Optware, the Right Way

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Revision as of 20:25, 20 January 2010 by Dr durkee (Talk | contribs)
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Frater's no hassle, newbie friendly Optware

This is the latest, greatest and easiest way to enable Optware on your Router. It is recommended' that you have a router with USB capable storage (Harddisk, flashdrives etc.) and the LATEST build! (preferably Eko).

The SD/MMC Method is working thanks to DHC Darkshadow. For USB users, you wont be needing JFFS2, so DISABLE it! Another aspect to note is that some of these services (i.e Twonky) consume alot of CPU resources, so make sure you check your resource consumptions.


UPDATE For everyone using K26 builds or builds that were compiled in December, you will no longer need a startup or shutdown script. Use the Automount feature in Services->USB and mount to /opt in the drop down menu.


For users with small /opt partitions, use this as your start-up script:


mount -o noatime -t ext3 /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part1 /opt 


Remove the shutdown script as well.


I suggest a clean install of optware as Frater has made some recent changes..


Telnet/SSH to box If you have made many customizations/configuration changes, backup your /opt/etc folder and especially the *.conf files someplace


To COMPLETELY REMOVE the previous optware execute the following:

cd /opt

rm -r * (note this is going to delete everything, so make sure to backup any configs and data that you might have there first)

Reinstall the Optware.


Services that will be installed:


  • Bash instead of shell in busybox (LFS support)
  • Automounting and unmounting of storage device partitions
  • Network printing
  • Watchprinter
  • Torrent transmission with watchdog
  • Hotmount
  • Pre-configured samba share
  • Reverse proxy featuring pound
  • Service tool
  • Xinetd
  • Pound
  • Asterisk
  • Lighttpd
  • Vlighttpd
  • Countryblock
  • AsiaBlock
  • Services running as other users than root
  • Vim with proper terminal support
  • Twonky Media
  • News Server
  • Other various useful tools


In my opinion, Everyone with a router that has storage device capabilities should take advantage of this! You will NOT regret it, even if it can be a time consuming process! If you are worried about formatting to a Linux filesystem and it's compatibility with windows, check out this thread from the forum on using the Windows NT Filesystem (NTFS)!

Getting Started

If starting from scratch, you will need to first format and partition your harddisk, flashdrive or SD card to an EXT2 or EXT3 Linux filesystem. It is much easier than you think, and can be accomplished via a Linux Live boot-CD. There will be NO changes to your PC whatsoever, and it is very simple to implement.

Drive Preparation and Prerequisites

Before you can utilize this extremely beneficial addition to your USB capable router, you must follow these important instructions:

How to - Format and Partition External Storage Device


Connecting the Drive to your Router

1. In the DD-WRT web GUI screen, on the Services USB tab enable the options for:

  • Core USB support
  • USB 2.0 support (Asus WL520gU routers must use USB 1.1 drivers only!)
  • USB storage support
  • Printer Support (optional)
  • ext2/ext3 File System support
  • FAT File system support (optional)
  • Automatic Drive Mount
  • In the Disk Mount Point drop-down menu, mount to /opt


2. From the DD-WRT web GUI screen, click on Apply Settings. This will reboot the router.


3. If everything was done correctly, this should appear on your Services -> USB Tab:

Image:Drivemount2.jpg

Executing the Script

Start a terminal session using telnet or SSH
telnet 192.168.1.1

at the prompt
login:root
password: router's admin password to the web interface.


NOTE When entering your password, the characters will not show up. This is normal for security. If it doesn't work the first time, make sure you don't make a typo or that the caps lock is not on when entering it.


See also: Telnet/SSH_and_the_Command_Line
In Windows, telnet can be accessed from a command prompt... start-->run-->CMD, while a program like PuTTY will allow for either telnet or SSH sessions.



NOTE - Can't login via SSH If you find that you can't log in to SSH after installation, check that you're using a build greater than, and including 12827. The reason is that bash is used as shell after installation, but older firmware builds don't allow for shells other than /bin/sh to be used in SSH.


Once logged in:<br Issue the command mount to ensure /opt is mounted:

root@DD-WRT:~#mount
rootfs on / type rootfs (rw)
/dev/root on / type squashfs (ro)
none on /dev type devfs (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
ramfs on /tmp type ramfs (rw)
devpts on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw)
/dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part1 on /opt type ext3 (rw)
root@DD-WRT:~#



Then, enter the following commands into Busybox/Telnet:


wget -O /tmp/prep_optware http://wd.mirmana.com/prep_optware 

sh /tmp/prep_optware

This will load all the necessary optware and supporting scripts that Frater wrote from the ground up.


This will take about 10-20 mins depending on your connection and your router CPU clock. Close your Web Interface as this consumes precious memory and CPU resources


Once everything has completed, wait for a minimum of 1 minute, then type reboot into either the BusyBox/Telnet Shell (why not, your right there) or through the Web Interface.


Important Wait at least another minute before logging back into the Telnet/SSH session!



Ensure Partitions are mounted

In either telnet or SSH, enter the command mount , if everything is working properly, it should look like this:




Important To keep track of your drives free space, issue the command df -h


You will get an output like this:


root@Asus:~# df -h
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
rootfs                5.7M  5.7M     0 100% /
/dev/root             5.7M  5.7M     0 100% /
/dev/discs/disc0/part1
                     756M  215M  534M  29% /opt
/dev/sda4             293G  173G  117G  60% /mnt
/dev/sda3             504M   17M  483M   4% /tmp/c
root@Asus:~#



Using PuTTy to enable/disable Services



BusyBox/Telnet Commands for services:

service - show all services (enabled/disabled)
service <service name> - if "status" parameter is supported, will show service status, otherwise will show whether specified service is running
service <service name> on - Enable the script, allowing execution (chmod +x  /opt/etc/init.d/S<servicescript>)
service <service name> off - Disable the script, disallowing execution (chmod -x  /opt/etc/init.d/S<servicescript>)
service <service name> start - Start/execute the script, as long as service is enabled (i.e. permissions allow execution)
service <service name> stop Stop/kill the script, if the service is running
service <service name> restart Stop/kill the script, if the service is running, and then start/execute the script, as long as service is enabled
service <service name> <parameter> - Run the script with the parameter.

For a service to work it must be first switched on*, and then told to start.

service <service name> on
service <service name> start
  • Once you enable a service with the on parameter, the service is set to allow execution, and will run the next time you restart your router. You will need to issue a start directly proceeding it to initiate the service if you wish to start the service without restarting your router. A service must be set to on before it can be started.


Examples:

service xinetd status
service xinetd off
service xinetd on
service xinetd start
service xinetd stop
service xinetd restart

NOTE Xinetd will need to be started after the optware has been installed and the router has rebooted.

Issue: service xinetd start

This service MUST be enabled for services such as Network Printing, SWAT (web admin/config for samba) and OpenVPN


Turning off Twonky Twonky Media Server (google it) may be enabled by default. It is a massive resource hog and can bog down even the most powerful routers. It is recommended to disable it unless you require its services.

service twonky stop
service twonky off


Automount

service automount start - mount all partitions
service automount stop - umount all partitions instead of the one to /opt
service automount status - show all partitions
service automount umount <partition|mountpoint> - unmount that partition and remove it fromautomount
service automount nomount <partition> - Do not automount this partition
service automount nonomount <partition> - remove this partition from the nomount list

NOTE Many people seem to be confused between the services automount and usbmount. automount is enabled by default and is used for automatically mounting drive partitions. usbmount is disabled by default and is used for mounting usbfs (only needed for USB printers).


See NOTES at the bottom of this page for important/useful commands



Accessing services in Web browser

You can also turn a service on or off through the web interface command line in Administration-> Commands (for people who don't like the hassle of SSH):

Examples:

/opt/usr/sbin/service transmission-daemon on
/opt/usr/sbin/service transmission-daemon start
/opt/usr/sbin/service xinetd on
/opt/usr/sbin/service xinetd start


Choose the service(s) you wish to execute and click Run Commands in the Administration->Commands box.

You are ready to go! It is also wise to wait at least 30 seconds after enabling these services before accessing them.


Some services have their own web interface:


Swat/Samba - http://your.routers.ip:901

Torrent Transmission - http://your.routers.ip:9091

Twonky Media - http://your.routers.ip:9000



SD/MMC Method

After and including build 13309

  1. Make sure you have 13309 or higher on your router. Start with a fresh system 30/30/30 reset.
  2. Partition the card - partition1 data, partition2 opt, partition3 jffs,partition4 swap reference How to - Format and Partition External Storage Device.
  3. Boot router.
    1. Enable SD support. The firmware will automount the first partition to /mmc.
    2. Enable jffs.
    3. Setup your internet connection.
    4. Save the following script to Startup in Administration->Commands.
      1. mount /dev/mmc/disc0/part2 /opt
    5. automount will do the rest
  4. Log into the router via Putty (SSH) and run fraters script below. This will take a while. It will tell you when it's finished.
    1. wget -O /tmp/prep_optware http://wd.mirmana.com/prep_optware
    2. sh /tmp/prep_optware
  5. When the script is done, it will tell you so and advise a reboot. (it is wise to wait ~1-2 mins after completion before rebooting)
  6. Reboot

Before build 13309

First off credit goes to frater for the optware script and the driver script credit goes to aszu and the startup script for the driver goes to phuzi0n. My hats off to you guys.

An update on my situation. The SD cards speeds were too slow and were overwhelming the router. I have steps for anyone using SD. It uses the new driver for the install. I have tested this 4 times on 2 different sd cards.

Start with a fresh system 30/30/30 reset, a Clean formatted SD card in either ext2 or ext3 with a /jffs directory, then create /opt inside of /jffs. Ex. /jffs/opt.

For some reason the later builds have a problem with formatting a card on setup, it screws the partition making the card invisible to the router. The above remedies this, and a service ticket has been submitted to fix this.


Continuing:

1.

  • Boot router.
  • Enable and setup GPIO's in the GUI for the SD Mod, because in the later builds auto GPIO is broken. Also setup your internet connection.
  • Enable jffs.
  • Copy the SDHC driver from HERE to the root directory of the MMC card via WinSCP
  • Save the following script to Startup in Administration->Commands. This Startup script will run the new SDHC driver all the time. It is only necessary until the release of a build with it all ready ported.


Code:

cp /mmc/sdhc-gpio2.o /tmp
umount /mmc
rmmod mmc
insmod /tmp/sdhc-gpio2.o
mount /dev/mmc/part1 /mmc/
mount --bind /mmc/jffs /jffs
mount -o bind /mmc/jffs/opt /opt


2. Log into the router via Putty (SSH) and run fraters script below. This will take a while. It will tell you when it's finished.


Code:

wget -O /tmp/prep_optware http://wd.mirmana.com/prep_optware
sh /tmp/prep_optware


3. Reboot (it is wise to wait ~1-2 mins after completion before rebooting)

Notes

Useful scripts

mount - Shows what disks/partitions are mounted
fdisk -l - Shows disk information
blkid - Shows disk information
df -h - Shows disk usage and available space.  Very important
lsusb - Shows devices in /dev/usb/ like printers, USB hubs etc.
top - Shows all running processes and resources as well as swap file usage and CPU-Memory usage.
htop - A more user friendly application that allows you to kill processes, change their "nice" value, etc.
netstat -lnp - Shows which ports are open and what services are using them.
cat /tmp/fdisk
cat /tmp/blkid
cat /opt/etc/automount
cat /opt/etc/nomount


  • To remove this optware completely (which should be done after a build upgrade, or if you don't need all of these services) do the following:
cd /opt
rm -r *


  • When using USB storage (or maybe other form of storage as well), in order to automount the remaining partitions, the packages 'util-linux-ng' and 'grep' should be installed as well:
ipkg-opt install util-linux-ng
ipkg-opt install grep


Many more exciting packages are in the works, so be sure to follow This forum thread and further help is always available on the forums.

Enjoy!