Asus RT-AC68U

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sadpanda
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 18 Oct 2017
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 1:23    Post subject: Asus RT-AC68U Reply with quote
I just bought a AC68U router and tried flashing it with ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2017/04-24-2017-r31899/asus-rt-ac68u/ which is a link I got from the wiki https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Asus_RT-AC68U

I waited until the message "Firmware upgrade is done. Please reboot RT-AC68U manually".

I did that, only to get a minor heart attack thinking I bricked the router. It didn't respond at all or give me an ipaddress after rebooting, I set my ipaddress manually to 192.168.1.10 and still there was no ping response. Now I was previously using an ipaddress of 192.168.100.254 on the router, so I tried switching to that network and found out that I was in Asustek CFE miniWEB, which let me re-upload firmware from Asus, thank god.

Now I understand that this is called soft-bricking, but can anyone tell me what went wrong? Is this really the wrong firmware that I tried to upgrade to? I read that I should follow the information on the WIKI page, which I did, and used the Brainslayer build first.

I really don't want to risk bricking my new router so any suggestions or information would be well appreciated.


H/W Ver: E1
F/W Ver: 3.0.0.4.380_3264 however I updated it to 3.0.0.4.380_7743
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leadboots5
DD-WRT User


Joined: 05 Feb 2010
Posts: 83

PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 4:24    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quote:
I waited until the message "Firmware upgrade is done. Please reboot RT-AC68U manually".


How long did you give it? Always give it a solid 5 minutes. Even if it says its complete it may still be building variables in the background and a restart will brick your router. Your router file choice seems correct.

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Linksys E3000
ASUS RT-AC68U
Malachi
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 17 Jul 2012
Posts: 7209
Location: Columbus, Ohio

PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 9:41    Post subject: Reply with quote
If it has recent asus firmware you are prevented from flashing third party firmware.
You will need to use the cfe mini web server to flash it.

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slidermike
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 11 Nov 2013
Posts: 1487
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 17:10    Post subject: Reply with quote
Malaki is correct about Asus locking it down.
I'm not sure but I believe there is a chance you can also flash an older ver of the Asus code onto the router and from there go 3rd party.
I believe I found that info on slickdeals.net because people were buying the T-Mobile branded 68u and flashing it to full Asus firmware.
Smile

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Router currently owned:
Netgear R7800 - Router
Netgear R7000 - AP mode

R7000 specific Tips/Tricks.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=264152
Malachi
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Joined: 17 Jul 2012
Posts: 7209
Location: Columbus, Ohio

PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 17:13    Post subject: Reply with quote
You'd still need to use the mini cfe browser or restoration tool to flash an older version of asus.
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slidermike
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 11 Nov 2013
Posts: 1487
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 17:22    Post subject: Reply with quote
This page has a fairly straight forward step by step.
Assuming your comfortable with the items it walks you through.
I bought one about a year ago, flashed it over to AsusMerlin firmware for a friend and he has been happy with it since.
The one I did, came at 800Mhz but I modified the CFE to 1000Mhz & it runs just fine.
YMMV!!!
http://www.bayareatechpros.com/ac1900-to-ac68u/

_________________
Router currently owned:
Netgear R7800 - Router
Netgear R7000 - AP mode

R7000 specific Tips/Tricks.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=264152
Malachi
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 17 Jul 2012
Posts: 7209
Location: Columbus, Ohio

PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 17:25    Post subject: Reply with quote
He already has an rt-ac68u. He doesn't need to convert it. Btw, I've converted a few using the rt-ac68p cfe and overclocked them to 1.2ghz.
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alexRo87
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 27 Nov 2017
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 22:43    Post subject: I have installed DD-WRT on a new asus rt-ac68u E1 Reply with quote
I have installed DD-WRT on a new asus rt-ac68u E1. I tested some functionalities and I want to go back to stock firmware, but I can not put the router in the rescue mode. This new revision of the device does not behave like the previous versions. The power led doesn't blink when doing the reset button procedure.

Now I'm stuck with ddwrt. It's not a disaster but still. Any hints?
Malachi
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 17 Jul 2012
Posts: 7209
Location: Columbus, Ohio

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 22:47    Post subject: Re: I have installed DD-WRT on a new asus rt-ac68u E1 Reply with quote
alexRo87 wrote:
I have installed DD-WRT on a new asus rt-ac68u E1. I tested some functionalities and I want to go back to stock firmware, but I can not put the router in the rescue mode. This new revision of the device does not behave like the previous versions. The power led doesn't blink when doing the reset button procedure.

Now I'm stuck with ddwrt. It's not a disaster but still. Any hints?


Did you try to flash it from within dd-wrt?
If the led doesn't flash, set a countinous ping and when it responds with ttl=100, it is in rescue mode.

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alexRo87
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 27 Nov 2017
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 22:55    Post subject: Re: I have installed DD-WRT on a new asus rt-ac68u E1 Reply with quote
Malachi wrote:
alexRo87 wrote:
I have installed DD-WRT on a new asus rt-ac68u E1. I tested some functionalities and I want to go back to stock firmware, but I can not put the router in the rescue mode. This new revision of the device does not behave like the previous versions. The power led doesn't blink when doing the reset button procedure.

Now I'm stuck with ddwrt. It's not a disaster but still. Any hints?


Did you try to flash it from within dd-wrt?
If the led doesn't flash, set a countinous ping and when it responds with ttl=100, it is in rescue mode.


Well, using ASUS firmware from within dd-wrt does not work. Everything goes normal in the Firmware upgrade procedure but when it gets rebooted, ddwrt is still there but will all the settings to the defaults.

When I try to use the reset button procedure (with or without NVRAM Clear) I'm getting ttl=100 and if I visit the default page in the browser I get Asustek Cfe mini web server, where I can upload a new firmware, but again no matter what file I'm uploading, after the file is uploaded and the router restars ddwrt is still there but will all the settings to the defaults.
Malachi
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 17 Jul 2012
Posts: 7209
Location: Columbus, Ohio

PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 23:28    Post subject: Reply with quote
Try the firmware restoration tool
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wabe
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 889

PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 19:52    Post subject: Reply with quote
dd-wrt works well on this router. Can't help you to get back to stock firmware but can recommend Kong's build 33770. Very solid!
My preferred method to successfully upgrade firmware on later revisions of AC68U is to:
- Issue 'erase nvram' from terminal
- wait to get router up
- flash firmware from GUI w/ reset to factory default option
- wait for router up

- restore settings. I use a backup script in order to avoid having to do this manually

On rev. A routers you may use Kong 'ddup' command to upgrade but this does not work on later revisions.

_________________
Netgear R7000 on Build 55109
Asus AC-AC68U rev. C1 (AP) on Build 55109
Asus AC-68U rev. A1 on Build 54604
Asus AC-68U rev. A1 on Build 53339
alexRo87
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 27 Nov 2017
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 22:34    Post subject: Reply with quote
wabe wrote:
dd-wrt works well on this router. Can't help you to get back to stock firmware but can recommend Kong's build 33770. Very solid!
My preferred method to successfully upgrade firmware on later revisions of AC68U is to:
- Issue 'erase nvram' from terminal
- wait to get router up
- flash firmware from GUI w/ reset to factory default option
- wait for router up

- restore settings. I use a backup script in order to avoid having to do this manually

On rev. A routers you may use Kong 'ddup' command to upgrade but this does not work on later revisions.


Works well, I agree, and I am a huge fan of ddwrt, but, I have a gigabit pppoe connection working between 910 - 970 Mbs. The connection was tested with other routers also. When using AC68U with stock firmware I've got 950 Mbs, when switched to dd-wrt I can not pass over 450 Mbs. So I have to find a way either to go back to stock or "adjust" ddwrt.
catch22
DD-WRT User


Joined: 26 May 2014
Posts: 67
Location: Italy

PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 9:26    Post subject: Reply with quote
alexRo87 wrote:
wabe wrote:
dd-wrt works well on this router. Can't help you to get back to stock firmware but can recommend Kong's build 33770. Very solid!
My preferred method to successfully upgrade firmware on later revisions of AC68U is to:
- Issue 'erase nvram' from terminal
- wait to get router up
- flash firmware from GUI w/ reset to factory default option
- wait for router up

- restore settings. I use a backup script in order to avoid having to do this manually

On rev. A routers you may use Kong 'ddup' command to upgrade but this does not work on later revisions.


Works well, I agree, and I am a huge fan of ddwrt, but, I have a gigabit pppoe connection working between 910 - 970 Mbs. The connection was tested with other routers also. When using AC68U with stock firmware I've got 950 Mbs, when switched to dd-wrt I can not pass over 450 Mbs. So I have to find a way either to go back to stock or "adjust" ddwrt.


Hi. I think this is because stock firmwares implement hardware nat, while dd-wrt does not. There are a few discussions on this topic in the forum, see for instance https://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=782270 .
wabe
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 889

PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 10:23    Post subject: Reply with quote
alexRo87 wrote:

Works well, I agree, and I am a huge fan of ddwrt, but, I have a gigabit pppoe connection working between 910 - 970 Mbs. The connection was tested with other routers also. When using AC68U with stock firmware I've got 950 Mbs, when switched to dd-wrt I can not pass over 450 Mbs. So I have to find a way either to go back to stock or "adjust" ddwrt.

Are you aware of "Shortcut Forwarding Engine" (SFE)? Enabling it (Basic setup) apparently increase throughput on fast connections considerably. Haven't tested it, though.

_________________
Netgear R7000 on Build 55109
Asus AC-AC68U rev. C1 (AP) on Build 55109
Asus AC-68U rev. A1 on Build 54604
Asus AC-68U rev. A1 on Build 53339
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