Installing Entware

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Revision as of 03:46, 7 August 2018 by Ian5142 (Talk | contribs)
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Contents


Introduction

What is Entware? It is a software repository for embedded devices like routers or network attached storages. >1800 packages are available. It was founded as an alternative to very outdated Optware packages. Within five years of development several Entware forks were born to run on NASes, PCs and new ARM routers. Now x86, x64, MIPS, MIPSEL, ARMv5 and ARMv7 forks are merged into Entware. It's maintained by the same team as Entware before. See more here: Entware on Github

A list of Entware packages is here, this list is for ARMv7, but it is most likely similar for all architectures.

Feel free to ask for new packages here, if your request will be supported by one or more users, it will be added to the repo. Be ready to provide feedback about the package you requested.

Preparation

  1. Log in to the router's GUI, go to the USB page (Services - USB), Make sure Core USB Support, USB Storage and Automatic Drive Mount are all enabled. If one or more are not, enable them and click apply.
  2. On your computer plug in the USB stick or harddrive, reformat the USB stick or harddrive using a program like Partition Wizard (Windows) or GParted (Linux). Make sure the format of the drive is ext2 for a USB stick, or ext3 or NTFS if it is a harddrive, Primary, not Logical. Label should be Optware if you want it to mount automatically.
    • Center Click image to enlarge.
  3. (Optional) Install an ext driver on Windows (http://www.ext2fsd.com/), helpful for troubleshooting.
  4. Determine the architecture of the router you are using.
    Broadcom is mipsel
    Atheros is mips
    Newer dual-core routers are ARMv7
    eg: Netgear R7800 (QCA wireless), or Linksys WRT1900AC (Marvell based wireless).
    Make a note of this for later. If you can't determine the architecture to use, ask in the forums.
    Note: if the router is using a Linux 4.X kernel (you can check this on the Status page), Entware-3X may not work.



Installation

  1. Plug in the USB stick or harddrive into the router. The router 'may' have to be rebooted. Check Services – USB to see if it shows up. Make a note of the current mount point, ex: /tmp/mnt/sda_part1, should be /opt if you did the above correctly.
  2. Open up a putty (SSH) terminal to the router. Type in the following commands using the mount point above:
cd /opt (click enter)
wget {link to std install script for your router} (click enter)
sh generic.sh (click enter)


For MIPS based devices (Atheros, not dual core), this will be:

cd /opt (click enter)
wget http://bin.entware.net/mipssf-k3.4/installer/generic.sh (click enter)
sh generic.sh (click enter)


For MIPSEL based devices (Broadcom, not dual core), this:

cd /opt (click enter)
wget http://bin.entware.net/mipselsf-k3.4/installer/generic.sh (click enter)
sh generic.sh (click enter)


For dual-core routers, ARMv7 based, this:

cd /opt (click enter)
wget http://bin.entware.net/armv7sf-k3.2/installer/generic.sh (click enter)
sh generic.sh (click enter)


  • NOTE: if you get nslookup: can't resolve 'bin.entware.net' then most likely your /etc/resolv.conf file has only a local nameserver entry (nameserver 192.168.1.1)
edit your /etc/resolv.conf file insert nameserver 8.8.8.8 save the file, and repeat your wget


  • The third command from above sh generic.sh runs the install script which downloaded several files from the internet and set up Entware. It will most likely show several packages that have no valid architecture, just ignore them. These will show up when any opkg command is run.


When installation is complete, run an update:

opkg update (click enter)
opkg upgrade (click enter)


The Final Step is to add the following commands to the start-up script (Administration tab - then Commands). The sleep value can be adjusted, but 10 is long enough for most USB Harddrives/routers:

sleep 10
/opt/etc/init.d/rc.unslung start


Note: Don’t add anything to the PATH or LD_LIBRARY_PATH variables, they already include the /opt locations of the necessary folders.


Note: Be aware that routers have limited RAM and some have a weak CPU, do not expect a $10 or $20 device to be able to handle torrenting (Transmission) for example.


Installation Completed

You are now ready to install any Entware packages you want. See this link for the Package List for MIPSEL, most likely the same for all architectures.


Note: you can also run opkg list from your router's command line, to see a list of packages.



Package Installation

Before Installing packages run an update, then do the install:

opkg update (click enter)
opkg install (name of package) (click enter)

Note: Package upgrades can fail when dependencies are changed. The Entware Wiki note says to uninstall and reinstall the package Note about pkg upgrades

Entware Wiki

Please also see the Entware Wiki page for more information



Upgrading DD-WRT

Before upgrading DD-WRT, it is best to remove the Entware drive, or at least disable USB support. Upgrading DD-WRT should not cause any problem to your Entware installation, so long as the devs do not change the PATH or LD_LIBRARY_PATH variables mentioned above. After upgrading, just plug the drive back in or enable USB support again. Then open a SSH terminal and issue the following commands:

opkg update (click enter)
opkg upgrade (click enter)