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SpeedStream 5250 Configuration Utility?

Posted by Cliff on from the search-for-that-pesky-configuration-util dept.

tzanger asks: "There's a vast quantity of SpeedStream 5250 and 5251 SDSL modems on ebay. These modems are actually ethernet-to-SDSL bridges and could be used as cheap point-to-point links. I say could because Efficient Networks has defaulted the configuration to CPE-only and they have made their configuration utility '5250dnld.exe' disappear. I've tried dozens of search engines, Usenet and about twenty FTP search engines without luck. I thought Gnutella might be a good choice but there is a Gnutella virus which propagates itself as whatever application you try to grab!"

"The DSL controller used in the SpeedStream 5250 (the Brooktree Bt8970) is capable of working as CPE or CO; I just can't set it without that application. This is where I am asking the Slashdot crowd if they have this modem and perhaps have a copy of the 5250dnld.exe they could share. I'm certain I can get this working (and get a good HOWTO set up) if I could only get a hold of that damn utility!"

16 comments

  1. Write a config utility yourself! by duffbeer703 · · Score: 2, Funny

    The beauty of open-source is that anyone can create advanced configuration tools like the one you describe without the technical and moral restrictions of proprietary and closed software!

    Start a new project on sourceforge and sign up a few of the legions of open-source developers to create a new configuration tool!

    --
    Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
    1. Re:Write a config utility yourself! by tzanger · · Score: 4, Informative

      The beauty of open-source is that anyone can create advanced configuration tools like the one you describe without the technical and moral restrictions of proprietary and closed software!

      While your post sounds about as sarcastic as one can muster without sounding like a total ass, that is exactly what I'm working on; however I can't rewrite the utility until I can get the packet format down, and that's what I need the Win32 utility for!

      here is an excerpt from my notes so far. I have documented the flashing process about as well as I can manage, but I don't know if the format is much different for the configuration utility or not.

  2. Your utility - telnet by Snowfox · · Score: 5, Informative
    Most of the SpeedStream models can be configured with a telnet-based interface. While I can't speak to the 5250 specifically, my model included information on how to configure it via telnet in the back of the manual that shipped with it.

    Basically: set your ethernet interface to 10.0.0.2, telnet to 10.0.0.1 and hit ? for a list of available commands.

    Word of warning - do NOT turn on the 'bridgefilter' option if it is present. This command (and possibly others) can render your DSL modem unusable, and there won't be a thing you can do to fix it.

    1. Re:Your utility - telnet by tzanger · · Score: 5, Informative

      Most of the SpeedStream models can be configured with a telnet-based interface.

      The 5250/1 don't have this. They don't have an IP, as they are bridges, not firewalls or routers.

      I have the flash upgrade utility and, after cracking open my TCP/IP refrence and combing through 802.3 SNAP frame bitmaps, the flash utility (and I am guessing the configuration utility as well) use specific ethernet frames toc ommunicate with the processor on the SpeedStream 5250.

      Here is some more info from my notes:

      • Okay I'm looking at 802.3 SNAP frames:

        The PC with the flashing program sends out a raw frame:
        0000: ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 50 04 66 a4 02 00 46

        broadcast from 00:50:04:66:a4:02, len 0x0046

        000e: aa aa 03
        0011: 00 20 ea 00 01

        I know it's a SNAP frame because 0xaa 0xaa 0x03 is the signature for the SNAP header.

        Now the OUI is normally 0x000000 but here it is 0x0020ea. That is the first half of the MAC for both of these SDSL bridges, and I am willing to bet that all 5250s have this as the start of their MAC address.

        The last part of the SNAP header is the type: 0x0001.

        0016: 00 00 41 48 00 02 00 00 00 01
        0020: 0e 01 00 01 00 00 00 3c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
        0030: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
        0040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
        0050: 00 00 00 01

        The length of 0x0046 takes the data from 0x0e through to 0x53.

        The flashing computer keeps sending this until it gets a response.

      Anyway as you can see I've been buggering around with this for a while. I've documented the flashing procedure as best I can but it's obvious that this isn't as simple as telnetting to an IP. These devices use special ethernet frames to communicate and pass everything else, just like a good little bridge should

    2. Re:Your utility - telnet by Elequin · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've worked with 5260's, 5660's, 5851's, 5861's, etc. I've found that most of them, whether they are a bridge or router, can still be telnetted into with the correct settings. All the ones I've mentioned above, when set to factory defaults, can be telnetted to if you set your computer to 192.168.254.1 (/24) and telnet to 192.168.254.254.

      The reason this works on the 5260's (even though they are bridges) is because Effecient basically just took the 5660 (the router) and removed some stuff, configured it as a bridge, and re-labled it a bridge.

      The usual login / password for Effecient's products are 'login' / 'admin'. If it just asks for a password, it's 'admin'.

      - Eric

    3. Re:Your utility - telnet by tzanger · · Score: 2

      All the ones I've mentioned above, when set to factory defaults, can be telnetted to if you set your computer to 192.168.254.1 (/24) and telnet to 192.168.254.254.

      Do any of those mentioned have weird-ass configuration utilities or do they ask that the configurations be done via the telnet interface?

      I tried a few variations of this but I have not been able to obtain a response from the modem, nor have I seen any documentation on using the telnet interface from any of my searches. I do, however see tons of info on the telnet interface for the other dsl modems you mention. I am fairly (95%) certain that this is not supported on the 5250 but will see what I can find.

      Do you know of any other IP pairings commonly used by Efficient Network's products?

    4. Re:Your utility - telnet by skull · · Score: 1

      My Speedstream 5851 is configured as a SDSL CPE Bridge by default, but if I change my PC IP to 192.168.254.1 and change my gateway address to 192.168.254.254 and then telnet to 192.168.254.254 I can login directly into the device and hash away, provided you know the login password on the device.

    5. Re:Your utility - telnet by Elequin · · Score: 1

      The only other IP scheme I know that the Speedstreams have is the 10.x.x.x scheme that was mentioned elsewhere in this discussion. You probably already know this, but Efficient's website has some great documentation on all of their products.

      Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they have much on the 5250/5251 series (which appears to only be able to support a VCI/VPI of 0/38 which won't work with a lot of telcos anyway). You may really want to look into the 5851 router - it's powerful, and you wouldn't have to try to "hack" it.

      - Eric

    6. Re:Your utility - telnet by tzanger · · Score: 2

      nfortunately, it doesn't look like they have much on the 5250/5251 series (which appears to only be able to support a VCI/VPI of 0/38 which won't work with a lot of telcos anyway).

      I'm not trying to use it with a telco; strictly back-to-back. They're SDSL bridges and, barring anything dumb in the firmware, should be able to work this way if I can get one of them to provide clocking. :-) I know there are other modems on the market but these seem to be damn cheap and plentiful, moreso than the 5800s and so on.

      (BTW: I figured out how to change the ATM configuration so even that's not an issue anymore.)

    7. Re:Your utility - telnet by Linuxathome · · Score: 1

      You're absolutely right. After hearing that 5260 and above owners could telnet into their modems, I thought the 5250 had this feature also. To my disappointment, it didn't. And believe me, I tried just about everything to get it working.

      --
      Linux at home
  3. Something I found... by cr0sh · · Score: 2

    Not sure if it will help - you may have already seen it (watch, it will be your site):

    http://www.seanet.com/dsl/Covad/EfficientNetwork s/

    --
    Reason is the Path to God - Anon
    1. Re:Something I found... by tzanger · · Score: 2

      Not sure if it will help - you may have already seen it (watch, it will be your site):

      Not my site, but I already did find this in my previous searches. Same with snurgle.org; that guy hasn't found it either. I'm hoping I'll succeed since I've at least attempted to invoke the Slashdot Effect. :-)

      I appreciate the try though, this app has got to be somewhere.

  4. Something else... by cr0sh · · Score: 2

    http://groups.google.com/groups?q=5250dnld&hl=en&r num=1&selm=slrn874uqp.k0a.griffon%2Busenet%40Keyse rSoze.snurgle.org

    http://www.snurgle.org/~griffon/

    --
    Reason is the Path to God - Anon
  5. 5260 w/telnet interface by tallpaul · · Score: 1

    My 5260 has a telnet interface as a previous poster described - you just set your interface (or a virtual interface if you use an OS capable of that) on your ethernet card to 10.0.0.2 and then telnet to 10.0.0.1.

    The 5260 is a bridge (ethernet to err.. RADSL I think), so just because it is a bridge doens't mean it doesn't have that telnet interface.

    Obviously if your OS is not capable of virtual interfaces so you can only have 1 IP per interface, then when you have your interface set to 10.0.0.2 you're not going to be able to get *past* the bridge, but that's okay, it is only temporary.

    Also - the 5260 can be upgraded via firmware (it is out there somewhere) to be a router instead of a bridge. Neat, huh? Try www.dslreports.com to get a lot of info about these.

  6. Serial interface by Indomitus · · Score: 1

    On the Efficient 5800 series units I've worked with you can connect a 9pin serial->RJ45 cord from the serial connection on your computer to the blank port on the back of the unit (it's the management port, it just isn't labelled) and then connect with minicom/hyperterm. From the command line you can do much more than you can from any interface. I'd be willing to guess that the interface won't let you do what you to do anyway, the Efficient windows|web interfaces I've seen are all pretty limited. Good luck.

    1. Re:Serial interface by tzanger · · Score: 2

      On the Efficient 5800 series units I've worked with you can connect a 9pin serial->RJ45 cord from the serial connection on your computer to the blank port on the back of the unit (it's the management port, it just isn't labelled) and then connect with minicom/hyperterm.

      That's the first thing I tried too. :-) Unfortunately there are no serial ports, RS232 nor TTL level. (I spent an hour or so with a scope on every suspicious looking land pattern, constantly resetting the modem and looking for a datastream that smelled like async serial. No luck so far. :-(