I see bin Ladin has raised his ugly head. He scurried out of his rathole long enough to "warn" the US of future attacks, but to also diplomatically offer a "truce" if we pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan. In other words, he wants us to return to the status quo ante.
The only problem is that we were in neither Afghanistan nor Iraq on 11 September 2001.
Enough said.
What else you got to sell, idiot.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Monday, January 02, 2006
The NSLU2: One, Big Linksys Bug Report
I purchased a Linksys NSLU2 Network File Server some time back. I recently upgraded the firmware to the latest version (called 2.3R63). Some time after that, I noticed that the hard drive (a Maxtor OneTouch 120 GB USB 2.0 hard drive) was being accessed every 2 - 3 seconds. At first, I thought my NSLU2 had been hacked. I have several firewalls, all of which are logged. I checked them all and found nothing. Still, I loaded an old computer with Linux then ran Ethereal in promiscuous mode. Again, nothing. The only thing from the server was a standard broadcast letting the network know every now and then that it was there and alive.
So began my journey. Rather than walking step-by-step, let me summarize what I discovered:
* The problem of the disk being accessed constantly (every 2 - 3 seconds) is in the latest firmware (2.3R63). No matter what I tried, it always had that problem. I tried different format types (NTFS, FAT32, and the original EXT3). The only thing that worked was reverting to a previous firmware version (2.3R29).
* After reverting to the previous firmware version (2.3R29), I noticed that I could read and write much quicker.
* Resetting the box is not as easy as it sounds. I tried resetting the box, but found that some settings (the server name, DNS addresses, gateway address, e-mail address) always stayed. It took me a while to figure out how to actually ERASE EVERYTHING. I discovered one method to do a partial reset (Method #1 below) two methods to reset everything (#2 & #3 below):
- Method #1: Using the tip of a paper clip, push in the reset button for about 3 seconds and let go. The box should beep. Then push in the button until it beeps again (should take about 10 seconds). This resets the IP address to 192.168.1.77. The second time resets the password. Note that neither of these does anything with such settings as the DNS, gateway, or the e-mail address.
- Method #2: From the home page of the web interface, go to "Administration" followed by the "System" page. At the bottom of the page is a button called, "Restore Default Config". Hit this button and wait! It will take about two minutes for it to completely reset. At that time, all of the memory should have been dumped. Any accounts you set up should be gone as should all of the other settings.
- Method #3: Use a program downloaded from Linksys called "EraseAll". I downloaded it from Linksys in a file called "EraseAll.zip". It was a zipped (meaning "compressed") file. Inside was a program called "EraseAll (for EFG120).exe" Even though it says that it's for the EFG120 (another Linksys network server product), I tried it (out of desperation) and found that it worked. And by "worked", I mean that it completely erased the previous firmware, EVERY setting, and installed the new firmware. I also used it to go back to previous firmware versions. When I used it, it was as if I had just taken the unit right out of the box. NOTE: I used an older Windows 98 computer to use this program. I did not try it from my Windows XP box. It would probably work; I just did not attempt it.
* If you have had a hard drive connected to the NSLU2 under previous firmware versions (2.3R29 or earlier), it had to be formatted using the web interface. The format version is compatible with Linux. (As a matter of fact, I connected the hard drive directly to a computer running Fedora Core 4.0 Linux. It was able to read the hard drive, see the files, and read the filenames. However, I could not access any of them.) If you use the newest firmware (2.3R63), you will be able to format a drive using either NTFS (the NT/2000/XP) format or FAT32 (older Windows format) then connect it directly to the NSLU2.
* The Linksys NSLU2 manual says, in several places, not to disconnect a drive when the unit is powered on. Unfortunately, it does not say what the consequences are. Therefore, turn the unit off before connecting and disconnecting a drive.
* To turn the unit off, just push in the button on the front until the unit beeps. Then let go.
* When connecting a drive, turn the unit off (see above), connect the drive, turn the drive on, then turn the NSLU2 on. It will take about two minutes for everything to be ready.
Best of luck to you all!
So began my journey. Rather than walking step-by-step, let me summarize what I discovered:
* The problem of the disk being accessed constantly (every 2 - 3 seconds) is in the latest firmware (2.3R63). No matter what I tried, it always had that problem. I tried different format types (NTFS, FAT32, and the original EXT3). The only thing that worked was reverting to a previous firmware version (2.3R29).
* After reverting to the previous firmware version (2.3R29), I noticed that I could read and write much quicker.
* Resetting the box is not as easy as it sounds. I tried resetting the box, but found that some settings (the server name, DNS addresses, gateway address, e-mail address) always stayed. It took me a while to figure out how to actually ERASE EVERYTHING. I discovered one method to do a partial reset (Method #1 below) two methods to reset everything (#2 & #3 below):
- Method #1: Using the tip of a paper clip, push in the reset button for about 3 seconds and let go. The box should beep. Then push in the button until it beeps again (should take about 10 seconds). This resets the IP address to 192.168.1.77. The second time resets the password. Note that neither of these does anything with such settings as the DNS, gateway, or the e-mail address.
- Method #2: From the home page of the web interface, go to "Administration" followed by the "System" page. At the bottom of the page is a button called, "Restore Default Config". Hit this button and wait! It will take about two minutes for it to completely reset. At that time, all of the memory should have been dumped. Any accounts you set up should be gone as should all of the other settings.
- Method #3: Use a program downloaded from Linksys called "EraseAll". I downloaded it from Linksys in a file called "EraseAll.zip". It was a zipped (meaning "compressed") file. Inside was a program called "EraseAll (for EFG120).exe" Even though it says that it's for the EFG120 (another Linksys network server product), I tried it (out of desperation) and found that it worked. And by "worked", I mean that it completely erased the previous firmware, EVERY setting, and installed the new firmware. I also used it to go back to previous firmware versions. When I used it, it was as if I had just taken the unit right out of the box. NOTE: I used an older Windows 98 computer to use this program. I did not try it from my Windows XP box. It would probably work; I just did not attempt it.
* If you have had a hard drive connected to the NSLU2 under previous firmware versions (2.3R29 or earlier), it had to be formatted using the web interface. The format version is compatible with Linux. (As a matter of fact, I connected the hard drive directly to a computer running Fedora Core 4.0 Linux. It was able to read the hard drive, see the files, and read the filenames. However, I could not access any of them.) If you use the newest firmware (2.3R63), you will be able to format a drive using either NTFS (the NT/2000/XP) format or FAT32 (older Windows format) then connect it directly to the NSLU2.
* The Linksys NSLU2 manual says, in several places, not to disconnect a drive when the unit is powered on. Unfortunately, it does not say what the consequences are. Therefore, turn the unit off before connecting and disconnecting a drive.
* To turn the unit off, just push in the button on the front until the unit beeps. Then let go.
* When connecting a drive, turn the unit off (see above), connect the drive, turn the drive on, then turn the NSLU2 on. It will take about two minutes for everything to be ready.
Best of luck to you all!
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