General Questions

Would anyone here be good enough to make a custom m0n0 image that would benefit net5501 users the world over? It's a pretty minor alteration I'm looking for, but I have no access to a FreeBSD machine and my efforts to mount the .img in linux have failed.

I simply need a generic-pc-1.x.img with "vr" substituted for "sis". This would enable us poor fools with no easy access to a serial port to configure a defaulted/virgin soekris net5501 via ethernet. I've posted in the Feature Request forum, but I think I need to appeal to a broader crowd, as surely somebody could do this and post a link in 3 minutes.

Much appreciated,

db

You could try QEMU, that would allow you to build a m0n0wall image quite easily, especially with the help of m0n0dev.php:

http://www.askozia.com/m0n0dev

Thanks for the suggestion and the pointer. If I succeed I'll make the modification available.

db

... This would enable us poor fools with no easy access to a serial port to configure a defaulted/virgin soekris net5501 via ethernet. ...

May I make a friendly suggestion... you need serial port access.  Not only with Soekris boxes, in this networking biz, a serial port can be a lifesaver.  In fact the net5501 *will* have new firmware in the near future, and a serial port with XModem is a requirement.

I use Mac OS X almost exclusively, and my Keyspan USB-Serial used with either "screen" or "minicom" from the terminal shell works great.

I fact, I just updated the firmware on an Allied-Telesis POE switch and it blew away my VLANs, so out came the Keyspan USB-Serial to save the day.

Serial port access should be in every networking toolbox.

Lonnie

in this networking biz, a serial port can be a lifesaver.

I won't disagree with that. Nevertheless, having a mono image using the vr driver as default would sure save some hassle for a good lot of people in the long run, I'm convinced.

As it is, I hardly leave home without a laptop and a retractable network cable in my pocket (the cable, not the laptop . Let's extend that logic just slightly and suppose that I never leave home without a laptop, a nullmodem cable and a good functioning usb-serial adapter. So if I do accidentally hit the "Factory defaults" button in my monowall this proposed feature would save me spend the time getting wired up and getting into the serial console. It's just a matter of minutes if you're prepared, but this is not about laziness, it's about maximising efficiency and minimising the opportunity for error.

What if I forgot the cable or the adapter? What if I hit that factory defaults button while miles away from the monowall? I do a lot of work from home. The nearest of my monowalls is a 45-minute drive away. The second is 75 minutes from home in the opposite direction. With a vr-defaulted mono I could hit that factory defaults button deliberately or accidentally and it's not going to knock my mono offline. As you said in your comment, a seriall port can be a lifesaver. Conversely, a minor text change in the .img could mean that the user doesn't need a lifesaver.

Your point is valid, but I don't think it addresses my issue fully. Generally speaking I don't agree with the logic that "you can do without it so do without it", and I don't think that the monowall philosophy is about that either; I can build a linux router that in some ways is more functional than monowall, but I happen to prefer mono's UI. Manuel et al have done an excellent job of making it intuitive, clean, and quick to navigate with lots of visual feedback and built-in clues. In this case I am happy to trade off some functionality (ie linux) for a great deal of convenience (ie mono) if it will facilitate my work flow.

On the other hand, I acknowledge that I'm just a beggar here. I don't have the resources to make this change myself nor the time at present to acquire such. If the people with that kind of power don't want to do this because they're too busy or because it would mess up some other thing, then I accept that, but to summarise what I said above, "let's not because we don't have to" just doesn't seem like good reasoning to me.

Thanks for your comment.

db