OESF Portables Forum
Everything Else => Zaurus Distro Support and Discussion => Distros, Development, and Model Specific Forums => Archived Forums => Angstrom & OpenZaurus => Topic started by: wiredog on May 04, 2005, 10:38:31 am
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Here at $BigDefenseContractor we're looking at the Zaurus for use in the field in a number of applications where a laptop would be too expensive, too big, or too obvious. We want to use Linux for reasons of cost and security. We need it to be easy to use. I'm comfortable on the command line, and have been using Linux for about 7 years, but the end user must be assumed to not be comfortable on the command line.
The Zaurus looks like exactly the sort of device we need. So we're evaluating the C3000 and C1000. This is an R&D project, so I can go off on various tangents if I want to. Open Embedded was one such tangent.
What follows is a preliminary evaluation (for management):
OpenZaurus 3.5.3, Opie image, on SL-C3000 (Spitz) Preliminary eval.
Install went fine. Instructions (http://openzaurus.org/wordpress/installation/sl-c3000/) on the OpenZaurus website were clear, easy to follow, and complete. Especially compared to instructions available for reflashing with the stock Sharp ROM and much better than the OpenBSD instructions, which are terrifying.
Looks very nice. The Opie GUI makes good use of the 640X480 screen. It has many useful applications (especially the file manager and text editor) installed 'out of the box'. No MP3 player, image viewer, or sound recorder but those may be available for later installation. Menus, icons, and fonts are clear and readable. More so than with the stock Sharp setup.
Issues:
Eats the battery. Suspend from the main menu and it seems to suspend, but I suspect it just turns the screen off. Fully charged at 7PM, dead by 8AM. May be related to known problems with it not booting properly when a card is in the CF slot as I had an 802.11 card in the CF slot when I suspended.
No GUI applet for configuring 802.11 (wlan0). I have no idea which configuration file I need to edit to configure wlan0, or how to stop/start it from the command line. Therefore, we can't network it at this time.
Major problem: Keyboard mapping. The Fn key (apparently a known bug) doesn't work. Therefore no @, *, |, <, or > keys. This makes it, effectively, impossible to use the command line. It also makes it impossible to use most of the applications we use. If there's no ":" key, how do you SSH? Answer: You don't. Can't use 'more' without '|'. Can't email without the '@' key. Etc. Etc. Etc. They do work from the terminal (menu->Terminal, this shuts down X). However: The esc and alt keys aren't mapped or, if they are, it's a non-obvious mapping. To get out of vi I had to unplug the Zaurus, pull the battery, and reboot.
The networking and keymap issues render OpenEmbedded unusable for us at this time. Once those issues are resolved the C3000 with OpenZaurus will be a viable platform for our uses.
Yes, the keymap problem with the Fn key is mentioned in the wiki. The esc key being missing (it's missing on the Sharp ROM, too) is not mentioned. Searching through the forums for information on howto setup wifi turned up nothing of use. Lots of returns, but all on the lines of 'I got wifi working!' and none on 'Here's how I did it!'
I really like the Z (we're also looking at the C1000) and OE+Opie looks like it will (eventually) be very useful.
The real problem (for us) is one of timing. If we'd started this last July we'd have been able to get some 860's to play with and would've had OE on those, running fine. If we'd started next July OE for the C3000 would probably be running fine. Starting in January meant we were too late to take advantage of all the work that's been done with the 860, and too early for the C3000.
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No GUI applet for configuring 802.11 (wlan0). I have no idea which configuration file I need to edit to configure wlan0, or how to stop/start it from the command line. Therefore, we can't network it at this time.
Is the Settings > Network applet not included?
Si
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keymap problem is resolved now
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Is the Settings > Network applet not included?
It's there, but only seems to do ppp connections. No way to enter a WEP key, etc.
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Odd - when I was running 3.5.3 Opie last, it had a list of devices - wlan0, ppp0, loop0, eth0, etc. - you could tap on one and click properties (something like that) and it would let you set the IP, WEP, etc. (I think you might need to have the WiFi card in for this to work with wlan0 though, otherwise the properties page doesn't come up).
Si
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Is the Settings > Network applet not included?
It's there, but only seems to do ppp connections. No way to enter a WEP key, etc.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=78365\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
When I open Settings > Network I see a list of devices. Most of them are disconnected, but there's IRDA for example. When I insert a D-Link DCF-660W wireless CF card and open Settings > Network there's an 802.11b device. I can select that device, tap the configure button at the bottom, and enter WEP key, TCP/IP settings for fixed IP or dhcp, etc.
My only complaint is that there is only one network profile. I move among several network environments, some with fixed IP, some with DHCP, and I would have to re-enter the same network profiles over and over as I move around.
I'm running the April 28 C3000 OZ image.
/jw
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keymap is solved? where is the update?
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Uhm... in our upgrades feed?
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Did you manage to use usb-host?
I tried the "modprobe usb_ohci_pxa27X" command but it couldn't find the module
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i dont see a package that says anything about keymaping.
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2005.05.05 mickeyl Upgraded:
- Qt/E 2.3.10 for Spitz and Akita (cursor keypad working now)
- Linux 2.4.20-embedix for Spitz and Akita (improved keymap)
look into upgrades feed sometimes...
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Hi,
I just flashed OZ 3.5.3 onto my C3000 yesterday. I must say I'm very impressed.
I was getting very sick of the Sharp ROM.
2005.05.05 mickeyl Upgraded:
- Qt/E 2.3.10 for Spitz and Akita (cursor keypad working now)
- Linux 2.4.20-embedix for Spitz and Akita (improved keymap)
look into upgrades feed sometimes...
[div align=\"right\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div] (http://index.php?act=findpost&pid=79306\")
Thanks I got the updated Qt/E package and my cursor keypad is now "rotated" correctly,
but I'm not sure where to get the package for "Linux 2.4.20-embedix". I can't find any updated
2.4.20 kernel-image packages. Just browsing [a href=\"http://www.openzaurus.org/official/unstable/3.5.3/upgrades/]what I guess is the upgrade feed[/url] doesn't reveal it.
Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place. Could someone point me to the right place?
Or tell me the name of the package I should be looking for?
Thanks,
Evo.
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kernel images are not upgraded through ipkg, they're upgraded through updater.sh - remember what you did when flashing the Zaurus? Do the same to upgrade only the kernel - remove hdimage and initrd.bin from the CF.
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You want one of the zImage files, not sure which your machine is though (spitz or akita).
Si
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Hi,
thanks for your help guys.
You want one of the zImage files, not sure which your machine is though (spitz or akita).
For the record its a C3000, so spitz.
One last(?) question:
The avaliable zImage (at least where I'm looking) (http://www.openzaurus.org/official/unstable/3.5.3/c3000/) is from April 28. This seems to be what I'm running
root@sp@spitz:~# uname -a
Linux spitz 2.4.20 #1 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 12:10:29 +0200 armv5tel unknown
I was under the impression that there is a newer kernel. If so, where would I find it?
Thanks again,
Nick.
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Seems I'm answering my own question:
One last(?) question:
The avaliable zImage (at least where I'm looking) (http://www.openzaurus.org/official/unstable/3.5.3/c3000/) is from April 28. This seems to be what I'm running
root@sp@spitz:~# uname -a
Linux spitz 2.4.20 #1 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 12:10:29 +0200 armv5tel unknown
I was under the impression that there is a newer kernel. If so, where would I find it?
[div align=\"right\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div] (http://index.php?act=findpost&pid=79529\")
Found it in the
[a href=\"http://www.openzaurus.org/official/unstable/3.5.3/upgrades/zImage-spitz-20050505180032.bin]upgrades[/url] directory... figures.
Cheers,
Nick.
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I missed the fact you had an url in your post and forgot that not everyone knows where the upgrades feed is. Sorry.
Glad you found it though
Si
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I have flashed to the 20050505 (http://www.openzaurus.org/official/unstable/3.5.3/upgrades/zImage-spitz-20050505180032.bin) snapshot and upgraded Qt/E 2.3.10 (http://www.openzaurus.org/official/unstable/3.5.3/upgrades/libqte2_2.3.10-r15_spitz.ipk). The cursor keypad is now functioning properly, but the keymap still has the same issues (FN and right-shift do not work). Any ideas?
Also, there is no md5sum.txt for the 20050505 snapshot.