Recovery Procedure

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Sometimes it happens. You're fooling around in SSH while logged in as root and you jack something up. Don't worry, as long as you didn't mess up the Redboot everything is fixable.

This is procedure to restore the operating system and the system partitions to their factory state (or the state of the newest firmware).

Note: This does NOT modify the user partition, all user data remains unchanged.
Note: This will not delete or alter your userdata (the "/home" tree)! But this will format your system partition ("/" tree) and all ipkg mods or custom mods will be erased


Contents

When do I need to do this?

If your FSG is not responding, you forgot the password(s), you can't access it or can't fix it using SSH or the Web interface, then you might want to consider using the recovery procedure. This procedure can also be used if you just want to have a clean install.

  • This shows how to recover your system to a virgin state. You might want to do this if you:
    • Configured your FSG in such a manner that you no longer have contact with it
    • Made changes to the firmware using SSH that have crashed the FSG
    • Want to make sure you have a completely fresh install of the system

Preparation

  1. The use of Windows XP is recommended. Problems have been reported when trying to perform recovery under Vista. If you're having trouble with recovery and don't have an XP PC handy, you may need to invite a friend over. Or take the FSG to visit somebody else.
  2. Backup! Backup everything you can just incase the unthinkable happens. Also save the configuration state to your computer using the web interface here http://fsg/admin/content_en/hardware_config.html . You might want to write down a few of the settings yourself, especially if you are restoring to a different firmware. Note: Be careful using configurations that were saved from different firmwares, they are not always compatible.
  3. If you haven't already, download and install the FSG Assistant.
  4. Turn off the FSG by pressing the large button on the front and then unplug the power cable.

Recovery

  1. Connect your computer via a LAN cable to one of the three LAN ports of the FSG.
  2. Just to be sure, remove all other network connections from both the FSG and your PC (Disable 2nd network cards and your WLAN card).
  3. If you have set a static IP address then set your PC to use DHCP again.
  4. Start the FSGA on your computer.
  5. Click the "Start Recovery Procedure" link and wait till the dialog appears.
  6. Here is the tricky part... You have to hold down the Reset Button on the back of the FSG while unplugging and reconnecting the powerplug. So use a pen or something fairly sharp and press the button firmly. Then hold the FSG and with your third hand, plug in the power cord. You can release the button almost immediately; hold it for no more than 1-2 seconds then release.
  7. Immediately the network connection will drop and restart again.
  8. If you're not lucky the Inner blue LED blinks on and off - take the power out and try again!
  9. If it's working then the Outer blue LED ring will be pulsing on and off and then switch to on. Inner LED is not lit.
  10. Relax, have a drink. After a little bit, the "WAN" light will blink on the FSG and the FSGA dialog will start reporting the status (see below for example).
  11. Wait for it. The Procedure takes a bit of time (about 10 - 20 minutes) because the last step is an integrity check of the User partition. The more data you have, the longer it will take.
  12. When it's done, you should have a log like this in the FSGA dialog 
FSG Recover V1.1.7 started!
installing system on /dev/hda
This can take several minutes.
..formatting system partitions
..loading firmware via network
..decoding firmware image
..unpacking and installing image
..flashing new Linux Kernal
Firmware version 3.1.26 installed
..checking home partition for errors
FSG Recover successfully finished! FSG is rebooting.
-= NOW YOU CAN PRESS <OK> BUTTON =-

The Network connection drops and starts again.

Reconfigure

  1. Press OK on the PC and "Search again for available Freecom Storage Gateway devices" and then log onto the webconfig pages.
  2. Restore the configuration file from the web interface or do it manually.

Remember the admin username will have defaulted it's password to "admin" and the config webpages will have defaulted to http://192.168.1.1/ again. There is no access to the webconfig from the WAN port and the SSH server won't be started by default.

Do I lose my DATA?

This does NOT modify the user partition (hda4), all user data (placed on /home)remains unchanged

Note: This will not delete or alter your data (the "/home" tree)! But this will format your system partition ("/" tree)

Do I lose Packages?

/opt & /home The user partition (hda4) is normally mounted under /home. If you install any ipkg package, it's additionally mounted at /opt.

!!! NOTE: This needs to be revised... Where is the /opt? Is this /opt rewrited on recovery procedure? !!!

More info

Recovery_procedure_FSG.pdf

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