Tutorial Diversion / YouTube advert blocking > restore blocked googlevideo domains list

[kernol]

Apologies if this has already been asked and answered - I did try "Better Search" / Google / Bing etc ...

After giving 386.4-beta2 a trial run or three and managing to break my setup so thoroughly - I was forced to go back to stock / factory reset and gradually rebuild from there to claw my way back to Merlinware .

As a result I was determined not to use the restore feature for any prior settings - and also started with a clean formatted USB-3 flash drive.

So here's the thing - before my "crash test dummy" trip - I had used the Diversion YouTube ad blocker [fairly successfully] and had gathered nearly 400 google video serving domains. With the rebuild I am back at 20 or so !

I have backups for Diversion as well as JFFS and settings - but is there any way that I can just restore those googlevideo domains - and if so how?

 

[thelonelycoder]

The file you want to restore, /opt/share/diversion/list/yt_blacklist, is not included in the backup options that Diversion features.
Unless you have made a backup of the Entware folder on your attached device before reformatting, that list is gone.
It will build up again with current YT domains quick, depending on your usage.

 

[thelonelycoder]

I was wrong, Diversion does include the yt_blacklist in the backups. Just copy over the file from it to its location on the router. Then disable and re-enable ad-blocking in Diversion to read in the old file.

 

[kernol]

MANY thanks for your reply - I've been out for the day - hence tardy response.
I did indeed have several backups with yt_blacklist files - and have combined them in Excel, eliminated duplicates and reconstituted the file in Notepad++ using the most recently configured ip address for each domain.

I was not sure whether it was necessary for Diversion to "Process all lists" - so ran that [but don't believe it nursed the yt_blacklist file in any way - no change from before to after?].

Now I'm not sure that it is working as well as it did before in blocking adverts - even though it has 369 google-video domains???

Curious as to why each of my historically backed up yt_blacklist files had their own unique [but different] ip address assigned to every domain in its list. Is there any benefit in having more than one of the many ip's assigned "randomly" to the various domains?

 

[thelonelycoder]

I did indeed have several backups with yt_blacklist files - and have combined them in Excel, eliminated duplicates and reconstituted the file in Notepad++ using the most recently configured ip address for each domain.

That can be done in Notepad++, no need for MS to interfere
Paste all lines into a new file, then Edit --> Line Operations --> Remove duplicate lines.

I was not sure whether it was necessary for Diversion to "Process all lists" - so ran that [but don't believe it nursed the yt_blacklist file in any way - no change from before to after?].

Not necessary and will do nothing for the YT feature. Restarting Dnsmasq will do. This is done by disabling and re-enabling ad-blocking.

Curious as to why each of my historically backed up yt_blacklist files had their own unique [but different] ip address assigned to every domain in its list. Is there any benefit in having more than one of the many ip's assigned "randomly" to the various domains?

That is intentional and runs automatically. It will auto-change it to the current "forced IPv4 address" when that function runs next.
The frequency to query for a changed IP can be set in b, 8, 6.

 

[kernol]

Awesome advice - never knew that the remove duplicate lines existed in Notepad++ - nor did I comprehend the features in b 8 6.
Always fully impressed by how comprehensive and functional your add-on offerings are. {Thumbs-Up}.

 

[woznme]

Can someone list a good working youtube block list or yt_blacklist to get started on.. It would save a lot of training at the start

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

Can someone list a good working youtube block list or yt_blacklist to get started on.. It would save a lot of training at the start

Just tell the fam to run youtube videos all day long. You will be set.

 

[woznme]

yep done...now the 9yr old is winging about ads..with the amount of rap they watch on YT it shouldn't take long i hope.

 

[gattaca]

Hi! I recently had to turn off the YT blocking to see if it was causing vids not to play (and it was). I then restored the yt_blacklist file from the recent diversion backups (/jffs/addons/diversion/*....gz) Presently, I cannot re-engage / setup the YT blocking (1>b>8)

I've tried all of the above suggestions: turning add blocking off/on, force updating Diversion, watching YT vids "in advance" and I even cleared the dnsmasq.log. I also tried restarting the entire router and confirmed "dig google.com" works from the command line.

What happens is when I try to setup the YT filtering, AMTM/Diversion displays "Error YouTube IP is not valid" I'm unsure what else to try. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

Hi! I recently had to turn off the YT blocking to see if it was causing vids not to play (and it was). I then restored the yt_blacklist file from the recent diversion backups (/jffs/addons/diversion/*....gz) Presently, I cannot re-engage / setup the YT blocking (1>b>8)

I've tried all of the above suggestions: turning add blocking off/on, force updating Diversion, watching YT vids "in advance" and I even cleared the dnsmasq.log. I also tried restarting the entire router and confirmed "dig google.com" works from the command line.

What happens is when I try to setup the YT filtering, AMTM/Diversion displays "Error YouTube IP is not valid" I'm unsure what else to try. Thoughts? Thanks!

It sounds to me you need to purge your YouTube configuration, leave it off. Reboot the computer, and then re-enable it after watching a few YouTube videos. To be clear, you are only using diversion in your dns configuration correct?

 

[gattaca]

It sounds to me you need to purge your YouTube configuration, leave it off. Reboot the computer, and then re-enable it after watching a few YouTube videos. To be clear, you are only using diversion in your dns configuration, correct?

Hi, Thanks for the guidance. Yes I believe so though I'm not sure how to answer your question. I left diversion OFF overnight and removed the earlier yt_blacklist file. I restarted the router, waited, browsed YT vids from 2 different browsers, then tried to re-enable d > 8 => Same result: "Error YouTube IP is not valid". Somethings amiss. Makes no sense b/c I'm seeing YT Ads... I'll keep kicking at it. Peace.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

Hi, Thanks for the guidance. Yes I believe so though I'm not sure how to answer your question. I left diversion OFF overnight and removed the earlier yt_blacklist file. I restarted the router, waited, browsed YT vids from 2 different browsers, then tried to re-enable d > 8 => Same result: "Error YouTube IP is not valid". Somethings amiss. Makes no sense b/c I'm seeing YT Ads... I'll keep kicking at it. Peace.

So you need to only enable it once you have had to put some youtube videos inside your dnsmasq cache, other wise it will not have the require ip address in the logs to generate a block list. Unfortunately reboot the router or changing a diversion setting such as enabling and disabling will always clear your cache of these entries. Maybe purge your diversion log as well.

 

[gattaca]

Thanks for the guidance! I cleared the old yt_blacklist file, cleared the dnsmasq.log file and then left the YT blocking off for a couple days. This AM, I attempted re-enabling the YT blocking and it magically found whatever IP it was seeking in the couple days worth of dnsmasq.log file. The main diversion shows a couple 100 with the xxx YT designation now. I think more of my patience after clearing the logs was required! THANK YOU! Peace.