Issue installing latest version on Asus RT-AX53U

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hi

Just had a bad hour trying to install the latest version on the RT-AX53U. I followed the instruction on the following page.

Everything goes well but after rebooting, the Asus software is still running.

The one thing I ended up doing, in the end, was to install an older version of the firmware: https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=22.03.2&target=ramips%2Fmt7621&id=asus_rt-ax53u

I don't have any debugging tool to help sort this further but I hope that the above will save someone else a bit of time

1 Like
2

Worked fine here.

admin@RT-AX1800U-6408:/tmp/home/root# wget http://192.168.50.5:57780/OpenWrt/AX53U/openwrt-22.03.3-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin
--2018-05-05 08:32:47--  http://192.168.50.5:57780/OpenWrt/AX53U/openwrt-22.03.3-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin
Connecting to 192.168.50.5:57780... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 9568256 (9.1M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: 'openwrt-22.03.3-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin'

openwrt-22.03.3-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-a 100%[===============================================================================>]   9.12M  10.7MB/s    in 0.9s

2018-05-05 08:32:48 (10.7 MB/s) - 'openwrt-22.03.3-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin' saved [9568256/9568256]

admin@RT-AX1800U-6408:/tmp/home/root# mtd-write -i openwrt-22.03.3-ramips-mt7621-asus_rt-ax53u-squashfs-factory.bin -d Kernel
3693: check_action 0: 1(init)
3693: set_action 2
file len=0x920000
mtd size=3200000, erasesize=20000, writesize=800, type=4
freeram=979d000 unit_len=20000 filelen=920000 mi.erasesize=20000 mi.writesize=800, skip_bytes=0
ofs=0 n=20000/20000 ei.start=0 ei.length=20000
[...]
ofs=900000 n=20000/20000 ei.start=900000 ei.length=20000
3693: set_action 0
Image successfully flashed
admin@RT-AX1800U-6408:/tmp/home/root# reboot

Rebooting...[1 init:init_mai[ 1795.521830] sysrq: SysRq : n +1796] recv siEmergency Sync
gnal 15 from pid [3804:reboot] ([ 1795.529881] Emergency Sync complete
from user)
modem data: save the data during the signal 15.
admin@RT-AX1800U-6408:/tmp/home/root# [Mastiff]Got SIGTERM
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=9
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=8
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=7
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=6
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=5
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=4
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=3
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=2
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=1
killall_tk: waiting name=mastiff n=0
killall_tk: waiting name=miniupnpd n=9
killall_tk: waiting name=lld2d n=9
killall_tk: waiting name=lldpd n=9
killall_tk: waiting name=lldpd n=8
killall_tk: waiting name=rstats n=9
killall_tk: waiting name=networkmap n=9
[1 init:stop_dnsmasq +1798] begin
[1 init:stop_dnsmasq +1798] end
stop_mdns: [1] killall-avahi-daemon
stop_mdns: no avahi-daemon
[doSystem] iwpriv rai0 set WscStop=1
[ 1798.279985] SQUASHFS error: xz decompression failed, data probably corrupt
[ 1798.286889] SQUASHFS error: squashfs_read_data failed to read block 0x622160
[ 1798.293904] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read fragment cache entry [622160]
[ 1798.300608] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read page, block 622160, size 6c7c
[ 1798.307455] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read fragment cache entry [622160]
[ 1798.314169] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read page, block 622160, size 6c7c
Still running... Doing machine reset.
[ 1818.330380] sysrq: SysRq : Emergency Sync
[ 1818.335932] Emergency Sync complete
[ 1819.335115] sysrq: SysRq : Resetting

===================================================================
                MT7621   stage1 code Dec 16 2019 17:45:55 (ASIC)
                CPU=500000000 HZ BUS=166666666 HZ
==================================================================
[...]
===================================================================
                MT7621   stage1 code done
                CPU=500000000 HZ BUS=166666666 HZ
===================================================================

U-Boot SPL 2018.09 (Sep 08 2021 - 14:31:58 +0800)
Trying to boot from NAND

Initializing NMBM ...
Signature found at block 1023 [0x07fe0000]
First info table with writecount 0 found in block 960
Second info table with writecount 0 found in block 963
NMBM has been successfully attached


U-Boot 2018.09 (Sep 08 2021 - 14:31:58 +0800)



RT-AX53U bootloader version: 1.0.0.1

CPU:   MediaTek MT7621AT ver 1, eco 3
Clocks: CPU: 880MHz, DDR: 600MHz (1200MT/s), Bus: 220MHz, XTAL: 40MHz
Model: MediaTek MT7621 reference board (NAND)
DRAM:  256 MiB
NAND:  128 MiB

Initializing NMBM ...
Signature found at block 1023 [0x07fe0000]
First info table with writecount 0 found in block 960
Second info table with writecount 0 found in block 963
NMBM has been successfully attached

Loading Environment from NMBM... *** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

In:    uartlite0@1e000c00
Out:   uartlite0@1e000c00
Err:   uartlite0@1e000c00
Net:
Warning: eth@1e100000 (eth0) using random MAC address - b2:2c:7c:04:74:43
eth0: eth@1e100000
gpio_init ......
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0

  *** 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: 50:EB:F6:85:64:08
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 0x2967c4
Succeeded
   Image Name:   MIPS OpenWrt Linux-5.10.161
   Image Type:   MIPS Linux Kernel Image (lzma compressed)
   Data Size:    2713476 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-5.10.161
   Image Type:   MIPS Linux Kernel Image (lzma compressed)
   Data Size:    2713476 Bytes = 2.6 MiB
   Load Address: 80001000
   Entry Point:  80001000
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
   Uncompressing Kernel Image ... OK
[    0.000000] Linux version 5.10.161 (builder@buildhost) (mipsel-openwrt-linux-musl-gcc (OpenWrt GCC 11.2.0 r20028-43d71ad93e) 11.2.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.37) #0 SMP Tue Jan 3 00:24:21 2023
[...]
[    0.651075] nand: AMD/Spansion S34ML01G2
[    0.655035] nand: 128 MiB, SLC, erase size: 128 KiB, page size: 2048, OOB size: 64
[    0.662601] mt7621-nand 1e003000.nand: ECC strength adjusted to 4 bits
[    0.669198] 7 fixed-partitions partitions found on MTD device mt7621-nand
[    0.676837] Creating 7 MTD partitions on "mt7621-nand":
[    0.682092] 0x000000000000-0x0000000e0000 : "u-boot"
[    0.701619] 0x0000000e0000-0x0000001e0000 : "u-boot-env"
[    0.723603] 0x0000001e0000-0x0000002e0000 : "factory"
[    0.745273] 0x0000002e0000-0x0000003e0000 : "factory2"
[    0.766926] 0x0000003e0000-0x0000007e0000 : "kernel"
[    0.834369] 0x0000007e0000-0x0000035e0000 : "ubi"
[    1.545915] 0x0000035e0000-0x0000067e0000 : "firmware2"
[....]
[    3.305144] UBI: auto-attach mtd5
[    3.308484] ubi0: attaching mtd5
[    3.312128] mt7530 mdio-bus:1f: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx
[    3.437181] UBI: EOF marker found, PEBs from 36 will be erased
[    4.077504] ubi0: scanning is finished
[    4.125714] ubi0: volume 1 ("rootfs_data") re-sized from 9 to 310 LEBs
[    4.133234] ubi0: attached mtd5 (name "ubi", size 46 MiB)
[    4.138656] ubi0: PEB size: 131072 bytes (128 KiB), LEB size: 126976 bytes
[    4.145536] ubi0: min./max. I/O unit sizes: 2048/2048, sub-page size 2048
[    4.152308] ubi0: VID header offset: 2048 (aligned 2048), data offset: 4096
[    4.159236] ubi0: good PEBs: 368, bad PEBs: 0, corrupted PEBs: 0
[    4.165227] ubi0: user volume: 2, internal volumes: 1, max. volumes count: 128
[    4.172436] ubi0: max/mean erase counter: 1/0, WL threshold: 4096, image sequence number: 1672705461
[    4.181539] ubi0: available PEBs: 0, total reserved PEBs: 368, PEBs reserved for bad PEB handling: 20
[    4.190758] ubi0: background thread "ubi_bgt0d" started, PID 443
[    4.193130] block ubiblock0_0: created from ubi0:0(rootfs)
[    4.202359] ubiblock: device ubiblock0_0 (rootfs) set to be root filesystem
[    4.263359] VFS: Mounted root (squashfs filesystem) readonly on device 254:0.
[    4.275974] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1276K
[...]
Press the [f] key and hit [enter] to enter failsafe mode
Press the [1], [2], [3] or [4] key and hit [enter] to select the debug level
[   12.046090] UBIFS (ubi0:1): default file-system created
[   12.052761] UBIFS (ubi0:1): Mounting in unauthenticated mode
[   12.058850] UBIFS (ubi0:1): background thread "ubifs_bgt0_1" started, PID 580
[   12.087267] random: procd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   12.187547] UBIFS (ubi0:1): UBIFS: mounted UBI device 0, volume 1, name "rootfs_data"
[   12.195405] UBIFS (ubi0:1): LEB size: 126976 bytes (124 KiB), min./max. I/O unit sizes: 2048 bytes/2048 bytes
[   12.205298] UBIFS (ubi0:1): FS size: 38092800 bytes (36 MiB, 300 LEBs), journal size 1904640 bytes (1 MiB, 15 LEBs)
[   12.215705] UBIFS (ubi0:1): reserved for root: 1799217 bytes (1757 KiB)
[   12.222317] UBIFS (ubi0:1): media format: w5/r0 (latest is w5/r0), UUID 24F56BBE-8F53-4FBE-80FA-D0197624CEB0, small LPT model
[   12.236983] mount_root: overlay filesystem has not been fully initialized yet
[   12.244945] mount_root: switching to ubifs overlay
[...]


BusyBox v1.35.0 (2023-01-03 00:24:21 UTC) built-in shell (ash)

  _______                     ________        __
 |       |.-----.-----.-----.|  |  |  |.----.|  |_
 |   -   ||  _  |  -__|     ||  |  |  ||   _||   _|
 |_______||   __|_____|__|__||________||__|  |____|
          |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
 -----------------------------------------------------
 OpenWrt 22.03.3, r20028-43d71ad93e
 -----------------------------------------------------
=== WARNING! =====================================
There is no root password defined on this device!
Use the "passwd" command to set up a new password
in order to prevent unauthorized SSH logins.
--------------------------------------------------
root@OpenWrt:/#
3

You are making me sound silly :slight_smile:

Which firmware were you starting from?

I had the problem with 2 different boxes

  • First one was a "warehouse deal" from amazon, which I returned after trying to install it 5 times
  • Second one was from a sealed box. I tried another pair of times (before trying the previous version by pure luck)
4

I think it was on the latest 382 version.
But it shouldn't matter.

5

Me just recently bought the device and installing OpenWRT without problem and been running quite well for few days now.

The only things that bother me is the power indicator and both WiFi indicators (2.4G & 5G) didn't lights up. Anyone?

Everything else seems works just fine

Screenshot 2023-02-28 at 05.39.54
Screenshot 2023-02-28 at 05.39.54964×683 38.2 KB

6

Fixes are in snapshot.

7

Thank you, will try once I have free time.

8

If you're going to install a snapshot build, use the firmware selector and add luci to it.

10

I bought this device too a few days ago. My concern is "low flash".

I bouht this to replace old TP-Link having 8MB flash. This device is supposed to have 128MB.

But there seems to be only 32MB available for FW and it is almost full already:

Filesystem Size Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/root 4.0M 4.0M 0 100% /rom
tmpfs 122.2M 1.0M 121.2M 1% /tmp
/dev/ubi0_1 33.0M 29.6M 1.7M 95% /overlay
overlayfs:/overlay 33.0M 29.6M 1.7M 95% /
tmpfs 512.0K 0 512.0K 0% /dev

dmesg does tell:

[ 1.548979] Creating 8 MTD partitions on "mt7621-nand":
[ 1.554268] 0x000000000000-0x000000080000 : "u-boot"
[ 1.568277] 0x000000080000-0x0000000e0000 : "u-boot-env"
[ 1.580442] 0x0000000e0000-0x0000001e0000 : "nvram"
[ 1.601689] 0x0000001e0000-0x0000002e0000 : "factory"
[ 1.623261] 0x0000002e0000-0x0000003e0000 : "factory2"
[ 1.644833] 0x0000003e0000-0x0000035e0000 : "firmware"
[ 2.417803] 2 fixed-partitions partitions found on MTD device firmware
[ 2.424398] Creating 2 MTD partitions on "firmware":
[ 2.429355] 0x000000000000-0x000000400000 : "kernel"
[ 2.497246] 0x000000400000-0x000003200000 : "ubi"
[ 3.208521] 0x0000035e0000-0x0000067e0000 : "firmware2"
[ 3.982087] 0x0000067e0000-0x000007800000 : "jffs2"

I suppose it's not intended to be like this. What happened and what is the best way to fix it because I need more ROM to run some other software?

11

One more notice: I messed up something with OpenWRT installation and it stopped booting it.

But it booted the old firmware again. Even though the device was flashed to OpenWRT. So - it seems like there is both of them.

That's why it is a bit short in overlay space. It keeps the old FW there too.

Why this?

12

openwrt doesn't touch the backup/2nd fw image.

some routers can however be reconfigured to utilize all available flash space.

going back to the original fw might be tricky, even impossible, if you've repartitioned the flash.

13

Well, while booted to u-boot flash has only tiny partitions for u-boot itself and some settings. The rest of flash is in one solid block having more than 120 MB space.

This sounds like dividing it to multiple 30 MB partitions and letting some of them be left unused is done by FW itself. Both OpenWRT and original FW does it this way.

Going back to original FW takes serial connection and TFTP anyways. If the tiny partitions are untouched it should always be able to go back.

The problem I run into was not enough space for Domoticz. 30 MB was not enought to install it.

I found a solution by tailoring upgrade image having most of the packages Domoticz wanted and installing it after upgrade. Even now Domoticz took more than half of the overlay space. Only 14 MB free now.