D*_Hosts Overrides Don't Change Admin Menu (Solved)

Help with D-Star related issues
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N8EI
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Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2019 1:49 am

D*_Hosts Overrides Don't Change Admin Menu (Solved)

Post by N8EI »

On v3.4.17, I'm trying to fix a problem with a reflector being offline in the XLX registery due to a lost callinghome.php (not mine, helping out one of our users). I added the item to /root/DCS_Hosts.txt and ran the update to rebuild the hosts files. However DCS679 didn't appear. I tried adding it to DExtra_Hosts.txt with the same result. I looked at /usr/local/sbin/HostFilesUpdate.sh and it appears now that only /root/XLXHosts.txt is supported and is in a new format? Can anyone shed light on this?
Last edited by N8EI on Thu Jan 16, 2020 12:28 am, edited 2 times in total.
M1DNS
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Re: {DCS,DExtra,DPlus}_Hosts.txt No Longer Supported

Post by M1DNS »

Making an entry in the DCS hosts in root should stick. You'll need to enable write mode. rpi-rw before you edit the lists but an entry there should stick. regardless of running the update procedure.

Ideally, make the admin of the lost reflector aware it's not reporting to XLX. It needs to be fixed at source. When it's reporting agn it'll come up in the host files, via the updates.

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Andrew M1DNS.
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N8EI
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Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2019 1:49 am

Re: {DCS,DExtra,DPlus}_Hosts.txt No Longer Supported

Post by N8EI »

M1DNS wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 10:33 pm Making an entry in the DCS hosts in root should stick. You'll need to enable write mode. rpi-rw before you edit the lists but an entry there should stick. regardless of running the update procedure.
Right, it should - but it's not. I'm in as root and the mountpoint is RW. I've tried this on two of our repeaters (both v3.4.17) and one hotspot (v4.1.0RC7) with the same result. I have the following entry in /root/DCS_Hosts.txt:

Code: Select all

DCS679	45.79.180.62	L
I've run the update both from the dashboard and pistar-update with the same results. DCS679 is not available. I've tried XRF679 in /root/DExtra_Hosts.txt as well with the same result. I went looking for the code that adds those to the directory in /usr/local/sbin or /etc and I can't find it - I wanted to see if I was making some weird syntax error. Not sure where to troubleshoot next.
M1DNS wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 10:33 pm Make the admin of the lost reflector aware it's not reporting to XLX. It needs to be fixed at source. When it's reporting agn it'll come up in the host files, via the updates.
Right, he knows that. He's having some problem getting in touch with the XLX people. I don't really know him - I just reached out trying to get our one ham back on the air with his group. I suggested the XLX forum.
M1DNS
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Re: (RENAMED) Question on D*_Hosts

Post by M1DNS »

I've just check online the reflector isn't showing up on any of the XLX pages. It'll need fixing there first. Even if you have the ip if the reporting side has crashed what's to say other aspects of the reflectors use hasn't faultered also.

And Yes it should. In all my dstar assetts I've got custom hosts in root for several of the assets we run here in our local county. Including reflector addresses, repeater ip's, gateway ip's.
Mix of pistar vers. running from 3.4.17 through 4.1 rc7 and they all run with the custom hosts.

The edit def. needs to be made in the hosts files in the root folder, editing the other hosts directories won't stick and will get overwritten with the updates, overnights.

One poss thing with what u've written above the formating of the entry is...

reflector name <tab> ipaddress L
You show it in ur reply separated by a single space, but that might just be how u've written it here.

You might also try using DCS679 as the name, if the entry is in the DCS host.

Then linking using the DCS679 L command using the radio instead.

Else, not sure what ur doing different to me, or why yours wouldn't take.

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Andrew M1DNS.
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N8EI
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Re: (RENAMED) Question on D*_Hosts

Post by N8EI »

So I've realized I was making a key erroneous assumption. I've never used the D*_Hosts.txt overrides for a reflector that had completely fallen out of one of the online directories before. Previously, I've used it only for a change in IP that hadn't propagated yet. So when I added DCS679, I went into the Admin menu to select it for connection - I don't use that reflector so it wasn't in my radio. That's where the entry wasn't appearing in the drop-down. So I went off down that rabbit hole without actually trying a radio. :oops: However if I actually use the radio to key up the reflector, it connects just fine. So bad assumption on my part that it would appear in the drop-down menu. Other ones I've overridden have always been in the main files before and I never considered the difference in this situation.

I've updated the title of this thread so it's not misleading.
M1DNS wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 11:30 pm I've just check online the reflector isn't showing up on any of the XLX pages. It'll need fixing there first. Even if you have the ip if the reporting side has crashed what's to say other aspects of the reflectors use hasn't faultered also.
The guy who runs DCS679 had a system crash and was having problem with the callinghome.php file with the hashkey. I think it's reset in that XLX679 isn't registered anymore but he's having a hard time getting it to show up again. The reflector does work - tested it now.

Thanks for the help!
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