Using Wireless Adapter as KVM Network Bridge (br0 or br1) – Rocky Linux 9.X

Tuesday, May 20th, 2025

Using Wireless Adapter as KVM Network Bridge (br0 or br1) – Rocky Linux 9.X

They said it couldn't be done, but it can, depending on your wireless adapter card.  I recently bought a Minisforum EM680 Mini PC, and to my surprise, it didn't come with any ethernet ports.  It only has a Wi-Fi PCI-E card in it.  Ok, so that presents a problem, as I wanted to use it as a KVM virtual machine host with bridged networking.  At first, I wasn't able to get this to work, but after finding this post, I got it working!  If your wireless adapter supports 4addr (WDS mode), you can get it working as you normally would when using an ethernet port.  Here's how.

Step 1:  Connect to your desired wireless network normally post installation of Rocky Linux 9.

Step 2:  Create your network bridge configurations as you normally would (not specified in this guide).  My script creates br0 (for use at datacenters with static IPs) and br1 (a general DHCP bridge). 

Step 3:  Enable 4addr for your adapter.

Get the name of your wireless device by running the following command:

ip a

Mine happens to be named wlp1s0. Yours could be different. Make a note of the name of your connected wireless adapter and use it in the below scripts:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/4addr.service 

Add the following contents to this file:

[Unit]
Description=wlan-4addr
Wants=network.target
Before=network.target systemd-networkd.service
BindsTo=sys-subsystem-net-devices-wlp1s0.device
After=sys-subsystem-net-devices-wlp1s0.device

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/iw dev wlp1s0 set 4addr on
RemainAfterExit=yes

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and exit.

Enable the service at boot:

sudo systemctl enable 4addr.service 

Step 4:  Reboot

Step 5:  Check that 4addr is on and working

iw dev wlp1s0 info

You should see something like:

4addr: on 

At the end of the output. 

Step 6:  Configure your wireless adapter to be controlled by your desired network bridge.  In my case, I wanted my wireless adapter to be a part of br1 (my general DHCP bridge).  To do this, I edited the associated .nmconnection file in the /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections directory.  The name of the .nmconnection file will be the wireless SSID you're connected to.  So, for example, if your SSID is test, it will be named test.nmconnection.

Add the controller and port-type configuration lines as shown in the below sample configuration.  My .nmconnection configuration looks like this (SSID and passwords removed):

[connection]
id=cool
uuid=015a8f8f-5440-40b5-8caf-e6ff3f9d63e1
type=wifi
interface-name=wlp1s0
controller=br1
port-type=bridge

[wifi]
mode=infrastructure
ssid={WIFI_SSID_HERE}

[wifi-security]
auth-alg=open
key-mgmt=wpa-psk
psk={WIFI_PASSWORD_HERE}

[bridge-port]

Save your changes.

My ifcfg-br1 bridge configuration file in the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts directory looks like this:

TYPE=Bridge
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
DEVICE=br1
ONBOOT=yes
ZONE=public

Step 7:  Reboot

KVM guests using br1 and the default NAT interface (managed by QEMU and KVM) will work just fine via your wireless device now!

Restoring Areca Backups

Friday, October 20th, 2023

Restoring Areca Backups

The first step to restoring an Areca backup image is to map the network drives as they were on the computer you made the backup from (if you were using network drives to store the backup).  If you can't remember how the network drives were initially configured or mapped, proceed to the next step, and Areca will eventually tell you which drive is missing.  Once the drives have been remapped as before, and if the backup file is no longer stored on that mapped drive, copy your Areca backup folder (for example, in my case, the folder named 1878606550) to the backup drive location.   

In order to restore an Areca backup archive onto another computer, you need to copy the bcfg file located in the areca_config_backup folder to the Areca workspace directory on the computer you're attempting to restore the files on.  Once you've done that, you can restart Areca, and you'll be prompted to provide the encryption key.  Enter it here.

Assuming the drives exist as they did on the previous computer and the backup folder exists where the backups were being stored, you should be able to view the files within the Archives tab.  Right click on the backup and choose "Recover".  Follow this wizard, and the files will be unencrypted and extracted.   

Blackbird – Windows Privacy, Security, and Performance

Saturday, December 12th, 2020

Blackbird for Windows (7, 8, and 10)

When it comes to Windows, getting rid of telemetry, keyloggers, and other spyware Microsoft has embedded in your operating system can be rather difficult.  Fortunately, there are a few utilities that can help you take back control over your privacy and security.  One of these utilities is Blackbird, and it is now my preferred privacy and security utility for removing the Microsoft bloatware and spyware that Microsoft has embedded in their latest versions of Windows (Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10). 

To use Blackbird, simply download and run the latest version from their site:

https://www.getblackbird.net/

If for some reason you can't download it from their official site, you can download the latest version from this mirror.

Fix for Mapped Network Drive Issues

After running Blackbird and using it to remove Microsoft's embedded spyware, your mapped network drives to your Network Attached Storage (NAS) drives may no longer work or load properly.  To fix this, download and extract this zip file (named blackbird_fix_smb1_nas_drives.zip) into the same directory where you unzipped the blackbird.exe file.  Then, double click on the "blackbird-network-issues-fix-including-smbv1.bat" file which will run scripts to fix your Server Message Block Version 1 (SMB1) settings.  Reboot your computer after running the batch file, and your NAS drives should work again.

Destroy Windows Spying

I used to use Destroy Windows Spying, but unfortunately, it hasn't been updated in a long time and is no longer being actively developed or maintained, and as such, Blackbird is now my preferred destroy windows spying utility!

Common Internet File System (CIFS) – Windows 10 and Windows 7 – Accessing SMB1 Using Anonymous (guest) Account

Tuesday, January 28th, 2020

Common Internet File System (CIFS) – Login Using Anonymous (Guest) Account to Network Shares & NAS Systems

Windows 7:

To map and connect to a network share that is using the SMB1 protocol in Windows, there are a few things that you need to do depending on which version of Windows you use.  In Windows 7, it should be pretty easy.  When mapping the network drive, be sure to check the "Connect using different credentials" box.  For the login, use "anonymous".  Leave the password field blank (don't provide a password).

Windows 10:

Windows 10 doesn't support the SMB1 protocol by default.  However, it can be enabled.  To enable SMB1 support, go to the Control Panel, click on "Programs and Features", and then click on the "Turn Windows features on or off" link in the left sidebar.  Under the "SMB 1.0" category, enable the "SMB 1.0/CIFS Client" by clicking the checkbox and making sure it's in a checked state.  Uncheck the "SMB 1.0/CIFS Automatic Removal" entry if it's enabled as it will cause anonymous logins to SMB1.0 shares to fail.

The next step is to configure Windows 10 to allow anonymous logins to network shares.

To enable access under the guest account from your computer, you need to use the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc). Go to the section: Computer Configuration -> Administrative templates -> Network -> Lanman Workstation. Find and enable the policy "Enable insecure guest logons". These policy settings determine whether the SMB client will allow the guest logon to the SMB server.

More Detailed Guide | Archived Copy

Windows 7 and 10:

If you get a message that a drive is already mapped using different credentials, simply map the connection using its IP address instead rather than its name. 

Network Manager Applet NOT Showing in MATE Desktop Taskbar Ubuntu

Saturday, February 13th, 2016

Network Manager Applet NOT Showing in MATE Desktop

If you install the MATE desktop environment on Ubuntu, your Network Manager icon may not show up in the taskbar as shown below:

Without the Network Manager icon showing, you will have a hard time managing and connecting to WIFI networks.  To get it to show up, you will need to edit the following file using nano:

sudo nano /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop

Look for the below line:

AutostartCondition=GNOME3 unless-session gnome

And comment it out like so:

#AutostartCondition=GNOME3 unless-session gnome

Save the file using "Ctrl + O", and then exit nano using "Ctrl + X".  Restart your computer.  The network icon will show up again as shown below:

Note, the actual icon will vary based on the selected MATE desktop theme.  The screenshots above show the icon used in the LUNA theme.

Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 x86 and x64 .NET 4.0 Post Installation Slow Startup Network LAN Devices Fix

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 .NET 4.0 Post Slow Startup Fix

I've been running my main machines on Windows XP x64 for several years, and I am a .NET developer.  There came a day when I needed .NET 4.0 for my development projects.  After installing .NET 4.0 in Windows XP x64 SP2, I noticed a slow bootup despite the fact that I have a solid state drive.  Windows would always boot up and freeze for about a minute before the network LAN and Wireless LAN computer icons appeared in the system tray.  At first, I never realized the problem was caused directly from the install of .NET 4.0.  For over a year I tried troubleshooting the problem.  I noticed that I had this problem on all of my XP machines after installing .NET 4.0.  I suspected video drivers, LAN drivers, wireless LAN drivers, and even my BIOS.  Nothing fixed this issue.  After further searching, I finally found a thread describing the same issues I was having.  Save yourself the read, and just run this batch file I wrote after installing .NET 4.0 on ANY Windows XP x64 or x86 machine:

set I=%windir%\
%I:~0,2%
cd %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322
ngen update
cd \
cd %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727
ngen update
cd \
cd %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\
ngen update
cd \
cd %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\
ngen update
cd \
cd %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\
ngen update
sc stop "clr_optimization_v4.0.30319_32"
sc stop "clr_optimization_v4.0.30319_64"
sc config "clr_optimization_v4.0.30319_32" start= disabled
sc config "clr_optimization_v4.0.30319_64" start= disabled
@echo off
echo.
echo. All operations have been completed successfully.  The .net 4.0 framework services were disabled, as they are no longer needed.  This will not affect .net 4.0 applications, and your startup boot time should be back to instant!
pause

This script is useful on all versions of Windows.  If you have a slow startup, try running this to see if it improves the situation!