Problem with initial install/connect of LibraryBox after first trying PirateBox

[John Miedema]

Cannot connect to LibraryBox after performing the following steps:

Using a TP-Link MR30230 on Windows 8.

1. First ran through the PirateBox instructions. Everything seemed to go as expected. Ran Admin|Admin step. But in post-installation steps, could not "5. Point your browser to http://piratebox.lan/board/kareha.pl for the first initialization." Nothing loaded in the browser.

2. Decided to try LibraryBox. At Step 7, page does not load for "http://192.168.0.254". Cannot perform Admin|Admin step.

3. Tried the recommended flash step. Seemed to work because I was seeing the LibraryBox - Free Content SSID but I cannot make a connection or load the browser window. I note that Windows reports limited connectivity for this SSID: No internet access.

 Hope my initial PirateBox run didn't mess things up. Out of ideas. Suggestions?

[Jason Griffey]

Hurm. Given your description it's really hard to tell where in the process things were stopped/didn't finish installing. I'm gonna let Matthias jump in on this one, as he's the installation guy. :-)

Jason

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[Matthias Strubel]

Hi John,

well, of course after you installed the PirateBox openwrt.bin file, you never have the stock TP-Link WebUI. But you don't need that UI for installing LibraryBox/PirateBox later.

The first question is which current status you have. I'm not sure where did you stuck ... and why did you try to install PirateBox and now see the LibraryBox-SSD.  Did you tried to install PIrateBox to the Stock TPLink or to a running LibraryBox ?

I need a bit more information about this.

Matthias

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[John Miedema]

I first tried to install PirateBox to the stock TPLink. I got stuck as indicated in item 1 of my original post. I fussed around for awhile trying to fix the PirateBox install but decided to try a LibraryBox install instead. At that point, I was installing LibraryBox onto the mostly completed PirateBox install. I got stuck at LibraryBox step 7 (per item 2 in original post). Performing your troubleshooting step, i..e, the flash, seemed to complete, per item 3 of original post. I can see LibraryBox as a connection. If I connect, I cannot load a browser window to see content. The load times out.

[Matthias Strubel]

Hi John,

yes as far as you described it in the first post.

Can you please send me the install.log file , which you find on the USB Stick?

did you ever tried to login via putty (using telnet or ssh option) ?

Can you verify if you get an IP address from the box in the range 192.168.1.x?

Did you mix up the .bin files probably (just asking) ?

Matthias

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[John Miedema]

Hi Matthias, thanks for your assistance.

To capture everything I repeated the process I listed earlier. As before I was very careful with the bin files and all files.

Followed the instructions to flash the firmware (http://librarybox.us/problems2.php). 

1. I telneted using Putty to 192.168.1.1 and saw the OpenWrt banner. 

2. Flashed firmware.

cd /mnt/usb

mtd -r write openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3020-v1-squashfs-factory.bin firmware

The write operation executed. A "rebooting ..." message was displayed but nothing else happened. After several minutes I clicked on the Putty window which said the connection was closed. I closed the Putty Window. 

I inspected the USB after the flash. A number of files were added including:

apply_config (text file)

install (text file)

external_fs (folder)

install (empty folder) 12 KB

These are all from the openwrt install and I assume they are not of interest to you. I have a copy of them if needed.

3. LibraryBox install.

- I left the existing files on the disk.

- I copied the LibraryBox install folder to the root directory, copying over the existing empty install folder.

- Put the USB back in the router, powered it back up. Walked away for 10 minutes. Looked for the LibraryBox SSID. Not there.

- Nothing explicitly said to plug the network cable back in too, but did so now. Walked away for 10 minutes. SSID not there. (This is unlike the last time, when I did see the SSID)

The install text file on the USB file is now 120 KB, so something happened. 

Last line is

ERROR: /mnt/usb/install/auto_package is not set

Do you want to see the whole install file?

Should I repeat this process from the beginning, this time wiping the contents of the USB before copying on the LibraryBox install files?

[Matthias Strubel]

Hi John,

sorry for the late response. Last week was crazy.

The process you describe sound well and there is no obvious mistake.

Thanks for having a look into the install log,  but in this case I would like to see the complete install.log file (please attach). The Error message you figured out is already a good indication, but I want to be sure before giving advices.

regards  Matthias

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[John Miedema]

Thanks again Matthias. Through my various experiments I have lost track of my the right install log. I will let go of this for now and try again from scratch in the new year. My only question at this point is ... is there any point where my TL-MR3020 is not recoverable? I.e., should be able to start from scratch at any point, or is there a point where I have messed things up with the firmware or whatever and my box is essentially garbage? Put another way, will flashing the firmware always be a solid starting point? Thanks, John

[Jason Griffey]

Yes...it's fairly hard to REALLY brick the MR3020, but it can be more or less easy to recover it. If you get into serious straights, there are low-level, bring it back to factory settings instructions on the OpenWRT wiki.

Jason

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[John Miedema]

Perfect. Thanks Jason. Will try.