Darren Kitchen Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 This seems to be a reoccurring topic so I'll go ahead and post links to the resources you'll need to check out. The basic idea is that you can access redboot or a bash console from the serial port on the fon. The important bits to note here are that a RS-232 to TTL level converter is necessary. You can't simply plug a USB or serial cable into the fon -- the voltage difference will make for a pissed off pineapple. This adapter can come in board or cable form and can be easily hacked out of cell phone usb cables, build with simple electronics on a bread board, or purchased for under $10. The other important thing note here is that the Fon won't boot if the serial cable is plugged in. Just power on and plug the cable in a second or two later. Some good reads: http://www.digininja.org/fon_serial/ http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/LaFon...rial-Cable-Port http://microblog.routed.net/2007/02/14/how...evel-converter/ http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=63256#63256 http://www.google.com/products?q=serial+TT...r&scoring=p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomClown Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Ahh, so it was bricked. That haxed serial port looks like an awesome add-on. Might as well do it instead of the cell phone charger one. :D Thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xakep Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 You for got to add http://www.fonerahacks.com/index.php/Tutor...SB-Adapter.html To your link list. It's a good Tutorial! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donito Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 I was able to gain console access by using the serial cable I had built for my NSLU2. I had to use all four pins which includes the VCC pin because the MAX232 adapter requires the 3.3 volts. You can pick up the adapter from Compsys for $20. Just order A232DBH3v (Max232 RS232 I/O 3 volt Assembled with hood kit). All you need to do is solder 4 wires to it and it's ready to use. I used an old cdrom audio cable that I cut one end off for soldering to the connector. The other end will already have the pins to connect to the serial port on Fon. Here's what the cable looks like connected to my NSLU2: http://www.siliconempire.net/images/nslu2serial.jpg http://www.siliconempire.net/images/nslu2b.jpg Ref: http://www.rwhitby.net/projects/nslu2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomClown Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I put off debricking my Fon for a while now because the steps to access the Fon looked far to advanced for me. I am on break from college, so I have plenty of time to learn new things. Can anyone help me out with debricking? I have the wires connected to the Fon [except ground]. The debricking guides say I need a bunch of software with like a billion options...[like cygwin] I got Cygwin, but have no idea how to use it. Thats all I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 When you plug your serial cable into your machine it will get assigned a COM port. Use PuTTY, choose serial connection and that serial port Plug RX and TX cables into the Fon Power on the Fon Give it a second and plug in Ground Hit enter in the PuTTY session a couple of times and you should see a Redboot message asking you to hit control C. If you want to get into Redboot, hit Control C. If you just want to get to the console, wait and let it boot. You will be straight in with no password. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomClown Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Ohh forgot to check this thread; Thanks for your reply! So, I plugged in the cable, & was able to open a Putty session. I hit enter many times, but nothing happened. I dont have Red Boot installed on my computer, if it is required. [the config got confusing] EDIT: Wait, RedBoot doesnt belong on the computer does it? Well, as you can see, I am a hardware haxing noob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 How did you open the putty session? Did you use the right com port? I've no idea what the port is labelled in windows, probably com4 upwards if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xyzzy Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 fon console using USB serial: My laptop doesn't have an old style RS232 connector so the simplest arrangement is to connect the fon's serial pins to an FTDI serial-to-USB converter. Here's a $15 item from SparkFun: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_i...products_id=718 Connect RxD, TxD and ground from the fon to this device (swapping TxD and RxD), connect with a USB cable to your computer and you have a virtual serial port. Most Linux distros will have the required drivers standard, but Windows requires loading of FTDI drivers: http://www.ftdichip.com/FTDrivers.htm Works great with my Vista laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomClown Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 wOOT Installing the driver got me a connection! Now this is progress! I dunno what to do after though. :D I was following a guide [Link] & got stuck at step 3. I downloaded the program & 2 other files, then typed "load -r -b %{FREEMEMLO} openwrt-atheros-vmlinux.lzma" into Redboot. I got back "Can't load 'openwrt-athrtos-vmlinux.lzma': some sort of network error". Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 It means you haven't set up your IP addresses properly. If you are on a Fon you need to have your machine on 192.168.1.1, if you are on a Fon+ or Fon2 you need it to be on 192.168.1.254. Then make sure you have your tftp server running and can grab the files you are requesting from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomClown Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Ohh, I see. I never set my IP. *Fixed Now I am stuck at Step 9. I did reset from step 8 & nothing seems different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 What do you mean by stuck, step 9 is just brining the Fon back up with the OpenWrt install on it. You now have a working OpenWrt machine. For me, the next step would be either telneting in and setting the root password or doing it through the serial connection. After that just use OpenWrt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomClown Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 This is what I did. STEP 8, reboot STEP 9, wait until fs is created == Executing boot script in 10.000 seconds - enter ^C to abort RedBoot> I waited, but only got the Redboot> thing. The guide says I should get this: ... br-lan: port 1(eth0) entering learning state br-lan: topology change detected, propagating br-lan: port 1(eth0) entering forwarding state PPP generic driver version 2.4.2 jffs2_scan_eraseblock(): End of filesystem marker found at 0x0 jffs2_build_filesystem(): unlocking the mtd device... done. jffs2_build_filesystem(): erasing all blocks after the end marker... done. mini_fo: using base directory: / mini_fo: using storage directory: /jffs Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Don't hit ctrl-c, that is to get you into redboot. You want to leave it and let it boot into the OS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomClown Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 No, I didnt hit Ctrl+C. :( Does the Fon know to boot OpenWRT? or did I have to set it to? I didnt see any steps for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 == Executing boot script in 10.000 seconds - enter ^C to abort If you are getting this message and then after 11 seconds of you not touching anything it is dropping to a redboot shell then you need to do this to tell it to load and execute the OS you just installed. RedBoot> fconfig Run script at boot: true Boot script: Enter script, terminate with empty line >> fis load -l vmlinux.bin.l7 >> exec >> Boot script timeout (1000ms resolution): 2 Use BOOTP for network configuration: false Gateway IP address: Local IP address: 192.168.1.1 Local IP address mask: 255.255.255.0 Default server IP address: 192.168.1.254 Console baud rate: 9600 GDB connection port: 9000 Force console for special debug messages: false Network debug at boot time: false Update RedBoot non-volatile configuration - continue (y/n)? y ... Erase from 0xa87e0000-0xa87f0000: . ... Program from 0x80ff0000-0x81000000 at 0xa87e0000: . RedBoot> reset This will be a one off thing, after this it should reboot and drop into openwrt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomClown Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Its alive!!! The code worked! Thanks super much for your help! Your a genius with this stuff huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Only from reading loads and taking plenty of notes when thing both work and fail! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powertrip48613 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Permanent Serial Port Install Well i bricked my Fon + after trying to put Jasager on it. Me and my buddies installed this cool Permanent Serial port http://0101lounge.com/2009/06/welcome-to-0...rdpress/#more-3 Need details-Ryan@0101lounge.com www.0101lounge.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I assume the button breaks the ground contact for booting. I like that idea and may build it into my next cable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genroxbro Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 I created a couple of shares w/o restrictions and enabled CIFS, HTTP/S and FTP/S. On the Standard Files Protocol menu I have turned on FTP access, Port 21, User Authentication. I can get to the shares via CIFS, also via HTTP, but cannot get to the shares via FTP. Both the ReadyNAS and the desktop are on the same LAN. Any Ideas? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I created a couple of shares w/o restrictions and enabled CIFS, HTTP/S and FTP/S. On the Standard Files Protocol menu I have turned on FTP access, Port 21, User Authentication. I can get to the shares via CIFS, also via HTTP, but cannot get to the shares via FTP. Both the ReadyNAS and the desktop are on the same LAN. Any Ideas? Thanks Wrong thread, but you will also need to open up port 20(and 21) for ftp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seshan Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Is the ground problem only on the 2200, I'm on the 2100 and I seem to get into redboot with ground already connected. I want to solder my cable and I was going to put a little switch in it on the ground wire, but if I don't need to I won't. Also, when I get into redboot, what should I do :| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 The ground thing is hit and miss, sometimes the Fon will boot with it connected, other times it won't. Without it connected though you won't be able to transmit commands so you have to have it connected to send ctrl-c and get into redboot. Once in redboot do whatever you want - http://sourceware.org/redboot/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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