AB-Solution - The Ad Blocking Solution

[thelonelycoder]

Could you let me know what you have set in your router please?

thanks

You'd have to figure it out, basically your clients need to use your pixelserv router as the DNS Server.

I use it completely different for my tests.
A setup that is useless to you unless you develop software for these routers.

My network looks like this.
- Main router to ISP
- Devices behind main router
- Test routers behind main router
- Fake ISP routers behind main router (for dual WAN testing)
- My Computer, connected to all the routers I work on on LAN side, I have several network cards in it.

 

[Rimmel]

Well tried everything, the double nat method only works for PC's connected to the downstream router. Anything connected directly to the upstream router cannot "back" connect and suffers loss of dns.

You should consider moving your project over to a DD-WRT router as they have a Gateway Mode (direct net connection) and a router mode (non direct connection mode). Pixelserv works on these great and pixelserv does not have to be installed on the gateway router.

I don't really understand WHY ab-solution has to be installed on the gateway router?

 

[thelonelycoder]

You should consider moving your project over to a DD-WRT router as they have a Gateway Mode (direct net connection) and a router mode (non direct connection mode). Pixelserv works on these great and pixelserv does not have to be installed on the gateway router.

I started developing AB-Solution for Asuswrt-Merlin because I own Asus routers. With Merlin and john9527 doing a fantastic job there's no need to look any further.

There is no reason for me to port it to others at the moment. DD-WRT just does not appeal to me, especially with the added time for me to port it and answer support questions in another forum.

I don't really understand WHY ab-solution has to be installed on the gateway router?

The why is simple: Unless the router is in wireless router mode, the necessary dnsmasq is not needed and therefore not used by the firmware.
Also, user scripts are limited in non-wireless-router mode.
It's physically impossible.

I remember a guy from Brazil tried to use an AP with AB-Solution, and he seemed sharp enough to pull it off knowing unix/linux and stuff.
I was skeptical but he said it's doable. It was a long forth and back about ideas and philosophies.

Months go by an I forgot about it. Then that user pops up in a thread and I remember that story again.
I ask if he was successful.
The answer was negative.

 

[Rimmel]

The why is simple: Unless the router is in wireless router mode, the necessary dnsmasq is not needed and therefore not used by the firmware.
Also, user scripts are limited in non-wireless-router mode.
It's physically impossible.

You definitely chose the wrong firmware then.

Pixelserv on DD-WRT works great - it would have been quite easy I am sure to add HTTPS blocking.

Ah well, thanks anyway.


.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Pixelserv on DD-WRT works great - it would have been quite easy I am sure to add HTTPS blocking.

I have no doubt it works just as great on other firmware as it does on AsusWRT-Merlin.
And that's because the Entware maintainers do a fantastic job making it portable.

You definitely chose the wrong firmware then.

That's not very kind to say. Not to me, not on this forum and the creators of AsusWRT-Merlin and its forks.

 

[Rimmel]

I have no doubt it works just as great on other firmware as it does on AsusWRT-Merlin.
And that's because the Entware maintainers do a fantastic job making it portable.

Portable? other than AsusWRT-Merlin routers, what other devices is it portable to?

That's not very kind to say. Not to me, not on this forum and the creators of AsusWRT-Merlin and its forks.

No offence intended, however in DD-WRT you can use it as the main router or as a separate entity e.g. like you would if you had a separate DNS server on a networked system. DD-WRT seems far more versatile for this application. There must be literally hundreds of thousands of people already using pixelserv (like myself) on an old obsolete router added to their existing network. An addition of HTTPS and all the other great features would have been global in it's ramifications.

It is not a dig at anyone at all. But you have chosen a firmware that will only work on a handful of routers and this severely limits it's usability.

You should seriously look at porting or converting the original pixelserv to pixelserv-tls on the DD-WRT family.

Again really no offence intended and I love the work you have produced.

Regards
Rimmel

PS DD-WRT is availble for the rt-ac66u for a start.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Portable? other than AsusWRT-Merlin routers, what other devices is it portable to?

Mate, pixelserv-tls is the product of @mstombs and @kvic, not me. pixelserv and it's successor pixelserv-tls are available to AsusWRT-Merlin and other firmware and platforms through Entware.

AB-Solution is a collection of scripts that install the necessary services, files and cron jobs to add ad-blocking to AsusWRT-Merlin routers.
A standard AB installation blocks http ads. If you want https ads blocked as well and have some good side effects coming from it, AB has a built in installer for Entware and one of it's packages: pixelserv-tls.
It is I that develops AB-Solution.

And pressuring me to port AB-Solution to other platforms is not helping. It is my time and my decision.
I very much like this community, the firmware and how AB works so well.
And I trust @RMerlin and @john9527, I have no idea who's behind DD-WRT.

 

[thelonelycoder]

And @Rimmel: Judging the downloads of AB-Solution, which runs on about 10-15% of AsusWRT-Merlin (not counting the forks), I have a large enough audience. Certainly enough for me when I look at the time I code and support it.

 

[mstombs]

pixelserv is a C binary, should run on any Linux device with appropriate linkage to correct libraries. It relies quite heavily on system library calls for sockets etc. That pixelserv-tls is available in Entware makes it applicable on many devices. AB-Solution is a much more complicated set of scripts that are specifically targeted at configuring the router dnsmasq dns forwarder, by configuration of the Asuswrt-merlin firmware environment, and does a great job of configuring the pixelserv-tls. Tomato and dd-wrt already have adblock scripts which work with the older pixelserv...

 

[Rimmel]

I have no idea who's behind DD-WRT.

OMG it's only probably the biggest 3rd party firmware provider on the planet!!!

 

[Rimmel]

And @Rimmel: Judging the downloads of AB-Solution, which runs on about 10-15% of AsusWRT-Merlin (not counting the forks), I have a large enough audience. Certainly enough for me when I look at the time I code and support it.

I wonder how many of those downloaders.... download it and never use it... like me

 

[thelonelycoder]

OMG it's only probably the biggest 3rd party firmware provider on the planet!!!

I never said I do not know what DD-WRT is. And I certainly know how much larger the userbase is for their firmware.
But I have no idea who's really behind it, writing the firmware. I know it's based in Germany.
I made my decision long ago and I stick to it.
If you want to make fun of AB or me, please leave me alone.
You don't have to use AB-Solution, it is your free will to install and use it.

 

[Makaveli]

Think its time to give up Rimmel.

Best of luck with DD-WRT.

 

[mstombs]

I didn't realize dd-wrt was still going - what version is it at now? V24 was many years ago, I thought it fragmented with dozens of forks and incomplete svn source-code and toolchains - due to commercial link with Buffalo they had access to Broadcom SDK and used to use a unique kernel version and wireless drivers which couldn't then be used by anytone else...

 

[thelonelycoder]

I didn't realize dd-wrt was still going - what version is it at now? V24 was many years ago, I thought it fragmented with dozens of forks and incomplete svn source-code and toolchains - due to commercial link with Buffalo they had access to Broadcom SDK and used to use a unique kernel version and wireless drivers which couldn't then be used by anytone else...

That and business models. Paid services. No thanks.

 

[kenlui85]

Hi @thelonelycoder

I tried installing your wonderful AB-solution to my AC-68U router on merlin latest v 380.67 but I keep getting an error msg of my router is not on the latest firmware and it just won't load. Besides that, the error msg of not having dos2unix on my router keeps popping up. I'm on OSX 10.13.

Would appreciate some pointers in this. Thanks in advance!

 

[thelonelycoder]

Hi @thelonelycoder

I tried installing your wonderful AB-solution to my AC-68U router on merlin latest v 380.67 but I keep getting an error msg of my router is not on the latest firmware and it just won't load. Besides that, the error msg of not having dos2unix on my router keeps popping up. I'm on OSX 10.13.

Would appreciate some pointers in this. Thanks in advance!

I assume that's during the initial setup.
What does it return if you enter this into your SSH terminal:

which dos2unix

The return should be: /usr/bin/dos2unix
If not, reinstall your firmware. dos2unix is part of all current firmware versions.

Also, the exact error message you get is very helpful.

 

[kenlui85]

which dos2unix

I assume that's during the initial setup.
What does it return if you enter this into your SSH terminal:

which dos2unix

The return should be: /usr/bin/dos2unix
If not, reinstall your firmware. dos2unix is part of all current firmware versions.

Also, the exact error message you get is very helpful.

This is what I got upon entering which dos2unix

/usr/local/bin/dos2unix

And this is the error msg that I got :

Welcome

This is AB-Solution 3.9 [3.9.1]

-e

looking for an installation

nvram: Error getting variable - 'get': (iokit/common) data was not found

nvram: Error getting variable - 'get': (iokit/common) data was not found

nvram: Error getting variable - 'get': (iokit/common) data was not found

readlink: illegal option -- f

usage: readlink [-n] [file ...]

-e

no dos2unix found on router,

AB-Solution requires dos2unix

nvram: Error getting variable - 'get': (iokit/common) data was not found

-e

upgrade router firmware () to newer version first.

-e

exiting now...

 

[thelonelycoder]

which dos2unix


This is what I got upon entering which dos2unix

/usr/local/bin/dos2unix

And this is the error msg that I got :

Welcome

This is AB-Solution 3.9 [3.9.1]

-e

looking for an installation

nvram: Error getting variable - 'get': (iokit/common) data was not found

nvram: Error getting variable - 'get': (iokit/common) data was not found

nvram: Error getting variable - 'get': (iokit/common) data was not found

readlink: illegal option -- f

usage: readlink [-n] [file ...]

-e

no dos2unix found on router,

AB-Solution requires dos2unix

nvram: Error getting variable - 'get': (iokit/common) data was not found

-e

upgrade router firmware () to newer version first.

-e

exiting now...

Either you are not running a Rmerlin Asuswrt-Merlin or your router has a serious problem with the /home/root directory or your firmware is not complete.
What exact firmware and router are you using?

 

[kenlui85]

Either you are not running a Rmerlin Asuswrt-Merlin or your router has a serious problem with the /home/root directory or your firmware is not complete.
What exact firmware and router are you using?

I'm using RT-AC68U, on asuswrt-Merlin 380.67_0, in fact I just reinstalled the firmware but still getting the same error msg.

This router is only 2 days old, otherwise the router is functioning well.