimally configure the router to secure it and connect to your ISP.
  • (Or, use the advanced settings of the Save/Restore utility to quickly configure your router instead, but, watch out for any issues this may present).
• If you are happy with the stability and performance of the latest firmware, make a new backup using the same utility and make sure you keep the firmware version this works with safely with this new backup file too.

At this point, you can switch between versions in a matter of minutes (continue the above process with each new firmware you test/try in the future too).