Thanks a lot, mate!
I'm going to test what I have.
BTW, just reverted to 24-sp2 because of some strange behavior: a USB HDD formatted as ext3 will not retain the folders created. After reboot there is nothing on the HDD. And I remember that there were a configuration that worked earlier.
After some workaround, found out that the HDD connected to USB3 is working this way. When connected to USB2 I see the folders and files that I have created months ago and would not see while in USB3.
Are there tricks to correct this issue?
Thx, @egc, just added an EDIT/UPDATE section to that post that explains the fix for what iMagic is seeing. (Just noticed it recently myself.)
The startup script there is running perfectly on my router (running CFE from the post following) with a 64GB flash drive w/ two ext4 partitions. Really bizarre that the gpio11 thing works.
@iMagic, besides the built-in bootstrap script egc mentioned (which is the most elaborate of the three options), there is Entware-ng and Optware-ng, which I've been running. The only weirdness I've found is with mixed execution when leaving the /opt paths at the end of PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH. Putting the /opt's first fixes this (otherwise the 'mount --binds' get ridiculous).
With everything finally running like a normal router now, including access to all needed packages, I am done. ... _________________ My old self (phonetics-R-fun)
You're definitely right! Actually, it's not a Vortex but a EA6900 modded CFE. I flshed it a couple of months ago, was preparing the router for something like Synology, with plenty of storage and some kind of personal cloud. But had stuck on configuring DLNA and looking for its configuration and logs (I wanted to enhance it with transcoding or change the configuration for my Sharp to accept more files).
u2n have made a huge work describing the issues and workarounds.
Thanks a lot to you and to u2n. Going to flash again the router. =)
Thx, @egc, just added an EDIT/UPDATE section to that post that explains the fix for what iMagic is seeing. (Just noticed it recently myself.)
The startup script there is running perfectly on my router (running CFE from the post following) with a 64GB flash drive w/ two ext4 partitions. Really bizarre that the gpio11 thing works.
Well, I'm not sure I know yet what are you talking about. Studying slowly.
Besides, you use a USB flash drive and I have an USB HDD. As I can understand, the mount script is oriented to sticks not HDDs. What mount options would you recommend for HDD? After all, I've seen recommendations to mount jffs for miniDLNA working, is that a MUST?
Quote:
@iMagic, besides the built-in bootstrap script egc mentioned (which is the most elaborate of the three options), there is Entware-ng and Optware-ng, which I've been running. The only weirdness I've found is with mixed execution when leaving the /opt paths at the end of PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH. Putting the /opt's first fixes this (otherwise the 'mount --binds' get ridiculous).
Can Entware and Optware be installed at the same time, or should? Isn't there some confusions between?
Quote:
With everything finally running like a normal router now, including access to all needed packages, I am done. ...
For the moment the router is on v24-sp2. Will it be recommended to upgrade to one of the last versions?
Joined: 19 May 2017 Posts: 20 Location: TN<>MI, US
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 14:50 Post subject:
Everything egc said (his guide is linked in the CFE post) plus, if running a hdd, be sure any spindown or head-parking delays are set to at least 30 seconds (the in-disk (flash) setting, nothing to do with the router).
For WD Green drives, which park the heads after only 8 seconds, I've used hdparm -J, though the recommendation is to use the native WD util. (That means booting Windwoes, which I avoid.) This *can* be done on the router, but I would use the PC. It only has to be done once:
Code:
sudo hdparm -J /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
wdidle3 = 8.0 secs
Code:
sudo hdparm -J 30 /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Use of -J is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
This implementation is not as thorough as the official WDIDLE3.EXE. Use at your own risk!
Please also supply the --please-destroy-my-drive flag if you really want this.
Program aborted.
Can Entware and Optware be installed at the same time, or should? Isn't there some confusions between?
Life *was* easier when there was only Optware.
In brief, these are only package management systems; scripts and pre-compiled programs. Due to version and included file differences, they are not necessarily compatible with each other. But this only comes into play with the "mixed execution" I referred to earlier, which is avoided by placing the /opt/... paths at the start of the PATH variables, as noted.
Since Optware-ng and, I believe, Entware-ng don't alter nvram (not sure of the native Entware bootstrap script), it should be possible to install each on separate partitions (of the same drive, if desired). 4 GB apiece is plenty (with larger partitions used for big data file storage).
Installation and operation is governed by which partition is mounted to /opt. There can be only one at any given time. _________________ My old self (phonetics-R-fun)
Last edited by u2n on Thu Jan 11, 2018 18:02; edited 3 times in total
Everything egc said (his guide is linked in the CFE post) plus, if running a hdd, be sure any spindown or head-parking delays are set to at least 30 seconds (the in-disk (flash) setting, nothing to do with the router).
...
There can be only one at any given time.
Thanks a lot!
The italic sentences were a bit confusing me, because...
In regard to HDD/USB flash - the code for mounting the storage in the u2ns post will mostly suit a flash drive mounting as it has the options noatime and nodiratime.
In regard to the second sentence, I assume that it is about mounts that can be only one at any given time to certain mount point. This is OK.
I've read the guide egc has attached to his post. Here I can say that you might want to decide what is better: to mount the partitions through command line or to let dd-wrt automount them.
If we mount via command line, then will it be better not to activate the packages like DLNA, torrents and others via web-page and install them manually?
If we mount via web-interface, shall there be one small partition jffs and one for the rest data or that should be the same partition?
You see, I'm trying to be very precise when I don't completely understand something. And if there is some controversial information I have to filter something and chose just one of two.
Cheers!
[UPDATE]
I cannot follow the guide published by egc as it is intended to work with automount and my router does not work correctly with automount. So this does not help me.
Remember? I'm on XVortex CFE. I've tried to flash a new localized CFE as close to u2n's guide as I can, but finally the USB 3.0 port still doesn't work correctly and there is no neither confirmation that I have flshed a correct CFE image.
[/UPDATE]
Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 22:10 Post subject: Re: Linksys EA6700 (EA6500v2) w/DD-WRT Totally Normal-No Qui
u2n wrote:
Linksys EA6700 (EA6500v2) with DD-WRT *Totally Normal*, No Quirks
For reference, I'm currently running Kong builds.
Anyone use this method and have trouble, please post.
I have installed the Kong's build from 11.04 - dd-wrt.v24-K3_AC_ARM_STD.bin. I've modified the script as follows:
Code:
for d in mbcache jbd2 crc16 ext3 ext4; do insmod $d; done
sleep 5
IFS="
"
xc="
echo 0000:00:0b.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/xhci_hcd/unbind
echo 0000:00:0b.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/xhci_hcd/bind
swapon /dev/sda2
mount -t ext3 -o rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered /dev/sda1 /opt
mount -t ext3 -o rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered /dev/sda3 /mmc
"
for x in $xc; do eval $x; sleep 2; done
The result resumes to next few rows:
Code:
sh: write error: No such device
sh: write error: No such device
swapon: /dev/sda2: No such device or address
mount: mounting /dev/sda1 on /opt failed: No such device or address
mount: mounting /dev/sda3 on /mmc failed: No such device or address
May it happen that CFE is not modded? Not sure whether I've taken the correct version for modding, it's the image cfe_u2n_12-17.bin from the archive attached to your post in which I modified mac addresses and the pass string. Also, for convenience I have modified the string for IP address from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.0.3, but this have no effect after flashing - on reset it goes to 192.168.1.1 every time. So, I assume that flashing CFE image had no effect. Am I right?
UPDATE
Just found out that there is no 0000:00:0b.0 in /sys/bus/pci/drivers/xhci_hcd but 0000:00:0c.0. So, changed the script and the result is:
Code:
-sh: eval: 0000:00:0c.0: not found
-sh: eval: syntax error: unexpected end of file
What happened?
UPDATE II
I have entered manually commands one by one with delays of a couple of seconds:
Code:
mount
echo 0000:00:0c.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/xhci_hcd/unbind
echo 0000:00:0c.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/xhci_hcd/bind
swapon /dev/sda2
mount -t ext3 -o rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered /dev/sda1 /opt
mount -t ext3 -o rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered /dev/sda3 /mmc
The first mount command was just to assure that there are no parts mounted before execution. What I've changed is the 0000:00:0c.0 instead of 0000:00:0b.0.
The execution returned no errors and the partitions had mounted. One can make the conclusion that the u2ns script itself is misspelled. Going to try a boot script based on this.
UPDATE III
A startup script based on previous manual commands was successful. The script is:
Code:
for d in mbcache jbd2 crc16 ext3 ext4; do insmod $d; done
sleep 5
IFS="
"
echo 0000:00:0c.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/xhci_hcd/unbind
echo 0000:00:0c.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/xhci_hcd/bind
sleep 5
swapon /dev/sda2
sleep 5
mount -t ext3 -o rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered /dev/sda1 /opt
sleep 5
mount -t ext3 -o rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered /dev/sda3 /mmc
But after a lot of experiments I have lost opkg
Now neither opkg or ipkg are not available.
Merde!
Joined: 19 May 2017 Posts: 20 Location: TN<>MI, US
Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:22 Post subject:
Merde? A friend from Grenoble exclaims this when spilling his coffee.
iMagic wrote:
...the code for mounting the storage in the u2ns post will mostly suit a flash drive mounting as it has the options noatime and nodiratime...
Actually the 'nodiratime' is not needed with noatime. And IIRC, the data=ordered is also superfluous when barrier=1 is used. They were left in as 'reminders'. (Not trying to clog up the mount line, honestly.)
For starters I would let the system mount the hdd and see what mount options it uses, then tweak as desired. (mount -t ext4 /dev/sda3 /mmc ... Also noticed you were using ext3; I've read ext4 is best.)
Others here with experience running hdd's may have advice.
iMagic wrote:
...In regard to the second sentence, I assume that it is about mounts that can be only one at any given time to certain mount point...
It's really about installation (will only install to /opt) and normal operation. It IS possible to call executables from any accessible source, but that nearly always leads to trouble.
iMagic wrote:
...you might want to decide what is better: to mount the partitions through command line or to let dd-wrt automount them ... If we mount via command line, then will it be better not to activate the packages like DLNA, torrents and others via web-page and install them manually? ...
The command line is often more flexible. You might try what's easiest (the GUI), then go to the CLI if more control is needed.
iMagic wrote:
...I've tried to flash a new localized CFE as close to u2n's guide as I can, but finally the USB 3.0 port still doesn't work correctly...
Actually, the incompatibility with the xhci-pci module (which is the one that throws all the errors) is part of the XV CFE tool itself. It's the workaround commands that allow a usb3 drive to mount.
If the WAN cable is plugged into the WAN port on the router (and the LAN ports are actually LAN ports), your bootloader update was successful.
iMagic wrote:
UPDATE III
A startup script based on previous manual commands was successful. The script is:
Code:
for d in mbcache jbd2 crc16 ext3 ext4; do insmod $d; done
sleep 5
IFS="
"
echo 0000:00:0c.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/xhci_hcd/unbind
echo 0000:00:0c.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/xhci_hcd/bind
sleep 5
swapon /dev/sda2
sleep 5
mount -t ext3 -o rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered /dev/sda1 /opt
sleep 5
mount -t ext3 -o rw,noatime,nodiratime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered /dev/sda3 /mmc
Glad you got this running. Surprised to learn your bus assignment is incremented by one. This is mine, and assumed all would be the same:
Code:
dmesg | grep 'xHCI Host Controller'
xhci_hcd 0000:00:0b.0: xHCI Host Controller
Guess I'll have to update the guide info, thanks. _________________ My old self (phonetics-R-fun)
Merde? A friend from Grenoble exclaims this when spilling his coffee.
Actually I don't speak French, I know just a few words.
u2n wrote:
iMagic wrote:
...you might want to decide what is better: to mount the partitions through command line or to let dd-wrt automount them ... If we mount via command line, then will it be better not to activate the packages like DLNA, torrents and others via web-page and install them manually? ...
The command line is often more flexible. You might try what's easiest (the GUI), then go to the CLI if more control is needed.
It is OK for me to use CLI as long as I know what I'm doing. But studying an Ubuntu or Debian is easier than dd-wrt. Anyway, what I tried to make you understand, is that there is a contradiction between the two methods: if you tweak the mounting as you have described, by disabling automount, then you cannot go on egc's guide, as he uses automount.
u2n wrote:
If the WAN cable is plugged into the WAN port on the router (and the LAN ports are actually LAN ports), your bootloader update was successful.
I didn't get your point - my router actually is just an AP with no direct connection to internet, as I have a second router that connects to internet.
u2n wrote:
Glad you got this running.
Finally, I have tried to revert to factory defaults and now I have a router with original firmware and perhaps original CFE, whose web page I cannot access due to a specific behavior - web page is stuck after logging in with continuously circling dots. But I'm so tired of it that I just gave up.
I think I'll go further with openmediavault on some cheap hardware - at least I can understand a debian-charged computer closely than a black box with a "don't know what" running on it.
P.S. BTW, I'd be very grateful for a guide how to gain access to my EA6700, - even a tftp flashing of the dd-wrt does not go. I imagine that the easiest way is to go over a "serial recovery", but I have no cable for this and an ebay purchase will last forever until I get it (as an alternative, I have a controller to connect to Arduino - will it assure a connection to the router's terminal plug?).
Cheers
(Sat Jun 13, 2015 10:27, p.13 in this topic)
Malachi, hope you're still available on this forum.
Will you please explain, what this bin exactly contains? Is it a "brand-new" stock CFE or is it a modified XVortex CFE?
P.S. BTW, I'd be very grateful for a guide how to gain access to my EA6700, - even a tftp flashing of the dd-wrt does not go. I imagine that the easiest way is to go over a "serial recovery", but I have no cable for this and an ebay purchase will last forever until I get it (as an alternative, I have a controller to connect to Arduino - will it assure a connection to the router's terminal plug?).
Cheers
I've managed to connect to the router by Arduino's USB2TTL.
Merde again!
Joined: 19 May 2017 Posts: 20 Location: TN<>MI, US
Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 16:07 Post subject:
@iMagic, the CFE that Malachi posted (which I linked and you referenced) is the original. Flashing it will restore the router to Linksys, with two OS partitions -- and the 32k NVRAM bug. (Be sure to edit the MACs and Secret before flashing.)
Sounds like you're having fun. While playing, you may wish to flash Tomato instead. It bypasses the NVRAM check so does not have the 32K bug.
To be clear, that would be the original CFE and Tomato, that's all. _________________ My old self (phonetics-R-fun)
@iMagic, the CFE that Malachi posted (which I linked and you referenced) is the original. Flashing it will restore the router to Linksys, with two OS partitions -- and the 32k NVRAM bug. (Be sure to edit the MACs and Secret before flashing.)
Sounds like you're having fun. While playing, you may wish to flash Tomato instead. It bypasses the NVRAM check so does not have the 32K bug.
To be clear, that would be the original CFE and Tomato, that's all.
Thanks u2n!
I'm definitely having fun with my router. It was a long, long day. Finally I had managed my router to work.
I have found a couple of USB2TTL adapters used for Arduino mini programming. This was a real break-through. This was a long experiment while I was learning to make it work. Inside the router there is a connector and we need just 3 pins connected: 1 - GND; 2 - TX; 4 - RX (or viceversa 3 and 4, here is a good enough picture). I had to do a trick, confirmed later, - the router must be started without GND, and immediately after plugging in the power, GND shall be connected. This way one gain access to CFE and OS.
A challenge was entering commands in router's OS - there were errors appearing every second, I had to enter the commands in notepad and paste it in the console. It took a lot of time to get a file from computer. I have used FileZilla as an FTP server after a lot of mangling with TFTPd.
Anyway, I needed to flash CFE before flashing an OS, so the only really useful command that I've entered was reboot - there is no mtd command in original Linksys FW to flash a CFE. BTW, logging in the stock FW's console is accomplished like in an ordinary SSH session by root and web password.
Next, I interrupted boot phase by hitting <Ctrl>+<C>. Here I had a surprise - help command works and it is useful enough. Although I didn't understand how exactly to use flash command. Show devices showed the list of devs in the flash, the entries dubbed in 2 zones. (Remember? Linksys EA6700 has dual flash and nvram.)
Browsing internet for real examples how to use flash command to flash the CFE I just tried the command flash : flash1.trx, and issued a tftp upload from computer of the original Malachi's CFE.
Stupid me! I thought I will flash the CFE itself.
Actually, right then the command had "bricked" the router as it wrote the CFE image in the FW zone. As a result the router didn't boot this image. Fortunately, there is the backup zone and router used to boot from it. My great surprise was that it booted up a dd-wrt v24 sp2!
At this time all the things got speeded up and I flashed the Malachi's CFE with all his (default?) nvram values. Then again tried to flash original FW and it didn't work. So, I just gave up and flashed Shibby Tomato from CFE by serial, with the same command as earlier: flash : flash1.trx and feeding the image by tftp from computer.
Looking at the console how Tomato is starting, I thought it is stuck but surprisingly the web interface showed and I was able to upgrade to Advanced Tomato from web.
Finally! I have my router back! Hallelujah!
A few words about Advanced Tomato. So far, it seems to be less heavy than dd-wrt. USB3 port is working, although I didn't test it's working conditions. After setting USB, NAS, DLNA, transmission and sharing, NVRAM is 50.89% out of 64k, but had an issue with 5GHz WiFi - sometimes it won't show up. After a reboot it reappears, but not sure for how long. Will be watching.
PS. Some thoughts that one shall consider regard CFE I will post separately.