I tried 5.4-openwrt-bcm53xx-generic-asus_rt-ac88u-squashfs.trx, but the router did not boot at all, even after flashing it again clean via CFE interface.
I just had the opportunity to try it on my router. As you have experienced, it won't boot properly. 5.4 is not used on master for bcm53xx anymore so I assume it's broken. I'm confident that this issue is not related to my changes as they're very minimal. I remember that you had this issue on 5.15 as well. This might be caused by the changes on the master branch, since there's no issue on OpenWrt 21.02.
Best thing you can do at this point is to open a bug report at https://bugs.openwrt.org/.
I have been quietly following this thread since I have an RT-AC88U that I want to install OpenWRT and run as my main router.
The RT-AC88U used to be my main router running Merlin, but the 5Ghz radio suddenly stopped working 2 years ago (and I retired it). Last month I dusted it off and I upgraded to a more recent factory firmware and the 5Ghz misteriously is live again. Now I am willing to give OpenWRT a try on it. However I understand from the latest posts that the current images in the @arinc9 git hub are not booting, is this correct?
EDIT: I just cloned @arinc9 github and did a build for the RT-AC88U. Build completed OK, however before trying these images I want to better understand the recovery process for this device since I do not want to brick it... 
No, it should work just fine. It's a bit outdated though, it'd be better for you to just compile your own image from the branch.
"bcm53xx: add support for Asus RT-AC88U" commit includes information to flash new firmware which also covers the case where the current firmware is broken.
As long as you don't mess with the et0macaddr nvram variable, you're good. Changing the value on this variable causes CFE to complain and fail to host the recovery webpage. I already included an initscript setting the correct value at every boot, so it's not a big deal even if you do mess with it.
1 Like
@scatman75 I've updated the 21.02 build to use 21.02.1. I recall that you have issues with kernel 5.10 so this should be useful for you.
1 Like
Thanks very much. I just installed the version. Works without problems with the existing configuration. So it really has to be the 5.10 kernel causing the problems. I opened a bug report https://bugs.openwrt.org/index.php?do=details&task_id=4112but I doubt the bug will be fixed as it only seems to apply to this type of Asus router.
Hopefully someone will figure it out by time.
We recently had wireless problems with Broadcom wireless on trunk which caused the system to hang. A commit fixing the issue is up, however even with that, my Wi-Fi SSIDs won't be advertised, meaning I can't see the wireless network from my phone.
Can you try the image called "test-openwrt-bcm53xx-generic-asus_rt-ac88u-squashfs.trx" and see if Wi-Fi works fine for you?
CC: @patient0
1 Like
Thanks, now I'm certain it's not just me.
Nah, donât waste your time. We know the issue is there.
1 Like
Hi,
First of all, thanks for your hard work on porting and maintaining OpenWRT for AC88u
I just installed the last version for AC88U from your github and I can´t find Wireless section on menu.
Thanks.!!
Hi, youâre welcome. Are you using the master or 21.02 image?
I couldn´t find master image, Im using 21.02 instead.
Oh, right. I don't maintain master images for now since Wi-Fi is broken at master.
Did you reset NVRAM from the CFE recovery mode? Install 21.02.1 image again after that.
I flashed the image, and then, I reseted NVRAM. I will try again. Thanks
I just tried and, the same. I reset NVRAM from CFE and them flashed the 21.02.1 image. No Wireless and no switch menu
.
I tried to set manually URL for wireless with no success.
I give you my System log and Kernel log
Kernel: https://pastebin.com/jinHZhyA
System: https://pastebin.com/zBP264u9
Thanks for your hard work!!
Switch menu is not supposed to be there anyway since we use DSA on this build. Configure network interfaces at Network -> Interfaces -> Devices.
I see a very weird thing on the kernel log. Somehow brcmfmac4366b-pcie firmware loads on your device. It must be brcmfmac4366c-pcie instead. That's why Wi-Fi won't work on your device.
@scatman75 does Wi-Fi work for you on the 21.02.1 image? Could you paste the output of this command here: dmesg | grep brcmfmac
Yes Wi-Fi works ok with version 21.02.1. Please see the output below:
root@AP_SQ:~# dmesg | grep brcmfmac
[ 12.142511] usbcore: registered new interface driver brcmfmac
[ 12.189221] brcmfmac 0000:01:00.0: enabling device (0140 -> 0142)
[ 12.377912] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using brcm/brcmfmac4366c-pcie for chip BCM43664/4
[ 12.600281] brcmfmac 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for brcm/brcmfmac4366c-pcie.asus,rt-ac88u.txt failed with error -2
[ 12.611422] brcmfmac 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for brcm/brcmfmac4366c-pcie.txt failed with error -2
[ 12.950506] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using brcm/brcmfmac4366c-pcie for chip BCM43664/4
[ 12.959332] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_process_clm_blob: no clm_blob available (err=-2), device may have limited channels available
[ 12.970596] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: BCM43664/4 wl0: Nov 5 2018 03:19:56 version 10.28.2 (r769115) FWID 01-d2cbb8fd
[ 13.045286] brcmfmac 0001:01:00.0: enabling device (0140 -> 0142)
[ 13.237934] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using brcm/brcmfmac4366c-pcie for chip BCM43664/4
[ 13.249535] brcmfmac 0001:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for brcm/brcmfmac4366c-pcie.asus,rt-ac88u.txt failed with error -2
[ 13.260671] brcmfmac 0001:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for brcm/brcmfmac4366c-pcie.txt failed with error -2
[ 13.600515] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using brcm/brcmfmac4366c-pcie for chip BCM43664/4
[ 13.609300] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_process_clm_blob: no clm_blob available (err=-2), device may have limited channels available
[ 13.620554] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: BCM43664/4 wl0: Nov 5 2018 03:19:56 version 10.28.2 (r769115) FWID 01-d2cbb8fd
1 Like
I just installed @aricn9's 21.02.1 build on my RT-AC88U.
In my case wireless configuration appear OK in Luci, radios are broadcasting, but Wifi clients are unable to connect to 5Ghz network (2.4 connects fine). For testing purposes I configured AC88U as a "dumb" access point (disabled dnsmasq, dhcp server and firewall).
I am getting a bunch of kernel errors as follows:
Sun Nov 21 08:06:35 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 496.283539] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_msgbuf_query_dcmd: Timeout on response for query command
Sun Nov 21 08:06:35 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 496.291832] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_cfg80211_get_channel: chanspec failed (-5)
Sun Nov 21 08:06:37 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 498.363543] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_msgbuf_query_dcmd: Timeout on response for query command
Sun Nov 21 08:06:37 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 498.371834] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_cfg80211_get_tx_power: error (-5)
Sun Nov 21 08:06:40 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 500.443535] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_msgbuf_query_dcmd: Timeout on response for query command
Sun Nov 21 08:06:40 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 500.451829] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_cfg80211_get_channel: chanspec failed (-5)
Sun Nov 21 08:06:42 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 502.523535] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_msgbuf_query_dcmd: Timeout on response for query command
Sun Nov 21 08:06:42 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 502.531832] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_cfg80211_get_tx_power: error (-5)
Sun Nov 21 08:06:44 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 504.607846] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_msgbuf_query_dcmd: Timeout on response for query command
Sun Nov 21 08:06:44 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 504.616135] brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_dump_survey: chanspec failed (-5)
Sun Nov 21 08:06:46 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 506.687848] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_msgbuf_query_dcmd: Timeout on response for query command
Sun Nov 21 08:06:46 2021 kern.err kernel: [ 506.696139] ieee80211 phy1: brcmf_cfg80211_dump_station: BRCMF_C_GET_ASSOCLIST unsupported, err=-5
EDIT: ... and the 5Ghz radio just dissapeared. But I believe this might be an issue with my unit. I had this problem in the past with Merlin firmware. I believe it is a hardware issue, since I shelved this router for more than a year because the 5GHz radio was not working. A couple of months ago I reinstalled the factory firmware and it started working again. Now the issue appeared again with OpenWRT. I will assume that unfortunately my AC88U has some kind of hardware problem with the 5Ghz radio...