OESF Portables Forum
Everything Else => Model Specific Forums => Distros, Development, and Model Specific Forums => Archived Forums => Sharp PC-Z1 NetWalker => Topic started by: RX Shorty on June 07, 2010, 04:46:57 pm
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Hi all,
When toying around with my Netwalker I bricked it twice.
So had to do a restore twice already, so here is a manual.
See my blog with latest info! (http://lindoboom.nl/?p=176)
Requirements- PC running linux (I am using Ubuntu/OpenSuse)
- Micro SD-Card (min 4 GB) - IT WILL DELETE ALL FILES ON IT!
- Netwalker Restore Pack - Download (https://www.oesf.org/repository/websites/netwalker/netwalker.tgz) (Varti: original broken link: Link (http://lindoboom.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/netwalker.img))
To Do- we have to find out which /dev/sd* is the Micro SD-Card. (You can use Gparted to find out)
Example 1: Your system has 1 harddisk
Harddisk = /dev/sda
Micro SD-Card = /dev/sdb
Example 2: You system has 3 harddisks
Harddisk 1 = /dev/sda
Harddisk 2 = /dev/sdb
Harddisk 3 = /dev/sdc
Micro SD-Card = /dev/sdd
- Now we know which is the Micro SD-Card we can use the following command:
dd if=netwalker.img of=/dev/sdb bs=1M
Be sure to be in the same directory as your netwalker img file, and edit your path to your Micro SD-Card if needed.
For example:
dd if=/home/username/Downloads/ netwalker.img of=/dev/sdd bs=1M - This process will take some time, so go get yourself a coffee/snack and return to your pc after a 15 – 30 minutes.
When you can start your new command in the Teminal it is done. - Put the micro SD-Card in your Netwalker.
- Hold down the two mouse buttons and start your Netwalker, keep the buttons down even after the Sharp logo.
- A Japanese question will be asked: press Y
- After the restore is done, press ENTER
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I just checked out your link -- the file size tells it contains all the files necessary to recover the OS, without having to download from the slow original server. Well done!
It's worth mentioning the script will erase the microSD card so make sure there's nothing important on it anymore
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Thanks, yes it contains all files you need.
I will add the important note
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I would add:
10) Create UserID and set to English Video showing how (http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?t=4196)
I went to a local Sushi restaurant for translation help!
tom
ps. I would also add:
6A) MUST BE RUNNING ON A/C Power
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Thanks RXShorty, excellent help !
I have a dead Netwalker T1 here. The recovery files provided here are not workgin with it.
FAQ says to make a recovery microSD card, use the tool: applications >> Accessory >> recovery maker
Anybody out there with a working Netwalker T1 who is willing to make a recovery file ?
THANKS !
Chris
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Thanks RXShorty, excellent help !
I have a dead Netwalker T1 here. The recovery files provided here are not workgin with it.
FAQ says to make a recovery microSD card, use the tool: applications >> Accessory >> recovery maker
Anybody out there with a working Netwalker T1 who is willing to make a recovery file ?
THANKS !
Chris
I don't know if you are still in need of the recovery file, but I have a NetWalker T1 coming, and I'll see what I can do.
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Just to let anyone know who may be interested, the Recovery Maker on the T1 does work perfectly.
It formats the MicroSD card with ext3, makes it bootable and copies the necessary files to it.
Restoring uses Power + L/R Mouse Buttons, just like the Z1.
It worked perfectly for me.
I have also found a way to restore all my customized settings after I do the recovery.
If anyone is interested I will elaborate further.
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That is great to hear dougeeebear, how do you like the T1 so far?
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I like it quite well, but the operation is kind of sluggish.
I disabled the services to generate logfiles and that seemed to help a little.
I really like the Ubuntu Netbook Launcher.
I already have a Zaurus SL-C1000 clamshell, so I wanted to try a tablet without a keyboard for a change.
It takes some getting used to, but so far so good.
Now if only there was more NetWalker activity here on the forum it would be nice.
Seems as if the Z1 users have given them up, and I've only seen one other T1 user.
Regardless, I'm enjoying it all by myself.
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Yeah it is pretty much done on this forum...
Well I expect a update from Sharp in May
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It was a bit outdated, so I changed the zip file for a img file.
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Hello there, I recently picked up a PC-Z1 and am hoping that there is still some way for me to reset/reinstall the OS on it. I understand that this is rather old tech nowadays and that the posts here are some years old...
The Netwalker I bought takes 2 minutes to start up (as opposed to the 3 second startup I've seen online!) and the wifi does not seem to work. It can't see any wifi networks that are normally available to me.
I bought the Netwalker to run a particular bit of lightweight software on when travelling to and from work (as opposed to web browsing/watching videos) but ideally I'd like to try and fix the wifi and get back the snappy 3 second start up.
The link to the Netwalker restore pack at the top of this thread no longer seems to be working, but maybe someone still has a copy?
Any help you can give would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks
Tim
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Hi and welcome!
I never had a NetWalker; luckily, archive.org seems to have the restore pack archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131001003044/...9/netwalker.img (https://web.archive.org/web/20131001003044/http://lindoboom.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/netwalker.img)
Beware, it's quite a huge file (3.7G), since it's on archive.org the download will most probably take a while.
Varti
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Hi and welcome!
I never had a NetWalker; luckily, archive.org seems to have the restore pack archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131001003044/...9/netwalker.img (https://web.archive.org/web/20131001003044/http://lindoboom.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/netwalker.img)
Beware, it's quite a huge file (3.7G), since it's on archive.org the download will most probably take a while.
Varti
Brilliant! Thank you, I'll start downloading that now!
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Brilliant! Thank you, I'll start downloading that now!
Hi, any luck in recovering your Netwalker? Just curious...
Varti
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Brilliant! Thank you, I'll start downloading that now!
Hi, any luck in recovering your Netwalker? Just curious...
Varti
Hi Varti, yes I have had some luck just this evening! I'd been trying on and off when I got a chance (we've got a 3 week old baby!) and so far it hadn't worked until this evening. The problem was with using dd terminal commands to put the image file on the microsd. I must of tried it a dozen times and looked at a dozen dd command webpages for advice, but the image that would be copied to the sd card never worked when I booted. This evening I tried some software called Etcher (https://etcher.io/) to put the image on the sd and this time it worked when I booted the Netwalker. So I've finally managed to restore it, which is great. Looks like there may be some other issue with the wifi not working, but thankfully web usage wasn't my reason for getting it. Thanks again for your help on this!
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Correction, wifi is now working! The problem was just my own buffoonery. Now to try and get Sunvox working, which involves me hassling people on another forum...
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Hi Varti, yes I have had some luck just this evening! I'd been trying on and off when I got a chance (we've got a 3 week old baby!) and so far it hadn't worked until this evening.
Congratulations! And I know what it means to have little free time, I have myself a 4 years, a 3 years and an 11 months old children
Glad that you sorted out your wifi problems as well. It would be nice to have the restore pack stored somewhere so that we don't have to rely on archive.org, too bad about the filesize though.
Varti
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Now to try and get Sunvox working, which involves me hassling people on another forum...
I have never tried Sunvox, but it looks like an interesting tracker! Coincidentally, some other user here has already asked for a port of Sunvox on warmplace.ru for the Zaurus, which is basically Netwalker's predecessor, I'd love to see that port too.
Varti
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Now to try and get Sunvox working, which involves me hassling people on another forum...
I have never tried Sunvox, but it looks like an interesting tracker! Coincidentally, some other user here has already asked for a port of Sunvox on warmplace.ru for the Zaurus, which is basically Netwalker's predecessor, I'd love to see that port too.
Varti
Sunvox is simply my favourite bit of software ever. I've been using it regularly since 2009 on many platforms (Palm OS, Windows, Winmobile/CE, Android, iOS...). My favourite portable device was a Jornada 720, as having a physical qwerty keyboard allows you to play the keys kinda like piano keys! Great for making up little tunes/loops when on public transport etc. I loved the immediateness of the embedded WinMo/CE flavour software it ran (no waiting for start up), but in the end it was just too underpowered and I've been on a quest for a more recent replacement for sometime. As much as I'm enjoying the Netwalker I've not yet got Sunvox working on it and the Ubuntu it's running is really, really slow. If the Netwalker is to become the Jornada 720 replacement I'm going to have to learn about compiling Linux images and put a much lighter OS on it and it's finding the time at the moment!
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Sunvox is simply my favourite bit of software ever. I've been using it regularly since 2009 on many platforms (Palm OS, Windows, Winmobile/CE, Android, iOS...). My favourite portable device was a Jornada 720, as having a physical qwerty keyboard allows you to play the keys kinda like piano keys! Great for making up little tunes/loops when on public transport etc. I loved the immediateness of the embedded WinMo/CE flavour software it ran (no waiting for start up), but in the end it was just too underpowered and I've been on a quest for a more recent replacement for sometime. As much as I'm enjoying the Netwalker I've not yet got Sunvox working on it and the Ubuntu it's running is really, really slow. If the Netwalker is to become the Jornada 720 replacement I'm going to have to learn about compiling Linux images and put a much lighter OS on it and it's finding the time at the moment!
I have used Milkytracker on the Zaurus in the past, but Sunvox seems like better suited for a handheld device.
You're not the only one complaining that Linux is slow on the Netwalker, unfortunately: https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showforum=166 (https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showforum=166) . Sunvox' author has recently expressed interest in porting it to Zaurus; if at the end a port will surface for Arch Linux and SDL on framebuffer (the most likely target on Zaurus), it might be interesting to try to run it on the same setup on the Netwalker; without the window manager overhead it might run well.
Varti
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Hi Varti, I've seen the thread over on the Sunvox forum now about a Zaurus port and your post. Yeah if Alex does release a Zaurus port that might be a good option for the Netwalker if I can't get one of the existing versions to work. I've heard Milky Tracker mentioned many times, but I've not played with it yet.
Netwalker-wise everything has ground to a halt until I can find more time to figure out how to compile a nice lightweight Linux Kernel image that will work better on it. It's a shame that the Netwalker wasn't more widely distributed, as there'd probably be more people sharing image files out there.
So the jury is still out as to whether the Netwalker is going to be my new pocket Sunvox computer... I may end up selling it and looking for a simpler more immediate solution that doesn’t require so much head scratching.
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The Netwalker was officially sold by Zaurus on the japanese market only, it was imported to the rest of the world only via the grey market, so I believe that most of the activity was on japanese forums, which of course is of no use unless you have a good enough knowledge of the language...
About the alternatives to a Netwalker, a couple of people here have bought a new GPD clamshell, which is even smaller: https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=34424 (https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=34424)
On the plus side, it is available now, it's a new device with good specs, it has an Atom CPU which means that x64 Linux distros and programs should run on it with only minor tweaks required, hence Sunvox should run too. On the other side, officially it runs only Windows 10 and it is still not known how well will Linux run on it, plus the Atom CPU has been discontinued by Intel and sooner or later they'll stop producing them, so the GPD Win will be discontinued as well. If you don't mind running Sunvox under Windows though, you can probably have it already running from the start.
Varti