Adding A DisplayLink Monitor To A Linux Router

slugterm_dl

Routers aren’t just for routing network traffic any more. With the help of alternative operating systems such as DD-WRT, Tomato, and OpenWrt, routers are now extremely customizable and can be utilized to suit a number of needs. The main issue with projects built around routers is the need to telnet or SSH into them to get to a console. [Sven Killig] came up with a useful solution that utilizes the USB ports available on an Asus router to display video on a DisplayLink device, allowing a user to sit down and use the device as though it were a physical terminal. This would be a good DIY alternative to commercially available routers that display network graphs, system information, incoming email, and other data.

14 thoughts on “Adding A DisplayLink Monitor To A Linux Router

  1. So many routers today are very crippled, but this router has 8mb flash/32mb ram, and usb!?

    pretty soon you’ll see someone playing super mario world on a router….while torrenting to a NAS setup.

  2. @private: If your router comes with a Linux based OS, it probably supports web hosting even without firmware modifications (although they are probably helpful). For example, my MI424WR has lighttp in /bin, and therefore can be configured to host from any directory out of the box. I’m sure it would be easy to upload Apache as well.

  3. I used a Parallax Propeller chip to make an ASCII terminal. Used a PS/2 keyboard and composite video display on an otherwise broken portable DVD player. Stuck a MAX232 RS-232 level shifter in my Linksys WRT54GL for a serial console port. Connected the ASCII terminal to the console serial port. Done. You can buy dead portable DVD players with working screens on ebaY dirt cheap. Now I need to remember where I got the propeller software from. Probably on the Parallax Object Exchange. Hmmm…

Leave a Reply to privateCancel reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.