4Hak3rs

Today I decided to check the status of the two NSLU2s I have and do a little testing.
The first one is flashed with unslung. I also ran the process ‘unsling’ which copies the OS to an external device, I am using either a USB key or a hard disk. The advantage of using the USB key is that you can use any USB hard disk even one that is formatted fat32 because the OS is on the USB key and not the hard disk, unfortunately,that is could lead to problems because the USB key has a limited number of ‘writes’ so it can wear out and you will wake up one day to find that your NSLU2 does not work any more. Using the hard disk instead of a USB key has the advantage that it does not wear out like a USB key, that you have the other USB port available, but this drive needs to be formatted ext3, so you can’t just plug it into your Windows box and copy files.

An interested note is that you can run the NSLU2 without any USB devices that have gone through the ‘unsling’ process, meaning that the OS is run from the internal memory of the NSLU2. You can still access any USB storage device you connect, but you cannot install any packages to the NSLU2 to add functionality. You need to ‘unsling’ to add optware package which add more features like upnp av, itunes, ccxstream etc…

The second NSLU2 I have, I just flashed with SlugOS, which does allow you to install packages to the internal memory.

Awhile ago, I came across an article on hacking the WD WorldBook. It’s simlar to all the other My Book devices, which are hard disk drives in an enclosure, only this version has an RJ-45 jack that connects the device to your network and allows you to stream content from the device to other devices on your network, like a PC. Pretty Cool.
However, once you start using one of these devices and transfer files using the USB port, you may discover that although you can stream content to your PC, you can’t copy a whole bunch of filetypes using the network connection. I guess WD decided to prevent you from copying videos, etc. Probably to try and prevent piracy, thinking that network access would make it to easy. Duh.

Anyways, the hackers got into this machine and changed things for the better. Now you can copy and stream anything.

Improving on this device, WD decided to create a device that can actually connect to your TV or sound system and play the content. Really Cool! Your media files are on it anyways, so why not connect it directly to your TV. One other major difference is that it is no long a USB enclosure, but just a player, not a bad thing because it does have two usb ports, so you can have your content separate from your device, and change the drive for a bigger one at any time. Another major difference is that the WDTV does not have an RJ-45 jack. So in the end, a pretty much completely different device.

The advantage of the WDTV is that it is a Media Player, and it plays alot of different codecs AND it is HD. Connects directly to your HDTV using HDMI.

The only thing that could make this device better is if it could connect to your network and stream content from another device or make content on the device available to computers on your network. If only… Ahh hackers, got to love ‘em.

Well now there are at least two different custom firmwares out there that promise to do just that.
WDLXTV and EXT3-boot will give you additional features. Try them out and add network support and more.

l8r.

Take a look at this article.
You can now run an application on your PC to manage the Wii DVD games on your external USB drive.

Download it directly from here.

You heard it right. Using only your Wii, you can now backup your Wii DVD games to a USB drive, then using the USB Loader homebrew app, you can scroll through the list and run the game from the USB drive directly.

I tested it, and it worked. The only game that would not run properly was Metroid Prime.

Thanks Waninkok, yet another great release.

That’s right baby, thanks to Waninkoko, you can now copy your Wii DVD games to an external USB drive then choose from the list and play the game from the USB drive.

Once again, a feature that homebrew coders bring to the community BEFORE the console makers.

You need to have The Homebrew Channel already installed so that you can first run the cIOS mod, once, then run the Loader each time you want to add to your list or choose a game.

Here’s the video.

A few months ago, I came across this Vista Gadget that shows the status of your DNS-323.

Here’s an article I came across that shows how to install the bittorent web-based client ‘Transmission’ on your D-Link DNS-323 NAS.

The built-in bittorrent is OK, this one looks alot nicer.

I checked the mailbox, and there it was, the brown envelope from China. In it is the MS Pro Duo, Dual Slot Adapter.

This is the adapter that will allow me to insert two 16GB MicroSDHC cards into my PSP for a whooping 32GB.

‘Whooping’ aside, I only have two 4GB MicroSDHC cards for now, so I can still test it out.

First up, copy my existing 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo to my desktop.
Next, check out what I have on my two 4GB MicroSDHC and clear that up.
Next, copy my original files to one on the 4GB MicroSDHC cards.
Next, put the MicroSDHC cards into the adapter and power up the PSP.

What do I see? Nothing, because the PSP tells you that you need to format the card first. Ok then. So I format the card and I see that I now have 7560MB (using two 4GB MicroSD cards). Pretty cool.

Now I need to get my hands on two 16GB MicroSDHC cards. That’s probably going to cost me.

Now I have a device that competes with my 30GB Archos, but this is memory instead of a spinning drive, has WiFi and a beautiful wide-screen. Yeah baby.

Ever since I purchased my HP MediaSmart Server and configured it just the way I liked it, I searched the web for information on how to make a quick, easy and inexpensive backup. Sure I could use Acronis TrueImage, DriveImage XML, or Ghost, but I wanted something different.

My Windows Home Server came with a Server Recovery Disk that allowed me to Restore my machine to Factory Default, but that’s not a backup.

After trying a few options, including the PXE feature of the Windows Home Server, I was not happy with the complexity involved, especially because I wanted to make it as simple for others, and, I wanted a solution that would allow me to take the backup off-site. Using the built-in backup application that keeps the backup on a separate drive was not a solution for me.

As all of you who own a HP MediaSmart Server know, we already have the ability to restore an image from the Server Recovery Disc DVD using the built-in USB flash drive, which is activated during boot by inserting a paperclip into the small hole next to the front USB port and running the DVD from our PC.

This process runs an application that is on the built-in flash drive that connects to your PC that runs an application from the DVD. This procedure was created because it’s quick and easy, especially on a server that doesn’t have a screen, but it’s only one part of a two part solution. The missing part, of course, is creating an updated image of your Windows Home Server. This is where WHS_IMAGE.EXE comes in.

Booting your Windows Home Server using the built-in flash drive runs WHS_RECOVERY_SERVER.EXE which listens for the application WHSRecovery.exe that you run from the DVD. The thing is that if you run
WHS_IMAGE.EXE from your PC it will create an image from your Windows Home Server instead of restoring it.

Take a look at your Server Recovery Disc, you will see WHSRecovery.exe
the required Dll WHS_RECOVERY_DLL.DLL and a folder called Recovery Image, which has the recovery image partition.table and volume.image

I found the application on the web and put the EXE and required DLL file into this WHS_IMAGE.ZIP file.

[Disclaimer:]The point of this article is to help you out, to make things better for you by showing you how to make a backup, but be careful when you restore your backup. I tested this out and it worked for me. If you follow these instructions, you do so at your own risk. I cannot be held responsible if the information provided messes you up.

To be safe, I actually keep all my data on a separate drive, not a separate partition, but a separate drive. I know of someone who restored his OS and wiped out his data that was on the second partition. If I screw up my restore, I could always restore my machine to the factory default and have Windows redo the PC backups, but if I lose my data, because I didn’t physically remove my data drive, then I’m really not a happy camper. P.S. I even have a DNS-323 that I use as second backup, so take precautions, you wouldn’t want the process of making a backup to cause the lose of all your data.

So,
1) extract the zip file to your pc, let’s say the D: drive in the root
2) open a dos prompt and change to that drive and folder.
3) On your Windows Home Server, reboot it and when the third light flashes, put a paperclip into the small hole next to the front usb port and press the button and release, the light should change colors.
4) Now back on your PC, run WHS_IMAGE /i [path]
where [path] is the name of a folder, not the name of a file, but the name of a folder that already exists, that will contain the files created by this application. so something like
WHS_IMAGE /I D:\Backups
5) If you timed everything correctly, you should get a message saying connecting and a progress number will appear.

If all goes well you will have an updated partition.table and volume.image file that you can even burn to a DVD.
I created an .ISO of the original Server Recovery Disc but replace the above mentioned files with my own and burned the image.

You can even create an 8GB USB key and keep your image on that. Copy the file WHSRecovery.exe from the DVD so that you have everything in one place.

That should be everything, please come back every once-in-a-while to see if I have made any corrections or even added a video.

Good Luck.

That’s right boys, our favorite Wii Homebrew Installer/Downloader/Updater is now at version 0.2.5b with a few bug fixes.
Download it here manually if you don’t already have it installed, or, if you already have the previous version, you know what to do.