Re: Hacking the Linksys WRT54G

>Also (while I'm at it), has anyone tried to hack a wireless printer server 
>(those little things you can plug into a printer and not need to have it 
>plugged into a client on the LAN because it gets its own IP etc...)? I'm 
>thinking that it would make an excellent project- if you could control the 
>pinouts on that little thing then you could effectively set up a remote 
>controlled device that is fully intergrated with your LAN... (though its 
>porbably a waste of money because a regular RC system could be set up for 
>much cheaper... but its the concept)

If instead of controlling parallel ports, you're looking for a way to
control serial devices remotely over an ethernet connection, some hardware
available from Jesse Brown (wolf) may be of interest, in particular the
TFNXPT - Network-based Serial Console Server for $65 (kit) or $75 (assembled):
http://www.theforestnetworking.com/hardware.php

Such a device could also be hung off of a wireless router or bridge, if so
desired.  (Jesse is selling these mostly for use with WRT54G v2.x boxes,
but they'll work for other applications as well.)

I haven't seen any source code available for any Linksys printer servers at
http://www.linksys.com/support/gpl.asp (or for any other printer servers,
elsewhere).

I think your best bet for converting a printer server (with a parallel
port, like the Linksys WPS54GU2) into another use may be to try to build a
communications/control spec using the already existing printer signalling
methods for older dot-matrix style printers.  Treat the outgoing commands
as 'print jobs' and incoming responses as 'status codes'.

-hk
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