Telnet to GoPro Hero 3+ Black

The post is to explain how to log-in to the Linux console of Hero 3+ Black.

A real-time operating system (RTOS) is running on GoPros, and a Linux is also running as a task of the RTOS. For example, communication between Herobus and GoPro Hero 3+ Black is maintained by the RTOS and the web server (Cherokee), which GoPro apps on smart phones and/or Wi-Fi Remotes are to connect, is by the Linux.

There’s a well-known hack for telnet-ing to GoPros: Putting a tuned autoexec.ash file on the root directory of microSD card. But the hacks written for older GoPros don’t work for Hero 3+ Black. The issue is because Hero 3+ Black seems to lack some linux commands such as pkill or telnetd at a glance. But don’t worry. These commands are actually implemented by busybox, not by standalone binaries even for older GoPros.

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Steps to telnet-ing to Hero 3+ Black

1. Create a text file named autoexec.ash that contains the following lines:
   
   Note: Each end-of-line should be ‘\n’ (Unix style), not ‘\r\n’ (MSDOS style).
2. Put the autoexec.ash file to the root directory of microSD card where DCIM and MISC reside.
3. Insert the microSD into your Hero 3+ Black.
4. Turn on Wi-Fi and enter “GoPro App mode” using the side button of camera body.
5. Power on GoPro using the front button of camera body.
6. Connect GoPro’s Wi-Fi from your PC or Mac.
7. Wait about 30 seconds.
8. Type telnet 10.5.5.9 8080 on your terminal.

Voilà! You can now enter to the Linux on GoPro Hero 3+ Black.

If you have memdump in the root directory of your microSD then you can dump RTOS log, too: