2718.us blog » unsling http://2718.us/blog Miscellaneous Technological Geekery Tue, 18 May 2010 02:42:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Steps to “Unsling” the NSLU2 http://2718.us/blog/2008/07/13/steps-to-unsling-the-nslu2/ http://2718.us/blog/2008/07/13/steps-to-unsling-the-nslu2/#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:39:33 +0000 2718.us http://2718.us/blog/?p=52 Since I’m on my second of what will probably be 4 or 5 unslung NSLU2 “slug” units (with identical 1GB flash drives from eBay), I figured it was time to write down specific step-by-step directions, if perhaps only for my own use later.  (As an aside, having the two ethernet ports on my Mac Pro is really helpful at times like this when I’m monkeying around with some piece of hardware that doesn’t do DHCP out of the box, forcing me onto some specific subnet.)  CAUTION: I take absolutely no responsibility for what you may do to your hardware/software/life/etc. if you follow these directions.  You should read lots of other, more thorough instructions like the how-to’s at the Unslung HomePage.

  1. Verify that the slug can do Reset Button Upgrade Mode.
  2. Get the Unslug firmware.
  3. On the admin web page for the slug (default IP is 192.168.1.77), go to Administration > Advanced > Upgrade (default username/password is admin/admin), browse to the unslung firmware, and do the upgrade.  (This step takes a few minutes.)  Wait for the reboot.
  4. Verify that the admin web page now shows the unslung firmware version.
  5. Do any network config you need (set IP address, etc.)—avoid DHCP as it doesn’t seem to work (the slug does a DHCPDISCOVER, my server(s) do DHCPOFFER, but the exchange goes no further).
  6. Enable telnet access (Home > Manage Telnet).  Note that this must be done before any disks are connected.
  7. Telnet into the slug (username/password is root/uNSLUng).  Keep this session open through the next steps, so there’s guaranteed root access.
  8. Plug the 1GB flash drive into the upper USB port (closer to the ethernet jack).
  9. Once the slug recognizes the disk, go to Administration > Advanced > Disk and format the flash drive (Disk 2).  This again takes several minutes (especially with the cheapo slow 1GB flash drives I’m using).  When the page shows “Formatted (EXT3)” for Disk 2, it’s ready for the next step.
  10. In the telnet session from step 7, type “unsling disk2″.  Enter a new root password here.
  11. Reboot by typing “DO_Reboot” in the telnet session.  The device will beep when it’s fully booted.
  12. Go to the admin web page and verify that it says “uNSLUng status:   Unslung to disk2, /dev/sda1″ in the bottom blue bar.
  13. Enable telnet again and connect to the device again, verifying that the “NOTE: THIS SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY UNSLUNG” banner shows upon login.
  14. Run “touch /.ext3flash” so that (after the next boot) the OS will try not to thrash the flash drive.
  15. Verify internet connectivity (e.g. ping google.com).
  16. Run “ipkg update” to update the package system.
  17. Run “ipkg install openssh” so we can get to the slug without having to enable telnet.
  18. Verify that SSH works by logging into the slug over SSH.  Disable telnet.
  19. Run “ipkg install openssh-sftp-server” so we can use SFTP to edit files on the slug.
  20. Set the admin web page password (it is independent of the root password).

Other notes:

  • The MAC address label on the bottom of the device is the default device name and seems to be “LKG” + the latter half of the MAC address; it seems that the correct MAC address is found by replacing “LKG” with “00:18:39″.
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