Hi all,
I just got my Ben NanoNote today, and after flashing the latest firmware
onto it wanted to set it up so networking with it is automatic.
Now, I'm using NetworkManager on my PC, and figured it should be
possible to set it up with that somehow. And, well, with some work, I
figured out how to make it work - using NM's connection sharing - and
it's pretty simple once I know how, so figured I should share it.
First off, I had to make the MAC address static, as per the wiki[1].
(Is there a good reason it isn't static by default?)
Then, I changed the network setup of the NanoNote, editing the lan
section of /etc/config/network to look like this:
config interface lan
option ifname usb0
option proto static
option ipaddr 10.42.43.4
option netmask 255.255.255.0
option gateway 10.42.43.1
option dns 10.42.43.1
This is because NetworkManager's connection sharing hardcodes the
network used - it always uses 10.42.43.1 for itself, and gives out
addresses with DHCP in the .10 to .100 range (though some sources online
says it gives out .10 to .254, up to .100 is used on my system).
I picked .4 for the NanoNote just as a random IP in the non-DHCP range.
Now, reboot the Ben, to make sure the MAC address etc. is set up right.
Then, connect it to your PC via USB. NetworkManager sees it as a new
network, and tries to connect to it with DHCP - this will fail after a
little while, and is no problem.
(Note: the following paragraph has not been tested exactly by me, but
should work, see explanation below that.)
Right-click the network applet and select "Edit Connections...", and go
to the Wired tab if it doesn't start there. Click the "Auto usb0"
connection that was created automatically when you connected the
NanoNote, and click the Edit... button. On the "Wired" tab, make sure
the "MAC address" field contains the NanoNote's static MAC address, and
on the "IPv4 Settings" tab, change Method to "Shared to other
computers". Click "Apply" at the bottom to save.
That should be all that is needed; if it didn't already connect just
click the applet icon and select the Auto usb0 connection. The next time
you connect the NanoNote it should be connected automatically.
Now, as mentioned above, this isn't the exact setup I have personally,
in part because I've been messing around with it a bit to make this
work, and in part because I have another profile for the standard
network setup on the NanoNote (that doesn't give it Internet).
In my setup, I've left the "Auto usb0" connection alone except to
uncheck the "Connect automatically" checkbox, and have instead added a
new connection (called "Ben NanoNote (shared)") which is not available
to all users (so I don't need admin access to change it), but is
otherwise set up as above (with "Connect automatically" checked).
With this setup, all I have to do is plug in my NanoNote, and the
networking Just Works(tm), without me having to change any config files
on my PC (just had to use the graphical network configuration tool).
NetworkManager also takes care of turning things back off when I unplug
the NanoNote.
So, mission accomplished - now just to play around with it some more...
I'm liking what I've seen so far. :)
[1] http://en.qi-hardware.com/wiki/Ethernet_over_USB#Static_Mac_Address
(by the way - shouldn't the fw_setenv line here use "mem=32M" like in
the defaults, instead of just "32M"? )
--
Regards,
Frode Austvik
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