WiFi Pi

The next logical step was to remove the dependency on physical ethernet cabling to my Raspberry Pi.

I struggled with a couple of cards, but eventually got success with a tiny little NG54/N150 Wireless USB Micro Adapter – WNA1000M.

I cant claim the credit – it was a combination of the following sites that eventually got a result.

http://www.69b.org/prox-pi.php/rpo/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=6737&sid=6f0540c1c93a8bd41b309c6832b6058b
http://www.ctrl-alt-del.cc/2012/05/raspberry-pi-meets-edimax-ew-7811un-wireless-ada.html
http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=5249

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6256
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/80256631/install-rtl8188cus.txt
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/80256631/install-rtl8188cus.sh

root@raspberrypi:~# apt-get install wget unzip wireless-tools wpasupplicant
root@raspberrypi:~# wget http://www.electrictea.co.uk/rpi/8192cu.ko
root@raspberrypi:~# wget ftp://ftp.dlink.com/Wireless/dwa130_revC/Drivers/dwa130_revC_drivers_linux_006.zip
root@raspberrypi:~# unzip dwa130_revC_drivers_linux_006.zip

root@raspberrypi:~# install -m 644 ./8192cu.ko /lib/modules/3.1.9+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/
root@raspberrypi:~# depmod -a

root@raspberrypi:~# mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/firmware/RTL8192U
root@raspberrypi:~# mv rtl8192u_linux_2.6.0006.1031.2008/firmware/RTL8192U/* /usr/local/lib/firmware/RTL8192U/
root@raspberrypi:~# vi /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

root@raspberrypi:~# cat /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=0
ap_scan=2

network={
ssid="WiFiNetworkSSID"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA2
pairwise=CCMP
group=CCMP
psk="C0mpl3xS3cur3P$K"
}
root@raspberrypi:~#

touch /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
echo "blacklist rtl8192cu" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
touch /etc/modules
echo "8192cu" >> /etc/modules

**If your wifi is wlan2 or wlan3 etc - you can rename by deleting the old nics from ....

root@raspberrypi:~# vi /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules

root@raspberrypi:~# vi /etc/network/interfaces

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

And for the results:

root@raspberrypi:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0846:9041 NetGear, Inc. WNA1000M 802.11bgn [Realtek RTL8188CUS]

root@raspberrypi:~# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"WiFiNetworkSSID"  Nickname:"<WIFI@REALTEK>"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.447 GHz  Access Point: 02:5E:52:7A:AF:12   
          Bit Rate:150 Mb/s   Sensitivity:0/0  
          Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:****-****-****-****-****-****-****-****   Security mode:open
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=88/100  Signal level=88/100  Noise level=0/100
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

root@raspberrypi:~# ifconfig wlan0
wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr c4:3d:c7:79:3a:04  
          inet addr:192.168.0.140  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:261 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:140 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:53777 (52.5 KiB)  TX bytes:33212 (32.4 KiB)

Tor & disabling IPv6 in Linux

Install & configure tor / privoxy & proxychains

– Add a new repo

vi /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org lucid main

– Get the key

gpg –keyserver keys.gnupg.net –recv 886DDD89
gpg –export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | apt-key add –

– Installapt-get update
apt-get install tor tor-geoipdb
apt-get install privoxy

– Check privoxy config to make sure listen address is 127.0.0.1:8118 & configure socks4a proxy

vi /etc/privoxy/config

listen-address 127.0.0.1:8118
forward-socks4a / 127.0.0.1:9050 .

– change keep-alive-timeout & socket-timeout to 600

keep-alive-timeout 600
socket-timeout 600

– Start privoxy

/etc/init.d/privoxy start

– Change your browser to point @ your proxy 127.0.0.1:8118
– Check that you connect over tor

https://check.torproject.org/

– Next up, install proxychains so you can use other tools over tor

apt-get install proxychains

– Verify the following line is in /etc/proxychains.conf

socks4 127.0.0.1 9050

– Remove tor & privoxy from startup (init when you need them)

update-rc.d -f tor remove
update-rc.d -f privoxy remove

– Start them up

service tor start
service privoxy start

– Check its working – “proxychains <command>”

root@bt:~# netstat -antp | grep LISTEN
tcp        0      0 127.0.0.1:8118          0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      3569/privoxy
tcp        0      0 127.0.0.1:9050          0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      3562/tor

root@bt:~# curl -s icanhazip.com
101.171.255.232

root@bt:~# proxychains curl -s icanhazip.com
|S-chain|-<>-127.0.0.1:9050-<><>-174.132.254.58:80-<><>-OK
31.172.30.1- Have fun, then shut em down when you are done

service privoxy stop
service tor stop

– There are many reasons you may not want IPv6 running on your machine (for example if you were using tor & didnt want IPv6 traffic to go directly to a target instead of via your IPv4 socks proxy)

root@bt:~# vi /etc/sysctl.conf

#disable ipv6
net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.lo.disable_ipv6 = 1

root@bt:~# sysctl -p

Telstra3G USB in Linux

Telstra 3G USB Dongles are good for connectivity on the go.

http://www.zte.com.au/telstra/MF626i.htm
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AustralianTeam/Projects/WirelessBroadbandInformation

root@bt:~# lsusb | grep ZTE
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 19d2:0031 ONDA Communication S.p.A. ZTE MF110/MF636

root@bt:~# dmesg | grep ttyUSB
[ 2306.101269] usb 1-4: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[ 2306.101613] usb 1-4: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB1
[ 2306.102140] usb 1-4: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB2
[ 2306.102487] usb 1-4: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB3
root@bt:~#

There is a hard way using wvdial etc – or an easy way. I chose the easy way – a great little script called sakis3g

====================================

http://wiki.sakis3g.org/wiki/index.php?title=Sakis3G_script
http://www.sakis3g.org/#download

wget “http://www.sakis3g.org/versions/latest/i386/sakis3g.gz&#8221;
gunzip sakis3g.gz
chmod +x sakis3g
./sakis3g –interactive

====================================

root@bt:~/scripts# ./sakis3g connect USBINTERFACE=”3″ APN=”telstra.internet”

root@bt:~/scripts# ./sakis3g connect info
MF626s connected to Telstra (50501).
Connection Information

Interface: P-t-P (ppp0)

Connected since: 2012-06-11 20:52
Kilobytes received: 376
Kilobytes sent: 57

Network ID: 50501
Operator name: Telstra
APN: telstra.internet

Modem: MF626s
Modem type: USB
Kernel driver: option
Device: /dev/ttyUSB2

IP Address: 10.192.124.71
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.255
Peer IP Address: 10.64.64.64
Default route(s): 10.64.64.64
====================================

root@bt:~/scripts# ./sakis3g disconnect
Disconnected.

Do you want to be Certyfied Ethical Hacker ?

This one caught my eye on LinkedIn ………. I guess “Free IT Security Training” doesn’t really have an advertising budget … but really ?? does this give you confidence in the course ?

I thought perhaps it was a posting that someone using one of the leaked passwords – but then its actually linked to the same post on pentest magazine.

http://pentestmag.com/do-you-want-to-be-certyfied-ethical-hacker/

Raspberry Pi Console Server

It occurred to me that the Raspberry Pi would make a great low cost, portable console server.

1. Plug in a USB -> Serial convertor & appropriate serial console cable to your device

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=XC4834

Check that it is detected

root@raspberrypi:~# dmesg

usb 1-1.2: new full speed USB device number 5 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=067b, idProduct=2303
usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
usb 1-1.2: Product: USB-Serial Controller D
usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: Prolific Technology Inc.
usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial
USB Serial support registered for generic
usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic
usbserial: USB Serial Driver core
USB Serial support registered for pl2303
pl2303 1-1.2:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
usb 1-1.2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usbcore: registered new interface driver pl2303
pl2303: Prolific PL2303 USB to serial adaptor driver

Install minicom to drive it

root@raspberrypi:~# apt-get install minicom

Hurrah – Portable console access 😀

root@raspberrypi:~# minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 9600 -o
Welcome to minicom 2.4

OPTIONS: I18n
Compiled on Sep 7 2010, 01:26:06.
Port /dev/ttyUSB0

Press CTRL-A Z for help on special keys
FORTIBORDER login: admin
Password: ************
Welcome !

FORTIBORDER # get system status
Version: FortiWiFi-60CM v4.0,build0535,120511 (MR3 Patch 7)
Virus-DB: 15.00698(2012-06-15 03:29)
Extended DB: 14.00000(2011-08-24 17:09)
IPS-DB: 3.00201(2012-06-14 00:30)
FortiClient application signature package: 1.496(2012-06-08 08:51)
Serial-Number: FW60CM3GXXXXXXXX
BIOS version: 04000018
System Part-Number: P08962-03
Log hard disk: Available
Internal Switch mode: interface
Hostname: FORTIBORDER
Operation Mode: NAT
Current virtual domain: root
Max number of virtual domains: 10
Virtual domains status: 1 in NAT mode, 0 in TP mode
Virtual domain configuration: disable
FIPS-CC mode: disable
Current HA mode: standalone
Distribution: International
Branch point: 535
Release Version Information: MR3 Patch 7
System time: Sat Jun 16 20:50:32 2012

My Raspberry Pi comes to life

Like most of the rest of the world’s IT population, I got excited about the Pi & ordered one.

It has arrived & I have had a little bit of time to play with it & I am pretty impressed.

BUILD A CASE

The first thing to do was a case, I didnt want to short it out on anything & it just felt too fragile & vulnerable naked

I printed this one (http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=6500) on some card (manila folder) & folded it up

 

A larger selection can be found here: http://elinux.org/RPi_Cases

PREPARE A DISTRO

Next we need a Distro:

http://elinux.org/RaspberryPiBoardDistributions

For each image, just use dd in Linux **Be Careful – make sure you have the right device to write the image to. This would be the SD card, not your hard drive !!

dd if=.img of=/dev/sdb

I have been primarily playing with the Debian Squeeze distro

http://downloads.raspberrypi.org/images/debian/6/debian6-19-04-2012/debian6-19-04-2012.zip
User: pi / raspberry

Raspbian is based on Debian Wheezy, which is newer than Squeeze

http://www.raspbian.org/
User: root / raspbian

The developing Raspbmc (XBMC) looks very promising – I have watched a couple of movies with it, with no performance issues

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Raspbmc

http://www.raspbmc.com/2012/05/raspbmc-is-now-in-beta/

http://download.raspbmc.com/downloads/bin/ramdistribution/installer-testing.img.gz

Note: you need at least a 2GB SD card. Raspbmc will use the full size of your card.

**First boot needs internet (ethernet cable/ dhcp) – the installer prepares the sdcard, then raspbmc is downloaded & setup at first boot.

TIME FOR POWER

The Pi runs on 5v, connected via Micro USB http://elinux.org/RPi_Hardware_Basic_Setup#Power_Supply – which can be supplied by pretty much any phone charger / USB port these days. The only recommendation provided by the vendor is choose a supply that will provide 5v and ~700mA. They will apparently run “stable” on any voltage between  4.75 and 5.25 volts.

Many people have been using the iPhone / iPad chargers without any issues (me included). But as an experiment, I decided to see what they were putting out. The Pi has two test ports TP1 & TP2 – these are to check the voltage being supplied to the board. There are mutterings about voltages under 5volt providing unexpected behavior on some boards.

I found that my white iPhone/iPod power supply (Rated @ 5V 1A dropped to about 4.8v when the Pi is running with HDMI, SD Card & USB WiFi Dongle.

Apple (A1205) Drops to about 4.8V under load

My HTC charger (Rated @ 5V 1A)performed about the same – around 4.8v under load

HTC (TC P300) Drops to around 4.8V under load

Another generic branded “Switching power supply” that was also rated @ 5V 1A showed the same voltage drop to around 4.8V under load.

Enter the Samsung Galaxy Tab 5V 2A charger, this bad boy kept me running at 5V under load.

Samsung (ETA-P10X) Keeps pushing 5V under load

The general consensus is that a 5V 1A phone charger should be fine, but if you are planning on plugging things into the USB port (WiFi / Storage etc) then you would be probably best off getting a higher rated PSU. I am going to check out Jaycar for a regulated 5V 2A supply next. Your results may vary, I didnt experience any strange issues or performance problems when running of any of the listed PSUs – but possibly got more interface drops on the USB WiFi adapter (thats a subject for another blog post).

On the subject of power – having such a tiny / portable device is much more useful when you can take it with you away from a power point. From our local Aldi store, I picked up a “Tevion MPP 7400” This is a portable 7400mAh Li-Po Battery Pack. This little guy has two USB ports on it & will apparently provide up to 2.1A on one, or 1A each with both in use. Its primarily aimed at charging a smartphone on the go, but it works beautifully as a portable power supply for the Pi. I have not tested how long it will keep the Pi running, but I was playing on it for several hours without the pack dropping an LED on the power meter.

Battery Pack – providing 4.78V under load – just within the allowable range – so far no problems, but we will see how it goes.

Well, that’s it for now, my Pi lives and breathes (as much as a piece of electronic equipment can) – time to try out some more distros & “projects” with it.