What is DDWRT?

What is DD-WRT?  DD-WRT is a free Linux based Operating System for a fairly broad range of routers.  Basically what you’re looking at is: DD-WRT upgrades the performance / capabilities of your router.  Most standard, retail-class routers come with basic options that are suitable for end-consumer/home-user class applications.  Many more technically-minded individuals would like increased functionality from their hardware (with preferably, minimal expense).

Router Operating Systems

Your router is controlled by the OS (Operating System) / Software that tells that router what to do.  To increase the functionality of that router therefore, one may consider replacing or editing the existing Operating System with another operating system featuring more capabilities.  DD-WRT is one such operating system and may be an option for you if you have or purchase a router that is compatible with it.

Selecting Your Router’s Operating System

How do I upgrade or replace my router’s OS (Operating System)?  In most cases, you may not have the time or knowledge necessary to create an operating system for your router.  You may therefore wish to obtain such a resource from someone that specializes in that field of development.   One of the more popular operating systems that meet such requirements is the DD-WRT OS which is developed by the DD-WRTCommunity. To determine whether DD-WRT will work on your router, visit their website and browse their list of supported routers.

Installing DD-WRT on Your Router:

1. Download the version of the firmware/OS for your model of router.

2. Follow the specific instructions (based on your router and version of the firmware you are installing) to install your new OS.

Installing DD-WRT V24 SP1 on a Linksys WRTGL:

1. Download the DD-WRT V24-SP1 from the DD-WRT website here.

2. Plug in/power-on  your Linksys WRT54GL Router and connect to it via a LAN port with an ethernet cable.

3. Open a browser such as Firefox and access the web interface (typically by typing 192.168.1.1 into the address bar or whatever IP range your router is set to).

4. Click on the “Administration” tab:

5. Click on the “Firmware Upgrade” sub-tab:

6.Be sure you are connected to your router via ethernet and NOT via Wireless. Click on the “Browse” button and select the file that you downloaded and click on the “upgrade” button.

7.  You will be presented with the new interface once your router has rebooted (if you had any settings in your router, all your settings should remain in place):

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How to unzip a tar.gz file from the linux command line:

So you’ve downloaded a tar.gz file from some place or the other on the web, but you have an issue. You do not know how to uzip this file. Here is the procedure you need to follow to unzip it:

Unzipping the file:

To unzip a tar.gz file from the command line in linux, complete the following steps in the order presented:

1. Open a “Terminal Window” or “Command Console” or the command line. (in CentOS 4.5 click on “Applications” in the menu bar, point to “System Tools” and click on “Terminal”).

2. Login as the root user (type su press enter and type in your password)

3. Go to the directory that the tar.gz file is located in. Use the command “cd” (the letter “c” followed by the letter “d” without quotation marks) followed by the directory you wish to go to. For instance if you are in the “home” directory and you wish to go to a directory/folder that is in the home directory called “testdirectory”, you would type the command “cd testdirectory” (without quotes) that will put you in the “testdirectory” directory. The point being that whatever commands you execute at the command line at this point will affect the files in that (”testdirectory” in this case) directory specifically unless you specify otherwise.

4. Type the command “tar -zxvf [filename]” (that is tar -zxvf followed by the name of the file you want to unzip). This will unzip the file and put it in a new directory (within the same directory) in the unzipped format.

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