Asus-Merlin-KoolShare for R8000

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dkopsieker
dkopsieker's picture
I really want to try this

I really want to try this firmware, but I just bricked my R8000.  Waiting on my usb to Tyler cable so I can unbridrick it

us there a specific order I need to flash?  I flashed back to stock, reset back to factory,

then flashed the chk file above for 7.9.  Wouldn’t boot up and couldn’t recover with tarp...

 

what did I do wrong?

 

thanks!

 

dkopsieker
dkopsieker's picture
I really want to try this

I really want to try this firmware, but I just bricked my R8000.  Waiting on my usb to TTL cable so I can unbridrick it

Is there a specific order I need to flash? 

What I did was...

I flashed back to stock, reset back to factory,

then flashed the chk file above for 7.9.  Wouldn’t boot up and couldn’t recover with tftp...

 

what did I do wrong?

 

thanks!

thernus
thernus's picture
I thought I had bricked my

I thought I had bricked my R8000 when I tired this firmware ahwile back.

It was just when factory reset the LAN ports didnt work and the router had changed to a 192.168.50.1 address and I could access it only over WiFi.

 

I also cant get the settings to stick once setup and the router is powered down, it seems to revert back to  factory settings, also noticed the later versions of the FW also have cut back most of the Asus-Merlin features like QoS and traffic history does anyone have a way around this other than use the earlier FW?

Tengujin
Tengujin's picture
@ dkopsieker

@ dkopsieker

Did you flash the initial firmware 1st?

You cannot go from Getgear's Genie to Asus( Koolshare) without flashing the initial because the framework is totaly different, and results in a guaranteed brick.

From stock 1st flash:  R8000_380.63_2-X7.2.1.chk

And from there you can flash any other version.
If you need to go back to Netgear, flash the special made firmware.

All can be found here:  http://firmware.koolshare.cn/Koolshare_Merlin_Legacy_380/Netgear/R8000/

pcqd177
pcqd177's picture
ok this going to be my 1st

ok this going to be my 1st time trying,

is this correct order?

netgear OFW --> X7.2 --> X7.9

then to change it back to netgear

x7.9 --> merlintoOFW?

Tengujin
Tengujin's picture
yes, that is correct

yes, that is correct

dkopsieker
dkopsieker's picture
I can figure out how to flash

I can figure out how to flash the initial 7.2 chk file... but after that to update to the 7.9 version, don’t I need a try file?  In that link to the files, I only see another  chk file for the 7.9 update.  Or am I missing something?  Thanks again!

dkopsieker
dkopsieker's picture
I meant trx file, not try...

I meant trx file, not try... I can’t figure out how to edit my post.  Sorry.

Tengujin
Tengujin's picture
Check one of the last posts

Check one of the last posts by himmon on page 1 for the link to the 7.9 version .trx file.

thernus
thernus's picture
This is translated from the

This is translated from the koolshare forum:

[Original / Merlin] brush [koolshare revision firmware]:


Uploading the excessive firmware of the .chk suffix directly under the original factory/Merlin firmware upgrade page is provided below this post;

After restoring the factory settings in the excessive firmware, use the koolshare revision firmware with the .trx suffix.

After waiting for the flashing machine to complete, in the [System Management] - [System Settings] check: Format JFFS partition at next boot (Next boot formatting jffs partition) and Enable JFFS custom scripts and configs (Open jffs custom script), Click Apply on this page to reset the router after successful application.

After the restart is complete, make sure that the router is connected to the network, then enter the software center, first update the software center to the latest version, and then you can install and use the plug-in.

This worked fine for me on both v7.2 and v7.9 only you loose the Adaptive QoS on v7.9 over v7.2 but I have found I can still set device bandwidth limits in the Asus router app

Pnt.sharma
Pnt.sharma's picture
Just setup Merlin and it's

Just setup Merlin and it's awesome. However can someone guide me to setup Aria2 in soft center. Also WPS function is not turning on.

Nick_V71
Nick_V71's picture
If you want to enable QoS,

If you want to enable QoS, you will need to go to tools/other setting and enable BWDPI

iDon
iDon's picture
I’m on Kong’s latest DD-WRT

I’m on Kong’s latest DD-WRT firmware and would like to flash to this one, I’m very new to this and don’t want to brick my router, I already bricked one and had to

 another one. Can anybody supply me with the correct order of flashing from Kong to this firmware? I would appreciate it, thanks in advance. 

iDon
iDon's picture
Buy* and also with this

Buy* and also with this firmware is the uploading of .ovpn configuration file available? Like upload the .ovpn file of my con directly to the router?

iDon
iDon's picture
ok im on netgear offical

ok im on netgear offical stock firmware, what do i need to flash first and son on for this firmware?

theslydog
theslydog's picture
If you're flashing from a

If you're flashing from a Netgear firmware you have to use the .chk file. If you are on XWRT-Vortex firmware you must use the .trx file.

What pcqd177 is correct.

netgear OFW --> X7.2 --> X7.9

then to change it back to netgear

x7.9 --> merlintoOFW?

Howver,  it seems that that Koolshare has provided a .chk file for the latest 380.70 firmware so you can just flash that straight from the OFW.

http://firmware.koolshare.cn/Koolshare_Merlin_Legacy_380/Netgear/R8000/X...

R8000_380.70_0-X7.9.chk

 

 

ektitor57
ektitor57's picture
how you reinstalled the

how you reinstalled the original firmware?

 

heavenlyarts
heavenlyarts's picture
I have a Netgear R8000.

I have a Netgear R8000.

Last year I flashed to Tomato as the Netgear firmware was pretty poor (Why do they develop excellent hardware and not invest in quality firmware development) , liked it but it was a bt droppy with WIFI and randomly tied utself up in knots.

Changed to dd-wrt recently, that was pretty unstable. Lots of slow downs and droppy WIFI.

So I've gone to merlin-vortex-Koolshare and so far I'm really impressed. Performance is great, Logging is great, My criticisms are very few. The main one being that I cannot get Site Survey to show 5GHZ info. Not important as I have another piece of software to do that.

Feels a bit strange running what is essentially ASUS firmware on Netgear but it's definitely much better than Netgear.

Some screens are partially in chinese, thats not a problem, most is in good English.

himmon
himmon's picture
New R8000 X7.9.1 - I haven't

New R8000 X7.9.1 - I haven't tested yet so please read forum link below carefully.  I am not responsible for support of this firmware or any issues that may arise due to incorrect installation.   I only provide the links.

R8000-X7.9.1.chk

http://firmware.koolshare.cn/Koolshare_Merlin_Legacy_380/Netgear/R8000/X...

 

R8000-X7.9.1.trx

http://firmware.koolshare.cn/Koolshare_Merlin_Legacy_380/Netgear/R8000/X...

Support Url -

http://koolshare.cn/thread-139324-1-1.html  (View this url in google chrome browser to translate from Chinese to English)

himmon
himmon's picture
Checksum details for firmware
himmon
himmon's picture
Firmware Update Log:

Firmware Update Log: September 27, 2018 ( X7.9.1 ):

  • Upgrade the software center core skipd v1 to skipd v3 to enhance the stability of the software center.
  • Synchronous firmware built-in software center for the latest 1.4.2
  • It should be noted that the skipd v1 database and the skipd v3 database are not compatible. The X7.9.1 upgrade from X7.x series is upward compatible, but from the downgrading of firmware from X7.9.1, the jffs partition needs to be formatted to re-establish the skipd v1 database.
  • Since skipdv3 does not support timeout scripts and timed scripts, these two functions in Tools - Script cannot be used. In addition, because aliddns plugin uses skipd's timing script function, aliddns will not be able to update ip regularly, then I will update the aliddns plugin to fix this problem.

May 08, 2018 ( X7.9 ):

  • Routine updates: synchronous asuswrt-merlin 380.70_0 firmware code update logs see asuswrt-merlin update log of section 380.70
iDon
iDon's picture
Thanks, i downloaded both of

Thanks, i downloaded both of the files, now which one do i upload first? the .chk file then the .trx or how?

Alex0597
Alex0597's picture
Just the .chk file

Just the .chk file

KingP1n
KingP1n's picture
Anyone know why 7.9.1 is no

Anyone know why 7.9.1 is no longer available in the koolshare website?

Woogetybop
Woogetybop's picture
Uploaded firmware 7.9, to my

Uploaded firmware 7.9, to my R8000, but couldnt get ethernet ports to work. I could only interface with the firmware with wifi.

is there a trick to fix this? In the mean time I went back to OFW.

colmscheid
colmscheid's picture
Asus Merlin firmware

Asus Merlin firmware installed on netgear x6 router, I can't change it to anything else.

Roneus
Roneus's picture
Sorry for gravedigging here.

Sorry for gravedigging here.

I recently purchased the R800 and am very interested in setting up the Asus Merlin firmware, as I have been having intermittent drops in connection. I read through this thread, but some of the information is a bit confusing. Would anyone be willing to help me out with a quick step by step. I just really don't want to take a chance bricking something i just spent almost $300 on. The simpler the instructions the better. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Roneus
Roneus's picture
*R8000

*R8000

malcorn2
malcorn2's picture
What if I was to flash

What if I was to flash netgear r8000 directly to 7.9.1 with the chk file from netgear latest version of firmware... would that brick the router? Also I tried flashing it to 7.2 merlin with the chk file and it rejected it saying incompatible. Any ideas?

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