How would I get piratebox working on debian-squeeze

So like I've posted before I'm having issues getting the piratebox image booting on my dockstar however I'm able to boot into debian following Jeff Doozan's instructions.



So my question from this point, how or what do I need to install and configure to get piratebox working on a debian dockstar?

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Hey DanielS,

Very strange that the PirateBox disk image won't work for you...particularly given that the image is based on a slightly modified Squeeze install originally created via Jeff's install script.

Anyhow, seeing as you have Squeeze up and running, I definitely recommend installing Jeff's recovery system on the Dockstar. Once that is done, you might want to try installing the disk image to a spare USB drive so that you don't bork your current Squeeze install. Btw, it's pretty easy to make a backup of your root file system - check out my Debian on the Dockstar wiki page for more info...

You can find the archived PirateBox DIY which includes instructions for assembling the original PirateBox (minus the shoutbox) here. The newer version (0.3-3) is far superior so I definitely recommend trying to get it working first.

Hey David,

Thanks for the quick responce, I have installed Jeff's recovery system and backed up the usb drive by following your guides and have even tried deleteing the contents of of the working install and overwriting it with the contents of the piratebox 0.3-3 file but it still doesn't boot. Putting the old debian image back to the thumbdrive and it again boots fine.

I'll take a look at the archive diy post as I really do want to get this working, but I agree the 0.3-3 with chat is the one I'd prefer.

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Hey DanielS,

Sorry to hear the disk image is still not booting. Couple of quick suggestions...

1. The default nameserver for the system is 192.168.1.1 - if your router uses a different IP address you should first change your /etc/resolv.conf file to reflect this.

2. Also, might be worth checking to ensure that all the entries in the /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules file are commented out with a # before trying to boot the Dockstar.

Also, a few quick questions...

1. What OS are you using?

2. Are you reformatting the ext2 partition (and/or the whole drive) before reinstalling the 0.3-3 disk image? If not, I recommend giving it a try.

3. Does the ext2 partition look something like this (minus the /chat directory)?



4. Is the PirateBox assigned an IP address?

First I'd like to say the archive worked great. I now have an (older) working piratebox!



As to answer your questions,
My home router has the ip of 192.168.0.1 I noticed that it was changed when following your archive guide. I know I did not check this file when trying the 0.3-3 install and it's most likely the issue as it wouldn't grab an IP address. I'll be giving it another go in a few min's making sure to check this file.

I will also check the /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules to make sure they're commented out when going through this again.

As for what OS I'm running it's linux mint debian edition (LOVE IT!)

Each time I would partition the drive I'd start by creating a new partition table and go from there.



The ext2 partition does indeed look like that each time I would extract the 0.3-3 tarball (saved it to my desktop I've tried that many times ) so I'm figuring it might have been booting just never assigned an ip due to it looking for the dhcp server at 192.168.0.1



It only dawned on me when going through the base install and noticing the nameserver was assigned the .0.1 address that this might have been the case following the walkthrough.

I changed my home router due to the fact that I have several dd-wrt devices that I'm constantly connecting to and being able to leave my home network untouched when working on them makes my life easier.

I did want to add that my asus router does have the ip of 192.168.1.1 it's just my home router that is on the *.0.1 domain should that make a difference?

Also I just opened the resolv.conf file included with your 0.3-3 and it's as follows:

  GNU nano 2.2.6                 File: resolv.conf                                        

# Generated by NetworkManager
search 208.67.220.220
nameserver 208.67.222.222

So I'm guessing this might have been my issue.

*EDIT*
Well, I've tried redoing the partitions again and changing the resolv.conf nameserver address but it still won't get itself an ip address. Not sure where the issue is now lol.

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Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2011 05:29AM by DanielS.

Glad to hear you have something working.

The resolv.conf file you posted is not from the piratebox - I'm assuming it is the file from your mint install (the disk image of piratebox/debian doesn't have network manager). Thus if this is the file you changed, it wouldn't have worked

Keep in mind that when you plug the usb drive into your mint computer, the /etc/resolv.conf file on the usb drive should be mounted at: /media/piratebox/etc/resolv.conf

As well, you might want to check the resolv.conf file of your working debian/piratebox system (which I'm assuming is connected to your asus router) so that you can replicate this setting with the disk image.

One thing that confuses me...you mentioned the IP address of your home/gateway router is 192.168.0.1 - if this is the router you built your debian install with (via Jeff's script) then the system should also have that nameserver. This means it shouldn't boot when you plug it in to the asus router with the ip address of 192.168.1.1. To further confuse the issue, the nameserver that you listed above (which I'm assuming is from your mint computer) 208.67.222.222 is totally different...perhaps you were using a different network when you opened this file...?

Indeed the resolv.conf file is the one I had on my thumbdrive until I followed your wiki on getting debian on the dockstar which had me change that file and I have no idea how that got in there being I haven't touched my own resolv.conf file, however that IP is for open-dns (which I do use on my home network) so I'm guessing it might have been added then.

I've instead decided to start my own playing around with this neat little hack called the PirateBox.

I have to say I love that you've included such simple, lightweight services like droopy and the pywebserver to create something so clever.

And that type of thinking inspired me. Instead of using the built in pychat like the awesome 0.3-3 has, I've installed ngircd locally (it's a simple lightweight irc server in debian's repo's) and have created a page using the coolsmile java irc client (pjirc is offline?!)



I've uploaded a copy of my ngircd.conf file to Pastebin here.

I've also uploaded a copy of my index.html file for the coolsmile client to Pastebin here. Just in case anyone else want's to do something similar.

Thanks darts for such a fun little project!

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This looks great - and thanks for sharing your ngircd.conf and index.html files

I've been having a blast with my pirate box (thanks for this project David!) and remembered a post asking about running a streaming radio from it. Eariler I thought this would have been tough, however I've recently been playing with another fun project, MPD (music player daemon).

It's very lightweight (no front end even) and will stream out to an icecast or shoutcast server, however it also has a built in httpd stream to save you even more memory / proc usage being to listen to it locally you won't need to send it out to another server.

There are many front ends for you to connect to it remotely, however there's also some lightweight front ends for it over the command line. ncmpcpp is the one I use and recommend. Both are available in the debian repo's however if you want it to stream out using mp3, you will have to compile one with support due to licenseing issues. (or if you ask nicely I can compile one for you but you'll need to take care of dependencies yourself)

Just wanted to let the community know, as this really makes it much easier!

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