So you have your new NSLU2 how do you connect it to the network?

This article refers to the original firmware that came with the NSLU2

First you need to plug the ethernet cable that came with the device into a Hub, Switch or Router. If you have a Hub/Switch then you most likely know about it and all your wired devices are connected there. If you are not sure then it is most likely you have a router as part of your connection to the internet.

Once you have plugged in the NSLU2 press the power button on the front and wait for the status/ready light (first LED on top of the NSLU2) to go green and stay green. You should notice that the Ethernet LED underneith is also green, indicating network is available. On your Hub/Switch/Router you will most likely see at least one (often two, one on either side) LED next to the connected NSLU2 cable.

Thats the physical setup out of the way now to check your network. Different linux distributions have different GUI interfaces for networking settings. ubuntu suse For simplicity we are going to rely on the command line tool ifconfig. Open a terminal window, like xterm or switch to a virtual console with CTRL+ALT+F2. As root or via sudo type ifconfig and enter you should get something like

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:80:C6:F8:4C:50
          inet addr:192.168.0.25  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:19031 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:8695 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100 
          RX bytes:30701220 (29.2 Mb)  TX bytes:7878959 (7.5 Mb)
          Interrupt:9 Base address:0x5000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:306 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:306 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:29504 (28.8 Kb)  TX bytes:29504 (28.8 Kb)

We are looking for two pieces of information the IP address and the net mask inet addr:192.168.0.25 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0 if you have a net mask of 255.255.255.0 and and IP address that starts with 192.168.1. then you are ready to move on to the next step, otherwise you may need to change your settings. Again, many linux distributions will have handy GUI that you might want to explore regarding network settings changes, but here we will use ifconfig. WARNING: this will most likey disconnect you from the internet, so make sure you have a copy of this guide and anything else you need before continuing. Getting your normal internet connection back after this is dependant on your distribution/setup, and it maybe easiest to reboot. Me, I hate rebooting so I will detail how my setup recovered at the end.

Changing your network settings to match the NSLU2. The NSLU2 has a default IP address of 192.168.1.77 and a net mask 255.255.255.0. To be able to access the web server on the NSLU2 you will need a compatable IP address. In the following instructions eth0 relates to the name given to your network interface, most commonly eth0,eth1,etc As root or via sudo run

ifconfig eth0 down
ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.25 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

if you now run ifconfig you should see somthing like

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:80:C6:F8:4C:50
          inet addr:192.168.1.25  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:19 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100 
          RX bytes:29504 (28.8 Kb)  TX bytes:29504 (28.8 Kb)
          Interrupt:9 Base address:0x5000

Connecting to the NSLU2. Open a web browser and type in the address http://192.168.1.77 and you should be connected to the default page on the NSLU2 internal web server.

Changing the NSLU2 network settings. Click on the admin tab and enter the default username/password admin/admin and enter a IP address relevant to your network, dynamic is not reccomended unless you are able to configure your DHCP server. Save and watch as the nothing seems to happen, the NSLU2 has changed to another network and your machine can no longer see it! You just need to restore your normal network settings and then you can use the IP address you gave the NSLU2 in your web browser.

I have done all that but I can not connect to the NSLU2. Check the cables: is everything still connected ? Check the lights: on the NSLU2 the top two leds should be green, also check cables to and from your machine have at least one LED next to them. LEDs on network cards are often hard to see from the side and you might have to move your PC around. Very occasionaly, network ports do not have lights on them. Check for firewall rules: in the terminal window type (as root or via sudo) iptables -L although other firewalling products exist. iptables I had a very strict firewall and had to

iptables -F && iptables -P INPUT accept && iptables -P OUTPUT accept

 before I could connect to the NSLU2. These commands REMOVE all the firewall rules so remember to restart your firewall when finished.

Steps I took with my setup to restore internet access after changing network settings. as root or via sudo

ifconfig eth0 down
killall dhcpcd
/sbin/dhcpcd eth0

the dhcp server on my ADSL router then issued a correct IP address. and ifconfig then showed my my old IP address and I was able to continue using the internet.