NASLite Network Attached Storage

I am not a linux or network guru, so please excuse this very simplistic question.

I have NASLite running on an olderbox (Pentium 133 Mhz, 70 Mb RAM and 1.2 Gb hard disk). I hook up the machine to my home router (Netopia), turn on the machine and log in as the admin. However, it doesn't show up on my network. From a previous post, I am led to believe that NASLite won't work with a router. This might be because I am unable to configure the gateway on the NASLite machine to the same gateway on the router (not sure though).

What do I need to do to get NASLite operational?

Purchase and install a switch/hub?

Use a crossover cable and connect the NASLite machine to one of my workstations?

Do something else?

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

With kind regards,

Ahood

Ahood,

Make sure that your NASLite box is on the same network - you might assign it 196.168.0.18, for example, and that it has the same Workgroup name as your other machines.

You might also check that your router allows that address. Some routers have a "restrictions" section that will restrict the IP range that they use.

My boxes hook directly to my Netgear router w/o any problems, but I did need to "reserve" it's IP address so that it wasn't automaticly assigned by the router thru DHCP.

Hope this helps,

Tim

Tim,

Thank you for the reply. You message was indeed helpful.

I discovered that the problem I had was due not to NASLite not working or incompatible with my DSL router. The problem was due to an error message that occurred during bootup and I did not know it. You see, I setup the machine with NASLite in my garage. After configuration, I just took the box and keyboard (no mouse or monitor), plugged it in to my DSL router, turned it on and waited for NASLite to boot. It was then that I noticed that I could not telnet into the unit nor was it recognized by the DSL router.

After reading your message, I decided to attach the monitor to the computer while it was connected to the DSL router and reboot, which was not easy to do because the box in way on top of a tall armoir. After rebooting, I noticed the boot sequence halt because a mouse was not connected to the machine. So, I connected the mouse and rebooted again, and whaala! I could telnet into NASLite and the problem was solved.

Thus, I was completely wrong about NASLite. It does work by connecting it to a DSL router. For some reason, the NASLite box does not show up as a DSL Client on the router configuration HTML page, but I think this is due to manually setting an IP address on the NASLite (NASLite does not appear to support DHCP). However, this is a minor issue and one that I don't mind at all.

I now have additional network storage. NASLite may not offer a ton features, but it certainly does work and for the price, it can only be praised.

I highly recommend NASLite! It really can't get much easier than this....

Alan Hood

Alan,

You're right in that NASLite doesn't support DHCP, you must set the IP address manually. I am, however, intrigued that it failed to boot w/o a mouse. When I get home, I'll test that. I don't believe I have a mouse on my box, but then it may just be that I hooked one up by default.

Glad you're up and running!

Tim

Thanks Tim,

I am curious to know if booted up with no mouse. I don't know if this is a common issue with computers or if it is specific to my mahcine. It could be specific to my very old machine (original motherboard) with a very simplistic IBM BIOS (I never knew IBM made a BIOS for Gateway computers).

With kind regards,

Alan Hood

Alan,

I booted 2 of my NASLite machines - an old Compaq PII -200 and a Gateway PII-266 without a mouse, and neither complained.

Perhaps you have a BIOS setting that's causing the problem?

Tim

Tim,

I agree. It is specific to my machine and the BIOS that is installed.

Thanks.

Alan Hood