Network Setup and Usage - Logging on to your ReelBox

From ReelBox Maniacs

The Linux system on your ReelBox runs a telnetd configured to startup upon request (via inetd.conf that is). So you can log on to your ReelBox using a telnet client.

[edit] Requirements

As always in a computers world, there are 1001 possible telnet clients which you might use. We are going to describe the simplest method - in terms of not having to install anything on a Windows computer. Fire up a cmd windows (go Start > run > cmd) and you are able to log onto your ReelBox right away. The following procedure is the same for other telnet clients - this is even true for plain Linux or other Unixes.

All you have to know to be anle to lo onto your ReelBox is

• the IP address of your ReelBox. We are going to use 192.168.0.175 for the example below. You might also use the NetBIOS name of your ReelBox, which is reelvdr by default (this is, because there is a nmbd running on the ReelBox).
• the usernames available to log onto your ReelBox.
  • First there is a user named reel without password. You might forget about this one later, because of missing access rights in most places. If you don't now anything about a Linux system, you might want to take your first steps using this username anyway to be on the safe side. It's unlikely to damage files on your ReelBox logging on as user reel.
  • Second there is the user root. Also this user hasn't got a password. root always may access everything on your ReelBox (read / write / delete / take ownership / etc.). If you don't have experiences administering a Linux system: be careful. And keep a CD with a current software image ready, just in case ...

Some Unix / Linux knowledge will help, so you know what you are doing. This is out of scope of this document, but you'll find lots and lots of material on the internet or your bookstore preffered. So do some research, in case you are interested.

[edit] Telnet to the ReelBox

Fire up a cmd window and follow the command sequence below. It is that easy!

192.168.0.175 # is the prompt of your ReelBox. You logged on successfully!

Now let's have a look, in which directory we ende up and have a look at the size of the file systems.

Filesystem           1k-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
df: /mnt/initrd: No such file or directory
df: /mnt/initrd/proc: No such file or directory
/dev/tffsa3              54036     54036         0 100% /
/dev/tffsa2               4813      3745      1068  78% /etc
tmpfs                   128124      8240    119884   6% /tmp
tmpfs                   128124      2068    126056   2% /var
tmpfs                    10240         0     10240   0% /mnt
/dev/hdc1            244188508  14657348 229531160   6% /mnt/hd
//192.168.0.3/mp3    244195328 204754944  39440384  84% /mnt/net1
192.168.0.175 #

pwd shows the current directory, df the usage of the file systems. If you would like to learn more about the commands, search google for man df f.e..

Let's have a look at one more command before we will quit the telnet session. If you ever fiddle about on your ReelBox (f.e. changing settings), it's quite useful to read the system logs. On your ReelBox the command to so is logread. You may want to set the standard parameter of your cmd window (82x25 by default) to give you a wider display next time.

...
Feb 25 15:31:48 ReelVDR user.debug vdr[1106]: video directory scanner thread started (pid=1106, tid=-1477117008)
Feb 25 15:31:51 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: System Time = Sat Feb 25 15:31:51 2006 (1140877911)
Feb 25 15:31:55 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: Local Time  = Sat Feb 25 15:31:48 2006 (1140877908)
Feb 25 15:31:48 ReelVDR user.debug vdr[1106]: video directory scanner thread ended (pid=1106, tid=-1477117008)
Feb 25 15:31:48 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: connect from 192.168.0.100, port 1925 - accepted
Feb 25 15:31:48 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: closing SVDRP connection
Feb 25 15:31:48 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: System Time = Sat Feb 25 15:31:48 2006 (1140877908)
Feb 25 15:31:48 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: Local Time  = Sat Feb 25 15:31:51 2006 (1140877911)
Feb 25 15:31:51 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: System Time = Sat Feb 25 15:31:51 2006 (1140877911)
Feb 25 15:31:51 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: Local Time  = Sat Feb 25 15:31:54 2006 (1140877914)
Feb 25 15:31:54 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: System Time = Sat Feb 25 15:31:54 2006 (1140877914)
Feb 25 15:31:54 ReelVDR user.info vdr[1106]: Local Time  = Sat Feb 25 15:31:57 2006 (1140877917)

If you'd like to read your logs more easily, have a look at how to Display SystemLog on your Windows_PC.

Now we log off the ReelBox.

That's all about it. If you want to learn more about Linux, you may want to google for linux primer.