Unable to complete Initial Setup for Brand New Tetra

[muckmuckmuck]

Hi, 

I have a brand new Tetra, but when I tried to set it up, I wasn't able to get past the very first screen where it asks me to disable the radio by clicking the reset button quickly. No matter what I click, nothing happens. I've tried 1 second, 7 seconds, 30 seconds, all have no effect. 

I decided to try updating firmware from the Serial CLI using "sysupgrade", which worked well. I'm not at the latest firmware. However, now the serial port is asking for a username and password, which it wasn't before. So now, not only can I not do the web UI setup, but I am also locked out of the command line because I don't know what the default root password is. 

I'm hoping for two things 

1 - Longer term - Is this device broken? it seems that if I can't use the reset button thats a bad thing. I could bring it by defcon or b sides if someone from Hak 5 will be there to either repair or exchange it. 

2 - Short term, I'd really like to get this thing going, Can someone give me instructions/credentials to get logged in via the serial port, and bypass the setup which requires pressing the reset button? 

 

Thanks!

[Foxtrot]

Welcome to the forums!

For the serial, try root:pineapplesareyummy (I don't know if that will work, though)

It sounds like the button isn't actually clicking. Have you tried proceeding with WiFi enabled too?

[dood2]

Seems like a lot are having issues with their tetra related to the button.

Sucks you are having issues, my button works so I was able get things going.  

 

The password pineapplesareyummy is not correct default root pw anymore.  I'm still playing around with mine but no go on the eth1 port.  Hopefully they can add a recovery firmware chip next time in the 7th gen. 

[muckmuckmuck]

1 hour ago, dood2 said:

Seems like a lot are having issues with their tetra related to the button.

Sucks you are having issues, my button works so I was able get things going.  

 

The password pineapplesareyummy is not correct default root pw anymore.  I'm still playing around with mine but no go on the eth1 port.  Hopefully they can add a recovery firmware chip next time in the 7th gen. 

Agreed, that is not the default root password anymore (I had tried that earlier). 

 

3 hours ago, Foxtrot said:

Welcome to the forums!

For the serial, try root:pineapplesareyummy (I don't know if that will work, though)

It sounds like the button isn't actually clicking. Have you tried proceeding with WiFi enabled too?

I can't continue with wifi enabled, it wants me to press quickly or for 3 seconds to proceed. no other options. As a side editorial note, this setup seems overly complicated and not really necessary. I don't mean overly complicated as in "It's too difficult", but more "this is prone to fail because its delicate, and full of pitfalls". Thanks to the reset buttons, USB Ethernet requirements, and lack of any even semi detailed documentation, this has been a less than stellar user experience.

Also, my post should have said "I'm now at the latest firmware", instead of "I'm not at the latest firmware"

 

[Foxtrot]

The only thing I can think of is either you aren't clicking the button fully (don't take this as an insult) or that the button is not working hardware wise.

[sud0nick]

5 hours ago, muckmuckmuck said:

I can't continue with wifi enabled, it wants me to press quickly or for 3 seconds to proceed. no other options. As a side editorial note, this setup seems overly complicated and not really necessary. I don't mean overly complicated as in "It's too difficult", but more "this is prone to fail because its delicate, and full of pitfalls". Thanks to the reset buttons, USB Ethernet requirements, and lack of any even semi detailed documentation, this has been a less than stellar user experience.

There's plenty of documentation.  If your Reset button is broken then no amount of documentation in the world would fix it.  Allow me to direct you to the wiki.  Between the wiki and these forums everything has been documented.  I really don't think the setup is complicated at all but the reason it's more complicated than previous versions of the Pineapple is security.

Now I know this may be just a matter of semantics but you stated

9 hours ago, muckmuckmuck said:

...disable the radio by clicking the reset button quickly. No matter what I click, nothing happens. I've tried 1 second, 7 seconds, 30 seconds, all have no effect.

I assume by click you meant push the physical reset button on the Pineapple?  I'm sure that's what you meant but I feel for troubleshooting purposes I have to ask.

[Sebkinne]

13 hours ago, muckmuckmuck said:

1 - Longer term - Is this device broken? it seems that if I can't use the reset button thats a bad thing. I could bring it by defcon or b sides if someone from Hak 5 will be there to either repair or exchange it. 

It does sound like your physical reset button is defective. Sadly, we will unlikely be able to do the exchange at Defcon, but we might be able to make it work. Please email support@hak5.org. 

 

13 hours ago, muckmuckmuck said:

2 - Short term, I'd really like to get this thing going, Can someone give me instructions/credentials to get logged in via the serial port, and bypass the setup which requires pressing the reset button? 

These credentials are randomized for security reasons, so I cannot help you there.

 

9 hours ago, muckmuckmuck said:

As a side editorial note, this setup seems overly complicated and not really necessary. I don't mean overly complicated as in "It's too difficult", but more "this is prone to fail because its delicate, and full of pitfalls". Thanks to the reset buttons, USB Ethernet requirements, and lack of any even semi detailed documentation, this has been a less than stellar user experience.

You are not required to plug in via the USB ethernet port at all - you can simply connect over wireless. The idea behind the reset button is to let you choose. Turning off the radios is in YOUR interest, depending on where you use / setup your WiFi Pineapple. It also ensures that setup cannot proceed without physical access to the device, and that if you are unsure of your surroundings, you can force setup to complete over the wired interface.

The issue is less documentation, as it is a simple broken reset button.

[muckmuckmuck]

34 minutes ago, Sebkinne said:

It does sound like your physical reset button is defective. Sadly, we will unlikely be able to do the exchange at Defcon, but we might be able to make it work. Please email support@hak5.org. 

 

These credentials are randomized for security reasons, so I cannot help you there.

 

You are not required to plug in via the USB ethernet port at all - you can simply connect over wireless. The idea behind the reset button is to let you choose. Turning off the radios is in YOUR interest, depending on where you use / setup your WiFi Pineapple. It also ensures that setup cannot proceed without physical access to the device, and that if you are unsure of your surroundings, you can force setup to complete over the wired interface.

The issue is less documentation, as it is a simple broken reset button.

Thanks for the response. I'm disappointed I can't do an exchange at defcon... 

Also, your post is an example of something that should be documented: There is no default password, instead it is randomized, and whats more, this changed from the OEM firmware to the updated firmware, so I should have changed it before upgrading the firmware. There isn't any CLI documentation at all that I've found. I appreciate the work you guys have put into this nifty little device, but I would prefer to have paid an extra $100 and have a site with comprehensive documentation. The wiki mentioned above has very little information. While reading through the forums I see I'm not the only one who has spent hours on just trying to get the thing setup, and that seems unnecessary. My suggestion, is to charge a few dollars more, and hire a technical writer to document everything. While the forums and youtube videos are helpful, that's not a good substitute for thorough documentation, because you have to filter through so much non relevant data to find what you're looking for, and it ends up frustrating. 

In future firmware versions I'd also like to see the RJ45 port default to a LAN connection, and during the setup process ask if the user wants to use it as a WAN connection (or, alternatively, documented on how to change it!). While USB ethernet works "most" of the time, regular old RJ45 ethernet will work ALL the time, and is a much more widely functional standard. 

I hope you don't take my critique as saying the product is a failure - just the opposite, it's awesome. But IMO it just needs some fine tuning, and I'd be willing to PAY for that fine tuning. 

P.S. Last complaint - I'm not the only one complaining about the reset button, you may have some hardware QA issues also :) 

[Sebkinne]

1 minute ago, muckmuckmuck said:

Thanks for the response. I'm disappointed I can't do an exchange at defcon... 

As I said, you are welcome to try.

 

1 minute ago, muckmuckmuck said:

Also, your post is an example of something that should be documented: There is no default password, instead it is randomized, and whats more, this changed from the OEM firmware to the updated firmware, so I should have changed it before upgrading the firmware.

Changing the password would have done nothing, as this is reset on firmware upgrade. You should never have to enter the CLI for initial setup, it's not intended behavior (in fact, the stager firmware should have serial locked down, but for factory testing purposes this is not the case). If you have faulty hardware, then normal operation simply will not work.

 

1 minute ago, muckmuckmuck said:

In future firmware versions I'd also like to see the RJ45 port default to a LAN connection, and during the setup process ask if the user wants to use it as a WAN connection (or, alternatively, documented on how to change it!). While USB ethernet works "most" of the time, regular old RJ45 ethernet will work ALL the time, and is a much more widely functional standard.

Due to future plans, this will not likely happen (plus, who still has an RJ45 port? ;)). You have the choice between USB ethernet (which as you said, works most of the time), or WiFi. One of those two things should work.

[Jethro]

Hello, I just received my Pineapple Tetra in the mail. I too am having an issue you may be able to help me with? In getting familiar with the Tetra I have been making sure all the features work. I pressed the rest button briefly to turn off the wireless radios. I know this worked perfectly because I noticed the Pineapple SSIDs dissapear from my list of current SSIDs in the neighborhood. So now I'm trying to turn the radios back on and for the last 45 minutes no such luck. I've tried to depress the rest button for 5 seconds, ten seconds, 30 seconds, a minute, etc. Nothing seems to work. I've use the end of a ballpoint pen to make sure I'm depressing the button fully instead of just doing it with my finger. Any ideas on how to turn the radios back on? Thanks.

[Jethro]

and I mean reset, dang phone auto corrected it to "rest."

[sud0nick]

So, just to clarify, you've set up the Pineapple, you're in the web interface and you can't get the radios to turn back on?

[mantidea]

I just received my WiFi Pineapple Tetra in the mail a couple days ago, and I've been frustrated for the past couple days trying to get the initial setup to work with no success. I always get stuck at the page on the website that asks me to press the reset button on the device. No matter how long I press this button, how many times I press it, etc., nothing seems to actually happen. I can see the WiFi Pineapples SSIDs and connect to them, but since my reset button doesn't work, I can't get through the initial setup no matter what I do.

Has anyone else had this issue and been able to fix it? Also, if this is a faulty reset button, I hope Hak5 will replace it... Otherwise, I will be the proud new owner of a very expensive paper weight.

[Sebkinne]

We have become aware of a manufacturing anomaly which has caused a small number of WiFi Pineapple TETRA buttons to "stick". 

Unfortunately this prevents the completion of the initial setup security process. Thankfully this can be remedied by the user with this simple procedure:

1. Follow the instructions at wifipineapple.com/tetra to flash the latest firmware.
2. When prompted to press the reset button, FIRMLY press and hold the dimple end of the reset button with a pen or similar instrument for 1-2 seconds.
3. Click the Continue link on the setup page.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 as necessary until setup continues.

See the following video guide for an illustration:
https://youtu.be/xe8E_xnM7SU

For the vast majority of users, this fix solves the button issue. If this does not for you, please let us know and we will begin the warranty process in order to exchange your WiFi Pineapple TETRA.

[Muscothym]

Eventually, I had to confirm whether the reset button worked or not. 
struggled to get any response at all so I tried:

 

Press and hold the reset button and click continue on the interface page at the same time. 
 

worked for me. maybe a bug.

[amyowl]

I ended up breaking off the little tab and using a small screwdriver to press the button underneath. It just wasn't making any contact with the tab in place. Hope this helps someone - a small price to pay, LOL

[Eloverflow]

Hello everyone,

Personally what finally worked for me was to install the oldest version of the firmware, from url: https://www.wifipineapple.com/downloads/tetra
*After that you can upgrade to the latest from the web interface.

Regards,
Eloverflow