Solved Updated busybox... now I can't download opkg updates.

[DJones]

Was updating my entware opkg packages noticed busybox wasn't updated so being really dumb I installed busybox, now busybox is running BusyBox v1.34.1, but I get error "opkg_download: Failed to download https://bin.entware.net/aarch64-k3.10/Packages.gz, wget returned 1."

other error:

"wget: not an http or ftp url: https://bin.entware.net/aarch64-k3.10/Packages.gz
*** Failed to download the package list from https://bin.entware.net/aarch64-k3.10/Packages.gz"

Can't remove busybox as it's a essential package... not sure what the previous version of busybox was. but it seems to be a issue with https.

Solved: Installed the updated version of wget-ssl had to remove the https and made it http

wget http://bin.entware.net/aarch64-k3.10/wget-ssl_1.21.2-1_aarch64-3.10.ipk

opkg install wget-ssl_1.21.2-1_aarch64-3.10.ipk

rm wget-ssl_1.21.2-1_aarch64-3.10.ipk from /tmp/home/root after.

Edit: Was advised not to update busy box as it might break additional stuff removed busybox from entware without issues. Further reading suggests updating busybox might also break ASUS and Rmerlins security patches, idk how relevant those are on newer versions of busybox which might contain its own security improvements but will revert.

 

[Skiron]

You are a brave person updating busybox.

 

[DJones]

You are a brave person updating busybox.

I realized right away… busybox as a opt is scary haha. But it’s working fine just mean to fix my router I might need a full reinstall from ASUS recovery. I can’t picture removing it going well any other way.

 

[eibgrad]

You are a brave person updating busybox.

Agreed.

BusyBox isn't just another package. Many developers highly customize it to meet the specific needs of their embedded systems. IOW, the developer doesn't just grab the latest version of BusyBox and incorporate it as-is, but carefully chooses their preferred options (maybe even tweak the source!) and compiles it according to their needs. They may even be aware of prior versions that work better and avoid known issues w/ later versions.

That's why it can be a bit risky to just update BusyBox w/ one from Entware. It's not necessarily comparable. And the implications may not always be immediately obvious. And why it's usually safer to install and update individual packages (wget, curl, etc.) rather than their BusyBox counterparts.

I'm not suggesting the risks are high, but just something to be aware of. You could end up w/ unexpected issues.

 

[DJones]

Agreed.

BusyBox isn't just another package. Many developers highly customize it to meet the specific needs of their embedded systems. IOW, the developer doesn't just grab the latest version of BusyBox and incorporate it as-is, but carefully chooses their preferred options (maybe even tweak the source!) and compiles it according to their needs. They may even be aware of prior versions that work better and avoid known issues w/ later versions.

That's why it can be a bit risky to just update BusyBox w/ one from Entware. It's not necessarily comparable. And the implications may not always be immediately obvious. And why it's usually safer to install and update individual packages (wget, curl, etc.) rather than their BusyBox counterparts.

I'm not suggesting the risks are high, but just something to be aware of. You could end up w/ unexpected issues.

Any suggestion on how to revert busybox to the firmware version without a full wipe?

 

[eibgrad]

Any suggestion on how to revert busybox to the firmware version without a full wipe?

Most likely the installation of BusyBox from Entware did NOT relink those utilities already linked to the firmware's version of Busybox. More likely, the version of BusyBox you installed from Entware is simply first in the path. Using the which command will verify it.

which busybox

If that's the case, you can simply remove the Entware version of BusyBox.

opkg remove busybox

 

[DJones]

Most likely the installation of BusyBox from Entware did NOT relink those utilities already linked to the firmware's version of Busybox. More likely, the version of BusyBox you installed from Entware is simply first in the path. Using the which command will verify it.

which busybox

If that's the case, you can simply remove the Entware version of BusyBox.

opkg remove busybox

Which busybox gives me the path

/opt/bin/busybox

 

[eibgrad]

Which busybox gives me the path

/opt/bin/busybox

Right. Because you installed it from Entware in /opt/bin, and that directory is ahead of /bin (where the firmware's version is installed) in your path.

admin@lab-merlin1:/tmp/home/root# echo $PATH
/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/home/admin:/mmc/sbin:/mmc/bin:/mmc/usr/sbin:/mmc/usr/bin:/opt/sbin:/opt/bin:/opt/usr/sbin:/opt/usr/bin

Uninstall the Entware version of BusyBox and the which command should then report /bin/busybox.

 

[DJones]

Right. Because you installed it from Entware in /opt/bin, and that directory is ahead of /bin (where the firmware's version is installed) in your path.

admin@lab-merlin1:/tmp/home/root# echo $PATH
/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/home/admin:/mmc/sbin:/mmc/bin:/mmc/usr/sbin:/mmc/usr/bin:/opt/sbin:/opt/bin:/opt/usr/sbin:/opt/usr/bin

Uninstall the Entware version of BusyBox and the which command should then report /bin/busybox.

Worked thank you was worried it would remove the firmware busybox but thankfully that wasn’t the case.