15 Dec 08 Linksys WRT54G Serial Console

Adding a serial port to your Linksys WRT54G, WRT54GS, WRT54GL and probably a wide range more is really really easy. The only thing we need is a serial to ttl converter. I personally followed the guide right here: http://www.rwhitby.net/projects/wrt54gs – works perfectly, and very well laid out. This http://www.compsys1.com/workbench/On_top_of_the_Bench/Max233_Adapter/max233_adapter.html is where I purchased my MAX232 kit from.

MAX232

MAX232

This is the device in it’s entirety. Leave the “Ct/Rt” unconnected, and connect + (+5V), – (GND), Tx and Rx according to the guide. You can then use your favorite serial terminal client to connect using 11500,8N1. You’ll need a null modem cable (serial crossover) to connect. Now it’s been some time since I worked on the Linksys WRT range. The earlier versions allow for a full firmware flash, later versions have seriously crippled hardware and a proprietory OS (VxWorks), and as such as pretty useless to hobbyists. If soldering this tiny board is too much trouble, you can also get hold of a MAX2323CPE chip, which only needs 4 ceramic capacitors to do it’s job.

Tags: capacitor, linksys router, MAX232, max2323cpe, serial console, serial to ttl, wrt54g

01 Oct 08 APNIC Box – Linux on a Mikrotik 532a, Part 1 – The Device

I put this device together for fun sometime around the start of 2007. The ideas that spawned this was using OpenWRT on a Linksys WRT54G access point. A surprisingly powerful and full linux distro with all kinds of advanced capabilities running on a Linksys wireless router which I’d previously thought to be a reasonably dumb device with computing power more comparable to a calculator than a PC. The project opened my eyes to embedded devices, and I wondered what device base I should start with. To cut a long story short and for reasons that I can’t even remember anymore I came across the Mikrotik Routerboard 532A and decided that I should start with that.

Conception

Here’s a picture of the device from the outside with some labels, view the full image to see them.

1. Status LEDs. Blue at the bottom left shows it’s on, orange at the top right shows that there’s wifi activity.
2. Ethernet (eth0)
3. Standard Serial Console (57600, 8 N 1)
4. Ethernet (eth1)
5. Ethernet (eth2)

(more…)

Tags: adsl2+, APNIC, APNIC Box, distro, ethernet, isp, linksys router, Linux, Linux routing, modem, openwrt, picolcd, public IP, redundancy, routerboard 532a, serial console, switch