I am able to install 24.10.4 / 25.12.5 but when I restore backup file luci is unaccessible and no internet

mans · July 9, 2026, 10:20am

with http_dns_proxy enabled.

root@OpenWrt:~# ps
  PID USER       VSZ STAT COMMAND
    1 root      1708 S    /sbin/procd
    2 root         0 SW   [kthreadd]
    3 root         0 SW   [pool_workqueue_]
    4 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-kvfre]
    5 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-rcu_g]
    6 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-sync_]
    7 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-slub_]
    8 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-netns]
   13 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-mm_pe]
   14 root         0 IW   [rcu_tasks_trace]
   15 root         0 SW   [ksoftirqd/0]
   16 root         0 RW   [rcu_sched]
   17 root         0 SW   [rcu_exp_par_gp_]
   18 root         0 SW   [rcu_exp_gp_kthr]
   19 root         0 SW   [migration/0]
   20 root         0 SW   [cpuhp/0]
   21 root         0 SW   [cpuhp/1]
   22 root         0 SW   [migration/1]
   23 root         0 SW   [ksoftirqd/1]
   26 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-inet_]
   27 root         0 SW   [oom_reaper]
   28 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-write]
   29 root         0 SW   [kcompactd0]
   30 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-pencr]
   31 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-pdecr]
   32 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-crypt]
   33 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-kbloc]
   34 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-blkcg]
   36 root         0 IW<  [kworker/1:1H-kb]
   37 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-ata_s]
   38 root         0 SW   [watchdogd]
   40 root         0 IW<  [kworker/0:1H-kb]
   48 root         0 SW   [kswapd0]
   50 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-kthro]
  233 root         0 SW   [hwrng]
  276 root         0 SW   [irq/121-1100a00]
  278 root         0 SW   [spi0]
  283 root         0 SW   [irq/122-1101600]
  284 root         0 SW   [spi1]
  311 root         0 SW   [ubi_bgt0d]
  427 root         0 SW   [napi/mtk_eth-3]
  428 root         0 SW   [napi/mtk_eth-4]
  466 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-mld]
  467 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-ipv6_]
  468 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-dsa_o]
  469 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-kstrp]
  657 root         0 SW   [irq/67-mt7530]
  702 root         0 SW   [irq/14-gpio-key]
  703 root         0 SW   [irq/116-gpio-ke]
  746 root         0 IW<  [kworker/1:2H]
  815 root         0 SW   [ubifs_bgt0_7]
  965 ubus      1208 S    /sbin/ubusd
  966 root       924 S    /sbin/askfirst /usr/libexec/login.sh
 1001 root      1020 S    /sbin/urngd
 1076 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-crypt]
 1126 root         0 IW<  [kworker/R-cfg80]
 1138 root         0 SW   [napi/phy0-5]
 1139 root         0 SW   [napi/phy0-6]
 1148 root         0 SW   [mt76-tx phy0]
 1180 root         0 SW   [napi/phy1-7]
 1182 root         0 SW   [napi/phy1-8]
 1183 root         0 SW   [napi/phy1-9]
 1212 root         0 SW   [mt76-tx phy1]
 1546 logd      1720 S    /sbin/logd -S 64
 1600 root      2608 S    /sbin/rpcd -s /var/run/ubus/ubus.sock -t 30
 1632 root         0 IW<  [kworker/0:2H]
 1972 root      1132 S    /usr/sbin/dropbear -F -P /var/run/dropbear.cfg014dd4.pid -p 22 -K 300 -T 3
 2078 root      2352 S    {hostapd} /sbin/ujail -t 5 -n hostapd -U network -G network -C /etc/capabilities/wpad.json -
 2079 root      2352 S    {wpa_supplicant} /sbin/ujail -t 5 -n wpa_supplicant -U network -G network -C /etc/capabiliti
 2110 network   4152 S    /usr/sbin/hostapd -s -g /var/run/hostapd/global
 2111 network   3884 S    /usr/sbin/wpa_supplicant -n -s -g /var/run/wpa_supplicant/global
 2201 root      3068 S    /sbin/netifd
 2320 root      1432 S    /usr/sbin/odhcpd
 2380 root      1332 S    /usr/sbin/crond -f -c /etc/crontabs -l 5
 2812 root      2108 S    /usr/sbin/uhttpd -f -h /www -r OpenWrt -x /cgi-bin -u /ubus -t 60 -T 30 -k 20 -A 1 -n 3 -N 1
 2876 avahi     1576 S    avahi-daemon: running [foo.local]
 3595 root      2352 S    {ntpd} /sbin/ujail -t 5 -n ntpd -U ntp -G ntp -C /etc/capabilities/ntpd.json -c -u -r /bin/u
 3637 ntp       1328 S    /usr/sbin/ntpd -n -N -S /usr/sbin/ntpd-hotplug -p 0.openwrt.pool.ntp.org -p 1.openwrt.pool.n
 3655 root       960 S    /usr/sbin/ubihealthd -f -d /dev/ubi0
 3856 root      1348 S    /usr/sbin/pppd nodetach ipparam wan ifname pppoe-wan lcp-echo-interval 1 lcp-echo-failure 5
 4578 root      1164 S    odhcp6c -s /lib/netifd/dhcpv6.script -Ntry -P0:ceef151a -c000470a57e6f7a2a43299a04254a4b56cb
 5833 root         0 RW   [kworker/0:0+eve]
 8706 root         0 IW   [kworker/1:0-eve]
17050 root         0 IW   [kworker/u8:2-ev]
17578 nobody    2772 S    /usr/sbin/https-dns-proxy -r https://freedns.controld.com/p2 -p 5053 -b 2606:1a40::2,2606:1a
18920 root         0 IW   [kworker/u8:3-ev]
19973 root         0 RW   [kworker/u8:1-ev]
19988 root         0 IW   [kworker/1:1-eve]
19989 root         0 IW   [kworker/0:2-mm_]
20004 root         0 IW   [kworker/1:2]
20005 root         0 IW   [kworker/0:1-mm_]
20064 root         0 IW   [kworker/u8:0-ev]
20138 root      1156 S    /usr/sbin/dropbear -F -P /var/run/dropbear.cfg014dd4.pid -p 22 -K 300 -T 3 -2 9
20139 root      1332 S    -ash
20176 root      1156 R    /usr/sbin/dropbear -F -P /var/run/dropbear.cfg014dd4.pid -p 22 -K 300 -T 3 -2 9
20177 root      1344 S    -ash
20189 root      1336 R    ps
root@OpenWrt:~# netstat -tulp
Active Internet connections (only servers)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address           Foreign Address         State       PID/Program name
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:www             0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      2812/uhttpd
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:ssh             0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      1972/dropbear
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:https           0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      2812/uhttpd
tcp        0      0 localhost:5053          0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      17578/https-dns-pro
tcp        0      0 :::www                  :::*                    LISTEN      2812/uhttpd
tcp        0      0 :::ssh                  :::*                    LISTEN      1972/dropbear
tcp        0      0 :::https                :::*                    LISTEN      2812/uhttpd
udp        0      0 localhost:5053          0.0.0.0:*                           17578/https-dns-pro
udp        0      0 0.0.0.0:59596           0.0.0.0:*                           2876/avahi-daemon:
udp        0      0 0.0.0.0:mdns            0.0.0.0:*                           2876/avahi-daemon:
udp        0      0 :::dhcpv6-client        :::*                                4578/odhcp6c
udp        0      0 :::dhcpv6-server        :::*                                2320/odhcpd
root@OpenWrt:~#

dave14305 · July 9, 2026, 10:51am

There’s still no dnsmasq. Try:

service dnsmasq start
logread -e dnsmasq

mans · July 9, 2026, 11:10am

My whole family has been without internet for 12 hours. I think i put them through a lot trying to figure this out. ill try it out tomorrow and report here.

For now i have gone back to v24.10.4

mans · July 9, 2026, 4:41pm

Here's a clearer and more structured version of my comment:

I'm trying to narrow down where the issue is occurring, so here's everything I've observed.

I have two backups:

January 2026 (.bin + tar.gz)
July 8, 2026 (.bin + tar.gz)

What works

If I restore the January 2026 .bin and then restore the matching tar.gz, I can successfully get back to OpenWrt v24 with LuCI and SSH working.

What doesn't work

If I restore the July 8 backup, I immediately lose access to LuCI and SSH, and there is no internet connectivity.

To test whether this was related to the network configuration, I restored the January 2026 v24 backup (which works), then edited /etc/config/network and changed the LAN interface from:

config interface 'lan'
    option proto 'static'
    list ipaddr '192.168.86.1/24'

I did not restart networking after making this change. Instead, I immediately performed an ASU upgrade to v25.

After the upgrade, I completely lost access to LuCI and SSH, and there was no internet connectivity. I had already shared screenshots of this behavior in my previous comments.

Next, I edited both the January 2026 and July 8, 2026 tar.gz backups on my Linux machine using vim, modifying the same lines in /etc/config/network so they would match the v25 defaults.

Since I had no LuCI access at that point, I manually reset the router using the hardware reset button. The router booted into OpenWrt v25.12.5 on the default address 192.168.1.1.

I then restored both of the edited tar.gz backups (which should now be compatible with v25), but the result is exactly the same:

No LuCI
No SSH
No internet connectivity

So even after editing the backups specifically for v25, restoring either backup leaves the router inaccessible.

The strange part is that during one of my earlier attempts I somehow managed to regain access using my Windows PC, but I have no idea what was different. Since then, I've tried every combination I can think of (different backups, edited backups, fresh reset, ASU upgrade), and I can no longer reproduce that working state.

At this point I'm not sure whether the problem is with the backup restore process, the network configuration, or something else migrating from v24 to v25.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I can try to isolate the root cause?

mans · July 9, 2026, 9:20pm

UPDATE: I have ssh and luci access and all settings are preserved now on 25.12.5 but still no internet. This is the output for what you asked

root@OpenWrt:~# service dnsmasq start
root@OpenWrt:~# logread -e dnsmasq
Fri Jul 10 02:34:57 2026 user.notice dnsmasq: DNS rebinding protection is active, will discard upstream RFC1918 responses!
Fri Jul 10 02:34:57 2026 user.notice dnsmasq: Allowing 127.0.0.0/8 responses
Fri Jul 10 02:34:57 2026 user.notice dnsmasq: Allowing RFC1918 responses for domain plex.direct
Fri Jul 10 02:34:58 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:34:58 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:03 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:35:03 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:08 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:35:08 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:09 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:35:09 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:09 2026 user.notice https-dns-proxy [4461]: Updating dnsmasq config ✓
Fri Jul 10 02:35:16 2026 user.notice https-dns-proxy [4461]: Restarting dnsmasq on_config_update ✓
Fri Jul 10 02:35:16 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:35:16 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:18 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:35:18 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:23 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:35:23 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:28 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:35:28 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:33 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:35:33 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:38 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:35:38 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:35:38 2026 daemon.info procd: Instance dnsmasq::cfg01411c s in a crash loop 6 crashes, 1 seconds since last crash
Fri Jul 10 02:44:06 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
Fri Jul 10 02:44:06 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start up
Fri Jul 10 02:44:06 2026 daemon.info procd: Instance dnsmasq::cfg01411c s in a crash loop 7 crashes, 0 seconds since last crash
root@OpenWrt:~#

dave14305 · July 9, 2026, 9:25pm

Share:

grep -n ^dhcp-host= /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c

dave14305 · July 9, 2026, 9:32pm

These might be the problem too.

mans · July 9, 2026, 9:37pm

root@OpenWrt:~# grep -n ^dhcp-host= /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c
26:dhcp-host=00:1C:C0:7C:16:A0,192.168.86.53,marcus-intel,infinite
27:dhcp-host=DC:A6:32:D2:2A:77,192.168.86.196,raspberrypi,infinite
28:dhcp-host=E8:9F:80:C7:6E:55,192.168.86.175,E8450Hall,Infinite
29:dhcp-host=CC:F7:35:A9:5B:8E,192.168.86.207,EchoDot
30:dhcp-host=84:B8:B8:54:55:C8,192.168.86.231,LenovoSmartClock
31:dhcp-host=7C:2A:31:B7:DA:FE,192.168.86.113,MAZE
32:dhcp-host=D8:BB:C1:D0:18:34,192.168.86.52,Marcus,infinite
33:dhcp-host=06:24:34:8F:16:E6,192.168.86.147,Pixel-6a,infinite
34:dhcp-host=1A:3B:FB:4A:6D:C2,192.168.86.98,Pixel-7a,infinite
35:dhcp-host=08:54:BB:8B:12:6B,192.168.86.39,Motorola-3B-TV,infinite
36:dhcp-host=DC:4F:22:52:29:09,192.168.86.144,tinxy-4n-myroom,infinite
37:dhcp-host=FE:37:06:57:BF:9B,192.168.86.145,Pixel-8-Pro,infinite
38:dhcp-host=3C:0A:F3:BE:26:8B,192.168.87.216,BrotherPrinter,infinite
39:dhcp-host=68:3A:48:C8:DB:DD,192.168.86.199,SamsungFridge,infinite
40:dhcp-host=1A:8E:D5:84:DC:6E,192.168.87.243,GalaxyWatch4Classic,infinite
41:dhcp-host=52:54:00:78:4E:2D,192.168.86.71,homeassistant,infinite
42:dhcp-host=B8:D6:1A:66:AD:58,192.168.86.217,doorbell-switch-dualr3,infinite
43:dhcp-host=50:02:91:74:E7:6D,192.168.86.37,doorbell-switch-8266,infinite
44:dhcp-host=AC:CC:FC:65:37:AD,192.168.86.69,EchoDot-mainbedroom,infinite
45:dhcp-host=76:C5:1B:BC:ED:10,192.168.86.171,coocaa-tv,infinite
46:dhcp-host=FC:B2:14:82:97:47,192.168.86.172,Manishs-Air-5,infinite
root@OpenWrt:~#

mans · July 9, 2026, 9:38pm

I still dont understand the problem. Can you please tell me what i should do? because these same setting worked perfectly in v24

dave14305 · July 9, 2026, 9:41pm

This name appears twice and dnsmasq doesn’t like it.

grep -i E8450Hall /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411c

Delete the domain config for it, and restart dnsmasq.

mans · July 9, 2026, 9:49pm

this is what i get

root@OpenWrt:~# /etc/init.d/dnsmasq restart                                                                             udhcpc: started, v1.37.0                                                                                                udhcpc: broadcasting discover                                                                                           udhcpc: no lease, failing                                                                                               udhcpc: started, v1.37.0                                                                                                udhcpc: broadcasting discover                                                                                           udhcpc: no lease, failing                                                                                               root@OpenWrt:~#

dave14305 · July 9, 2026, 9:59pm

Run this one again for proof of life.

mans · July 9, 2026, 10:10pm

I am getting err_address_unreachable on all clients with different os. damn, we were this close and this happened...

dave14305 · July 9, 2026, 11:09pm

Post some logs. DHCP may still be broken.

mans · July 10, 2026, 12:00am

Whenever the device becomes unreachable, I lose access to SSH, LuCI, and the internet, so I have no way to collect or post logs. The only recovery option is to reset with physical switch and restore my January 2026 v24 backup and then hope that running ASU to upgrade to v25 succeeds.

The problem is that this process isn't deterministic—it feels like pure luck. Sometimes I end up with a working v25 installation and LuCI access and no internet, while other times the device becomes completely unreachable with no SSH, LuCI, or internet connectivity.

How can I solve this? I tried ASU by following the method mentioned in this thread for 1 hour yet no access

dave14305 · July 10, 2026, 12:16am

When it breaks next time, check if your device (laptop, phone, whatever) still has a DHCP IP. If not, configure a static IP (e.g. 192.168.86.10, subnet mask 255.255.255.0) and see if you can access LuCI and SSH. Without any other clues, I think your DHCP isn't working due to misconfiguration and all your devices are losing their IPs, but that's kind of a stretch to think it would happen all of a sudden, especially since you have so many "infinite" leases setup.

mans · July 10, 2026, 1:22am

After restoring OpenWrt 24.10.4, everything works normally (LuCI, SSH, and internet).

To reproduce the issue, I only edit the first three lines of the LAN interface in "/etc/config/network":

config interface 'lan'
option proto 'static'
list ipaddr '192.168.86.1/24'

I save the file and verify that the changes have been written correctly. I do not restart the network service or reboot.

I then go to ASU, select v25, choose "Keep settings", and start the upgrade.

After the router reboots, it becomes completely unreachable ("ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE"). I lose access to LuCI and SSH, and there is no internet connectivity.

I've repeated this process five times, each time reverting back to v24.10.4 first, and the result is consistently the same.

Very rarely (like one previous attempt), I somehow managed to regain LuCI/SSH access, but I followed the same process and nothing was different, and I haven't been able to reproduce it since.

Is there a reliable way to regain access after this happens or to debug what is causing the router to become unreachable?

For reference, the device I'm testing from has been configured with an infinite static DHCP lease, so its IP address remains unchanged throughout the testing.

mans · July 10, 2026, 1:43am

I downloaded the v25 sysupgrade file from ASU and flashed that. Is that the same as using the link you provided? If it's different method, I'll try this

mans · July 10, 2026, 4:53am

UPDATE: I have access again. I removed the rouge E8450 entry and restarted dnsmasq

logread -e dnsmasqFri Jul 10 10:09:25 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:09:25 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:09:30 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:09:30 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:09:31 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:09:31 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:09:32 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:09:32 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:09:37 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:09:37 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:09:37 2026 daemon.info procd: Instance dnsmasq::cfg01411c s in a crash loop 6 crashes, 0 seconds since last crashFri Jul 10 10:13:01 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:13:01 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:13:06 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:13:06 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:13:11 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:13:11 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:13:16 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:13:16 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:13:21 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:13:21 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:13:26 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: DHCP host has multiple names at line 28 of /var/etc/dnsmasq.conf.cfg01411cFri Jul 10 10:13:26 2026 daemon.crit dnsmasq[1]: FAILED to start upFri Jul 10 10:13:26 2026 daemon.info procd: Instance dnsmasq::cfg01411c s in a crash loop 6 crashes, 0 seconds since last crashroot@OpenWrt:~#

Image link : https://ibb.co/hF2Y1sPz

frollic · July 10, 2026, 5:41am

So, what's working and what's not ?