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chumbysphere forum → Chumby, the Device → Proxy connection
I'm trying to use the chumby, but I connect to the internet via proxy. I have NO IDEA how to get past the chumby.com is unreachable screen. At this point I can ping the IP address I assigned the chumby (Manual IP address configuration). Please help me out. I'm probably way over my head buying a chumby and not being a hacker, but I kinda like the chumby...
Unfortunately, at the moment, we don't handle proxies, since they're quite rare in most home environments, the natural habitat for chumbys.
I'll post an enhancement request to Product Management.
Oh yes please, perhaps a firmware update in the future for those users who want to take chumby to work!
Seconded.
Tthis would be *very* useful...
OK, there's probably a workable hack for this.
It turns out that libcurl (used by the Flash Player and several other programs on the chumby) and wget (used by some other features) both use the same environment variables to set an HTTP proxy.
It is also that case that any non-interactive shell on the chumby uses /psp/.profile to set environment variables.
So, the hack is to append your proxy settings to /psp/.profile, something like:
export http_proxy=http://ip.of.my.proxy:port/Now, the trick becomes how to get that line in there if you can't ssh into the device in the first place (because you don't have the proxy yet). Well, the answer there is to make a simple shell script that will append the proxy information to the file if it's not there, call it "debugchumby" and boot with it on a dongle.
If it gets screwed up, you should be able to restore the file to factory settings from the "Special Options" mode.
Anyway, details left as an exercise for the reader. Let us know how it turns out 
So.... ya, has anybody hacked this up yet?
My chumby will only feel at home at my office. (How many nerds here REALLY think of home as anywhere other then in front of the computer they're at all day long?)
So.... ya, has anybody hacked this up yet?
My chumby will only feel at home at my office. (How many nerds here REALLY think of home as anywhere other then in front of the computer they're at all day long?)
Ha... that's why I've been toying with the idea of buying a second chumby already!
I'm able to do internet sharing with my MacBookPro to my chumby. However, I have an issue of using a proxy server that the chumby can't see beyond when it tries to connection to chumby.com after it gets an IP address.
I tried the export http_proxy suggestion and it just "bricked" my chumby where it just kept trying to boot up. Luckily I backed up my .profile to .profileOrg and used a simple debugchumby script to copy it back.
Has anyone successfully gotten this to work?
For the proxy connection, I assume this is the same IP as what is used on the "parent" MacBookPro computer. Here is a little diagram of the mess I need to go through to get this to work, at work:
[internet proxy server] -> ethernet -> MacBookPro -> Internet Sharing -> Airport Wireless -> Chumby
Thanks
I'm doing more testing with the http_proxy. I have two connections: direct and through a proxy. I can setup my chumby through the direct connection, pull the cable out of my MacBookPro and then go to the proxy connection. At this point the chumby and my laptop are still connected and I can ssh into the chumby. I'm able to test that the http_proxy setting works because I can also do curl http://www.chumby.com and get the homepage text back.
However, the chumby now shows a "not connected" message so I try to reconnect and it just hangs on "Connecting to network.." and then errors on chumby.com is unreachable. What exactly is it trying to connect to on the chumby so I can test?
This is command it's doing that causes that message when it fails:
wget -q -O - "http://www.chumby.com/crossdomain.xml"I really wanted the workaround to work... any luck in adding this to a future chumby software update? My chumby is gathering cobwebs resting in a closet...
I think you may avoid the need for ssh if you write the
export http_proxy=<host>:<port>To a userhook0 file on (the root of) a flash drive, and then you reboot with the drive inserted.
This seems to work, but some widgets doing non-http connections (like .eg email check) will fail.
I used this code echo: "export http_proxy=http://my.proxy.ip:80/" >> /psp/.profile and everything was working well. TILL NOW. Not anymore. What's the problem? The Chumby does not use the proxy yet, and I dont understand why.
I have the same problem.
"http_proxy" is set, but my chumby do not use the proxy setting.
Dear Duane!
What's the solution for the proxy problems?
The chumby does not officially support proxies - the solutions thus far have been unsupported hacks. One issues is that several programs access the network using different libraries and thus use different methods for proxy settings.
That said, we'll take a look to see if there are better hacks.
Finally, the proxy problem on SW 1.7 was resolved.
My hack is as follows:
--
1. Write your proxy settings to the file named "userhook0" on the root of the usb drive.
export http_proxy=http://<host>:<port>/2. Insert this drive to the usb port on your Chumby.
3. Reboot your Chumby.
The chumby does not officially support proxies - the solutions thus far have been unsupported hacks. One issues is that several programs access the network using different libraries and thus use different methods for proxy settings.
That said, we'll take a look to see if there are better hacks.
Duane, has there been any progress on the proxy configuration issue yet? I've tried both the hacks suggested on the page (through the debugchumby as well as the userhook0 file) with no luck. I am pretty sure I implemented each procedure correctly.
My situation: After a few months of researching, we have recently purchased 2 chumbys to test their suitability for deployment on a much larger scale at certain client establishments. The device is a perfect fit for our task to function as a dedicated IP-based geographically diversified Squawk-box. I was extremely pleased with the Chumby's capability to serve our need of basically having a dedicated gadget sit on the desk and play announcements (through basic rss/podcasting). We did all our research and were pleased that it now officially supported ethernet as well. Eventually, we have now hit a blank-wall with the Proxy issue. I had somehow imagined proxy-settings to be a trivial configuration that would be available in any well-designed internet-based gadget. (The Virtual Chumby obviously gave me no clue that this couldn't be done.)
I understand that the hacks are not officially supported and even the fact that it is a complex issue to remedy. I also appreciate the fact that the device is mainly designed with the home user in mind. But I am sure there are quite a few commercial environment users like me, who would love to exploit the simple but fantastic capabilities of the Chumby to do a lot more, but whose dreams would be completely strangled on finding out that it can't even get on to the network in the commercial environment (as most commercial clients, same as us would have proxies setup in their offices).
I would really appreciate if you could give some sort of a sign as to whether there is any official or unofficial work-around possible in the immediate future and also how long it could take to be supported in an official version. For now I guess, its back to the drawing-board for us to try and find a replacement end-user device for our purpose (and I'm sure you're aware that there are no off-the-shelf gadgets that even come close to the Chumby. If you're I would sure love to hear from you.. :-) )
There's still no official effort to support proxies, as the device is still targeted at an environment where proxies are extremely rare. The vast bulk of our customers would be completely baffled by the question if it came up during the configuration process, so it's unlikely that it will ever be an official feature of the product.
However, I'll see if we can develop a working hack to support proxies.
The vast bulk of our customers would be completely baffled by the question if it came up during the configuration process, so it's unlikely that it will ever be an official feature of the product.
However, I'll see if we can develop a working hack to support proxies.
Well the customers needn't face the proxy question by default as it can be discretely hidden in a button called "Proxy Settings" or "Advanced Settings". This button can sit in a corner of the screen which allows the user to choose between 'Automatic' or 'Manual' IP allocation. At least that's how most net-based applications (browsers, bit-torrent clients, etc) in the market handle it. :-)
A working hack would be FANTASTIC, but additionally, the above may be worth a thought!
Here's a hack to try - in a "debugchumby" file:
#!/bin/sh
http_proxy=ip.of.the.proxy:port start_control_panelObviously, substitute your proxy's IP as necessary.
This *should* be sufficient for the Flash Player to pick up the proxy settings.
Note that, depending upon how your proxy is set up, the chumby may fail to get the time from the Internet (ntpdate does not support proxies) and a few other services may behave strangely, such as audio streams. If your proxy also handles HTTPS, you also need to insert "https_proxy=ip.of.the.proxy:port" to the line before the "start_control_panel"
The debugchumby mentioned by Dwane works great for me. But where would I put the proxy config line if I didn't want to use deubgchumby?
I tried appending "http_proxy=ip.of.the.proxy:port" to /psp/network_config
It didn't work too well and the chumby won't boot. Any recommendations?
]Update[
and now I can't even boot special options. uh oh....
Yeah, that's not going to work. Manually editing network config is dangerous, since it's an XML file, and if it's not syntactically valid, it won't be read and your network won't be set up.
You'll need to make a debugchumby file with the contents:
#!/bin/sh
rm /psp/network_configThis will delete the corrupt network_config file. Boot with this, and once you're presented with the network configuration dialog, remove the dongle.
To set up a proxy at boot without the dongle is pretty tricky. There are instructions on how to do things at boot without a debugchumby file here, however, you really need to know what you're doing or you can brick the device.
Thanks.
and now I know even more.
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