Diversion Diversion - the Router Ad-Blocker

[loveleeyoungae]

All you need to do is add "manifest.googlevideo.com" in Diversion blacklist to do the blocking, I did the same and so far it looks like it's working for 95+% of ads in YouTube iOS app.

Errm... or are you just simply lucky? AFAIK, that domain also serves some other component things or videos.

 

[thelonelycoder]

hello,

Question: if/when I update Merlin FW, perform a restore or initialize, will i need to reinstall Diversion? Are there any specifics I should do with Diversion prior to updating FW?

Thanks in advance.
bUk

Firmware updates do not affect Diversion. Even restoring or initializing should not wipe out the required /jffs/scripts files content.
If you do run into problems and can't start the Diversion UI, just run the install command from the website.
Whenever you think something is not properly running and you can start the UI, just run d Re-Install or (force) Update.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Some guy on reddit has posted some new method of creating your own hosts file to block youtube ads. I'm testing it and it seemed to be working. Anyway, what I'd like to ask is: Usually, a hosts file must only use 127.0.0.1 and 0.0.0.0 so that Diversion can redirects the domains to pixelserv IP:
0.0.0.0 domain-to-be-blocked
127.0.0.1 domain-to-be-blocked

But for this new method, the hosts file will contain rows like these:

172.217.13.254 manifest.googlevideo.com
172.217.13.255 manifest.googlevideo.com
172.217.15.64 manifest.googlevideo.com
172.217.15.65 manifest.googlevideo.com

So, if the method actually works, would you be able to implement a function for Diversion to enable the use of those special rules?

You can add those to the /jffs/configs/dnsmasq.conf.add file. Just create it if not present, no need to give that file special permissions. Then restart Dnsmasq. This can be done by toggling logging or ad-blocking in the Diversion UI or in the terminal with:

service restart_dnsmasq

Edit:
Add it in the form of:

address=/domain.com/127.0.0.1

So, in your case and to test it add this to /jffs/configs/dnsmasq.conf.add:

address=/manifest.googlevideo.com/172.217.13.254
address=/manifest.googlevideo.com/172.217.13.255
address=/manifest.googlevideo.com/172.217.15.64
address=/manifest.googlevideo.com/172.217.15.65

 

[thelonelycoder]

I have the same issue with my @icloud.com email and asked about it on here awhile back, but my posts kept getting flagged and by the time they posted, I didn't get any replies.

Maybe some user can pipe in and share their experience. I have not tested it with an icloud address and will not have time to do so for a while.

 

[loveleeyoungae]

You can add those to the /jffs/configs/dnsmasq.conf.add file.

Oh right. I've checked and saw some "addn-hosts=" for Diversion. I guess I can create a similar config line for the youtube hosts file, right?

And btw, sorry if this was asked, is it true that dnsmasq (backend for Diversion) doesn't support blocking IP (i.e. can't use "address=/102.208.210.72/127.0.0.1") and the only way is use ipset rules (backend for Skynet etc)?

 

[quant88]

Oh right. I've checked and saw some "addn-hosts=" for Diversion. I guess I can create a similar config line for the youtube hosts file, right?

And btw, sorry if this was asked, is it true that dnsmasq (backend for Diversion) doesn't support blocking IP (i.e. can't use "address=/102.208.210.72/127.0.0.1") and the only way is use ipset rules (backend for Skynet etc)?

Personally I am not Skynet user but Diversion faq most probably answer your question.
https://diversion.ch/faq-reader/can-diversion-block-by-ip-address.html

 

[jrmtz85]

There is really nothing to "fix". Determine which hosts need to be whitelisted in order to resolve the issue.

Yeah, when I first installed Diversion a few days ago I noticed this. Have slowly been adding Amazon related domains that pop-up in the log as blocked whenever I'm using the app in real-time.

App now works 75% of the time, but the app will throw random non-amazon urls in there I guess, and I don't whitelist those. Not sure why the Amazon app needs non-amazon ads to work :/

 

[DonnyJohnny]

Some guy on reddit has posted some new method of creating your own hosts file to block youtube ads. I'm testing it and it seemed to be working. Anyway, what I'd like to ask is: Usually, a hosts file must only use 127.0.0.1 and 0.0.0.0 so that Diversion can redirects the domains to pixelserv IP:
0.0.0.0 domain-to-be-blocked
127.0.0.1 domain-to-be-blocked

But for this new method, the hosts file will contain rows like these:

172.217.13.254 manifest.googlevideo.com
172.217.13.255 manifest.googlevideo.com
172.217.15.64 manifest.googlevideo.com
172.217.15.65 manifest.googlevideo.com

So, if the method actually works, would you be able to implement a function for Diversion to enable the use of those special rules?

Thanks.. it seems to stop the ad. Woohoo..!

 

[visortgw]

Yeah, when I first installed Diversion a few days ago I noticed this. Have slowly been adding Amazon related domains that pop-up in the log as blocked whenever I'm using the app in real-time.

App now works 75% of the time, but the app will throw random non-amazon urls in there I guess, and I don't whitelist those. Not sure why the Amazon app needs non-amazon ads to work :/

You'd need to ask Amazon that...

 

[Skeptical.me]

All you need to do is add "manifest.googlevideo.com" in Diversion blacklist to do the blocking, I did the same and so far it looks like it's working for 95+% of ads in YouTube iOS app.

Really, its as simple as that? I'll try that now, thanks.

Edit: Didn't work :-(

 

[kvic]

I was never able to figure out what needed to be whitelisted in order to make the amazon app work. I ended up not having pixelserv-tls active.

This has been mentioned a few times in my thread with the following solution from me. That thread also has an explanation by me on why sometimes websites didn't load in general regardless pixelserv-tls is ON or OFF.

To your Amazon app issue, try to whitelist

fls-na.amazon.com
fls-eu.amazon.co.uk
mads.amazon-adsystem.com

Note that you need to add in your country's version of the "fls-xx" domains. You can find it out with these INSTRUCTIONS. It solves the problem for me and a few other users.

 

[Asad Ali]

Hello and thanks for a great product!

I have a question. When diversion (standard with standard blocking file) is enabled it blocks the function of my youtube view history.
If I disable diversion the list will update with videos I've watched plus I can see the thin red line at the bottom which indicates how much of each video I watched.
When I enable diversion again the list will no longer update. It is still there, just not updating.

Is there a way to fix this?

/Lyrath

Whitelist "s.youtube.com" in Diversion and it should start working again.

 

[tgab_b]

Found an issue.

When I was looking Diversion stats, I was surprised to notice that outlook.office365.com was blocked. Nevertheless, I went ahead to add it to white list to prevent it from blocking. When I have tried to add it to white list, I received following message:

Enter domain [e=Exit] outlook.office365.com
____________________________________________________
found exact match in blocking file:
outlook-office365.com

This is totally wrong as these are totally different domains and why Diversion could not differentiate between a dot(.) and dash(-)? I am not sure how many legitimate sites are blocked due to this bug and how many will open up after adding entry to white list.

Can we get a fix for it.

 

[Quoc Huynh]

I have similar issue with www.apple.com. The website is blocked because there is another domain, wwwapple.com, in the blocking files.

 

[mekabe remain]

I just installed diversion according to the instructions.
But it got "failed" error when starting pixelsever-tls.
Now it says on text menu :

 RT-AC88U (armv7l) FW-384.7 @ 192.168.254.1
 65,602  blocked domains  1  hosts file(s) in use
 142 t  142 w  142 n ads since Nov 19 00:09
____________________________________________________
 d   Diversion Standard   enabled
 c   communication        DivUn stats backup FWun
 a   ad-blocking          to IP 192.168.254.99
 l   logging              /opt/var/log/dnsmasq.log
 ep  pixelserv-tls        192.168.254.99 (not running)
 b   blocking file        Standard Sun @ 2:00
 el  edit lists
 f   follow dnsmasq.log
 ac  update ads counter   Auto-update  au  off
 ds  dnsmasq settings     on
 sw  create swap file
 ct  change theme colors   high_contrast
 sh  shell history        on
 cj  show cron job(s)    
 sf  show file content  
 e   exit Diversion                 less options  o
____________________________________________________
 Done  processed all lists
 What do you want to do?

what is wrong with my installation ?

 

[thelonelycoder]

Found an issue.

When I was looking Diversion stats, I was surprised to notice that outlook.office365.com was blocked. Nevertheless, I went ahead to add it to white list to prevent it from blocking. When I have tried to add it to white list, I received following message:

Enter domain [e=Exit] outlook.office365.com
____________________________________________________
found exact match in blocking file:
outlook-office365.com

This is totally wrong as these are totally different domains and why Diversion could not differentiate between a dot(.) and dash(-)? I am not sure how many legitimate sites are blocked due to this bug and how many will open up after adding entry to white list.

Can we get a fix for it.

Looks like you and @Quoc Huynh found a bug!
Will be fixed in the coming update.

 

[thelonelycoder]

I just installed diversion according to the instructions.
But it got "failed" error when starting pixelsever-tls.
Now it says on text menu :

 RT-AC88U (armv7l) FW-384.7 @ 192.168.254.1
 65,602  blocked domains  1  hosts file(s) in use
 142 t  142 w  142 n ads since Nov 19 00:09
____________________________________________________
 d   Diversion Standard   enabled
 c   communication        DivUn stats backup FWun
 a   ad-blocking          to IP 192.168.254.99
 l   logging              /opt/var/log/dnsmasq.log
 ep  pixelserv-tls        192.168.254.99 (not running)
 b   blocking file        Standard Sun @ 2:00
 el  edit lists
 f   follow dnsmasq.log
 ac  update ads counter   Auto-update  au  off
 ds  dnsmasq settings     on
 sw  create swap file
 ct  change theme colors   high_contrast
 sh  shell history        on
 cj  show cron job(s)   
 sf  show file content 
 e   exit Diversion                 less options  o
____________________________________________________
 Done  processed all lists
 What do you want to do?

what is wrong with my installation ?

The routers Syslog will have entries pertaining to pixelserv-tls and the error. Post the relevant lines.
If you find none, restart pixelserv-tls in ep then look again.

 

[Quoc Huynh]

Looks like you and @Quoc Huynh found a bug!
Will be fixed in the coming update.

Thank you @thelonelycoder. I really appreciate your awesome work as well as your dedication to the script

 

[tgab_b]

Looks like you and @Quoc Huynh found a bug!
Will be fixed in the coming update.

Thanks a lot!!! Glad to contribute to an excellent tool...

 

[talon_262]

Just want to say, long-time Merlin user that just recently looked into at-depth about Diversion (and Skynet); installed both tonight on my AC56U, disabled Adblock Origin in my browser, refreshed everything and:

OMFG...why did I wait so long to do this?

Kudos to thelonelycoder and Adamm for their respective programs; as long as they are around and updated, I will be definitely using them on any Asus router I have with Merlin on it in the future.