Altering the look of the web interface

[bjornmy]

Hi!
Does anybody know if there is an easy way to change the look of the web interface on a N5200PRO? It's rather simple looking in it's original form and I would like to change it a bit.

Thanks,

Bob

[ds_master]

Hi Bob,

to do that you have to alter files that are part of the firmware image. It isn't very hard but be advised that this isn't offically supported and neither Thecus nor myself nor anybody else can be held responsible if something goes wrong while doing so. Ok enough of the legal crap:

First of all you should install the IMGDUP Module by Andreas Vogel. hxxp://onbeat.dk/thecus/index.php/N5200_Module:_IMGDUP From the description page:

This module creates a copy of the directory tree /img in /raid/data/module/IMGDUP/img and creates a symbolic link /img to that place. The original /img directory is renamed to /img.SAVED before. This enables you to modify all of the files below /img which are read-only otherwise.

This is not only convinient but also some kind of insurrance - if something goes wrong you might be able to fix things again by disabling the module aka restoring the original image.

If you haven't done so already also install the SSHD and SYSUSER modules hxxp://onbeat.dk/thecus/index.php/N5200_Module_List which will give you ssh access to your box. You will need them to access the files you are looking for because you normally can't access or put a share on the system files. Don't forget to change the 'sys' users standard password in the sysuser module and be advised that modules don't work with some Firmware versions (e.g. 2.00.3) FW 2.00.1 and 2.00.4 seem to be the best choices atm.

Once you installed and enabled all the modules reboot and ssh to your box. The web-interface files are in /img/htdocs/. For example I like to replace /img/htdocs/pub/login.jpg with a nicer picture.

Again please take great care, remember to backup everything you modify and that it is your responsibility if something goes wrong.

Cheers, Thomas

[bjornmy]

Hi Thomas,
thanks for Your answer and "legal crap" as you so elegantly call it :-) I'm fully aware of it, but it's nice to be reminded some times. I've got a couple of these N5200PRO's so I'll experiement with the one not currently being used to anything at the moment first.

I recently created an account at onbeat.dk og found some interesting modules there, but are there other sites similar to onbeat.dk that has modules that would be of interest to Thecus owners that you know of?

Again, thanks.

Bob.

[ds_master]

Hi Bob,

you are welcome!

Onbeat.dk, the semi-offical Thecus Module Homepage, is the only page covering modules I know of atm. I guess many people don't bother with modules too much because with a little experimenting you can do most things yourself once you have ssh access.

Since I have the N5200 Pro for but a few weeks I'm just beginning to understand the unit myself. Except for a little web-interface tweaking I currently only replaced the SSL cert&key for remote https access and added a few custom php scripts for fun.

What I still would love to do for example is tweak the LCD (e.g. replace the "N5200" String with the units name) but it seems that the LCD is controlled by an on-board AVR and reprogramming it is no simple feat afaik.

Cheers, Thomas