OTRW2 (Optware the right way Take 2)

From DD-WRT Wiki

(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
Revision as of 17:50, 16 August 2013 (edit)
James2k (Talk | contribs)
(Mounting your storage device to your router)
← Previous diff
Revision as of 17:53, 16 August 2013 (edit) (undo)
James2k (Talk | contribs)
(Prerequisites)
Next diff →
Line 27: Line 27:
You should bear in mind that if you use a SD card or USB flash drive you should format your partitions with ext2. This is because ext2 does not use journaling. Using a journaling filesystem such as ext3 will potentially reduce the lifespan of your SD card or USB flashdrive. You should bear in mind that if you use a SD card or USB flash drive you should format your partitions with ext2. This is because ext2 does not use journaling. Using a journaling filesystem such as ext3 will potentially reduce the lifespan of your SD card or USB flashdrive.
-If you are using a USB hard drive you can format your partitions with ext2, ext3 or ext4. A recommendation would be to use ext3 or ext4 as journaling will benefit a USB hard drive.+If you are using a USB hard drive you can format your partitions with ext2, ext3 or ext4 (if your build has the ext4 modules included). A recommendation would be to use ext3 as journaling will benefit a USB hard drive.
== Mounting your storage device to your router == == Mounting your storage device to your router ==

Revision as of 17:53, 16 August 2013

OTRW2 is the latest version of Optware for Broadcom routers. The original Optware project was lead by frater, but has since ceased developing OTRW. The project was then picked up by basmaf who has continued development on Optware. To provide clarity between the difference in versions, basmaf's Optware is commonly referred to as OTRW2

Information on frater's original Optware can be found here: OTRW

This page describes the newer version OTRW2.

(This is a work in progress, information is currently being added to this wiki entry)

Contents

Prerequisites

Optware runs on Broadcom routers only. The main installer script for OTRW2 only works on Kernel 2.6 (K26).

The following builds are supported:

  • BrainSlayer builds up to 19519
  • Fractal builds up to 20006
  • All Kong builds based on Kernel 2.6

Note: Kong AC builds are not supported

Partitioning your external storage device

To use Optware you need to partition a storage device in a certain way. Your storage device can be a external hard drive, USB flash device or even an SD card. This guide provides a how to on partitioning your storage device:

Partitioning your storage device for Optware

You should bear in mind that if you use a SD card or USB flash drive you should format your partitions with ext2. This is because ext2 does not use journaling. Using a journaling filesystem such as ext3 will potentially reduce the lifespan of your SD card or USB flashdrive.

If you are using a USB hard drive you can format your partitions with ext2, ext3 or ext4 (if your build has the ext4 modules included). A recommendation would be to use ext3 as journaling will benefit a USB hard drive.

Mounting your storage device to your router

The easiest way to mount your external storage is to use the DD-WRT web interface GUI. These steps are generally for USB based devices.

  • 1. Go to Services > USB
  • 2. Enable Core USB Support then USB Storage Support
  • 3. Finally enable Automatic Drive Mount


Image:USBmount.png


  • For builds older than 15501 you will be required to select the filesystem type. Newer builds do this automatically.
  • In newer builds the Disk Mount Point field will not be present, generally automount can detect the correct mount settings for you. You there is an option to override this behaviour should you need to.


Note about USB hubs:

If you are using a USB hub/connecting more than one USB device be careful not to cause too much drain on the power supply of your router. Self powered USB devices should be used cautiously (even USB flash drives). If you experience random rebooting check that you are not overloading your router power supply.

Installing OTRW2

Kernel 2.6

wget -O /tmp/prep_optware http://ddwrt.basmaf.com/prep_optware
sh /tmp/prep_optware

Kernel 3.x

A very early development of Optware for K3.x builds is available to try. At this time, none of the scripts/services in K2.6 work under K3.x (This is a very big redevelopment task), but opkg functionality is available. Meaning you can install various OpenWRT packages such nano, ip6tables etc. You can see a full list here:

OpenWRT packages available to install on K3.x builds

wget -O /tmp/prep ​http://owrt.basmaf.com/prep_otrw2
sh /tmp/prep

Executing the prep script

You will require telnet or SSH access to your router in order to run the above commands. Your router also needs to have a working internet connection. In telnet or SSH try pinging an external website to confirm this is the case:

ping www.google.co.uk
PING www.google.co.uk (74.125.132.94): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 74.125.132.94: seq=0 ttl=47 time=28.850 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.132.94: seq=1 ttl=47 time=24.619 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.132.94: seq=2 ttl=47 time=24.336 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.132.94: seq=3 ttl=47 time=30.179 ms

After a couple of successful pings you can stop pinging and run the above commands. If you can't ping external websites, try rebooting your router. If that doesn't work you'll need to investigate internet connectivity issues.

Once you execute the prep script OTRW2 will now be installed, it will take a bit of time. This will put a bit load on your router, so you should keep router usage to a minimal during this time. e.g. close any browser sessions to the web interface. The prep script will finish with a message confirming the installation is finished, you should now reboot your router, by simply running:

reboot