Un-Bricking the WZR-HP-G300NH router

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A while back I completely bricked my Buffalo WZR-HP G300NH router. I was trying to flash Open-WRT from DD-WRT in an effort to fix an issue with Wifi constantly dropping. Needless to say, something went wrong and I would up with a virtually lifeless router.

I tried following the guide found here, but after many failed attempts I was frustrated and quit.

Now, I can proudly say that said router has now been successfully un-bricked!

These are the steps I took using Ubuntu Linux:

  1. Download the stock firmware from Buffalo’s website found here.
  2. After downloading the .zip file extract the actual flash file to your Desktop. The version I downloaded was called “wzrhpg300nh-pro-v24sp2-14998.” The file name you get may vary, but the important part is that the file you have has no extension.
  3. Now open a terminal session and run the following commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tftp-hpa
sudo /etc/init.d/networking stop
sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.11.2
sudo ifconfig eth0 netmask 255.255.255.0
sudo arp -s 192.168.11.1 02:AA:BB:CC:DD:1A
cd /home/user/Desktop
  1. Now get your router ready to receive the file. Plug an Ethernet cable into your computer and into the LAN 1 port on the router. DO NOT PLUG THE ROUTER INTO A WALL OUTLET YET
  2. Now back in the terminal do the following.
tftp 192.168.11.1
verbose
binary
trace
rexmt 1
timeout 60
put wzrhpg300nh-pro-v24sp2-14998 <–replace with the name of the file you downloaded
  1. At this point your computer will keep attempting to send the firmware file to the router. Now QUICKLY plug your router’s power cord in.
  2. After about 10 seconds you should see the file start to transfer.
  3. After the transfer is complete the router will reboot, when the Wifi light comes on, the process is complete.
  4. Turn networking back on by running the following in the terminal:
sudo service networking start
  1. If all went well, you should be able to log into your router by navigating to http://192.168.11.1/
TIPS:
  • Do not replace the MAC address with your own, use 02:AA:BB:CC:DD:1A. Trust me, it works.
  • After running “sudo /etc/init.d/networking stop” you see “Ignoring wlan0″ run this command.
sudo ifconfig wlan0 down

WordPress Update Failed: Warning: touch() [function.touch]: Unable to create file…

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Recently, I reconfigured on of my WordPress installations to run as WordPress MU, instead of the standard, single site platform. This was perfect for me because now every time I create a new site, I don’t have to create a new database, install plugins, ect. It really gives me a head start with a basic template for every new site.

As awesome as this new setup is, I almost immediately ran into problems. I could not install any plugins via the web interface! I also couldn’t update WordPress! I am perfectly capable of doing things manually, but it was just so much quicker for me to do things from the web interface, but everytime I tried, I ran into this error:

Warning: touch() [function.touch]: Unable to create file…because Permission denied in \[mydomain]\wp-admin\includes\file.php on line 175

This was a problem. I first dove into file.php and looked for line 175, changed some permissions around, but no luck. That’s when I asked my close friend Google.

I read everything from server incompatibilities, to my host not allowing access to my server’s temp folders. I am sitting on a VPS, so i was just about to dive in and start making some changes, when I found my solution here. It turns out I needed 2 things.

First I added the following line to the bottom of my wp-config.php file:

define(‘WP_TEMP_DIR’,ABSPATH.’wp-content/uploads/’);

And then I made my “wp-content/uploads” folder writable.

It was a simple as that, problem solved.

Burger Time Arcade Game Discovery

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Yesterday was probably one of my best days all summer. The weather was perfect, not hot not cold, no rain, just a bright and sunny day. My friend Josh had arranged to go and pickup an arcade game that he had heard about on tradio (radio classified ads). We had no clue what we were in for.

To start with Josh was listening to tradio when he heard a caller say that he had a Guardian video game, more specifically “one of them games that takes quarters.” Price: FREE! Of course Josh called immediately to reserve his free Guardian arcade machine. The guy giving it away was nice enough to let him know that it wasn’t working, but that didn’t matter to Josh because he has a friend (ie Craig) that could take a look, and maybe fix it, or perhaps make it a MAME cabinet. And the adventure begins.

So after some research we mount up to go after the machine, which was conveniently located in the middle of nowhere. I am talking hillbilly country. No trespassing signs, beware of dog signs, I mean some Wrong Turn type stuff. How this game got out here was beyond me. But sure enough, when we got there it was sitting on the porch waiting for us.

On the way to pick it up we were very excited, discussing what it could be (seeing as how we had very little info). We didn’t know if it was Guardians of the Hood , the conversion kit Guardians, or the rare Guardians/Denjin Makai 2. We were really hoping for the rare version, so you could imagine our disappointment when we realized that it was the cheap, conversion game Guardians. It was also a blow when we realized that the cabinet has spent the last several years outside, was missing parts, and not in the best shape. But we had made it this far, and all of our bad luck aside, we loaded it up, and took it anyways. If nothing else we would have enjoyed destroying it.

So we got the cabinet back to Josh’s place, and started cleaning it up. We were very surprised how good all of the pcb’s, and the cabinet started to look once all of the layers of grime were removed. But we kept wondering what type of game this used to be. The cabinet had an odd shape, but we couldn’t find any markings to indicate what it may have been. We could make out some writing under the existing paint, but could only make out a big “P.” So after a few hours of cleaning, and talking, we started Googling. It wasn’t long until Josh discovered that this cabinet was an original Burger Time, that’s right, the P we were seeing was on the hat of Peter Pepper.

Burger Time Converted to Guardian

Converted Burger Time side view

Inside of cabinet before cleaning, pcb's removed for cleaning.

Tax placard found inside of power supply.

So now we are in a predicament. The cabinet is not in very good shape, and is going to take some a lot of work. Now we must decide whether or not to restore the cabinet as a Burger Time, or make it something else. Either way we go the price was right, and it was an exciting find.

Install Ubuntu Netbook Remix on Ubuntu Karmic

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Please Note: This is experimental. It may have bugs, flaws and may not work for every configuration. Continue at your own risk.

Have you heard about Ubuntu Netbook Remix? If not there is some good information on it, and installation instructions here.

But if you are like me, already have Ubuntu installed, and want to try out UNR, then what? At first the only options I really saw were to start fresh with UNR, not something I was really pleased about doing since I wasn’t sure if I would keep it, and I wasn’t sure if I even liked it. But I knew I wanted to give it a shot, because it looks to me to really have potential in the mobile computing world (can you say carputer?).

So anyways, after some looking through the guides on the Wiki, and what-not I was able to determine what packages I needed to install.

Here are the steps I took to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix on Ubuntu Karmic:

First off, you will need to add the extra repositories to your sources list. Most likely if you are reading this you have already done it, but if not then read here: How to install extra repositories.

Now run the following command to install the necessary packages.

sudo apt-get install go-home-applet human-netbook-theme maximus netbook-launcher window-picker-applet

Now reboot and you should be running Ubuntu Netbook Remix. I personally love the added features, very pleasing on the eyes, and very handy. I have it running on my desktop, and laptop.

I really see potential for using it to build a carputer system or home automation system. I know there is already the Ubuntu Mobile Edition, but it is just too dumbed down for my tastes. This seems to be the perfect mix between computer, and mobile system. Next up, skinning, and perhaps some custom software interfaces of some sort.

Adding extra repositories to Ubuntu Karmic

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This guide is probably one of the first, most essential things to do to any Ubuntu install. This is specifically for Ubuntu Karmic, but can be used as a reference point for other versions.

The Graphical Way:

  1. Go to System => Administration => Synaptic Package Manager => Settings => Reposotories
  2. Here you can select which sources are to be used. You can also manually add sources here.

The Command Line Way (Easier IMO):

  1. First off, open a console, and make a backup of your current sources file

    2. sudo cp -i /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list_backup

  2. Then you can open the sources file to be edited

    3. sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

  3. Now you can add new sources in the editor that pop’s up. Below is a copy of my sources file.

    4. #deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _Karmic_Koala - Release i386 (20081029.1)]/ karmic main restricted
    # See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
    # newer versions of the distribution.
    deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted
    deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted
    ## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
    ## distribution.
    deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
    deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
    ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
    ## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
    ## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
    deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
    deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
    deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe
    deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe
    ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
    ## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
    ## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
    ## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
    ## security team.
    deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
    deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
    deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse
    deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse
    ## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the ‘backports’
    ## repository.
    ## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
    ## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
    ## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
    ## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
    ## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
    deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    ## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical’s
    ## ‘partner’ repository. This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is
    ## offered by Canonical and the respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu
    ## users.
    deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu karmic partner
    deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu karmic partner
    deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted
    deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted
    deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security universe
    deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security universe
    deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security multiverse
    deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security multiverse
    ## Medibuntu – Ubuntu 9.10 “karmic koala”
    ## Please report any bug on https://bugs.launchpad.net/medibuntu/
    deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ karmic free non-free
    deb-src http://packages.medibuntu.org/ karmic free non-free
    # Google software repository
    deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free

    Be sure to save the file and return to the console.

    *Note: My sources file contains sources that require keys to work correctly. Read below to learn how to Add Reposotory Keys.

  4. Finally in a console perform

    5. sudo apt-get update

    And you now should have successfully added new software sources.

Adding Repository Keys:

If you copied my sources list, or are planning to use the mediabuntu, or google repo’s you will need to add keys to your sources list.

To add mediabuntu key

wget –quiet http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O – | sudo apt-key add -

To add Google Key:

wget –quiet http://dl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub -O – | sudo apt-key add -