Debian Etch Recovery.img

[mewtwo]

No, devfs was the system before udev, but debian sorta skipped it.
I packed up a more 'working' Debian: modules work, you can type reset to get a fixed up terminal. There are some scripts to enable wifi, but there a problem hits me, that I also had with 3MX-rc3 (but not rc1.1 or the Default OS) - the chip only operates in b mode and works very instable with a lot of packet loss, rendering the connection unusable (no ssh, bigger websites or anything more useful than ping). I don't know what changed as the kernel and the module remain the same.
Another issue is the lack of X, maybe I have to use the Xfbdev from the Default OS, but I'd rather had everything from the debian repos. X is installed and I also got the Xorg.conf from the Epc700 wiki, but startx doesn't find a device.
Well, ethernet is fine and you can use weechat and vlc ;-)
Recovery_debian.img

[LilYoda]

I think there was a workaround:

http://linuxlaptopforum.ark2webdesign.co.uk/index.php/topic,493.msg3868.html#msg3868

Haven't tried it yet.

[lars]

Another issue is the lack of X, maybe I have to use the Xfbdev from the Default OS, but I'd rather had everything from the debian repos. X is installed and I also got the Xorg.conf from the Epc700 wiki, but startx doesn't find a device.

Try adding devices:

Code:

cd /dev
./MAKEDEV fb0
./MAKEDEV input

You need to install fixed fonts (package xfonts-base) and a windowmanager like jwm or icewm, too.

Happy Hacking!

[duttydea]

Ok i got jwm running!!!

Yippe!!!!!!!!!!!!

but problem is that none of the menu icon or desktop background will load.

   <IconPath>
      /root/theme
   </IconPath>

<Background type="command">xli -onroot /share/pixmaps/background1.png</Background>

<StartupCommand>
xli -onroot /usr/share/backgrounds/default.jpg
</StartupCommand>

Can anyone help?

thanks in advance

[mewtwo]

Thanks a lot! With the old zd1211b module, wifi is working fine, I was surprised how much magic is within the MAKEDEV command - with MAKEDEV rtc you can also get hwclock -s accessing the rtc.
@duttydea: have you xli installed? Can you set it manually?

I have packet up my Debian install again, it contains jwm, vlc (mplayer lagged when playing mp3 files  - unfortunately there are no debian miltimedia packets for etch under mipsel - lenny has some, but there a newer libc is mandatory  . Maybe we will see a 2.6 kernel someday.), links2 (for the framebuffer (links2 -g starts it in graphics mode)), bb (fun for the text terminal), iceweasel, urxvt (smaller than xterm) and weechat (less dependencies than irssi and cooler default interface ) But as it's Debian, you can add and remove anything you like using apt-get 
There are two scripts in ~ to enable and disable the wifi - you have to create a /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf first.
Some useful things are done by /etc/init.d/init-stuff.sh (creating MAKEDEV devices, setting time) - unfortunately modprobe usb-storage doesn't work there yet, so you have to load the module manually (I did even write it to /etc/modules). After that, you can mount your usb thumbdrives using mount.
So there we come to the known bugs:

• SD Card coesn't work - MAKEDEV magic wasn't strong enough so far - any suggestions?
• Moving windows by alt+click doesn't work - but I couldn't find the setting for this in the old jwmrc. It's pretty nasty if this doesn't work when you have a small screen and touchpad.
• No battery indicator. You may install desktop-backend and the Battery status icon, but when I find some time I'll try to find out how to read battery state directly.
• Terminal is still messed up after login - just type reset

You may want to set a password. Start X by startx.
I assume you have your kernel control the backlight, so I didn't add anything backlight related. The only things that set this apart from a vanilla debian are the Zydas Module, the wpa_supplicant with zydas support and hwclock replaced with the busybox version - I doubt that this was necessary at all.


Recovery_Debian_Etch+X.img

[Whiskers]

[...]

I have packet up my Debian install again, it contains jwm, vlc (mplayer lagged when playing mp3 files  :( - unfortunately there are no debian miltimedia packets for etch under mipsel - lenny has some, but there a newer libc is mandatory  >:(. Maybe we will see a 2.6 kernel someday.), links2 (for the framebuffer (links2 -g starts it in graphics mode)), bb (fun for the text terminal), iceweasel, urxvt (smaller than xterm) and weechat (less dependencies than irssi and cooler default interface ;) ) But as it's Debian, you can add and remove anything you like using apt-get  8)

[...]

Downloading now and I'll try to give it a trial;  thanks  :))

Seeing all the work you've put in puts the original OS into some perspective; the developers should be congratulated for getting such a functional and non-geek friendly product. 

Congratulations to you, and Wicknix, and all the others contributing 'alternative' software for these little palmtops.

[duttydea]

MAKEDEV works:

Code:

modprobe usb-storage #I guess this should go to /etc/modules
#Plug in USB stick
cd /dev
./MAKEDEV sda
mount sda /mnt

Tada. Your thumbdrive is now mounted to /mnt
Still have to figure out how to mount the sd card.

I get an error when trying to mount my "Scandisk Cruzer 1GB"

mount: you must specify the file system type

what am i doing wrong? why wont it plug & play?

Thanks in advance

[LilYoda]

Maybe we will see a 2.6 kernel someday.

I bricked my device a dozen times trying to find the correct FB driver in the 2.6 kernel    But still working on it!

Thanks for the work so far man, downloading your .img file to get a good rootfs

[mewtwo]

mount: you must specify the file system type

try mount -t vfat /dev/sda /mnt or sda1 if there are some partitions

what am i doing wrong? why wont it plug & play?

There is udev, but it requires a 2.6 kernel. The default OS used that desktop-backend if I'm right, to automount usb drives. You may write a script that parses dmesg output and mounts devices accourding to this.

[rodonn]

Looking over the list archives, the 2.6 kernel is still unusable since there's a bug that causes problems with gtk+ apps if the caching is turned on.
Admittedly I last checked yesterday...

[duttydea]

I have had a look around the net looking for a solution for USB plusg & play!!

There is udev, but it requires a 2.6 kernel. The default OS used that desktop-backend if I'm right, to automount usb drives. You may write a script that parses dmesg output and mounts devices accourding to this.

I have stummbled on this http://www.samwel.tk/bart/various/usb_storage_on_debian.html

Has anyone tried this?

I will! when i get home from work!!

ALSO..

How can i set the F1 Key to activate the Wifi  & F2 to deactivate it?

thanks in advance

[mewtwo]

I have had a look around the net looking for a solution for USB plusg & play!!

There is udev, but it requires a 2.6 kernel. The default OS used that desktop-backend if I'm right, to automount usb drives. You may write a script that parses dmesg output and mounts devices accourding to this.

I have stummbled on this http://www.samwel.tk/bart/various/usb_storage_on_debian.html

Has anyone tried this?

So far I had found no need for further convenience as mount works fine
My bigger problem is that I still found no way to mount the SD card.

I will! when i get home from work!!

ALSO..

How can i set the F1 Key to activate the Wifi  & F2 to deactivate it?

You can add

Code:

<Key key="F1">exec /root/enable_wifi.sh</Key>
<Key key="F2">exec /root/disable_wifi.sh</Key>

to your /etc/jwm/jwmrc
You might want to remove the /etc/init.d/networking restart line from the enable_wifi script, otherwise it will kill your current connection if you press it accidentally. To avoid this, you could also add e.g. mask="A" (<Key mask="A" key="F1">exec /root/enable_wifi.sh</Key>) so that you have to press Alt+F1 (Alt+F1 is already used for displaying the menu)

[Mijzelf]

My bigger problem is that I still found no way to mount the SD card.

The devicenodes in the standard distro are:

Code:

$ tar -tvf Recovery_EPC700.tar | grep mmc
brw-r--r-- skytone/root     243,0 2007-02-10 07:38 ./dev/mmc0
brw-r--r-- skytone/root     243,1 2007-02-10 07:38 ./dev/mmc0p1
brw-r--r-- skytone/root     243,2 2007-02-10 07:39 ./dev/mmc0p2
brw-r--r-- skytone/root     243,3 2007-10-24 11:05 ./dev/mmc0p3

So did you try

Code:

mknod /dev/mmc0 b 243 0
mknod /dev/mmc0p1 b 243 1
mknod /dev/mmc0p2 b 243 2
mknod /dev/mmc0p3 b 243 3

mkdir /mnt/sd
mount /dev/mmc0p1 /mnt/sd

[duttydea]

Cheers mewtwo,

It worked perfetcly, so i modified the script to connect to my home wifi network & i am loading it through urxvt (a bit like wicknixs' GPRS Connector)

<Key key="F1">exec /root/wifi_home.sh</Key>
<Key key="F2">exec /root/disable_wifi.sh</Key>

I can fully understand why the developers never delved into o fully fledged Debian distro for this device, the space available isnt alot and you have to weight up the fuctionality of the software against it installed size!!

My main gripe with this is that i cant get my USB Pens / £land SD Reader to mount and i have to use a webserver (Local network) to download my Customised files etc.

I will no doubt be tesing Mijzelf  post on the SD Card Reader and will hopefully move onto the 3G dongles.

Thanks for all your help guys

Duttydea

[duttydea]

Maybe we will see a 2.6 kernel someday.

I bricked my device a dozen times trying to find the correct FB driver in the 2.6 kernel    But still working on it!

Thanks for the work so far man, downloading your .img file to get a good rootfs

Has there been any progress on compiling a working 2.6 kernel?