unhappy_mage, a recommendation.

Well. I think I can get it going fairly soon, now that I have some time on my hands. Between the end of the semester, exams, and not wanting to work on this, I had a lot of other things to do.

Not wanting to work on this, you say? I knew it! Well, yes, and I'm sorry. This is a discouraging project - I couldn't figure out where to go with it for a long time, and I sat in a busy-wait loop for several days. When I would try to pick it up again, I'd immediately go into the same train of thought, hit the same dead-ends, and after a while it got so discouraging that I had to give up. In general, working with multiple network adapters on Windows is a pain in the ass. I had two network adapters, one connected to my normal network, and one plugged into the Linksys I was working with. This caused a lot of issues with default routes, DNS, etc. that often broke my normal network in odd ways. But I think I can do it another way - plug my machine into only the Linksys, and work on that only. There's not actually a whole lot to go, but it's got some tricky aspects. I promise minimum of daily reports on this until it's working. Hold me to this.

Moetop, YGPM.

 
Update for today: I have SMB working, I have it booting fine, and it starts FAH just fine. Now I have to put together a rar file with all this junk, and put together instructions on how to install it. That's a pretty big task.

Can someone with a router of this type (WRT54G/GS, version 4 or less) who's willing to test this all out send me email? I want to make sure it works offsite before I go sending it out to the general public. Thanks.

 
unhappy_mage said:
Update for today: I have SMB working, I have it booting fine, and it starts FAH just fine. Now I have to put together a rar file with all this junk, and put together instructions on how to install it. That's a pretty big task.

Can someone with a router of this type (WRT54G/GS, version 4 or less) who's willing to test this all out send me email? I want to make sure it works offsite before I go sending it out to the general public. Thanks.

Click to expand...
i have that router. i only read the first two or so pages of thsi thread, and i haven't read about your OS thing, so if you want me to test it can you tell me what exactly it is i'll be doing?
 
Basically, install a custom firmware on the router, and see if you, too can boot a machine over network. If you don't have a machine around to test with, you could use VMware. You'll need a Windows machine or a Linux one with samba that you can add a read/write share to. Does that clarify?

 
unhappy_mage said:
Basically, install a custom firmware on the router, and see if you, too can boot a machine over network. If you don't have a machine around to test with, you could use VMware. You'll need a Windows machine or a Linux one with samba that you can add a read/write share to. Does that clarify?

Click to expand...
sorry, that went *whoosh* over my head. you might be better off finding someone who has more experience / knows what you're talking about (unless you want to write a hand-holding step-by-step-by-step guide for me =\)

sorry.
 
unhappy_mage said:
Update for today: I have SMB working, I have it booting fine, and it starts FAH just fine. Now I have to put together a rar file with all this junk, and put together instructions on how to install it. That's a pretty big task.

Can someone with a router of this type (WRT54G/GS, version 4 or less) who's willing to test this all out send me email? I want to make sure it works offsite before I go sending it out to the general public. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Ok, sent you a email. I have a extra WRT54G v3 that I can test with.
 
I sent you email, guess things are weird. Here's the text:
Okay, here goes. First, make a folder somewhere and unpack the .rar file to it. You'll get 7 files and a folder. The wrt_wrt54g*.bin files are flash images:
wrt_wrt54g-custom_fw.bin.bin : WRT54G version
wrt_wrt54gs-custom_fw.bin.bin : WRT54GS version
wrt_wrt54gsv4-custom_fw.bin.bin : WRT54GS v4 version
Use the appropriate version for your hardware; I've checked the G and GS versions personally, they work. Go to the interface for your router (probably at 192.168.1.1) and log in. Go to adminstration->update firmware or something like that. Select the firmware for your hardware and click update. After the router reboots and boots (the power light will stop flashing) there are a few changes :)rolleyes:) that need to be made, but you're mostly home free :)rolleyes:)

First we'll change the computer config a bit. Right-click on the folder that you unpacked all the stuff to and select "Sharing and security". Select the "share this folder" toggle, and pick a name for it (something with no spaces is a necessity). Make sure your firewall is configured to allow access for "File and print sharing". Then go to control panel -> users, and add a user for accessing the share. Something like "foldsharer". Set a password for it. Then edit the file in pxelinux.cfg/default, and set the SHARE=, USER=, and PASS= fields appropriately.


Now to change the router config. Log in (or switch back to that window) and go to "Administration" and then "Management". Set the share name, user, and password at the bottom, and clear the "user script" field. Make sure to enable the samba share option. Up near the top, enable dnsmasq if it isn't, and in the box put:
domain-needed
resolv-file=/tmp/resolv.dnsmasq
domain=fold
dhcp-vendorclass=eb,Etherboot
dhcp-option=128,e4:45:74:68:00:00
dhcp-option=12,fold-client
dhcp-boot=/pxelinux.0
dhcp-boot=net:eb,/fold-boot
dhcp-authoritative

Hit Save at the bottom of the page. The router will probably reboot. After it's done, go back over the page and make sure the settings stuck.

Now go back to the Setup page and make sure it is set up properly to access the internet. Then check the option labeled "Use dnsmasq for DHCP".

Now it should be properly configured to go. Plug in a machine on the LAN side, and hook it to your internet connection on the other. Boot. See how it goes. If you don't have a real machine, try VMware Server, which they give away free. Sign up and download at VMware.com and then create a new VM, and power it on. Your physical machine will have to be on the LAN side of the Linksys; this shouldn't be a problem. You should be able to use the Linksys as the only router in your network, if you wanted to, but it's probably good to have a different one as the "main" router and just use this for the folding farm.

For reference purposes, here are the notes I made on how to do this:
Installing:
# Unpack .zip with everything needed to a folder
# Share the folder
# Set samba options under administration->management, at bottom, and enable it
# Set samba share name in pxelinux.0/default
# Create username/password for router use, optionally but a good idea
# Flash BIOS
# Set dnsmasq options correctly
nvram set dnsmasq_options="domain-needed

resolv-file=/tmp/resolv.dnsmasq
domain=fold
dhcp-vendorclass=eb,Etherboot
dhcp-option=128,e4:45:74:68:00:00
dhcp-option=12,fold-client
dhcp-boot=/pxelinux.0
dhcp-boot=net:eb,/fold-boot
dhcp-authoritative"
# use dnsmasq dhcp daemon

# Finish up
nvram commit

Also note that if you run into problems, you may have to log into the router for debugging purposes. Download a copy of putty (google it) for this.
Click to expand...
And, what the heck, here's the file for everyone.

 
I'd gladly test this, but I'm now in the middle of moving. :( I moved out of my place, and I'm in limbo for a few weeks until I leave come July 3rd. Once I'm setup though, I'll be sure to try some testing on my v3 WRT54G.

 
this is the first time I've seen this thread.. I've got a v3 router, vmware and a bit of time... what would you like to have done.. ? install firmware and setup the VM to PXE boot?
 
I am currently trying it.

having problems with the sambamount. I get a nice error:

load_client_codepage: filename /usr/lib/codepages/codepage.850 does not exist.

Apparently, I am missing the Samba module:

Code: 
/tmp # lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
switch-adm              5060   0 (unused)
switch-core             4632   1 [switch-adm]
wl                    423640   0 (unused)
et                     32048   0 (unused)
diag                    2560   0 (unused)

from the DD-WRT forums it seems that more recent betas solve my problem. Can I just try this thing with them?

Also: I have a Windows Active Directory DNS server on my LAN, should/ do I need to change DNS settings?
 
I don't think that's a fatal error, although I could be wrong. I'll be AFK for most of today at a pool party, but when I get back this evening I'll take a look at it. What does "mount" show after you try the smbmount? How about "df"?

Newer DD-WRT firmware may have bug fixes, but this isn't vanilla DD-WRT - it has a tftp server, for example.

 
unhappy_mage said:
I don't think that's a fatal error, although I could be wrong. I'll be AFK for most of today at a pool party, but when I get back this evening I'll take a look at it. What does "mount" show after you try the smbmount? How about "df"?

Newer DD-WRT firmware may have bug fixes, but this isn't vanilla DD-WRT - it has a tftp server, for example.

Click to expand...

well, i did revert my settings. Also, it appears that the FW that I just updated to reboots somewhat randomly.

anyway, here's some more output:

Code: 
/tmp/smbshare # smbmount //192.168.8.3/FoldServ /tmp/smbshare/ -o username=GKnet/folder,password=xxxxx,debug=4
mount.smbfs started (version 2.0.7)
Initialising global parameters
params.c:pm_process() - Processing configuration file "/usr/lib/smb.conf"
Processing section "[global]"
doing parameter workgroup = MYGROUP
doing parameter server string = Samba Server
doing parameter load printers = yes
doing parameter log file = /usr/local/samba/var/log.%m
doing parameter max log size = 50
doing parameter security = user
doing parameter socket options = TCP_NODELAY
doing parameter interfaces = 192.168.1.10/24 192.168.1.10/24
doing parameter dns proxy = no
pm_process() returned Yes
load_client_codepage: filename /usr/lib/codepages/codepage.850 does not exist.
load_unicode_map: filename /usr/lib/codepages/unicode_map.850 does not exist.
added interface ip=192.168.1.10 bcast=192.168.1.255 nmask=255.255.255.0
not adding duplicate interface 192.168.1.10
Connecting to 192.168.8.3 at port 139
error connecting to 192.168.8.3:139 (No route to host)
Connection to 192.168.8.3 failed
SMB connection failed
/tmp/smbshare # route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
192.168.3.1     gwk-serv.GKNET. 255.255.255.255 UGH   0      0        0 br0
67.165.49.0     *               255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 vlan1
192.168.8.0     *               255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 br0
127.0.0.0       *               255.0.0.0       U     0      0        0 lo
default         c-67-165-49-1.h 0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 vlan1
/tmp/smbshare #

from that it looks like my smb.conf is messed up
 
/me trips.

*stumbles around*
*tries not to fall*
*bumps into the thread*

that was close *phew*
 
Okay, that looks like a routing problem. Your router has got an IP address in the 192.168.1.* network, and the other machines appear to be on the 192.168.8.* network. So it doesn't know how to reach those other machines. Try pinging them, I don't think you'll get a response.

Which port is the other network physically plugged into? WAN or LAN?

 
unhappy_mage said:
Okay, that looks like a routing problem. Your router has got an IP address in the 192.168.1.* network, and the other machines appear to be on the 192.168.8.* network. So it doesn't know how to reach those other machines. Try pinging them, I don't think you'll get a response.

Which port is the other network physically plugged into? WAN or LAN?

Click to expand...
They are all plugged into the LAN. The thing is this: the router does have a 192.168.8.x IP address in the setup page, but when looking for the SAMBA share it uses the .the interface 192.168.1.10
Since that interface does not exist, it cannot find the machines. The underlying problem appears to be in the smb.conf file, which manually specifies that interface :/

Maybe I should add a static route? The problem appears to be that the smb.conf is read only, since it's stored in the firmware? I guess, I could 'enhance' my startup script to overwrite it, but that would be a major pita.
 
Hmm, I see. Could you try setting one of your machines to be on the 1 network to see if it works that way? I'll look into doing a dynamically-generated smb.conf, but that'll take me a while, and I'm going away this weekend.

Is the random rebooting mentioned a few posts back still an issue?

 
hiho,

finally I am back online. I have not tried to run it with a .1.x IP, but I shall do so soon. I was offline for a bit and noticed that the dnsmasq was interfering with my win2k3 domain server. Let me see how the router behaves now, given that I turned off dnsmasq and have an internet connection again. I will give the foldserver feature a try on monday.
 
Turning dnsmasq entirely off will cause it to break - it serves the DHCP lease that tells the client where to read the root filesystem from. Is it DHCP, or DNS from dnsmasq interfering with the win2k3 box?

 
unhappy_mage said:
Turning dnsmasq entirely off will cause it to break - it serves the DHCP lease that tells the client where to read the root filesystem from. Is it DHCP, or DNS from dnsmasq interfering with the win2k3 box?

Click to expand...
I had always used the router as the DHCP server, so I don't think that this was a problem. I turned dnsmasq off at the same time that I turned the 'local dns' option on. I was experiencing trouble with my hosts not acquiring automatic IP addresses. I will have more free time -maybe- on monday to troubleshoot this issue.
 
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