Tuesday, June 30, 2009

A new revelation (Zubuntu RC1)

After a hint speculatrix gave me, I followed this post to install Zubuntu RC1 (8.04) on my Zaurus. I first reflashed the zaurus with a rom including kexec.
This little nifty app enables the zaurus to boot from the SD/CF card.
I got me a 4GB SDHC card. On a desktop (actually a virtual machine) I repartitioned it using gparted (one ext2 and one swap partition). and extracted the rootfs to the SD,

# tar zxvf zubuntu-desktop-rc1.tar.gz -C /media/disk
and the kernel modules for my boxer,
# tar zxvf c7x0-root-addition.tar.gz -C /media/disk
and voila, I have ubuntu on my zaurus. I needed to fix the touchscreen by changing in ~/.profile:
export TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/event2
to
export TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/event1
alternatively the following command will change it:
sed -i "s#export TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/event2#export TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/event1#" root/.profile
And also removed from ~/.xinitrc
xrandr -o right
or
sed -i "s/xrandr -o right/#xrandr -o right/" root/.xinitrc
to keep the screen in portrait mode when starting.

To enable usb networking , i edited /etc/network/interfaces as I did before. I also had to add to /etc/resolve.conf:
nameserver 192.168.1.1
to have access to the internet.

The only major problem I have now is that the CF slot is dead so I cant use the bluetooth or wifi cards.

eventually I found this link (in german) after
# modprobe pxa2xx_cs
the port came back to life. I added g_ether (USB networking), pxa2xx_cs (CF slot) and snd-soc-corgi (Sound card) to /etc/modules.
this can be done by,
grep snd-soc-corgi etc/modules || echo "snd-soc-corgi">>etc/modules
grep pxa2xx_cs etc/modules || echo "pxa2xx_cs">>etc/modules
grep g_ether etc/modules || echo "g_ether">>etc/modules


56 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Thanks for the info!. I've got Ubuntu running on my c860. But how do you calibrate the screen? My stylus and the mouse arrow are completely out of sync. Perhaps due to this I can't get the ubuntu menu to come up.

    Also I have problems with openssh repeatedly asking for a new password when I login as a user other than root, making it impossible to log into the Z via SSH.

    thanks

    emk

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  2. To calibrate the screen you need to kill the X Server (ctrl-alt-bkspace) then from the terminal run
    ts_calibrate

    The problem with openssh is that you need to have password for your root account (assuming you are using root). You can set it up using:
    passwd

    but it will be erased after each reboot.

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  3. Hi,

    Nice to see people still using the Zaurus :)

    Did I understand correctly, you are using a 4GB SDHC card with the c860 Zaurus? Can you access all 4GB from the Zaurus? Do you need a special brand of SDHC card or will any one work?

    I'd like to update the storage in my Zaurus.

    Thanks!

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  4. Yes, I did use a 4GB SDHC (Sandisk). I took a picture of it, if it helps (http://yogzblog.googlepages.com/SD4GB.jpg). Currently it has two partitions: 3GB for the zubuntu and 1GB for the Angstrom. I'm not sure if any brand will work, but I'm sure this one is working. I think it also depends on the rom you use. In the configuration I'm using now there is no problem.

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  5. how do you pull up terminal

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  6. You can open rxvt by hitting the "Home" Key. Alternatively the first launcher in the system menu is "Terminal". You can open the menu by hitting the "Menu" key.

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  7. i cant click on the ubuntu sign so i cant open terminal. the mouse isn't calibrated and even when i did manage to get the stylus in the right place to click it won't which is strange because the cuser responds to the touch screen.
    if there is a command i could put into the screen before i run startx it would be very much appreciated
    also how do you underscore on th sl-c750?

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  8. ctrl-alt-backspace should kill the X and get you to a text terminal, there you should run ts_calibrate.
    fn-B should be underscore.

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  9. thanks for the advice, ive got zubuntu working fine however i cannot work out how to underscore so i now have to take out the sd card and change the files via my laptop.

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  10. also how can you make the screen change depending on its position like in cacko?

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  11. It's mentioned in a following post ("Some more tweaks to Zubuntu"). The STATE variable in the zaurus-hinge is mixed....
    In the script,
    /etc/zaurusd/scripts/zaurus-hinge
    change
    if [ $STATE = "0" ]; then
    to
    if [ $STATE = "2" ]; then

    and later in the script
    if [ $STATE = "2" ]; then
    to
    if [ $STATE = "0" ]; then

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  12. Sorry I got those mixed up, it' s first:
    if [ $STATE = "2" ]; then
    to
    if [ $STATE = "0" ]; then

    and then
    if [ $STATE = "0" ]; then
    to
    if [ $STATE = "2" ]; then

    regarding the underscore, did you manage solving that problem, it should be Fn + B, I didn't have any problems with it...

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  13. thanks it works fine now apart from the usb networking - ive changed the modules file but its had no effect -is there a setting?

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  14. What do you mean by not working? Can you modprobe g_ether? can you ping the zaurus ip? (whatever you set it to) can you ping your hosting desktop? did you set the internet sharing on the desktop side properly?
    In the "Reflash OZ3.5.4.1" post there is a section labeled "Configure USB networking" maybe you can find some hints there...

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  15. I cant get my origo wireless compact flash card to work with my zaurus sl-c750 running zubuntu and i dont even know where to start I plug it in and nothing happens. Please help! i would like internet to install programs

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  16. In my case the problem with the cf card was to enable the cf slot, the solution was to do
    modprobe pxa2xx_cs
    from the terminal,
    In your case, if nothing happens happens (ie the led does not turn on at all) it sounds like a similar problem. If you have another cf card, perhaps memory cf card, you can check if the slot is turned on.
    You can also check dmesg output, right after inserting the card, to see if you get any response from the slot.
    I assume you verified that the cf slot and the card are not malfunctioned...

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  17. Apparently, the pxa2xx_cs is the driver for my card (Linksys wcf12), you can try to see if it works for you. If it doesn't, try to find out which driver you do need...

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  18. after searching I couldn't find the driver and i cant even find anything about the card itself! also i wanted th screen to turn around and so i followed your answer to someones older post but nothing changed. i was wondering if you knew what to do.

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  19. the cardreader works fine so it isnt the problem (when i plug it in the light blinks once and thats it. nothing else.

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  20. also how can i fix my headphone jack- its not working

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  21. Regarding the cf card, did you manage to use it in another distro? maybe you can take the driver from there? did you check dmesg output? Maybe try to post a question on OESF?

    Regarding the sound, one of the switches in alsamixer should do the trick, what I usually do is:
    cat /dev/urandom > /dev/dsp &

    to get some output from the speakers (or headphones to that matter). Then I play a little with alsamixer until I get an output. IIRC I had to turn on "Output Mixer HiFi Playback Switch". You can turn on and off switches by pressing 'M'.

    Regarding the rotation, If you fixed the zaurus-hinge script as I suggested (0 is "xrandr -o normal" and 2 is "xrandr -o right") and it doesn't work, try to reboot. Sometimes it stop working for me and after reboot it's ok again.

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  22. ok... the rotation works fine, i had to run xhost +. Ive found the driver disk but its for microsoft
    \/
    -
    however it worked on cacko so ill multiboot the two and try to extract the driver. also i havent worked out how to show hidden files on the zaurus.

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  23. You can see hidden files by using "ls -a" from the terminal (a stands for "all"). you might want to use also the l (long) switch (i.e. "ls -la").
    If you are using thunar (the filemanager that comes with zubuntu you have an option to show hidden files under the "view" menu.

    I had a similar problem with the rotation (I used xauth, I guess it's similar to what you did) but after rebooting it was ok. I'm glad to hear that you managed to solve it.

    I don't believe Micro$ofts driver can work (though there is a way to use some windows drivers on linux, it's called ndiswrapper, I wonder if it can be used on the zaurus...). I don't think the Cacko driver will work as its 2.4 kernel and the zubuntu is 2.6, but hey, it can't hurt to trying... Maybe pdaXrom has a compatible driver (iirc they also use a 2.6 kernel) maybe Angstrom and OZ also use the 2.6 kernal.

    Did you manage to get the sound working?

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  24. well I'm not sure about the sound because the play button doesn't respond anymore on audicious and i didn't understand "cat /dev/urandom > /dev/dsp" and i don't have alsamixer on the zaurus due to lack of Internet on my zaurus (or is it not a program )=

    i would like to try to multiboot with angstrom however i dont know which file to download from the site and also how to multiboot even though im using cortez's multiboot kernel to run zubuntu and the same multiboot problem applies for pdaXrom

    sad news www.cacko.biz/cacko no longer exists and i don't have the rom. I foud one however when trying to extract tools.tar it said it was a stale nfs file.

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  25. Why don't you setup network over the usb connection?

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  26. dunno how to on ubuntu( I'm running ubuntu and vista on my laptop and vista is rubbish with any thing/driver)

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  27. I didn't have problems with vista, you just need to install a driver (I have a link to the driver here somewhere, look for usb networking...) and do a little setup.
    I'm sure Ubuntu is as simple (if not simpler)

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  28. it just keeps saying "wired network disconnected" every time I try to connect

    with a usb network I may as well go on my laptop

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  29. it would be better to have a wireless network

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  30. Did you edit /etc/networking on the zaurus? and setup the properties of the connection of the vista side?

    Try also:
    modprobe g_ether
    and
    ifup usb0

    Do you see usb0 when you do
    ifconfig

    I agree that wireless is better but at least you could install properly...
    btw, perhaps the post from August 23 on omegamoon has some relevance to you?

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  31. what do you change in /ect/networking
    Im trying to use ubuntu because vista is being slow and needs restoring to factory settings >|

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  32. atnameserver 192.168.1.1 the top of this blog you say "To enable usb networking , i edited /etc/network/interfaces as I did before."... I dont understand what you edited

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  33. ifconfig comes up with usb0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 82:55:48:ad:c8:27
    inet6 addr: fe80::8055:48ff:fead:c827/64 Scope:Link
    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
    RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:1 errors:12 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
    RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:90 (90.0 B)
    for usb0

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  34. Check my post from March 9, 2007

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  35. I did and did not understand any of it

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  36. The usb0 section in /etc/network/interfaces looks like this:

    iface usb0 inet static
    address 192.168.0.100
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    network 192.168.0.0
    gateway 192.168.0.1

    On the pc side (vista), I set the connection to
    IP address: 192.168.0.1
    Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default gateway is empty
    Preferred DNS server: my router IP address

    Then I setup internet sharing from the main LAN connection on the pc side with the Zaurus connection. Now I have internet connection on my Zaurus.

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  37. I also managed to connect through an Ubuntu VM, I don't remember how I did it, but it wasn't too complicate as well

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  38. I did the above for ubuntu and it said "connection established" however I didn't have Internet on either my laptop or the zaurus =(

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  39. Can you ping from the Zaurus to the laptop (or vice versa)?

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  40. when connected to the laptop try pinging the laptop from the zaurus, ie, on the zaurus open the terminal and write:
    ping 192.168.0.1

    (assuming 192.168.0.1 is the ip address of the laptop)

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  41. yes i managed to ping from the laptop to the zaurus but when changing the network settings for the zaurus on ubuntu i couldent leave the default gateway empty so i put in the routers ip. How do you configure the zaurus network settings on vista? and how can i keep the internet on my laptop every time i connect the zaurus?

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  42. The routers IP sounds good...
    As for Vista, did you install the driver? (it is on the "Reflash OZ3.5.4.1" post. If you did, then should see another network connection on the network connections (Network and Sharing center -> Network Connections). Open the properties of this new connection. Select "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" and click the "Properties button". Here, select the "Use the following IP Address". Set the following:
    IP Address: 192.168.0.1
    Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default gateway: (empty)
    Select "Use the following DNS server addresses". And set te following:
    Preferred DNS address: (your routers IP address).
    Now press the OK button and then the "Close" button to close both windows.

    The next step is to setup the network sharing. To do this Right click your main network connection and open its properties. Select the "Sharing" tab. Check "Allow other network users to connect through this..." checkbox and from the "Home networking connection" dropdown list select the Zaurus network connection. Also check "Allow other network users to control..." checkbox. Press the "OK" button.
    Now you should have internet connection from the Saurus.

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  43. i downloaded the driver but it wont install

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  44. You can right click the file and select "install" from the pop up menu.
    Alternatively when you connect the usb cable a "Found new hardware" window should pop up, select "Locate and install driver..." then "I don't have the disc. Show me other options" then "Browse my computer for driver software" then browse to the driver and select it.

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  45. i installed the driver however i coldent set the ip adress to 192.168.0.1 because it was being used by something else and there was no dropdown bar for me to "select the zarus network connection"

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  46. i read the post from august the 23rd on omegamoon and i ran dmesg|tail and my card has a nic id of 801c and i had 1.1.1 as the primary firmware and 1.8.0 as the secondary firmware. i itink i need wicd installed like cortez however i still have no inerntet connection on my zaurus and when trying to install it by putting the deb file in var/cache/apt/archives it came up with an error

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  47. In my case, 192.168.0.1 was taken by the router, and I had to change that to something else so 192.168.0.1 would be free for the Zaurus connection.

    To install a deb you don't need to put it in var/cache/apt/archives, just put it somewhere (in your home directory for example) and run:
    dpkg -i ~/package.deb

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  48. i got the wifi card working however when trying to connect to my network (wpa2) it said at the bottom "connection failed unable to obtain an ip address" im going to try it without any security and ill get back to you

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  49. it works!!! however for some reson i cannot get firefox to launch- it just freezes. i would also like to install fennec and awn however it does not recognise the repositorys i added. any help?

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  50. I think firefox is too heavy for the zaurus. I don't think I've tried fennec. I'm using midori which is sufficient for my needs... maybe I'll try fennec later...

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  51. i cant get fennec in arm binary for zubuntu hardy heron however i found it in armel (works in zubuntu jaunty) ill try midori later but earlier my zaurus froze when installing awn so i took out the battery and it hasn't been able to boot since -it shows no sigh of charging when i plug it in =( ill check the battery tomorrow with a multimeter

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  52. batterys fine however i pluged it into a wall usb charger and i tested thet -twice as much power as usb (1.3v) however it can take 6v ac input please any suggestions

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  53. Oh no, I'm very sorry to heat that. Usually when my zaurus runs out of battery I need to charge it a little before it can boot again (I use the usb cable to charge it of the usb), but in those cases the charging led turns on... I don't have much suggestions, but I think I saw several posts regarding similar problems in the OESF forum... I hope you'll find a solution soon.

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