2 Questions - 1) Stealth Mode and 2) Updates

[TheLyppardMan]

I am currently running Tomato firmware on an RT-N66U but could someone tell me if the Merlin firmware is able turn the led backlight(s) off on the RT-AC68U according to a schedule and if so, where do the commands go? At the moment, I simply have stealthMode on and stealthMode off in the custom schedules and it works fine, but when I tried the Merlin firmware last time, I couldn't find out where to put the commands (or the syntax - is it the same as with Tomato?).

On the update query, which firmware would you say is the easier to update (from the point of view of not having the clear the NVRAM each time, requiring reconfiguration of the router from scratch)? I have seen it somewhere where one user stated that he generally only found it necessary to clear the NVRAM if upgrading from a build that was more than three versions earlier, except when expressly told to do otherwise. Is that accurate advice?

 

[martinr]

On your first point: where do the commands go, you need to telnet or ssh in to the router to enter commands. Previously, it was possible to do so via the web gui, but in the interests of security this feature was, understandably, removed. You previously, posted on this topic

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/scripts.29032/#post-222809

You've not had much success?

Seen this? http://www.snbforums.com/threads/stealthmode-on-off-how.13283/#post-86703

On the second point, restoring to factory default settings is the more common term used for clearing the nvram on the occasions you mentioned, and a very good starting point for this subject, if you haven't yet seen it, is Merlin's definitive notes on it at:

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-nvram-and-factory-default-reset.22822/

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Well, I've found the following from the links you provided. This will be for a new RT-AC68 router which should be arriving in a few days time. I have added comments in bold.

First, make sure you have enabled the JFFS partition and support for custom user scripts I think that's pretty straightforward from what I remember. Next, either create the following services-start script (or add to any existing script): Where are they located?

services-start:

#!/bin/sh
cru a lightsoff "0 18 * * * /jffs/scripts/ledsoff.sh"
cru a lightson "0 6 * * * /jffs/scripts/ledson.sh"

You can adjust the time at which you want both events to fire off by adjusting the second digit (which represents the hour). How would you enter 10.30 pm for example?

Then, create the following two scripts, and also save them in /jffs/scripts/ : How exactly? Is this done via the GUI? Or is it done via telnet (no idea how to use telnet, although it is enabled on my PC)?

ledsoff.sh:

#!/bin/sh
nvram set led_disable=1
service restart_leds

ledson.sh:

#!/bin/sh
nvram set led_disable=0
service restart_leds

 

[martinr]

I have to give you full marks for bravery: delving into scripts when you've never used ssh or telnet. And you're well outside my comfort zone, but there are many here who do this sort of thing in their sleep.

Firstly, have you read this?:

https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/User-scripts

Next thing is telnet. If you install Putty on your PC and enable telnet on the router (disable when done), you then have access. By the way, having telnet enabled on your PC isn't what you need here, and I think that means that your PC can be accessed via telnet without access credentials, and that is definitely not what you want. So I believe you should disable telnet access to your PC. (I seem to remember it's one of the many things you do or check when "hardening" Windows security.). That won't stop Putty being able to access your router via telnet or ssh.

Another program you might find very useful is WinSCP. It allows you to do a lot of things on your PC that would otherwise require a fair bit of Linix/Unix basic knowledge and I think it would obviate the need for Putty because you can access the router via WinSCP (I'm a little rusty). And if you do end up using WinSCP and creating files on your PC you must never use a Windows editor such as Notepad: it puts an invisible line feed[LF] and a carriage return [CR] at the end of each line and Linux doesn't recognise CR. So you use instead Notepad++ (or similar) and you make sure its formatting (under Edit) is set to Unix.

That's as much as I can help, but I'll be following with great interest. Definitely, ten out of ten for bravery, but for sure the best way to learn. In fact, you have created a brilliant little exercise that introduces you all at once to a lot of areas and 2 (or 3) terrific programs: WinSCP, Notepad++ (and Putty). And I'd advise you to jot down all you do in a notebook, so next time you come to do something similar you don't have to relearn everything again; you quickly get rusty unless you're doing it daily.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I have to give you full marks for bravery: delving into scripts when you've never used ssh or telnet. And you're well outside my comfort zone, but there are many here who do this sort of thing in their sleep.

Firstly, have you read this?:

https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/User-scripts

Next thing is telnet. If you install Putty on your PC and enable telnet on the router (disable when done), you then have access. By the way, having telnet enabled on your PC isn't what you need here, and I think that means that your PC can be accessed via telnet without access credentials, and that is definitely not what you want. So I believe you should disable telnet access to your PC. (I seem to remember it's one of the many things you do or check when "hardening" Windows security.). That won't stop Putty being able to access your router via telnet or ssh.

That's as much as I can help, but I'll be following with great interest. Definitely, ten out of ten for bravery, but for sure the best way to learn.

I already had "Putty" (installed it a few days ago), but if I turn off "Telnet Client" in Windows, Putty no longer works. I'll leave it off for now as I have other things to do before I start messing around with scripts. I'm not even 100% decided as to whether to go for Merlin's firmware or Tomato (which I have on my current router). When I have some spare time and have everything else set up, I'll give it a try. Meanwhile, I'll have a look at the link you kindly provided.

 

[martinr]

.......but if I turn off "Telnet Client" in Windows, Putty no longer works. .

Sorry about that (duff information about telnet on your PC). I bet I had to enable telnet to get Putty going and forgot about it afterwards. But then I use Putty occasionally just to stop myself forgetting everything. I'll check that: disable telnet and try Putty. Another reason for jotting everything down in a notebook. Keep in touch.

 

[RMerlin]

Forget Putty, and get XShell. It's free for personal use, and it has a much more developed UI.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Forget Putty, and get XShell. It's free for personal use, and it has a much more developed UI.

Actually, I don't think I'll need it as the lights on the RT-AC68U are much less bright than the RT-N66U and where I have put the router, I don't think they will be a problem.
I had a rather novel idea for dealing with the over-bright led's on the RT-N66U before I discovered that in Tomato, I could just use "stealthMode on" and "stealthMode off" in the custom schedules. My method was to print the design you can see in the file I have uploaded onto photographic paper, which I then carefully stuck onto the front of the router with Blu-tak glue dots. The lights were still visible, but it stopped them lighting up the wall on the other side of the room!