ASUS Merlin Firmware

[Jimkirk363]

I have an ASUS RT-AC86U router which i wish to upgrade the firmware to Merlin over the standard firmware.

 

My problem is i've downloaded the firmware twice now and there is no .trx file included instead there is a .w file, the full name of the file being RT-AC86U_384.15_0_cferom_ubi.w

 

I am extremely confused by this as the firmware is usually .trx and i don't wish to go ahead in case it bricks my router.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

[kirashi]

17 minutes ago, jimkirk363 said:

I am extremely confused by this as the firmware is usually .trx and i don't wish to go ahead in case it bricks my router.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

As per the instructions in the included txt file, you should be able to flash it like any other firmware, assuming you're running an updated official ASUS firmware. Also, since ASUS is one of the only consumer router manufacturers with an ounce of braincells in their firmware department, it's really hard to brick their routers.

https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng/wiki/Installation

 

Quote

Installation
------------
Simply flash it like any regular update.  You should not need to reset to factory defaults (see note below for exceptions). You can revert back to an original Asus firmware at any time just by flashing a firmware downloaded from Asus's website. If the firmware upgrade fails, try rebooting your router to free up sufficient memory, without any USB disk plugged in, then try flashing it again.

 

NOTE: resetting to factory default after flashing is strongly recommended for the following cases:
- Updating from a firmware version that is more than 3 releases older
- Switching from a Tomato/DD-WRT/OpenWRT firmware

 

If you run into any issue after an upgrade and you haven't done so, try doing a factory default reset as well. Always read the changelog, as mandatory resets will be mentionned there when they are necessary.

 

In all of these cases, do NOT load a saved copy of your settings! This would be the same thing as NOT resetting at all, as you will simply re-enter any invalid setting you wanted to get rid of. Make sure to create a new backup of your settings after reconfiguring.

 

[Jimkirk363]

@kirashi I understand u should be able to flash like any other firmware but experience shows me the extension of the file is usually .trx and not .w

 

Its just throwing me.

[RZeroX]

The HND platform uses a different firmware format from the others. So for the RT-AC86U, the .w extension is normal.

[Jimkirk363]

@RZeroX  Thank u, thats all i needed to know.

 

Firmware has been flashed and upgraded and touch wood all working fine.