New 1.0.4.6 based custom firmware

[kfurge]

it seems after all that rc.local IS loaded, telnet didn't work because in your rc.local the command is '/apps/bin/utelnetd -i br0 &' but for me it is '/bin/utelnetd -i br0 &'...

This is *very* strange. Interesting little Asus'ism here, stuffing two apparently identical binaries, with very different sizes, in an already full flash image! I think the only difference is that /bin/utelnetd is dynamically linked and /apps/bin/utelnetd is statically linked.

Is anyone else seeing this wierdness? If so, I'll change the default scripts to load /bin/utelnetd instead.

Thanks for the info.

- K.C.

[sollie]

The path '/apps/bin/utelnetd -i br0 &' from kfurge works for me, no problem with it. I also have bitchx (irc client) working. Thanks for your work kfurge.

But one question: i like to connect my telnet deamon over wan. How can i do that?

Sollie.

ps: i dont want to use a ssh deamon. Because i use xbmcscripts (xbox) to connect my telnet. Ssh wont work for me!

[MoD]

This is *very* strange. Interesting little Asus'ism here, stuffing two apparently identical binaries, with very different sizes, in an already full flash image! I think the only difference is that /bin/utelnetd is dynamically linked and /apps/bin/utelnetd is statically linked.

Is anyone else seeing this wierdness? If so, I'll change the default scripts to load /bin/utelnetd instead.

Thanks for the info.

- K.C.

do they both work?

[n00ben]

But one question: i like to connect my telnet deamon over wan. How can i do that?

you can replace '/apps/bin/utelnetd -i br0 &' and change the 'br0' to one of the following

br0 is your LAN
other choices are:
'eth0' (WAN)
'eth1' (not sure)

if you manage to lock yourself out look here:
http://wl500g.info/archive/index.php/t-5762.html

/regards
Henrik

[fireflash]

I figured out what was causing my router to flip out and go into a never end cycle of reboots. After I got it back up and running and started observing it's behavior with a working rc.local script in it, I realized that it never got around to running the rc.local script, because the READY light never came on. It would start booting, get to the point that it should've brought up the READY light, and would reboot, and keep doing so until I power it down.

After reflashing the kc2a image, and following KC's instructions, all was going great, and I would reboot it after a few changes to make sure everything was working fine. I then proceeded to enable UBSA mode to create a user account, and as soon as I would hit 'Apply', the hard drive would make some noises, and then it would reboot itself, and start the cycle of never ending reboots over again. Now when I had this problem originally, I was able to create a user name with it, and had started modifying the passwd file when I rebooted it and it began rebooting constantly. So there appears to be something about my router that doesn't like having user names. I've tried this a few different ways now. Once after I RESET it and flashed the 1.0.4.6 firmware (which it had probably already reverted to anyways after a RESET, as it wasn't running rc.local anymore), once after a fresh RESET (no settings changes, just enabling UBSA mode), and once after removing all customizations from /shares/MYVOLUME1, just in case it was still referencing that stuff. Everytime it would never get to the point that I could enter a new user, it would start rebooting non-stop until I stick something in the RESET hole.

This may be a legitimate complaint that I can ask Asus about, but for now I'm gonna have to come up with a Plan B for password protecting telnet, as dropbear is out of the question if I can't create another account on it.

[sollie]

Yesterday i had luck with kfurge documentation. But now i have the same problem as fireflash. When i set is to usermode (webui, windws settings) the router reboots and keep rebooting.

Sollie.

[fireflash]

Yesterday i had luck with kfurge documentation. But now i have the same problem as fireflash. When i set is to usermode (webui, windws settings) the router reboots and keep rebooting.

Sollie.

I figured out what was causing it. I had some left over crap in the __pdc directory under /shares/MYVOLUME1 that contains a passwd file. The file had been modified (by me) and whatever I did to it caused the whole system to freak. When I enabled UBSA after getting it back up and running, it kept referencing those files and causing it to flip out again. After changing the passwd file to make it look more like the one in /etc/ all is good and I've now got UBSA enabled.

Sollie, hold the reset button for about 10 seconds on the back of the router, that'll restore it to factory defaults and allow you to get back in and reconfigure.

[sollie]

I reset it allready and that worked, but i cant enable UBSA. Coz its rebooting again when i do. So my question: can i remove the __pdc dir?

Sollie.

[kfurge]

do they both work?

On my box, yes. They both work.

- K.C.

[kfurge]

I reset it allready and that worked, but i cant enable UBSA. Coz its rebooting again when i do. So my question: can i remove the __pdc dir?

Sollie.

Hmmm, I'd be very careful here! On my box,

/etc/passwd

symlinks to

/tmp/passwd

which symlinks to

/shares/MYVOLUME1/__pdc/passwd

So, if you kill the __pdc files, you've killed /etc/passwd.

Fireflash, can you be more specific when you say "After changing the passwd file to make it look more like the one in /etc/ all is good..." because, on my box anyway, they're the same file. Right?

- K.C.

[fireflash]

Hmmm, I'd be very careful here! On my box,

/etc/passwd

symlinks to

/tmp/passwd

which symlinks to

/shares/MYVOLUME1/__pdc/passwd

So, if you kill the __pdc files, you've killed /etc/passwd.

Fireflash, can you be more specific when you say "After changing the passwd file to make it look more like the one in /etc/ all is good..." because, on my box anyway, they're the same file. Right?

- K.C.

The passwd file was different from the others because it was left over from my first attempt at creating a user account, which blew up in my face after I modified the file a bit too much and caused the system to flip out. When I found it, it wasn't symlinked to anything because it wasn't being used, and didn't need to be there. Once I modified the file to look like the one in /tmp, I was able to enable user accounts without the system rebooting. After that everything was sync'd up and working great. Until....

Has anyone had problems accessing the hard drive via the network after enabling user accounts? After I did that I couldn't connect to the hard drive for nothing. Windows and OS X flat out refused to do anything with it. As soon as I turn user accounts off, everything connects. I noticed when UBSA is off, there are two accounts listed in passwd. root and guest. When UBSA is on, theres only root and whatever user you added. The guest account is what allowed any computer on the network to access the hard drive. But without user accounts enabled, I couldn't SSH into the router. So I got creative....

I enabled user accounts. Made a backup copy of the passwd file in /shares/MYVOLUME1. I then disabled user accounts, and added the guest account to my backup passwd file. Afterwards I copied the backup passwd file to /tmp, and I had the best of both worlds. I had access to the router's hard drive, and kept my user account there as well.

But Fireflash, the file will get replaced when the router reboots!

Yes it will. So, with that in mind, I added a simple line to my rc.local file, which looks something like this:

cp /shares/MYVOLME1/passwd /tmp

Problem solved.

So unless I completely over looked something, this is the best way I've found to have a user account on the router, as well as keep 'anonymous' file sharing capabilities within a network to the router's hard drive. And after getting all this up and running, I am LOVING what it can do now! Having a working ipkg repository with a ton of stuff is great! I've got dropbear running, nano, enhanced-ctorrent, and screen running, and it's awesome! The greatest combination so far is enhanced-ctorrent and screen, so I can fire off a download, detach it from the shell, and log out. And having nano working is awesome too, because I have a special hate for vi, especially when I'm working under OS X, because Apple thought people don't need the INSERT key for anything, so lets make it a HELP button instead. Needless to say working in vi without an Insert key is a bit frustrating, plus vi has always annoyed me.

Good job on the firmware KC!

[sollie]

I removed the passwd from __pdc. Enabled UBSA. It worked. It creates automaticly a new file (passwd).

Sollie.

[hal2k1]

Try a different client. Both openssh and putty work Ok for me, but QVT-Term does not.

- K.C.

This was regarding my not being able to get dropbear to work. I have installed dropbear via ipkg, and it does seem to be running on the router.

I have tried openssh and kssh from Linux client machines on the LAN, and PuTTY from a Windows client on the LAN, and none of these work.

I can ping the router, I can mount shares (on Windows LAN clients or via mount.cifs on Linux LAN clients), and I can connect via telnet (also from any LAN client).

It is just ssh that does not get through to dropbear running on the router. It is almost like there is a firewall somewhere getting in the way.

Any suggestions? Do I need to enable something via the web interface settings perhaps?

=======

Postscipt: I worked it out. All I needed to do was be patient. I entered "ssh 192.168.1.1" and pressed return, then I just waited. After a few minutes, eventually I got a prompt.

That was the same with mc. Just wait. It gets there in the end.

PPS: With ssh working, I must say the terminal is much better now. I would get rid of telnet entirely, if I could work out how to login as a normal user, then change to root user. "su" does not seem to be installed, nor is it an available package. Does anyone have an idea how to do the equivalent of "su"?

[n00ben]

Does anyone have an idea how to do the equivalent of "su"?

sudo?

ipkg install sudo

/regards
Henrik

[kfurge]

sudo?

ipkg install sudo

/regards
Henrik

In particular, "sudo bash" will get you a full root shell.

- K.C.