[Tutorial] - FTP to LeapPad

[Deak Phreak]

Please be aware that once you go into dev mode, if you can't get connected to the device, you might be stuck in dev mode. You can try installing my Dev mode app so you can use that to toggle between dev mode and not directly on the device. http://spiffyhacks.harmonypogo.com/thread-16.html


1.  You will need to either get shell access to the device or use the LeapPad Manager app with a version of at least 7.2.1 which can be found HERE.  If you go with shell access, you can run the command "touch /flags/developer" and restart the unit. 

If you wish to use the LeapPad Manager, connect your tablet to your PC. If this is your first time using the software, you may want to read through THIS thread for help getting started.  Choose LeapPad->Connect in the app and wait for it to connect and load information in the app.  Once that is done, choose Development Tools->Load Dev Mode

   

2. Now you will need to choose LeapPad->Disconnect and then power off the device and turn it back on

   

3. You should get a notification about the drivers being installed and if you click on it, it will show you the details.

   
   

4. Go to your start menu and start typing in "view network connections". When you see it in the list, click on it.

   

5. Find the one for the Leapfrog USB LAN Adapter in the list of connections

   

6. Right click on it and choose properties.  Then find the Internet Protocol Version 4 in the list. Click on the name to select it and click the Properties button

   

7. Enter in an IP address of 192.168.0.1 and subnet mask should auto populate when you click in the input box for it.  Ensure it matches the picture and then click on and close out of the other windows.

Edit: Lately, I have had to restart the tablet in order for it to connect. If you have issues connecting, try to restart the device.

   

8. Download Filezilla if you do not already have it or if you already have an FTP client, then feel free to use that instead.  Open it up and enter the host as 192.168.0.111 and username is root.  There is no pass and the port should just default to 21.

   

9. Hit Quickconnect and it should connect to the tablet.

   

10. Do whatever you want and transfer any files you want to your PC, but remember if you mess around with files, you can stop your device from booting.  When you are done, be sure to delete the developer flag so it will boot normal again when restarted.

   

The LeapPad Manager app will not work while in developer mode.  I will not go into details about how to use FTP, you can search online if you need help.

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Notes:

If you want to change the IP of the tablet, you can do so like this "ifconfig usb0 192.168.1.5 netmask 255.255.255.0 up" via the shell command line

Thanks to fargoadvice

[snipa]

I'm having problems with this.
Using OpenLFConnect I can use dftp to my LeapPad 2 fine but it's a bit unreliable so I'm looking to use a GUI based program; WinSCP preferrably.

I have successfully created the 'developer' directory within the /flags folder.
My Network Adaptor assigns an IP in the range of 169. to the LeapPad.
I have overridden the IP and assigned a 192.168.0.x IP to the LeapPad.
Windows doesn't like this however and sometimes and gives me an error but upon checking, the IP address has been set OK.

Now the problem... I simply cannot connect to the LeapPad. It refuses the connection. I know it is trying to connect as if I don't enter the username 'root' beforehand, upon trying to connect it will prompt for one. If it was unable to find the device the prompt for a username would never appear.

At this point I'm also unable to connect to the LeapPad using LFConnect, OpenLFConnect or LeapPad Manager. The only way I have found to get a connection back is to restore the LeapPad using 'Tune up' [Down and Home buttons at Power On] which takes some time!

Can anyone help please!?

[Deak Phreak]

Can you verify that it is in developer mode by accessing the parent menu? It should show more options such as debug, cheats etc. What program are you using to FTP into the tablet?

[snipa]

Thanks for the reply, Deak.
I've got a few commitments over the next few days so I I'm not expecting to get an opportunity to look at it.
When I do I'll check out the parent menu. I had no idea there were additional enabled options within once Developer mode is activated. That's a great first step to check, thanks.

I have 3, possibly 4 things to consider:

1. The LeapPad was stuck in Developer mode and once within LFConnect, OpenLFConnect and LeapPad Manager cannot connect to the Pad.

2. There is a Windows driver issue once Developer mode is enabled. As soon as it connects within Developer mode, Windows loads a USB Mass Storage Driver in the background.

3. I am doing something wrong with the IP address or FTP program. I've experienced Windows not liking me assigning a 192.168.0.X IP address to the Pad despite when running ipconfig /all I can clearly see that it has worked.

4. Once I connected to the LeapPad using OpenLFConnect and enabled FTP, by closing the shell command and not disconnecting manually I have the problem. I wonder if the LeapPad cannot allow for more than one concurrent FTP connection [unlikely as a LeapPad reboot or USB cable unlpug should disconnect!]
This one I can easily prove/disprove!


To save time with the lengthy 'Tune Up' recovery I think I can simply uninstall some of my apps and hope LFConnect doesn't insist on upping them back to the device with each recovery.

[Deak Phreak]

1. That is correct, once in developer mode, you cannot connect via dftp which means all the usual methods of connecting will not work.

2. Yes once in Developer mode, it will install a USB Lan driver so you can FTP to the device. You will then load up the Network Connections page "Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections", right click on the LeapPad Lan adapter, go to properties, then IPv4 and click on properties. You will then click the radio box to use the following IP and set an IP of 192.168.0.23 or something. Submet mask should auto fill in and don't think you need a gateway. Hit ok and save it. You should then be able to FTP to 192.168.0.111 with the user set as root. Sometimes it takes a few tries while windows is configuring the settings, but shouldn't take longer then a minute or so.

3. Your local setup most likely is on a different IP range if you have a network. Mine is and whenever I set the IP of the Lan adapter, I usually start losing my internet until I remove the LeapPad. This is why I shell into the device and assign a different IP on the LeapPad and set my IP on the Lan adapter to be the same as my home network. Either way should not matter though, you should still be able to connect.

4. You have an updated version of my app... It should have an option for developer mode. You can simply connect to the software, choose that option and it will set the flag for you. You can then restart the device and it should be in developer mode.

[snipa]

Top Man, Deak.
Thanks for taking the time to offer some suggestions.
I re-tried everything again tonight and I'm in first time using WinSCP.
No Windows errors when reassigning a 192. IP and no loading of a USB driver despite me deleting it yesterday. Strange!

Thanks again.

p.s. my version of LeapPad Manager doesn't have dev mode.

[Deak Phreak]

Cool, the dev mode must just be in my special Deak menu

[Oliver Twisted]

Hello Deak!

I'm a forensic examiner and am looking for a way to image the memory of the Leap Pad 2. This is in order to utilize some of my softwares to examine the image for logical and deleted data. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Deak Phreak]

No idea sorry. I am not that technical

[snipa]

LOL, I thought this was spam the first few times I read it.
I'm still not entirely sure what you're trying to do and why you're trying to do it!?
I guess it might be helpful if my little girl accidentally deleted one of her treasured photos from her LeapPad!!