"flash" means ??

Install instructions for HyperWRT say in part "Go to
Administration->Firmware Upgrade, browse to HyperWRT, and flash it."

What does "flash it" mean?

Brad

Avalanche <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Install instructions for HyperWRT say in part "Go to
>Administration->Firmware Upgrade, browse to HyperWRT, and flash it."
>
>What does "flash it" mean?

That is short for "Follow the instructions". The whole process
of upgrading firmware is referred to as "flashing", because the
non-volatile RAM is also called a "flash ROM".

The long instructions would be to click on the "choose" button,
then use the dialog box or whatever they call it that appears to
select the file name for the firmware binary. The HyperWRT
binary I have, for example, is named "HyperWRT_2.0b4_G.bin".
Once you find it, if you click on the file name, causing it to
be highlighted, you can click on the "open" button to get rid of
the dialog box. The box for the file name is shorter than the
file's name, so you might not be able to verify that you have
the right one. Go to the bottom of the page and click on
"upgrade", which starts the "flash" process.

It warns you not to stop it during the process. If it does stop
there might be ways to recover, but you *don't* want to learn
how to do them! The best policy at that point is to move back
from the computer about two feet, and guard it from kids, cats
dog, humans, falling trees and yourself. Don't touch the
keyboard and threaten anything that might with death.

It takes a little more than a minute to do with a 3+ meg
file. And then it takes a few seconds while the WRT54G reboots.
You can watch the front panel lights to tell when it is finished
booting. At that point it's back to "default" settings, so you'll
have to access it at 192.168.1.1, and if you do that from the LAN
ports you'll need to use DHCP to configure the host NIC, or use
as static IP address in the 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.50 range.

I would highly suggest looking at the Sveasoft firmware too. It
is significantly more developed, particularly for those who like
to use the web interface. HyperWRT is okay if you want a minimal
system and don't intend on downloading the software and doing any
development on your own.

My biggest complaint Sveasoft's Alchemy v1.0 is that it does not
allow mounting nfs filesystems. Next was that is has a vi but
no emacs. And third is that the telnetd implementation doesn't
allow turning off software flow control. The lack of nfs is
serious, but the other two are of little significance to most
people. (I've added those to mine, but it was not trivial.)

--
Floyd L. Davidson <http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) (E-Mail Removed)

On Wed, 11 May 2005 14:31:37 -0800, (E-Mail Removed) (Floyd L.
Davidson) wrote:

>It warns you not to stop it during the process. If it does stop
>there might be ways to recover, but you *don't* want to learn
>how to do them!

Agreed. I have a spare UPS on my desk for doing router flash and
computah flash bios upgrades. I had the AC power hickup on me once in
the middle of flashing a bios. I was able to recover but it was not
fun. Actually, I'm suppose to have the entire workbench running on a
UPS but the batteries finally died and I haven't replaced them.

Also, don't try to do the route flash thing over the wireless. It
will screw up. Use a direct CAT5 LAN cable instead.



--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>On Wed, 11 May 2005 14:31:37 -0800, (E-Mail Removed) (Floyd L.
>Davidson) wrote:
>
>>It warns you not to stop it during the process. If it does stop
>>there might be ways to recover, but you *don't* want to learn
>>how to do them!
>
>Agreed. I have a spare UPS on my desk for doing router flash and
>computah flash bios upgrades. I had the AC power hickup on me once in

I don't have that, and when I've flashed computers or modems at
home, it has scared me to death! When I was working, and had a
10KW UPS handy, I did that kind of thing on protected power at
work...

These Linksys units aren't too bad because it is possible to
recover from a bad load. But most modems and computer
motherboards require a new BIOS chip or a trip to the factor
repair location.

>the middle of flashing a bios. I was able to recover but it was not
>fun. Actually, I'm suppose to have the entire workbench running on a
>UPS but the batteries finally died and I haven't replaced them.
>
>Also, don't try to do the route flash thing over the wireless. It
>will screw up. Use a direct CAT5 LAN cable instead.

Good point. Wireless is several times more risky.

--
Floyd L. Davidson <http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) (E-Mail Removed)

Floyd L. Davidson wrote:

> I don't have that, and when I've flashed computers or modems at
> home, it has scared me to death! When I was working, and had a
> 10KW UPS handy, I did that kind of thing on protected power at
> work...
>
> These Linksys units aren't too bad because it is possible to
> recover from a bad load. But most modems and computer
> motherboards require a new BIOS chip or a trip to the factor
> repair location.

For a long time I could brag that I hadn't had any problems flashing
computer BIOS's. Then the law of averages decided to pay me a visit.
With the cost of motherboards now under $50 for semi-decent equipment, I
just toss them if a flash goes bad. And I don't try to flash unless
that's the last resort to get something working.