Linux on the NSLU2

+

Brian A. Lantz
Last updated,

This page (and possibly others to be added at a later date) is a log of information about the Linksys NSLU2. This device is a very small network storage device that has Linux as its operating system. It is inexpensive (less than $100), readily available, and just BEGGING for exploration and exploitation ;-)......

At this time, there seems to be only ONE OTHER NSLU2 project page on the Internet, by Jim Buzbee. I will NOT make any conscious effort to duplicate his information here, so I suggest taking both his page and this one as loosly connnected effort. We are in communications and are cooperating together.

Updates


13 August 2004

For further updates and info, I'm now using a Weblog for NSLU and other things important to ME

8 August 2004

I've posted my 'splitnslu' utility for others to use in exploring the magic trailer bytes. Once we decode these, we can use this utility to make custom images.

25 July 2004

Since Jim is already investigating other applications to run on the NSLU2, I have decided to take the other avenue of approach. I have taken the time, and have successfully 'cracked' the installation binaries.

The Linksys offical firmware (v2.3r24) provided a 'patient' to put under the knife. I have discovered how to slice and dice the binary into it's component parts. The ramdisk portion can be gunziped, modified, re-gziped, and made into a new binary installation package.

The BAD NEWS..... There seems to be a trailer to the file (in the last 16 bytes) that contain the version/release info AND ALSO some checksum-type of info, that I HAVEN'T cracked, yet. If you load a modified binary to your NSLU2, it seems to update ok (or so it says). BUT when it restarts, you can't talk to it anymore.....

The modified code I added to the new image all does as expected, but (for some reason) the ethernet seems deaf. Thank goodness for the local stores' liberal exchange policies ;-)

More on this as I have more time to explore.

My approach to the NSLU2 is that the /share/hdd/conf data should be left alone, and I also am not planning to add executables to the binary firmware, just hooks to allow a changable 'rc.local' file to run on boot. I am creating new directories '/share/hdd/data/etc' and '/share/hdd/data/bin' and placing new files there.


Brian A. Lantz brian@lantz.com