ASUS RT-AX53U SSH install --> bootloop

dakazze · January 8, 2024, 6:53pm

Hey!
I am using openwrt for around 15 years now and just got a new router. Sadly I cant find a solution to my issue via google or the wiki so I hope to find some info here.

I followed the wiki https://openwrt.org/toh/asus/rt-ax53u to do a fresh install via SSH. The first time I tried I used /reboot one moment after command prompt came back up, after using the write command, which resulted in a bootloop.

Power on --> Power LED comes on --> 10 sec --> all leds flash for a millisec --> 10 sec --> power LED goes out --> repeat

After checking another issue thread here I used the asus fw recovery tool to get back into SSH and tried to flash again but this time I waited around 10min after command prompt came up again. (I find it strange that the write process seems to take only a 2-3 sec before it looks finished)
Power cycling during boot does not help either.

Any ideas before I have to go the TFTP route which I am not yet familiar with?

edit: tried again, this time waiting around 30min, still same

Borromini · January 8, 2024, 8:11pm

Which release did you try and can you try other images? Part of the TFTP route is getting serial going, that should tell you what is going wrong during flashing. Writing to flash surely takes more than a few seconds, even on modern network devices. Most of the installation time is actually spent on writing and verifying.

Either something broke in the OpenWrt support fo the RT-AX53U, but often it's OEM firmware changes or bootloader updates that come with newer firmware updates that (intentionally) break OpenWrt installation.

gameinn · January 8, 2024, 9:02pm

I'm far from an expert myself but I can try.

One issue might be a bad download each time, can happen. You should compare the md5 checksum with what's on the router prior to flashing. I got this from the Zyxel WSM20 thread:

[ "$(md5sum zyxel.bin | awk '{print $1}')" == "b601f1ee260460e4107345003f82b7f4" ] && echo "Firmware check passed!" || echo "Firmware is corrupted, download it again!"

Replace zyxel.bin filename and your own md5 checksum for the file.

dakazze · January 8, 2024, 11:19pm

OK, I´ve got an update:

I flashed the latest version via SSH and it worked!

Manged to do the whole setup: wireless, password, etc. and after the first reboot I got the same bootloop issue again. Powercycling is no use and no failsafe or soft reset works....

How should I progress further?

edit:
OEM FW = latest = 3.0.0.4.386_69061
could not find an older one to downgrade
openwrt: 23.05.0 (worked until reboot)
openwrt: 23.03.5 (was recommended in the wiki, did not boot at all)

since I´m gone next week I´ll have to send it back if we dont manage to find a solution within around 24h

dakazze · January 9, 2024, 3:56am

Another update:

FW restored, flash latest snapshot, seemed to boot fine at first boot, no connection to luci but no bootloop either, waited around 10min, hard reboot --> bootloop again...

I am pretty clueless and down right now -.-

dakazze · January 9, 2024, 11:39am

another update after trying tftp flash several times as per wiki:

  *** U-Boot Boot Menu ***

     1. Startup system (Default)
     2. Upgrade firmware
     3. Upgrade bootloader
     4. Upgrade bootloader (advanced mode)
     5. Load image
     0. U-Boot console


  Press UP/DOWN to move, ENTER to select
Reading from 0x1e0000, size 0x100000
Succeeded

RT-AX53U bootloader version: 1.0.0.1
Reading from 0x1e0000, size 0x100000
Succeeded
MAC Address: C8:7F:54:E3:E5:B0
Reading from 0x1e0000, size 0x40000
Succeeded
Check Factory's EEPROM successfully! (r = 17)
Reading from 0x2e0000, size 0x40000
Succeeded
Check Factory2's EEPROM successfully! (r = 17)
Reading from 0x3e0000, size 0x2000
Succeeded
Reading from 0x3e0000, size 0x298a02
Succeeded
   Image Name:   MIPS OpenWrt Linux-5.10.176
   Image Type:   MIPS Linux Kernel Image (lzma compressed)
   Data Size:    2722242 Bytes = 2.6 MiB
   Load Address: 80001000
   Entry Point:  80001000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 83000000 ...
   Image Name:   MIPS OpenWrt Linux-5.10.176
   Image Type:   MIPS Linux Kernel Image (lzma compressed)
   Data Size:    2722242 Bytes = 2.6 MiB
   Load Address: 80001000
   Entry Point:  80001000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
   Uncompressing Kernel Image ... OK
[    0.000000] Linux version 5.10.176 (builder@buildhost) (mipsel-openwrt-linux-  musl-gcc (OpenWrt GCC 11.2.0 r20134-5f15225c1e) 11.2.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.  37) #0 SMP Thu Apr 27 20:28:15 2023
[    0.000000] SoC Type: MediaTek MT7621 ver:1 eco:3
[    0.000000] printk: bootconsole [early0] enabled
[    0.000000] CPU0 revision is: 0001992f (MIPS 1004Kc)
[    0.000000] MIPS: machine is ASUS RT-AX53U
[    0.000000] Initrd not found or empty - disabling initrd
[    0.000000] VPE topology {2,2} total 4
[    0.000000] Primary instruction cache 32kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.000000] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, PIPT, no aliases, linesize 32 byt  es
[    0.000000] MIPS secondary cache 256kB, 8-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.000000] Zone ranges:
[    0.000000]   Normal   [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000fffffff]
[    0.000000]   HighMem  empty
[    0.000000] Movable zone start for each node
[    0.000000] Early memory node ranges
[    0.000000]   node   0: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000fffffff]
[    0.000000] Initmem setup node 0 [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000fffffff]
[    0.000000] percpu: Embedded 15 pages/cpu s30480 r8192 d22768 u61440
[    0.000000] Built 1 zonelists, mobility grouping on.  Total pages: 64960
[    0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttyS0,115200
[    0.000000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes, l  inear)
[    0.000000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 16384 (order: 4, 65536 bytes, lin  ear)
[    0.000000] Writing ErrCtl register=0001404c
[    0.000000] Readback ErrCtl register=0001404c
[    0.000000] mem auto-init: stack:off, heap alloc:off, heap free:off
[    0.000000] Memory: 249296K/262144K available (7064K kernel code, 631K rwdata  , 832K rodata, 1252K init, 243K bss, 12848K reserved, 0K cma-reserved, 0K highme  m)
[    0.000000] SLUB: HWalign=32, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=4, Nodes=1
[    0.000000] rcu: Hierarchical RCU implementation.
[    0.000000]  Tracing variant of Tasks RCU enabled.
[    0.000000] rcu: RCU calculated value of scheduler-enlistment delay is 10 jif  fies.
[    0.000000] NR_IRQS: 256
[    0.000000] CPU Clock: 880MHz
[    0.000000] clocksource: GIC: mask: 0xffffffffffffffff max_cycles: 0xcaf478ab  b4, max_idle_ns: 440795247997 ns
[    0.000012] sched_clock: 64 bits at 880MHz, resolution 1ns, wraps every 43980  46511103ns
[    0.007946] clocksource: MIPS: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_i  dle_ns: 4343773742 ns
[    0.017003] Calibrating delay loop... 586.13 BogoMIPS (lpj=2930688)
[    0.083163] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[    0.087927] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes, linea  r)
[    0.095130] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes,   linear)
[    0.105787] rcu: Hierarchical SRCU implementation.
[    0.110840] dyndbg: Ignore empty _ddebug table in a CONFIG_DYNAMIC_DEBUG_CORE   build
[    0.118963] smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ...
[    0.124259] Primary instruction cache 32kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.124270] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, PIPT, no aliases, linesize 32 byt  es
[    0.124281] MIPS secondary cache 256kB, 8-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.124357] CPU1 revision is: 0001992f (MIPS 1004Kc)
[    0.178748] Synchronize counters for CPU 1: done.
[    0.211248] Primary instruction cache 32kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.211259] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, PIPT, no aliases, linesize 32 byt  es
[    0.211266] MIPS secondary cache 256kB, 8-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.211312] CPU2 revision is: 0001992f (MIPS 1004Kc)
[    0.270187] Synchronize counters for CPU 2: done.
[    0.300797] Primary instruction cache 32kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.300806] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, PIPT, no aliases, linesize 32 byt  es
[    0.300814] MIPS secondary cache 256kB, 8-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.300864] CPU3 revision is: 0001992f (MIPS 1004Kc)
[    0.355375] Synchronize counters for CPU 3: done.
[    0.385242] smp: Brought up 1 node, 4 CPUs
[    0.393354] clocksource: jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, ma  x_idle_ns: 19112604462750000 ns
[    0.403182] futex hash table entries: 1024 (order: 3, 32768 bytes, linear)
[    0.410202] pinctrl core: initialized pinctrl subsystem
[    0.417885] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[    0.423538] thermal_sys: Registered thermal governor 'step_wise'
[    0.424520] cpuidle: using governor teo
[    0.471196] clocksource: Switched to clocksource GIC
[    0.478046] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[    0.482928] IP idents hash table entries: 4096 (order: 3, 32768 bytes, linear  )
[    0.491356] tcp_listen_portaddr_hash hash table entries: 512 (order: 0, 6144   bytes, linear)
[    0.499667] TCP established hash table entries: 2048 (order: 1, 8192 bytes, l  inear)
[    0.507308] TCP bind hash table entries: 2048 (order: 2, 16384 bytes, linear)
[    0.514393] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 2048 bind 2048)
[    0.520823] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 1, 8192 bytes, linear)
[    0.527306] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 1, 8192 bytes, linear)
[    0.534546] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[    0.538842] PCI: CLS 0 bytes, default 32
[    0.544844] workingset: timestamp_bits=14 max_order=16 bucket_order=2
[    0.555503] squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher
[    0.561347] jffs2: version 2.2 (NAND) (SUMMARY) (LZMA) (RTIME) (CMODE_PRIORIT  Y) (c) 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
[    0.571978] Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 2  51)
[    0.581288] mt7621_gpio 1e000600.gpio: registering 32 gpios
[    0.587110] mt7621_gpio 1e000600.gpio: registering 32 gpios
[    0.592912] mt7621_gpio 1e000600.gpio: registering 32 gpios
[    0.599020] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 16 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
[    0.608103] printk: console [ttyS0] disabled
[    0.612517] 1e000c00.uartlite: ttyS0 at MMIO 0x1e000c00 (irq = 19, base_baud   = 3125000) is a 16550A
[    0.621599] printk: console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.621599] printk: console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.629862] printk: bootconsole [early0] disabled
[    0.629862] printk: bootconsole [early0] disabled
[    0.643218] nand: device found, Manufacturer ID: 0x01, Chip ID: 0xf1
[    0.649565] nand: AMD/Spansion S34ML01G2
[    0.653503] nand: 128 MiB, SLC, erase size: 128 KiB, page size: 2048, OOB siz  e: 64
[    0.661046] mt7621-nand 1e003000.nand: ECC strength adjusted to 4 bits
[    0.670250] Signature found at block 1023 [0x07fe0000]
[    0.675391] NMBM management region starts at block 960 [0x07800000]
[    0.686254] First info table with writecount 0 found in block 960
[    0.705895] Second info table with writecount 0 found in block 963
[    0.712166] NMBM has been successfully attached
[    0.716806] 8 fixed-partitions partitions found on MTD device mt7621-nand
[    0.724697] Creating 8 MTD partitions on "mt7621-nand":
[    0.729942] 0x000000000000-0x000000080000 : "u-boot"
[    0.743848] 0x000000080000-0x0000000e0000 : "u-boot-env"
[    0.756060] 0x0000000e0000-0x0000001e0000 : "nvram"
[    0.777511] 0x0000001e0000-0x0000002e0000 : "factory"
[    0.798994] 0x0000002e0000-0x0000003e0000 : "factory2"
[    0.820465] 0x0000003e0000-0x0000035e0000 : "firmware"
[    1.593354] 2 fixed-partitions partitions found on MTD device firmware
[    1.599884] Creating 2 MTD partitions on "firmware":
[    1.604869] 0x000000000000-0x000000400000 : "kernel"
[    1.672216] 0x000000400000-0x000003200000 : "ubi"
[    2.382885] 0x0000035e0000-0x0000067e0000 : "firmware2"
[    3.156312] 0x0000067e0000-0x000007800000 : "jffs2"
[    3.452386] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f: MT7530 adapts as multi-chip module
[    3.462875] mtk_soc_eth 1e100000.ethernet eth0: mediatek frame engine at 0xbe  100000, irq 21
[    3.472458] i2c /dev entries driver
[    3.478635] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie: host bridge /pcie@1e140000 ranges:
[    3.485380] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie:   No bus range found for /pcie@1e140000  , using [bus 00-ff]
[    3.494187] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie:      MEM 0x0060000000..0x006fffffff ->   0x0000000000
[    3.502363] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie:       IO 0x001e160000..0x001e16ffff ->   0x0000000000
[    3.510606] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie: Parsing DT failed
[    3.518334] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[    3.524733] Segment Routing with IPv6
[    3.528502] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[    3.533109] bridge: filtering via arp/ip/ip6tables is no longer available by   default. Update your scripts to load br_netfilter if you need this.
[    3.546341] 8021q: 802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8
[    3.554060] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f: MT7530 adapts as multi-chip module
[    3.583875] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f wan (uninitialized): PHY [mt7530-0:00] driver   [MediaTek MT7530 PHY] (irq=26)
[    3.596027] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f lan1 (uninitialized): PHY [mt7530-0:01] driver   [MediaTek MT7530 PHY] (irq=27)
[    3.608234] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f lan2 (uninitialized): PHY [mt7530-0:02] driver   [MediaTek MT7530 PHY] (irq=28)
[    3.620529] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f lan3 (uninitialized): PHY [mt7530-0:03] driver   [MediaTek MT7530 PHY] (irq=29)
[    3.633674] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f: configuring for fixed/rgmii link mode
[    3.644155] DSA: tree 0 setup
[    3.647425] rt2880-pinmux pinctrl: pcie is already enabled
[    3.652999] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie: host bridge /pcie@1e140000 ranges:
[    3.659687] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie:   No bus range found for /pcie@1e140000  , using [bus 00-ff]
[    3.668485] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie:      MEM 0x0060000000..0x006fffffff ->   0x0000000000
[    3.676655] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie:       IO 0x001e160000..0x001e16ffff ->   0x0000000000
[    3.684921] mt7621-pci-phy 1e149000.pcie-phy: PHY for 0xbe149000 (dual port =   1)
[    3.692644] mt7621-pci-phy 1e14a000.pcie-phy: PHY for 0xbe14a000 (dual port =   0)
[    3.700242] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie: failed to parse bus ranges property: -2  2
[    3.807698] mt7621-pci-phy 1e149000.pcie-phy: Xtal is 40MHz
[    3.813284] mt7621-pci-phy 1e14a000.pcie-phy: Xtal is 40MHz
[    3.919041] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie: pcie2 no card, disable it (RST & CLK)
[    3.925998] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie: PCIE0 enabled
[    3.930854] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie: PCIE1 enabled
[    3.935729] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie: PCI coherence region base: 0x60000000,   mask/settings: 0xf0000002
[    3.945204] mt7621-pci 1e140000.pcie: PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00
[    3.951569] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [io  0x1e160000-0x1e16ffff]
[    3.958419] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem 0x60000000-0x6fffffff]
[    3.965289] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [bus 00-ff]
[    3.970756] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem 0x60000000-0x6fffffff] (b  us address [0x00000000-0x0fffffff])
[    3.980951] pci 0000:00:00.0: [0e8d:0801] type 01 class 0x060400
[    3.986971] pci 0000:00:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x7fffffff]
[    3.993232] pci 0000:00:00.0: reg 0x14: [mem 0x60600000-0x6060ffff]
[    3.999538] pci 0000:00:00.0: supports D1
[    4.003561] pci 0000:00:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D1 D3hot
[    4.009686] pci 0000:00:01.0: [0e8d:0801] type 01 class 0x060400
[    4.015726] pci 0000:00:01.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x7fffffff]
[    4.022000] pci 0000:00:01.0: reg 0x14: [mem 0x60610000-0x6061ffff]
[    4.028305] pci 0000:00:01.0: supports D1
[    4.032311] pci 0000:00:01.0: PME# supported from D0 D1 D3hot
[    4.039561] pci 0000:01:00.0: [14c3:7916] type 00 class 0x000280
[    4.045634] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x10: initial BAR value 0x00000000 invalid
[    4.052678] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem size 0x00100000 64bit pref]
[    4.059364] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x18: initial BAR value 0x00000000 invalid
[    4.066414] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x18: [mem size 0x00004000 64bit pref]
[    4.073118] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x20: initial BAR value 0x00000000 invalid
[    4.080135] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x20: [mem size 0x00001000 64bit pref]
[    4.086957] pci 0000:01:00.0: supports D1 D2
[    4.091226] pci 0000:01:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D1 D2 D3hot D3cold
[    4.097854] pci 0000:01:00.0: 2.000 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth, limited by   2.5 GT/s PCIe x1 link at 0000:00:00.0 (capable of 4.000 Gb/s with 5.0 GT/s PCIe   x1 link)
[    4.113892] pci 0000:00:00.0: PCI bridge to [bus 01-ff]
[    4.119114] pci 0000:00:00.0:   bridge window [io  0x0000-0x0fff]
[    4.125222] pci 0000:00:00.0:   bridge window [mem 0x60000000-0x600fffff]
[    4.132014] pci 0000:00:00.0:   bridge window [mem 0x60100000-0x602fffff pref  ]
[    4.139214] pci_bus 0000:01: busn_res: [bus 01-ff] end is updated to 01
[    4.146083] pci 0000:02:00.0: [14c3:7915] type 00 class 0x000280
[    4.152132] pci 0000:02:00.0: reg 0x10: initial BAR value 0x00000000 invalid
[    4.159157] pci 0000:02:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem size 0x00100000 64bit pref]
[    4.165866] pci 0000:02:00.0: reg 0x18: initial BAR value 0x00000000 invalid
[    4.172901] pci 0000:02:00.0: reg 0x18: [mem size 0x00004000 64bit pref]
[    4.179587] pci 0000:02:00.0: reg 0x20: initial BAR value 0x00000000 invalid
[    4.186636] pci 0000:02:00.0: reg 0x20: [mem size 0x00001000 64bit pref]
[    4.193447] pci 0000:02:00.0: supports D1 D2
[    4.197700] pci 0000:02:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D1 D2 D3hot D3cold
[    4.204345] pci 0000:02:00.0: 2.000 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth, limited by   2.5 GT/s PCIe x1 link at 0000:00:01.0 (capable of 4.000 Gb/s with 5.0 GT/s PCIe   x1 link)
[    4.220445] pci 0000:00:01.0: PCI bridge to [bus 02-ff]
[    4.225700] pci 0000:00:01.0:   bridge window [io  0x0000-0x0fff]
[    4.231787] pci 0000:00:01.0:   bridge window [mem 0x60300000-0x603fffff]
[    4.238547] pci 0000:00:01.0:   bridge window [mem 0x60400000-0x605fffff pref  ]
[    4.245774] pci_bus 0000:02: busn_res: [bus 02-ff] end is updated to 02
[    4.252430] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 0: no space for [mem size 0x80000000]
[    4.259015] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 0: failed to assign [mem size 0x80000000]
[    4.265970] pci 0000:00:01.0: BAR 0: no space for [mem size 0x80000000]
[    4.272572] pci 0000:00:01.0: BAR 0: failed to assign [mem size 0x80000000]
[    4.279508] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 8: assigned [mem 0x60000000-0x600fffff]
[    4.286291] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 9: assigned [mem 0x60100000-0x602fffff pref  ]
[    4.293502] pci 0000:00:01.0: BAR 8: assigned [mem 0x60300000-0x603fffff]
[    4.300263] pci 0000:00:01.0: BAR 9: assigned [mem 0x60400000-0x605fffff pref  ]
[    4.307486] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 1: assigned [mem 0x60600000-0x6060ffff]
[    4.314270] pci 0000:00:01.0: BAR 1: assigned [mem 0x60610000-0x6061ffff]
[    4.321032] pci 0000:00:00.0: BAR 7: assigned [io  0x1e160000-0x1e160fff]
[    4.327813] pci 0000:00:01.0: BAR 7: assigned [io  0x1e161000-0x1e161fff]
[    4.334601] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0x60100000-0x601fffff 64bi  t pref]
[    4.342348] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 2: assigned [mem 0x60200000-0x60203fff 64bi  t pref]
[    4.350071] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 4: assigned [mem 0x60204000-0x60204fff 64bi  t pref]
[    4.357807] pci 0000:00:00.0: PCI bridge to [bus 01]
[    4.362782] pci 0000:00:00.0:   bridge window [io  0x1e160000-0x1e160fff]
[    4.369543] pci 0000:00:00.0:   bridge window [mem 0x60000000-0x600fffff]
[    4.376317] pci 0000:00:00.0:   bridge window [mem 0x60100000-0x602fffff pref  ]
[    4.383541] pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0x60400000-0x604fffff 64bi  t pref]
[    4.391283] pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 2: assigned [mem 0x60500000-0x60503fff 64bi  t pref]
[    4.399006] pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 4: assigned [mem 0x60504000-0x60504fff 64bi  t pref]
[    4.406746] pci 0000:00:01.0: PCI bridge to [bus 02]
[    4.411707] pci 0000:00:01.0:   bridge window [io  0x1e161000-0x1e161fff]
[    4.418466] pci 0000:00:01.0:   bridge window [mem 0x60300000-0x603fffff]
[    4.425254] pci 0000:00:01.0:   bridge window [mem 0x60400000-0x605fffff pref  ]
[    4.436892] UBI: auto-attach mtd7
[    4.440232] ubi0: attaching mtd7
[    4.443837] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx
[    4.563186] UBI: EOF marker found, PEBs from 36 will be erased
[    5.101954] ubi0 error: 0x80473ba0: error -77 while checking if PEB 314 is ba  d
[    5.109243] ubi0 error: 0x8046db70: failed to attach mtd7, error -77
[    5.115616] UBI error: cannot attach mtd7
[    5.120427] /dev/root: Can't open blockdev
[    5.124587] VFS: Cannot open root device "(null)" or unknown-block(0,0): erro  r -6
[    5.132071] Please append a correct "root=" boot option; here are the availab  le partitions:
[    5.140394] 1f00             512 mtdblock0
[    5.140399]  (driver?)
[    5.146925] 1f01             384 mtdblock1
[    5.146929]  (driver?)
[    5.153459] 1f02            1024 mtdblock2
[    5.153464]  (driver?)
[    5.159969] 1f03            1024 mtdblock3
[    5.159973]  (driver?)
[    5.166505] 1f04            1024 mtdblock4
[    5.166510]  (driver?)
[    5.173059] 1f05           51200 mtdblock5
[    5.173064]  (driver?)
[    5.179569] 1f06            4096 mtdblock6
[    5.179573]  (driver?)
[    5.186104] 1f07           47104 mtdblock7
[    5.186109]  (driver?)
[    5.192648] 1f08           51200 mtdblock8
[    5.192653]  (driver?)
[    5.199158] 1f09           16512 mtdblock9
[    5.199162]  (driver?)
[    5.205696] Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unkno  wn-block(0,0)
[    5.213955] Rebooting in 1 seconds..

dakazze · January 9, 2024, 4:28pm

update:
flashing 22.03.0 via TFTP boots once but only once and then results in the same kernel panic bootloop. Flash --> good boot --> reboot without any changes --> bootloop

flashing 22.03.0, then doing sysupgrade to 22.05 results in kernel panic bootloop too

edit update:
no matter what I do I cant get the router to boot a second time, tried several sysupgrades at the working firstboot

zekica · January 9, 2024, 4:51pm

I have the same device and SSH flash method worked fine, but I never updated the OEM firmware - after unboxing, I did an initial setup and right away flashed OpenWRT.

What do you see in the serial output when the boot loop happens?

dakazze · January 9, 2024, 5:03pm

I also just unpacked the device and went right into flashing it but maybe the bootloader got updated in later devices. I am pretty stuck now, dont know if you read the last update to my last post.

In one of my posts above I attached the full serial output before the kernel panick but this is the last line:

[ 4.436892] UBI: auto-attach mtd7
[ 4.440232] ubi0: attaching mtd7
[ 4.443837] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx
[ 4.563186] UBI: EOF marker found, PEBs from 36 will be erased
[ 5.101954] ubi0 error: 0x80473ba0: error -77 while checking if PEB 314 is ba d
[ 5.109243] ubi0 error: 0x8046db70: failed to attach mtd7, error -77
[ 5.115616] UBI error: cannot attach mtd7
[ 5.120427] /dev/root: Can't open blockdev
[ 5.124587] VFS: Cannot open root device "(null)" or unknown-block(0,0): erro r -6
[ 5.132071] Please append a correct "root=" boot option; here are the availab le partitions:
[ 5.140394] 1f00 512 mtdblock0
[ 5.140399] (driver?)
[ 5.146925] 1f01 384 mtdblock1
[ 5.146929] (driver?)
[ 5.153459] 1f02 1024 mtdblock2
[ 5.153464] (driver?)
[ 5.159969] 1f03 1024 mtdblock3
[ 5.159973] (driver?)
[ 5.166505] 1f04 1024 mtdblock4
[ 5.166510] (driver?)
[ 5.173059] 1f05 51200 mtdblock5
[ 5.173064] (driver?)
[ 5.179569] 1f06 4096 mtdblock6
[ 5.179573] (driver?)
[ 5.186104] 1f07 47104 mtdblock7
[ 5.186109] (driver?)
[ 5.192648] 1f08 51200 mtdblock8
[ 5.192653] (driver?)
[ 5.199158] 1f09 16512 mtdblock9
[ 5.199162] (driver?)
[ 5.205696] Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unkno wn-block(0,0)
[ 5.213955] Rebooting in 1 seconds..`

zekica · January 9, 2024, 6:32pm

Can you show a bootlog of successful boot?

Does it make sense to make a build with downclocked spi flash? I can build one for you to try...

dakazze · January 12, 2024, 10:04am

OK somehow I got it working but I still think someone from the dev-team should look into this issue, since I am very sure that I did everything exactly as it should be. I could try to replicate stuff for you if needed but else I´ll stay away from updates for now.

What I did:

Asus firmware repair tool
Flash 22.03.5 via TFTP
Same bootloop as before
Flash the kernel file from the prev mentioned github post
Boots into failsafe mode
Flash the FW-upgrade from the github post via luci
works stable for 3 days now, reboots and all

zekica · January 12, 2024, 10:18am

What is that github post? I'm just wondering what the difference is.

hs303 · August 11, 2024, 9:44am

I am having the same issue. I have tried going back to the original firmware and repeating the process with various images.

The only thing that works is flashing to initramfs-kernel.bin with the ASUS Firmware Recovery. Now every time I reboot OpenWRT starts in recovery (initramfs). Running sysupgrade via ssh or from luci results in one failed boot and going back to recovery (initramfs).

I wanted to try out writing the sysupgrade image with mtd write but I am not sure what device to write to. The wiki page of the router says to write to linux but it is not present. My guess is that it has to be either firmware or kernel.

root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /proc/mtd 
dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 00080000 00020000 "u-boot"
mtd1: 00060000 00020000 "u-boot-env"
mtd2: 00100000 00020000 "nvram"
mtd3: 00100000 00020000 "factory"
mtd4: 00100000 00020000 "factory2"
mtd5: 03200000 00020000 "firmware"
mtd6: 00400000 00020000 "kernel"
mtd7: 02e00000 00020000 "ubi"
mtd8: 03200000 00020000 "firmware2"
mtd9: 01020000 00020000 "jffs2"

citakis · August 11, 2024, 1:51pm

I have a working RT-AX53U and my partition table is exactly the same as yours.

In order to install Openwrt I followed the instructions in the wiki
In the installation instructions never mentions a Linux partition instead it mentions to use mtd-write to kernel partition.

Try to read the instructions above and I believe you will have a successful install

hs303 · August 11, 2024, 2:53pm

Thanks for your reply.
I also have followed the intructions, but OpenWRT boots only once, every other reboot afterwards results in kernel panic. The issue has also been described in the following topics:

Summary

Failed installation on Asus RT-AX53U - #46 by Seb_Lz
https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/12674
https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/14371

Somehow some users experience this issue. And a few have resolved it by using the ASUS Recovery Tool to boot to initramfs and run sysupgrade with squashfs-sysupgrade.bin image. But it does not work for me.
The wiki page describes two ways of running sysupgrade. The other one being using the mtd utility.

mtd
If `sysupgrade` does not support this router, use `mtd`.
* Login as root via SSH on 192.168.1.1, then enter the following commands:

cd /tmp
wget https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ramips/mt7621/openwrt-> ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin
mtd write /tmp/openwrt-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin linux && reboot

Therefore I want to try booting into initramfs and doing the sysupgrade with mtd write, but I am not sure what partition to write to.

citakis · August 11, 2024, 3:20pm

As I mentioned earlier there is no linux partition, the correct partition to use is kernel and the correct command is the one below

mtd-write -i openwrt-23.05.4-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin -d Kernel -r

hs303 · August 11, 2024, 3:47pm

As I mentioned before, this does not work for me. You can refer to the topics I linked, I am not alone. Some users experience this issue. This method results in successfuly booting into OpenWRT only once. Every other reboot results in kernel panic.

brada4 · August 11, 2024, 4:20pm

Boot into failsafe mode and sysupgrade to 23.05.4 (0r .3) ot 22.03.6+
IT IS DOCUMENTED IN THE WIKI PAGE
There is no difference between OEM versions, shooting in foot happens when you flash old openwrt on uninitialized flash or dont power off device if first reboot starts looping.

hs303 · August 11, 2024, 8:46pm

Thanks for your reply. I don't think it is that well documented. It only says Warning! Due to some devices being shipped with uninitialized flash, please use versions >= 22.03.6 or >= 23.05.2 for initial install. One can downgrade later if really needed. It does not say that some extra steps are required. But I've tried to reproduce the solution from the github issue:

going back to ASUS firmware with the Firmware Recovery
insalling 23.05.4 with mtd-write
bootloop
flashing initramfs-kernel image 23.04.5 via Firmware Recovery
booting into failsafe mode within initramfs-kernel image
sysupgrade -n 23.04.5-sysupgrade.bin
the device boots to initramfs-kernel image

Am I missing something? Any hints are welcome. Thanks!

brada4 · August 11, 2024, 8:53pm

There is a misspelling to flash via tftp, the actual process is netboot over tftp. Restore router to factory state using asus recovery tool.