Messages

1

X/Qt / Pocketworkstation On 5500

« on: February 08, 2006, 03:39:01 am »

Hi, I made a post on a similar topic a couple of weeks ago, so decided to try a different method.

I installed the xqt-debian-jumbo-lite package on my 5500 (running the tcK rom) to main memory, then ran the install script to install the zaurus-debian-jumbo tarball onto a fresh 512MB SD card.

Now, because I never have managed to get the USB networking working properly (I can SSH between the Z and my Mac, but can't access the internet from the Z.), I commented out the lines in the install script to update the apt sources - otherwise it would just hang.

Everything seems OK, but when I run 'xlaucher debian' it brings up the X server, but a few seconds later crashes back to the terminal - no error messages.

Is it vital to go through the 'apt sources' step ?

Otherwise, I'm stumped.
Thanks.
Neil.

2

X/Qt / Pocketworkstation X/qt On Tck (kompany) Rom.

« on: January 31, 2006, 09:44:51 am »

Hi,

I'm wondering if anybody has experimented with x/qt on the tck rom ?

I ask because at one point I managed to get pocketworkstation to work on this ROM via the VNC Server, but this was quite messy in practise (i.e. quitting Qtopia, dropping back to a shell and issuing several commands to get it started) - therefore I wanted to try somthing that I could get in and out of quickly without much hassle.

The X/QT apps installed fine, and will bring up an X-Server.

However, when I click on the Pocketworkstation icon, the screen remains blank. However, if I click on certain points on the screen, portions of the screen become visible, but quickly become obscured - obviously this is not being rendered correctly.

There is a terminal running, so I don't think there is a problem with debian itself - I guess editing the X settings may cure this ....

Has anybody attempted something similar, or has any pointers ?


Thanks
Neil.

3

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Reflashing To Another Rom

« on: January 29, 2006, 11:04:14 am »

I have been using a FAT16 card for flashing - this was'nt exactly the cause of the problem, but having viewed another post on the OZ forum, I managed to solve this.

What I need to do was download an old Sharp ROM - but instead of naming it 'Ospack', it was renamed to 'ROMIMAGE'. I then ran the flash update from the service menu, which allowed me to flash the sharp rom this time. After it finished, it crashed out into a shell again.

However, it must have recreated the original partitions, because I was then able to reflash with OZ or tCKRom, and this time it booted up OK.

4

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Reflashing To Another Rom

« on: January 27, 2006, 08:33:03 am »

OK, assuming that I'm stuck with pdaXrom, can anyone confirm whether fdisk on 5500 distro is broken  ?

Every sd or compact flash card I've tried to create a ext2 filesystem on ends up screwed up. Coincidence ?

When I try and mount these on my mac using ext2 tools, I always get the error "Bad Super Block: Magic Number Wrong".

I'm going to try and format them back to FAT16 filesystem, then reformat them  back to ext2 from OSX. See if this makes any difference.

5

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Reflashing To Another Rom

« on: January 25, 2006, 03:20:44 pm »

I can't seem to flash to any Sharp Ospack right now. The orange & green lights flash on then off.

However, any initrd.bin + zImage seems to flash OK. Just won't boot.

6

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Reflashing To Another Rom

« on: January 25, 2006, 03:34:39 am »

I don't think the NAND restore option is applicable to the 5500.

Also, I don' t think it is possible to resize the memory on the 5500 - or if it is, it is not a straightforward process.

Can anybody comment ?

7

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Reflashing To Another Rom

« on: January 24, 2006, 07:33:27 am »

I checked the md5 sums, and they are correct.

I suspect it probably has overwritten the flashing code (can anybody confirm this ?).

In this case, I'm probably stuck with pdaXrom - If so, I need to get it to work.

I had various problems using pdaX on my 5500 with just about every CF or SD card that I tried keeps coming up with error messages or kernel panics after I have formatted them to ext2. This would often just freeze the Z, and require a hard reset.

I had a suspicion that this could be due to the fdisk or mkfs tools within the pdaX 5500 distro, as I was using a ext2 formatted card that I created with the tkcRom. This worked fine until I decided to reformat it under pdaX and start afresh. I've never got it (or any other card) working since that point.


Anybody experienced anything similar ?

8

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Reflashing To Another Rom

« on: January 24, 2006, 04:22:51 am »

Hi,

I removed the battery for a  long time, but this made no difference when I tried to reflash. (This time to the cacko rom).

It seems that any other rom I flash with starts the boot process, then just hangs.

I was wondering if pdaX overwrites some of the partition info in the flash memory, as this is the only system that will boot now.

I have read other posts, and for other Zaurus models it is stated that a NAND restoration can be done. However, (and I could be totally wrong here) I don't think there is a similar process for the 5500.

I'm very confused.

Thanks
Neil.

9

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Reflashing To Another Rom

« on: January 23, 2006, 05:07:13 pm »

Well, maybe I should rephrase my question.

I can flash the 5500 with a FAT16 card, but nothing other than pdaXrom will boot.

tkcROM never gets past the INIT message, and a sharp rom just dumps me back in a minimal shell.

Currently, I can only flash back to pdaXrom.

10

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Reflashing To Another Rom

« on: January 23, 2006, 04:36:49 pm »

Hi,

I installed pdaXrom on my 5500, and attempted to flash back to another ROM.

I've been unable to do this (even back to the Sharp v.1 rom).

I guess some of original code in the flash memory has been overwritten. Question is - is it possible to flash back - and if so, how do I do it ?

Thanks
Neil.

11

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Repartitioning Sl-5500

« on: January 16, 2006, 08:46:05 am »

Another small query I have is that I cannot run the 'mkfs' command on the 5500 pdax.

i.e. mkfs.ext2 /dev/hda1, mkfs.ext3 /dev/hda1, mkfs.vfat /dev/hda1

always returns something like 'mkfs.ext2: command not found'


I'm wondering if this can be installed from one of the packages ? I previously installed a lot of the packages, and the 'mkfs' (or mke2fs) command was never found.

AAgghhh....

12

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Repartitioning Sl-5500

« on: January 16, 2006, 03:42:50 am »

There is no option to resize the root partition - it just flashes it - which means there is precious little space left on the root partition, which means it must be used extremely carefully.

I guess I'll have to try and hack the scripts in /etc, or try and compile my own copy.

13

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Repartitioning Sl-5500

« on: January 15, 2006, 05:49:17 pm »

I just wanted to add that I tried flashing back to other ROMs, and it nearly bricked the Z. Luckily, I managed to flash back to the pdaX many hours later after several attempts.

Therefore, it looks like pdaXrom is my only option (which is not a bad option), but I'm wondering how to get apache / PHP running on this device - i.e. on a CF card.

Am I just attempting the impossible on this device ?

14

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Repartitioning Sl-5500

« on: January 15, 2006, 10:03:54 am »

Hi,

I'm not quite sure how to resize the root partition on the SL-5500, and if this is possible at all.
I ask because it is not possible for me to run applications such as Apache from the root directory without freeing up more space (I can run everything else from a CF Card).

Most of the instructions I can find refer to the C-Series machines, not the SL machines.

One post stated it would be necessary to first flash with the Guyhelm ROM.

However, is it possible to do this from the service menu.

Can anyone state which is the best method ?


Thanks
Neil.

15

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Where Can I Find 'less' Utility ?

« on: January 14, 2006, 06:21:51 am »

I think I've asked this before, but which package contains the 'less' utility ?

I can't seem to figure this out from the package lists.

Thanks
Neil.