RT-AC68U hostname conflict

[papaworx]

I feel like being in a vise between ASUS and Samsung. Neither support services prove knowledgeable.
I keep getting system error messages in the router log saying:
Aug 5 16:43:35 dnsmasq-dhcp[4097]: not giving name localhost to the DHCP lease of 192.168.1.120 because the name exists in /etc/hosts with address 127.0.0.1
The problem seems to be that Samsung has given its "Smart Hub" the hostname 'localhost'. I guess, nobody bothered to change the default. Now every time dnsmasq tries to look up that host, it conflicts with the generic localhost (127.0.0.1) of the router. Any suggestions?

 

[john9527]

Have your tried giving the Samsung TV a manually assigned IP and new name in the router gui (remember not to use any special characters in naming the TV)?

If that doesn't work, maybe Merlin's firmware with a dnsmasq.conf.add to reassign the name for the TV MAC address may work.

 

[papaworx]

Thank you for your suggestion. I have now tried it, to no avail. You can only change the name of a peripheral host, once it was detected, and by that time the dnsmasq had already complained, and complained subsequently. I did some poking around the router with putty. There is a resolv.conf file at three locations (see attached) and a single dnsmasq.conf file, but neither seems helpful.
I may install Merlin firmware, but I first have to understand things a little better. I feel comfortable on a Linux desktop, but the file architecture in these small utility machines seem daunting. It is like finding your way in a big city without a map.

 

[papaworx]

Have your tried giving the Samsung TV a manually assigned IP and new name in the router gui (remember not to use any special characters in naming the TV)?

If that doesn't work, maybe Merlin's firmware with a dnsmasq.conf.add to reassign the name for the TV MAC address may work.

Here is something else I tried to no avail: I manually defined the IP as 192.168.1.149 in DHCP linked to its MAC-id. Then I appended '192.168.1.149 Samsung' to the /etc/hosts file. When I turned on the TV, right away it read the first item in the hosts file, which is IP 127.0.0.1 and it balked. But moving the '192.168.1.149 Samsung' to the front of the hosts file really screwed things up.

 

[john9527]

Here is something else I tried to no avail: I manually defined the IP as 192.168.1.149 in DHCP linked to its MAC-id. Then I appended '192.168.1.149 Samsung' to the /etc/hosts file. When I turned on the TV, right away it read the first item in the hosts file, which is IP 127.0.0.1 and it balked. But moving the '192.168.1.149 Samsung' to the front of the hosts file really screwed things up.

Yes, that would be too late in the process....I'm not sure if this will work on stock ASUS firmware, but you might try this.....

edit /etc/dnsmasq.conf and add the following line at the end (filling in the TV mac)
dhcp-host=tv_mac_address,192.168.1.149,Samsung

then enter
killall dnsmasq
dnsmasq --log-async

 

[papaworx]

Yes, that would be too late in the process....I'm not sure if this will work on stock ASUS firmware, but you might try this.....

edit /etc/dnsmasq.conf and add the following line at the end (filling in the TV mac)
dhcp-host=tv_mac_address,192.168.1.149,Samsung

then enter
killall dnsmasq
dnsmasq --log-async

Thanks, did that. But it doesn't seem to help. Here are the corresponding log lines:
Aug 7 08:26:08 rc_service: service 9116:notify_rc restart_dnsmasq
Aug 7 08:26:08 dnsmasq[9121]: warning: interface ppp1* does not currently exist
Aug 7 08:26:08 dnsmasq-dhcp[9121]: not giving name localhost to the DHCP lease of 192.168.1.149 because the name exists in /etc/hosts with address 127.0.0.1

 

[snb008]

May I ask, what is the model number of your Samsung TV? And, are you connecting it wirelessly or by ethernet cable to the router?

 

[john9527]

Thanks, did that. But it doesn't seem to help. Here are the corresponding log lines:
Aug 7 08:26:08 rc_service: service 9116:notify_rc restart_dnsmasq
Aug 7 08:26:08 dnsmasq[9121]: warning: interface ppp1* does not currently exist
Aug 7 08:26:08 dnsmasq-dhcp[9121]: not giving name localhost to the DHCP lease of 192.168.1.149 because the name exists in /etc/hosts with address 127.0.0.1

I was afraid that might happen....the system detected that dnsmasq was killed and restarted it automatically (rc restart_dnsmasq). This will wipe out the edit you made to dnsmasq.conf. You'll have to move to a Merlin firmware to try again.

On Merlin, you would make a new file in /jffs/configs named dnsmasq.conf.add with the single dhcp-hosts line in it.....then reboot.

 

[papaworx]

May I ask, what is the model number of your Samsung TV? And, are you connecting it wirelessly or by ethernet cable to the router?

UN40JU6700FXZC; wirelessly.

 

[papaworx]

I was afraid that might happen....the system detected that dnsmasq was killed and restarted it automatically (rc restart_dnsmasq). This will wipe out the edit you made to dnsmasq.conf. You'll have to move to a Merlin firmware to try again.

On Merlin, you would make a new file in /jffs/configs named dnsmasq.conf.add with the single dhcp-hosts line in it.....then reboot.

I guess, you are right. I am still a bit hesitant of really mucking around in an appliance OS. But then, worst case, I can always do a factory reset. Can you recommend a "Merlin for Dummies" url?

 

[john9527]

Best place to start is the Merlin wiki.....
https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki

The nice thing about Merlin fw is that it looks just like the stock ASUS firmware (a few tweaks here and there). If you don't need a custom feature, you don't need to use/enable it.

 

[papaworx]

Best place to start is the Merlin wiki.....
https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki

The nice thing about Merlin fw is that it looks just like the stock ASUS firmware (a few tweaks here and there). If you don't need a custom feature, you don't need to use/enable it.

Thanks, I schedule it for when I have a few sequential free days. Since I am far into my retirement, that won't be too long.

 

[mattiL]

Can't you rename your TV? (I have no Samsung TV so I can't try it myself)
I found this in a user guide for a model called 5500.

Rename the TV
Screen Menu > Network > Device Name

Assign a unique name for your TV. The assigned name appears on the external devices connected to the TV via the network.

 

[papaworx]

Can't you rename your TV? (I have no Samsung TV so I can't try it myself)
I found this in a user guide for a model called 5500.

Rename the TV
Screen Menu > Network > Device Name

Assign a unique name for your TV. The assigned name appears on the external devices connected to the TV via the network.

Thanks, I had tried that. It doesn't change the assigned hostname. Actually, 'localhost' doesn't even appear in the menu item Device Name. I had set it to [TV]Samsung, and it appears as such in the setup menu. But on the network it announces itself as 'localhost'. Pretty stupid?

 

[mattiL]

Most confusing indeed.. :/

 

[john9527]

[TV]Samsung

Try it without the [] characters (or any special characters, just alphanumerics). Sometimes they can really cause problems (including in the ASUS firmware )

 

[papaworx]

Sorry to draw it out, but the [TV] part is added automatically by the 'Smart' TV. I will install Merlin. Thanks

 

[snb008]

Have you already upgraded to the latest firmware? If not, it is certainly worth a try. I see there is one dated 2015.07.20 and so it is fairly recent.
http://www.samsung.com/ca/support/model/UN40JU6700FXZC

 

[papaworx]

Have you already upgraded to the latest firmware? If not, it is certainly worth a try. I see there is one dated 2015.07.20 and so it is fairly recent.
http://www.samsung.com/ca/support/model/UN40JU6700FXZC

Thanks, yes I installed the most recent firmware on July 26. I really don't expect much help from Samsung anyhow. Their support agents don't even understand the problem. They had two 'helpful' suggestions: (i) change the DNS server address to Google's DNS server, and (ii) since the TV works, don't worry about error messages in your router. :<)

 

[papaworx]

Yes, that would be too late in the process....I'm not sure if this will work on stock ASUS firmware, but you might try this.....

edit /etc/dnsmasq.conf and add the following line at the end (filling in the TV mac)
dhcp-host=tv_mac_address,192.168.1.149,Samsung

then enter
killall dnsmasq
dnsmasq --log-async

The good news is that the switch to Merlin (378.54_2, sign. 1.062) went like a charm. The bad news is that I can't now login with ssh (putty.exe), even though login/password work with the web interface. SSH and SSH password login are both enabled.