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Well I am hardly an expert but anyone that has Linux experience might find
the NSLU2 interesting. In the Unslung form it is rather easy to get it
running. For those of you who don't know what it is:
The Linksys NSLU2 is a two USB2 port file sharing device with wired
ethernet connection. It is small in size and very low power. There is an
extensive wiki at http://www.nslu2-linux.org/
It can be used in many ways. Natively it is a web based file server and
you can use either ext3, FAT, or NTFS drives. When you flash the unslung
code (currently 6.8) and unsling to disk it retains all of the native
features but allows system access and upgrade. There are other flavors of
expansion - openslug and debianslug which do not retain the native
operation but give a great deal more flexibility.
My first flash was to unslung. You must read the wiki instructions but in
simple terms you just download the 6.8 binary, flash it to the NSLU2,
reboot, connect a USB drive and 'unsling' to it. At that point you have
telnet access to the linux system and you can then start to load packages.
There are hundreds of ported packages including perl, apache, mysql, etc.
The first package you would want is open-ssh and nix the telnet. I have
now installed over 30 packages. I have a daap music server setup. I have
setup a web server. Samba shares are standard so you can access, if
permitted, via Windows. Also I downloaded and setup nfs, rsync, and
open-vpn. I also uploaded an HD video and it serves it nicely. I even had
the daap (itunes) music server running along with the HD transfer and I
was doing a command line ssh connect. So far I have not been able to bring
it to it's knees but it, of course, is limited by USB2 and local ethernet
speed.
In it's simpilest form using rsync, hfs, samba, or whatever it makes a
nifty file backup device. There is even a raid module for it if you wanted
to go that route.
So you can see for a modest investment, I just bought two more NSLU2's at
Amazon for $82 each, and a USB enclosure and drive, you have a complete
mini, very low power, system.
My original intent was to use it as radio access points, interface to a
radio modem and network, for ham radio, but it has so many interesting
uses. This is not the only hacked embeded device but it is very popular.
It is not clear how long Linksys will make it but as it becomes more
popular in the Linux community maybe they will extend it's life. There are
numerous Yahoo mail lists that are very active.
Doug
On Tue, 25 Apr 2006, Nathan Schlehlein wrote:
> Hello!
>
> I suppose you could call me a wannabe NSLU2 user! :-) It looks like
> quite the cool little device...
>
> I assume from this post and your last one that you indeed possess / use
> such neat technology, and I (and perhaps others on this list) would be
> quite interested to hear what you are using it for, and what you have
> done with it in terms of hardware hacks and alternate firmwares.
>
> Heck, this might even be a fun topic for a quick talk at a PLUG or
> PLUG-West meeting... :-)
>
> So, yeah... Any anecdotes on your experiences would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Nathan Schlehlein
>
>
> Doug Crompton wrote:
> > Any Linksys NSLU2 unslung, openslug, or opendebian users in the list?
> >
> > Doug
> >
> > ****************************
> > * Doug Crompton *
> > * Richboro, PA 18954 *
> > * 215-431-6307 *
> > * *
> > * doug@crompton.com *
> > * http://www.crompton.com *
> > ****************************
> >
> >
> > ___________________________________________________________________________
> > Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
> > Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
> > General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
> ___________________________________________________________________________
> Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
> Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
> General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
>
"Those that sacrifice essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin (1759)
****************************
* Doug Crompton *
* Richboro, PA 18954 *
* 215-431-6307 *
* *
* doug@crompton.com *
* http://www.crompton.com *
****************************
___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
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