The Linksys NSLU2 (a.k.a. SLUG) is a network storage link based on the IXP42x processor clocked at 266Mhz (older versions of the NSLU2 defaulted to 133MHz, but can be easily "de-underclocked"). It contains 8MB flash, 32MB RAM, one ethernet i/f, two USB2.0 ports, and is provided with a 2.0A 5V power supply.

The SLUG has an active user community with several popular firmware distros (e.g. Debian Slug) so why bother to port OpenWRT? Well, most likely you agree with OpenWRT's minimalist philosophy and would rather spend your time adding the features you want rather than deleting those you don't. However, that doesn't mean that you should ignore the vast amount of experience gathered and documented by the SLUG developers…

Note that the NSLU2-Linux project (http://www.nslu2-linux.org) fully supports the porting of OpenWRT to the NSLU2, and intends to "bless" OpenWRT as the firmware of choice for people who want to run all their applications from the internal flash memory only (i.e. with no external storage at all).

http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/Info/HomePage

Users have confirmed successful installations of Kamikaze images mentioned under "Installation Instructions". Some outdated comments on earlier versions can be found here: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/linksys/nslu2?rev=1294425411

In case of problems, things to look out for are:

• The default IP is the one that is set in the NVRAM, so OpenWRT will boot up with the IP it had under the former firmware. This is not the default for other Kamikaze platforms! Note: This is not true for Kamikaze SVN (tested with r8003). Note2: On upslugging the default IP of NSLU2 is 192.168.1.77 (the same as the factory, Unslung and SlugOS behaviour) as of 08-2007. As of 8.09 RC1 the default IP is 192.168.1.1.
• Tip for dealing with 8.09 RC1 defaulting to 192.168.1.1 . If your router uses the same IP address, you can use arp to let you connect to the NSLU2. For example, run "arp -s 192.168.1.1 00:04:5a:aa:bb:cc" (using your NSLU2s MAC address) on your client machine. Once you telnet to the NSLU2, edit /etc/config/network to change the IP, and run /sbin/reboot to restart the device, you can reset your arp table by running "arp -d 192.168.1.1"
• After initial installation with the squashfs firmware, it can take up to five minutes to initialize the jffs2 payload partition. I would wait at least this time before you reboot it forcefully (although unplugging it while it is initializing didn't harm it in my tests)
• The status LED indication differs from openslug. It is always amber for me (whereas openslug turns green after bootup is complete). This might confuse users migrating from openslug.

You can download the image from the kamikaze-7.06 dir http://downloads.openwrt.org/kamikaze/7.06/ixp4xx-2.6/openwrt-nslu2-2.6-squashfs.bin. Then install the upslug2 utility. Many distributions already include it in their package management. You will find more information on the topic on the excellect NSLU2-Linux wiki http://www.nslu2-linux.org/, specific information on upslug2 is at http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/Main/UpSlug. Then set the NSLU2 into upgrade mode. To do this, make sure the NSLU2 is turned off. Then press the reset button with a paper clip or small screwdriver and keep it pressed. Turn the NSLU2 on. The "Ready/Status" led will be yellow. When it changes to a reddish amber shade, immediately release the reset button. If it flashes an alternating amber and green, you have succeded (if not, unplug and try again). Now upslug2 should find the nslu2 over the LAN and display the information. Install the image with upslug2 -i filename. It will flash and verify the upload and then reboot automatically - this is what I call a comfortable firmware interface :)

The NSLU2 will take a few minutes to initialize the JFFS2 partition, don't reboot if you cannot access it immediately. It will start up using the network parameters that are stored in the NVRAM partition, so it will default to DHCP (I think) if not setup differently. If you have set a fixed IP under the original firmware or a previous linux distribution, OpenWRT will retain this. Try telnet and ping to access it. Then follow the standard Kamikaze installation procudures.

Update January 2011: I successfully installed Kamikaze 8.09.2 on a NSLU2 using this image: http://downloads.openwrt.org/kamikaze/8.09.2/ixp4xx/openwrt-nslu2-squashfs.bin. The above "Installation Instructions" are still valid. As i used a Windows PC to flash the NSLU2, i used the Sercomm Flash Utility form here: http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/Main/SercommFirmwareUpdater . After flashing the device was reachable under 192.168.1.1.

January 2011: I installed Backfire on my NSLU2, and it works just fine. After following the instructions for USB 2.0 support I could successfully mount my external harddisk. I haven't bothered to setup auto-mounting yet. Even USB audio works fine after installing kmod-usb-audio. — Georg Sorst 2011/01/18 00:18

January 2011: Installed Backfire on stock NSLU2 without any problems and works great. Added "option gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" and "option dns xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" to "option ipaddr xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", "option netmask xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", and "option proto static" and kept the static setup with actual desired IP. Followed the instructions on USB support below. Used samba3 instead of samba-server so that I would not have to use regedit and problems connecting with Vista and newer Microsoft OS. Would recommend Backfire 10.03 to other NSLU2 users. — OddballHero 2011/01/31 12:57

Update January 2011: After having installed Kamikaze 8.09.2 i followed http://wiki.openwrt.org/inbox/howto/install-usb-support#modules.for.usb.2.0 in order to have USB-Support. The instructions are still valid and USB-Support works without problems. I used the following commands (you can copy and paste them into your ssh-terminal window):

opkg update
opkg install e2fsprogs cfdisk fdisk swap-utils usbutils
opkg install kmod-usb-core kmod-usb2 kmod-usb-ohci kmod-scsi-core kmod-usb-storage kmod-usb-serial
opkg install kmod-fs-msdos kmod-fs-nfs kmod-fs-nfsd kmod-fs-ntfs kmod-fs-vfat kmod-fs-ext2 kmod-fs-ext3
opkg install kmod-nls-base kmod-nls-cp437 kmod-nls-cp850 kmod-nls-utf8 kmod-nls-iso8859-1 kmod-nls-iso8859-2 

After installing these packages, about 53% of the internal storage remains:

root@nslu2:/mnt# df
Filesystem           1k-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
rootfs                    1472      1472         0 100% /
/dev/root                 1472      1472         0 100% /rom
/dev/mtdblock5            4992      2324      2668  47% /jffs
mini_fo:/jffs             1472      1472         0 100% /

Update January 2011: I connected a 4 GB USB Stick (formatted with NTFS) which immediately showed up in /mnt/usbdevice. I could read the contents of the stick but not write to it (TODO: add instructions for NTFS write support). I repartitioned and reformatted the USB stick with ext3 and followed http://wiki.openwrt.org/oldwiki/usbstoragehowto (Section: Installing and using OPKG packages in mount point other than root). Installing packages on the USB Stick works flawlessly.

Update 2011/1/31 by OddballHero: Used ntfs-3g to be able to access with NTFS write support. Sometimes ok, other times get errors. Just switched to Ext3, works flawlessly. It is a Linux system, might as well use completely native system.

Update January 2011: Contrary to some other postings in the forums i can confirm that connecting devices via an additional USB Hub works (using version 8.09.2). I use a cheap model (manufactured by EDNET, 4 ports, 8 Euros) with external power supply. I tested it on both USB-ports of the NSLU2 successfully.

For system that will interact with Vista and newer Microsoft OS, it might be worth it to install samba3 instead of samba-server. No need to use regedit and less problems in the future. Sample smb.conf for samba3 (please modify to fit your security needs and system requirements):

[global]
        netbios name = OpenWrt
        workgroup = WORKGROUP
        server string = NSLU2 OpenWrt Samba Server
        syslog = 10
        encrypt passwords = true
        passdb backend = smbpasswd
        obey pam restrictions = yes
        socket options = TCP_NODELAY
        unix charset = ISO-8859-1
        preferred master = yes
        os level = 20
        security = share
        guest account = root
        invalid users = guest
        smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd

[HDD_1_1_1]
        comment = NSLU2 OpenWRT HD 1
        available = yes
        browseable = yes
        public = yes
        writeable = yes
        create mask = 0777
        path = /mnt/drive1
        read only = no
        guest ok = yes

Backfire 10.03 has most of the lights turned off (except for Ethernet) so use either the Luci web management (Administration→System→LED Configuration) feature (works quite well) or edit the /etc/config/system. GPIO Connections: http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/Info/GPIOConnections has some information to help with the setup. Sample /etc/config/system entry:

config 'led'
      option 'name' 'GPIO2'
      option 'sysfs' 'nslu2:green:disk-2'
      option 'default' '1'
      option 'trigger' 'default-on'

Look at the OpenWRT page on NSLU2-Linux wiki for more information on publicly available NSLU2 package repositories.

NSLU2 "optware" stable packages can be found here: http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/openwrt-ixp4xx/cross/stable/

NSLU2 "optware" unstable packages can be found here: http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/openwrt-ixp4xx/cross/unstable/

see also http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/packages within this wiki.

Some useful commands for troubleshooting:

in addition to this wiki information on the NSLU2 and OpenWRT can be found here: http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/OpenWrt/HomePage

A lot of HOWTOs can be found here: http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/HowTo/HomePage

The default network configuration is:

Since this device contains no Switch, there are none.

If you forgot your password, broken one of the startup scripts, firewalled yourself or corrupted the JFFS2 partition, you can get back in by using OpenWrt's failsafe mode.

• Unplug the router's power cord.
• Connect the router's LAN1 port directly to your PC.
• Configure your PC with a static IP address between 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.254. E. g. 192.168.1.2 (gateway and DNS is not required).
• Plug the power on and wait for the DMZ LED to light up.
• While the DMZ LED is on immediately press any button (Reset and Secure Easy Setup will work) a few times .
• If done right the DMZ LED will quickly flash 3 times every second.
• You should be able to telnet to the router at 192.168.1.1 now (no username and password)

NOTE: The root file system in failsafe mode is the SquashFS partition mounted in readonly mode. To switch to the normal writable root file system run mount_root and make any changes. Run mount_root now.

1. Forgot/lost your password and you like to set a new one

passwd

1. Forgot the routers IP address

uci get network.lan.ipaddr

1. You accidentally run 'ipkg upgrade' or filled up the flash by installing to big packages (clean the JFFS2 partition and start over)

mtd -r erase rootfs_data If you are done with failsafe mode power cycle the router and boot in normal mode.

The Linksys NSLU2 has one button. See nslu2.hardware.button for some options with that.

Since this part is identical for all devices, see Basic configuration.

To connect stuff to the USB port, please see Connect stuff to the USB port.

add links to tutorials for configuring samba See Basic configuration for samba and nfs.

1. configuring ntpd
2. configuring syslog-ng

- shut down via power button ( https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=25253 ) see howto above

Little endian images?