Psst! Want to Hack Your Hardware? Here's How!

Posted 06/04/2008 at 8:15am | by Norman Chan

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Expert: Replace Blue LEDs

We’re feeling so inundated by all the blue LED lighting emanating from our PC peripherals that we’re starting to long for the green LEDs of yore. Whatever your color preference, it’s possible to swap out the LEDs on any device. We demonstrate with an old keyboard, but this technique applies to optical drives and cases as well. You can find replacement LEDs of various sizes and colors at your local Radio Shack.

To access the original LED, remove all the screws from the back of the keyboard and remove the small circuit board housing the LED (it should be the only circuit board in your keyboard). Using a soldering iron, heat the solder on the back of the board and carefully pull out the old LED.

When you replace an LED it’s important that the polarity on the LED and board are matched. Most boards will have +/- indicators printed on them, and the longer leg of your new LED should align with the positive, or cathode, side. You can also test the polarity by carefully touching the LED’s wires to a 3-volt battery (like the coin batteries used to sustain your motherboard's CMOS) to see which orientation produces light.

Apply a little solder to your iron and carefully solder the new LED from the back of the circuit board. Trim the legs of the LED with a pair of cutters and make sure they’re not touching. Repeat the steps for any additional LEDs you want to change, and then reassemble the keyboard.

Journeyman: Upgrade Your Linksys Router

Navigating through a router’s multitude of menus and configuration settings can be confusing, especially given the obtuse documentation typically bundled with the device. That’s why we prefer third-party open-source firmware, which not only streamlines a router’s graphical user interface but also adds robust functionality. For Linksys routers, our firmware of choice is Tomato (www.polarcloud.com/tomato). As with all third-party firmware upgrades, installing Tomato does come with a slight risk of damaging your router. While we’ve never had any problems with this software, it’ll definitely void your router’s original warranty.

First, verify that your router is compatible with Tomato. Older WRT54G and WRT54GS models (versions 1 to 4) will work, as will all versions of the WRT54GL series, which we recommend (image A). A list of compatible routers is on the Tomato website. Download the latest firmware and unpack it to your desktop. Access your router’s settings with an Internet browser (the default IP is 192.168.1.1) and click the Administration tab. Under Firmware Upgrade, browse to the unpacked firmware folder and pick the matching firmware type—the Tomato package includes different versions of the firmware for different Linksys router models. Hit Apply and wait while your router’s firmware is flashed. Don’t disconnect power to the router during this upgrade.

Once the upgrade is finished, go back into the router configuration and you’ll be greeted with the new interface. If your previous username and password don’t work, try using “admin” (without the quotes) in both forms to get in. We recommend using Firefox to access the GUI to enable all of its features. The newest version of Tomato automatically migrates all of your router settings so you don’t have to reconfigure your network.

To boost your router’s wireless signal, go to the Advanced menu and select the Wireless section. From there, you can adjust the router’s “Transmit Power” value to any number between 1 and 251 (default is 42). We don’t recommend setting a value higher than 70, since sending stronger signals can overheat the router (image B). From this menu, you can also adjust the maximum number of wireless clients and the transmission rate of your wireless network.

Within the Bandwidth menu, you’ll find access to bandwidth monitoring, which lets you scrutinize traffic usage for every wired or wireless connection to your router (image C). Combine this information with the new Access Restriction options and you’ll be able to ensure that your kids aren’t playing World of Warcraft in the middle of the night.

Enabling Quality of Service mode (under the QoS menu) will let you prioritize traffic going through your router depending on the size of data packets and network protocol (i.e., http vs. ftp). Sorting QoS Classification is a complicated process, so you should refer to Tomato’s online documentation to find out what settings will be appropriate for your particular setup.

You can also turn your router into a wireless Ethernet bridge, which lets it act as a wireless network hub for devices that lack wireless network cards, such as the Xbox 360. Under Basic Network settings, scroll down to Wireless Mode and select Wireless Ethernet Bridge. Under SSID and Security, enter the name and network key for your wireless network. With these settings saved, you can plug wired devices into the bridge and tap your home’s wireless network—perfect for streaming movies!

Next: Use an Old PDA as a Second Monitor, Silence your Hard Drives, and More!