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[johnson]

It would be a bit cheeky to ask Johnson for a feature request to add a user-configurable system startup script feature to the customer firmware project, after he has done so much already, incredibly generous. Even with that, where would one store the requested value in the config? Wherever the config XML gets stored, presumably that is the answer?

Forgive me if I haven't understood correctly, but you want to run some CLI commands at every boot? The -customcmds firmwares from here perform that task.

If you would like a combination of the customcmds ones with stats monitoring thats not hard to do.

Can I ask again why correct times on the modem are important to you? If you are processing the stats monitoring logs in browser or elsewhere then the conversion isnt hard, just compare the modems time to the actual. I have never got the 1312s own logging features to put anything interesting in them.

[johnson]

So no write access to some of the expected directories. Even though I can create the directory /var/spool/cron, so at least there is write access, it did not exist before, so that is not encouraging and I don’t know if it will persist anyway, or whether it is just a ram disk? Even if cron exists [?] and works it’s pointless unless things stored will persist, so setting up a crontab file somewhere and even demonstrating that it works isn’t enough. I’m a bit lost now as to where to go.

Think of the firmware on these devices like booting from a live cd/usb. Most things mounted as writeable are in volatile memory that will be gone after a reboot, with the exception of the /data partition. In the /data partition there is the "psi" file that contains all the zyxel interfaces settings, its encoded in a relativity simple way but I have yet to be able to decode and re-encode it.

Almost all of the important bits of the filesystem for storing configuration are not even volatile but just mounted read only.

Its unfortunate, but to do anything fun you need to mess with the original image the device boots from.

Edit: It might possible to get a cron job working on a running device with some finagling, but as before it wouldn't be persistent.

[Weaver]

@johnson. Once again, thank you for your efforts which I am now finding very beneficial. The stats graphing has been helpful to an unanticipated extent. I have discovered all sorts of annoying problems with upstream SNRM going up and down like a yo-yo.

My apologies, I had just completely forgotten about the customcmds build having already had such a feature. This is a very serious problem for me, short term and medium memory being totally shot because of illness plus various powerful drugs. It often leads me to ask questions more than once, or to lose track of where things are. I can still write code on a good day, but even on the best days such performance is severely curtailed. Support from certain kitizens when I have been stuck due to lack of concentration or disorientation has been extremely helpful to me.

To answer your question about setting the time right. You’re correct that it’s hardly vital, but I am guilty of perfectionism in respect of small details that don’t matter, I suspect, and I set myself a little challenge, that I would try and fix the time or get dns working if it was not too hard.

And of course I could just convert times by adding an offset.

I have succeeded in getting the time correct with NTP anyway by redirects provided by my  Firebrick router. So that challenge is completed.

[Weaver]

I appreciate what Johnson said about the file system(s). I expected the worst, wasn’t expecting to find anything at all much that is writeable. I imagine all there is that is modifiable is provided by ramdisk(s) underneath, no?

To store any such things persistently, the only thing I could think of would be to use the mechanism it uses already in its xml config read/write facility. I assume that it must blow that to flash, can’t think of anything else.

Musing, if one could abuse the XML, squirrelling something away in it in an unused place or if one could add something new to the tree, then that would be a useful technique. Then some code in read-only storage could perhaps find a way to consult the XML config at startup or whenever and that info when retrieved could be something variable to be exploited in numerous ways.

I haven’t tried adding anything extra to the XML. If the system validates the XML using XML Schema or one of the other two popular tools though, then would put a stop to that plan.

[burakkucat]

I wonder if you could make use of the USB ports that the VMG1312-B10A possesses? Insert a USB memory stick and write to it . . .

The VMG1312-B10A data sheet states --

USB: One for USB2.0 host interface

The introductory statements in the Users' Guide states --

The Device has two USB ports for sharing files via a USB storage device, sharing a USB printer, or
connecting a 3G dongle for a WAN backup connection.

[Weaver]

That is a really interesting idea. Full of possibilities.

However, unfortunately it wouldn’t fit my likely scenario because I would want to use it on a lot of modems.

For example, if I could find commands to do things such as fixing the default gateway or sorting DNS out then I would put those into a custom startup definition. I just need johnson’s tech that he reminded me of, but I’m using the wrong custom build as I love his inbuilt mini stats server.