Author: George

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Gargoyle Router

Over the past month, I have been having issues with the IPS’s Mb quota being used up. Given my current router is a Linksys WRT54GL I found a mention of Gargoyle Router.

Enter Gargoyle Router:
http://www.gargoyle-router.com/

After a little bit of investigation, Gargoyle Router *seems* to provide the answer to what is chewing up my bandwidth and also provide a few *very* nice  features, such as client quota, traffic shaping and also eliminate possible wireless threats. This is an ideal setup for keeping tabs on flatmates, kids, work colleagues, etc. The split I have used is per function, however this can be setup on per-individual basis.

In my situation, I receive 50Gb from the ISP on a monthly rotation.

I have 192.168.2.x (1-49) for client machines, 192.168.2.x (50-99) for wireless guests, and 192.168.2.x (100-254) for servers. I host a web server at home for my blog, PAP device for my VOIP, and the rest are pretty standard. My router is a plain-Jane WRT54GL v1.1 that will accept open source firmware – ie DDWRT, OpenWRT, Tomato, Gargoyle Router – you get the picture.

So, once you have setup your Gargoyle router and are able to connect to the internet – the workstations; lets begin.

Go to your Firewall, Quotas and setup the rules as you see fit, mines look as such:

Gargoyle Router Quota rules
Quota rules

First goes through and allows 40Gb to clients, Second gives 100Mb to guest wireless devices and the last limits my servers to 20Gb monthly usage. You will notice that when creating the rules you also get the option to limit the bandwidth or completely drop connection dependant on the rule you have setup.

Quotas throttle
Quotas throttle

Ok, so now you have your quotas setup. Lets have a look at the eye-candy!

Clicking on “Status”, “Bandwidth usage” will allow you to act big brother over whatever IP/Hostname you choose.

gargoyle bandwidth usage

But wait, there’s more! This is found under “Usage”, “B/W Distribution”
gargoyle bandwidth distribution

Lastly, and the cherry on the cake is the ability to check on your quotas, this is found under “Usage”, “Quota Usage”:

gargoyle quota usage

Hope this helps you too.

 

Posted on

Disconnecting the sway bar: Escudo/Tracker

A few questiosn have come in regarding the sway bar on Trackers/Suzuki Escudos – particularly how to remove them.

The outcome of this is increased attenuation and sadly, increased body roll in turns. This is advantageous in offroad driving but can have a negative impact if the majority of driving you do is in-town.

Without splitting hairs, most offroad enthusiast will tell you to remove it and in my case this has helped my tonka’s ride on-road to be a little smoother while on-road it is now more capable off-road. My rig is the 1600 3 door model and running the v6 springs for a little more hight.

It is a pretty simple process – 6 bolts.

Swaybar in red Swaybar in red

Hi-Lighted is the sway bar/stabilizer arm you are wanting to remove.

Undo the two bottom nuts:

Note boltNote boltArm disconnected

Loosen and remove the 4 remaining bolts:

Top Bolts

Once removed I found it best to screw the bolts onto the chassis so you dont loose them.

Bolt storage

10 minute job assuming you dont stop for a break.

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Differentials, Transfer Box, Tranny Fluids: 96 Tracker, Geo, Escudo

Hi, So a question came up as to what fluids would be required for differentials, Transfer case, and Tranny fluids:.

A very good answer came through:

PJF Writes; For all of the above components, I am using Chevron Delo Gear Lubricant ESI 80W-90 because my 1989 Sidekick owner’s manual recommends a SAE 80W-90 gear lubricant where temperatures do not drop below minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees C).

I am told that it is copper-alloy-friendly because it contains less sulfur than other GL-5 oils and provides extreme pressure (EP) protection with a borate additive. I will know after I receive results back from an oil analysis lab in a week or two. After about 1,000 miles, I will test a used oil sample for wear.

If you are not convinced about the copper-alloy-friendliness of this oil, I recommend GL-4 oil, such as Redline MT-90, for your transmission and transfer case.

For 2001 Trackers and older, GM recommends GM #12346190 transmission fluid. For 2002 Trackers and newer, GM recommends GM #12345349 transmission fluid. Consult your owner’s manual to make sure.

Given the temperature at your location, he goes to say; Per my 1989 Sidekick manual, any GL-4 80W-90 or 75W-90 transmission fluid will do depending on the climate. The Tracker manuals specify the GM transmission fluids per my earlier post.

 

Hope that helps.

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Where to find drivers

So this is one that has been coming up since the beginning of time.

How do you find out what a piece of hardware is without taking your computer case apart or if you dont have physical access to your machine.

My current platform is Windows 7 but it will be very similar in the likes of server 2008, server 2003, XP, and Vista.

On pc, better said Windows boxes, go to your start, all programs, accessories, system tools, and “system information”.

Drill down to components, and problem devices.

You will note something similar to the following:

From here we now know the “VEN”/Vendor, and “DEV”/Device. So, VEN = 11AB, DEV = 4364

Your next stop is http://www.pcidatabase.com/

Looking at out previous step, this is what was entered in the search:

And the results show the actual hardware:

Done – now you do not need to spend hours searching through 101 contradicting forums.

 

Thanks for reading.