How to config WRT54GS sans internet/Windows

I'd like to configure and play with my new Linksys WRT54GS
router, but I can't figure out the "non-dummies" way to
access it.

The manual assumes I'm a Windoze person, who wants it to route my
home network to the Internet, but I don't want to do that at all.

For the moment, I just want to download the latest firmware to
the router, and then play around with letting some wireless laptops
access a wired Linux box behind my firewall.

I certainly don't want to disrupt my ongoing DSL connection--
which is serving web pages--just to configure this router, but
all the Linksys docs want me to do exactly that.

I tried just plugging the router in to a machine with an extra NIC
configured for a (192.168.1.*) sub-net, figuring that would let
me access it through a browser at its default address of
192.168.1.1, but it didn't work--lights blinked on the router,
but no web page ever showed up. I tried both the "Internet" port
and the "hub" ports, with the same results (using a straight-
through cable).

Is there documentation somewhere telling people how to configure
these units using Linux, or is it actually vital (as the manuals
imply) to do the initial configuration with Windoze? 8-} I've
been looking for clues over at linksysinfo.org, but haven't found
anything yet.

If necessary, I'll do the Windoze config, but it will have to be
in the dead of night, if it means I'll have to unplug the DSL
connection feeding my servers. 8-{

-Tim
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