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Connecting to a WarDragon over a direct Ethernet cable

With a cable straight from a laptop to the unit and no router in between, there is no DHCP server, so neither end gets an address. Link-local addressing fixes that.

Before you start

  • Local setup is complete and remote access is installed. If SSH has not been installed yet, this procedure still requires the local console for one step.
  • The cable is connected to the unit’s external Ethernet port — the one that is DHCP by default.

Critical Do not modify Wired connection 1. It is the internal link to the detection SDR, and changing it breaks DJI DroneID detection. Everything below applies to Wired connection 2 only.

On the unit

From the local console, set the external port to link-local:

sudo nmcli connection modify "Wired connection 2" ipv4.method link-local
sudo nmcli connection up "Wired connection 2"

Then read the address it chose:

ip addr show

Look for an address beginning 169.254. on the external interface.

On the laptop

  1. Set the laptop’s wired adapter to obtain an address automatically. With no DHCP server it will fall back to its own 169.254.x.x address within about a minute.
  2. Connect to the unit’s 169.254. address by SSH or remote desktop.
ssh dragon@169.254.x.x

Returning the unit to a normal network

Link-local persists across reboots. Before putting the unit back on a network with DHCP, set the port back to automatic:

sudo nmcli connection modify "Wired connection 2" ipv4.method auto
sudo nmcli connection up "Wired connection 2"

Note If you use the direct-cable connection often, the unit’s Wi-Fi hotspot is usually the simpler option: the unit is always at 192.168.12.1 and nothing on the Ethernet port changes. See the User Guide, Section 5.3.

Related

  • WarDragon User Guide, Section 4.5 — connecting afterwards
  • WarDragon User Guide, Section 5.1 — static IP on the external port
  • WarDragon User Guide, Section 5.5 — finding the unit on a network

WarDragon is manufactured by Millenium Products Inc. Technical support for purchased kits is requested through the support page. Purchasing and quote requests go through the contact form.