getting started

I have an enormous amount of time on my hands due to health issues and am always looking for things to engage my mind. I am interested in learning how to do all this stuff (don't even know what you really call it) unlocking devices and installing linux on them to re-purpose them or add features.

Any suggestions on what to read to get started?

I have a few modems and routers I picked up at good will for $3 a piece so I think they would be a great place to start on as it wont cost a lot when I break them.

Thanks

Welcome to a unique website with a special chemistry :-) Thanks to you I incline from newb to sophomore LOL
I too have some health challenges and frequent Goodwill and other thrift stores. But I'm trained in Windows at a Uni and not so much Linux that I remember the next day.

For me it all came together after heart surgery 2 years ago. I scored routers and hospital ThinClients at thrift stores and started to learn which routers could run DDWRT. I had a goal to make some hodgepodge between a home cloud and network attached storage. A year and a half ago someone mentioned a Pogoplug E02 and that it could be hacked to run Arch. I did that with help here (Qui's website had cool additional helps), but Arch frustrated me; I'm not the mindset to work it but I get why propellerhead-types do. Then it was somewhere between Gravelrash and bodhi it was made known that you could run Debian, and add an RDP desktop in a pinch over LAN (at 4 watts!), and I got lots of torrent goodness (well that's WebUI not so much needing RDP).

We've overclocked a Pogplug 4, we've done all kinds of crazy stuff here, and even SAMBA with a Pogoplug and USB 2.0 is significantly faster than my D-Link USB 3 router with USB 3 storage!

Also, the more I learn about routers and the things at Goodwill, sometimes I'll spy a notoriously bad product that you can't flash better firmware and it's stuck with ports open - and I'll buy it just to rip out the heatsinks and throw it away; spare someone else from buying something with bad juju.

So probably everyone who is here has an idea what they want out of little hackable devices, and has their own way of learning. My learning usually is real slow, then the Aha! moment and all's good.

But I'd like to order Linux for Dummies one of these days and be that way :-)

So welcome, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I forget health problems when there's meaningful progress and I enjoy being here and thank those who've helped me.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2016 11:49PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

feas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have an enormous amount of time on my hands due
> to health issues and am always looking for things
> to engage my mind. I am interested in learning how
> to do all this stuff (don't even know what you
> really call it) unlocking devices and installing
> linux on them to re-purpose them or add features.
>
All of the above. But, I do think to re-purpose an item will be more appropriate, YMMV.

> Any suggestions on what to read to get started?
>
If you are already a Linux user with skills, then I believe anything related to a Linux embedded system, i.e. LEDE, OpenWRT (ToH), etc., will be a good start.

> I have a few modems and routers I picked up at
> good will for $3 a piece so I think they would be
> a great place to start on as it wont cost a lot
> when I break them.
>
I may be wrong, but if these are a broadband modem with a built-in router, chances are you will only be able to re-purpose the router part as the modem part is mostly proprietary with almost no open-source code. OTOH, if you are able to hack the firmware to add more software to it, then that will be a good start to re-purpose the hardware.

If you had a 4G Systems MTX-1 MeshCube with OpenWRT (probably LEDE), you certainly can repurpose it. You can even turn it into a VoIP PBX system by adding Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, YATE, etc. Since it only has a 64 MB RAM, I would go with Asterisk, YMMV.

JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
@JoeyPogoPlugE02

haha, thanks.... I think. not too keen on the HS reference, lets pretend it's night school and you took the course last semester or something.

I started with suns and hp's back in the early 90's and had about 50 systems I was responsible for until mid 2000.
It was more a part time job cause someone had to do it. I did enjoy it though. I have been running various nix's on my home system ever since. I have pretty much settled with Debian for some time as the other distros make my head hurt with some of the commands names. I do try others in vm's at times just out of curiosity but thats where they stay. I still get mixed up with using old sun and hp commands at times, guess thats the start of the downward slope.

> but I forget health problems when there's
> meaningful progress and I enjoy being here and
> thank those who've helped me.

I know what you mean sometimes it just wont let you think right. At least thats my excuse I am holding tight to.

Thanks for the welcome.


@habibie

I would brag that my linux skills are moderate when there are hot women around but in truth I have probably forgotten as much as I learned and thankfully there is google now instead of man pages and cursing till the we hours of the morning.

I guess it is age but the commands seem to keep changing on me.

The modems are Netgear b90-7550's (an ADSL modem/router with wifi) I really only picked them up cause they had usb ports in the backs and wanted to see if I could get them to be wireless network storage. WRT is a nogo as is tomato and the likes. They don't give a login prompt with the serial cable nor do they have telenet or ssh enabled. I even tried some SQL injection but no luck. Best I have found involves JTAG and soldering which is a problem for me. So I figured the next step is trying to edit the firmware and or shorting some leads before the shotgun gets them.
This as I said originally is an interesting topic and helps provide a distraction.

I do have a few wireless router that can be flashed with WRT but that isn't very time consuming and am holding back on those for now. Thanks for the suggestions will bookmark them and get started reading. Any cheaply acquired tools besides multimeter, soldering iron and shotgun I should look around for?

definitely i would invest in a usb to TTL convertor.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=usb+to+ttl&_sop=15

two with different chipsets if you can stretch to it. but one is fine :)

this is what i bought when i enabled ssh on my E02.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F167PWE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

i own the same.

I use this inexpensive PL2303 USB To RS232 TTL Converter to interface my Linux embedded devices, i.e. PogoPlug Pro 02, Seagate GoFLEX Home/Net, etc., to one of the USB ports on my Linux debian computer. I haven't encountered a problem with this, yet.

I've got two of roughly what Habibie has but I still need meaningful connectors - stock ones are too thick for Pogoplug so any recommendations I'll put on front-burner ToDo list.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-

The reason I ordered the PL2303 USB To RS232 TTL Converter because I already have this CDROM cable which fits right into the serial pins on both PogoPlug, Seagate GoFlEX Home/Net, and Seagate DockStar. Just need to make sure the TX/RX pins are correct.

feas,

You got a good basic start already with serial console connected to the Pogo E02! The most funedmental step in understanding embdedd Linux devices: studying the serial boot log. Eventhough you have not learned about various SoCs and what they are, the concept is basically the same:
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,19093

From there, try to understand the u-boot envs used in booting the kernel (bootargs and bootcmd). The way u-boot envs works. How do you substitute each variable (they work like a very primitive Linux shell script, or macro).

The first basic questions for learners when looking at a new box: is there a Linux system for the same or similar SoC already built somewhere (this forum is a good place to start)?. Can it be loaded into a USB drive and boot this box? How do I modify u-boot envs to boot that? Answer to these questions require you to learn various high level aspects of the hardware and existing firmware, and serial console is an absolute must. From here, when you dig deeper, new questions arise: how do I make this box run like a $200 NAS? is there newer u-boot that works on this SoC somewhere? (this forum is a good place to start). And lots, lots of google searches.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

feas Wrote:
> The modems are Netgear b90-7550's (an ADSL
> modem/router with wifi) I really only picked them
> up cause they had usb ports in the backs and
> wanted to see if I could get them to be wireless
> network storage. WRT is a nogo as is tomato and
> the likes. They don't give a login prompt with the
> serial cable nor do they have telenet or ssh
> enabled. I even tried some SQL injection but no
> luck. Best I have found involves JTAG and
> soldering which is a problem for me. So I figured
> the next step is trying to edit the firmware and
> or shorting some leads before the shotgun gets
> them.
> This as I said originally is an interesting topic
> and helps provide a distraction.
>
Firmware source code for these units is available depending on the exact model. For the B90-755044-15 you want 755044-15 source for the B90-755025-15 you want 755025-15 source..

Ray

rayknight Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Firmware source code for these units is available depending on the exact model. For the B90-755044-15 you want 755044-15 source for the B90-755025-15 you want 755025-15 source..
>
It will be great if the source has also included the DSL modem driver source code.

@ Ray
Thanks for looking for the firmware. I had already downloaded them and looked around. Seems to me they are all set to up to compile when you load them. What I am trying to figure out is can I just drop in ssh or something and how to get it to enable a root shell which does not exist currently. It has a timer count down to booting but as it stands now I cant seem to find a way to interupt that process.
My latest finding http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/text/Remote-Serial-Console-HOWTO seems to indicate that I may be able to send a file to the device over the serial connection at boot. I am trying to determine if this may be an avenue to getting a shell but I would think if it was possible it would have been done and I cant find anything indicating that. JTAG seems to be the only means that I have found and with my crappy sight and arm issue it doesnt seem likely for me.

Either way mission one (distraction) is being obtained.

@bodhi

Thanks for outlining a process for starting and the help you have been providing with my problems. You definatly provide an example for what I want to be when I grow up.

feas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> @ Ray
> Thanks for looking for the firmware. I had already
> downloaded them and looked around. Seems to me
> they are all set to up to compile when you load
> them. What I am trying to figure out is can I just
> drop in ssh or something and how to get it to
> enable a root shell which does not exist
> currently. It has a timer count down to booting
> but as it stands now I cant seem to find a way to
> interupt that process.
> My latest finding
> http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/text/Remote-Serial-Conso
> le-HOWTO seems to indicate that I may be able to
> send a file to the device over the serial
> connection at boot.

It's UART booting.

Quote
u-boot relase thread
Last Updated 19 June 2016

I've uploaded 2016.05-tld-1 U-Boot images for Pogo E02, GoFlexNet, GoFlex Home, Dockstar, Pogo V4/Mobile, iConnect, Netgear Stora, Sheevaplug, NSA320, NSA325, NSA310S/320S, NSA310, and HP-T5325.

......

Important Note: If possible, try to test this boot image with UART booting before flashing to NAND. See davygravy's UART booting using kwboot instruction here in this thread. The latest u-boot image released here should be used for UART booting, if your box is the type that supports it (these do not: Dockstar, Pogo E02, iConnect).

> am trying to determine if
> this may be an avenue to getting a shell but I
> would think if it was possible it would have been
> done and I cant find anything indicating that.
> JTAG seems to be the only means that I have found
> and with my crappy sight and arm issue it doesnt
> seem likely for me.
>
> Either way mission one (distraction) is being
> obtained.
>

Yes. But the Pogo E02 does not support UART booting, so you have found that and use regular serial console on the other thread.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

bodhi Wrote:
>
> It's UART booting.
>

>
> Yes. But the Pogo E02 does not support UART
> booting, so you have found that and use regular
> serial console on the other thread.


I was referring to the modems that I mentioned previously.
I read about the UART was not for the E02 and used the one below that for my plug.