Topics

1

Linux Issues / Linux Kernel 2.6.14 Breaks Usbnet Xfer From Zaurus

« on: November 29, 2005, 11:40:11 am »

Howdy,

I recently discovered that Linux Kernel 2.6.14 breaks usbnet transfers from the Zaurus.

Specifically, I was using 2.6.14-1 from the Fedora Core 4 update server with a C860.

The first problem I noticed was that my connection hung when trying to enter a certain directory using samba (while browsing from my PC).  Some directories worked fine and some hung.

I next noticed that certain file transfers would hang, regardless of the protocol (I tried scp, ftp, and samba).  Some files transferred just fine, others hung.

I eventually determined that any file with a size >= 1458 bytes would hang.  Any file with a size smaller than this transferred just fine.

Additionally, I'm assuming that the directory browsing issue is related to the number of entries in the directory and, therefore, the size of the directory contents transfer.

When I rebooted into kernel 2.6.12, everything worked fine again.

I later determined that kernel 2.6.13 is also fine.

I tried google'ing some kernel activity to try and find the cause and found some interesting stuff but nothing conclusive.  I noticed that the kernel guys are still mucking around with usbnet: they've been engaged in a massive refactoring of that module since at least 2.6.11 (which I earlier discovered completely broke connectivity with the C860).  I noticed one comment regarding the implementation of some sort of "hard mtu" feature which sounded somewhat suspicious to me.  I haven't researched this any further though so it may be a red herring.

The latest stable kernel release is 2.6.14-3 (Fedora's latest is 2.6.14-1) so it's possible it's been fixed in -2 or -3 but I haven't been able to try them and I haven't seen any patch that addresses this issue (but I haven't looked really well yet either).  The ChangeLogs for -2 and -3 don't mention anything that sounds related.

So, if you're a Linux & Zaurus user, I would recommend that you avoid 2.6.14 and try later versions with caution.

~ray

2

Cxx0 General discussions / Fedora Core 4 Breaks C860 Usb Net Functionality

« on: August 30, 2005, 11:07:17 am »

I just updated my linux box to Fedora Core 4 and found that my C860 wouldn't connect anymore (over USB).  After some googling around I found the reason why and the fix.  I thought I'd post what I found here in case anyone else gets hung up on this as well...

FC4 ships with kernel 2.6.11.  Apparently, at some point before 2.6.11, some "refactoring" was done on the usbnet module, which entailed moving non-standard stuff (such as the Z's non-standard USB net functionality) into external modules.  In the process of doing this, support for the C860 (specifically) was broken.

This occurred because apparently the C860 is actually broken is TWO ways: it's USB net support is non-standard, like the other Z's, and it apparently also falsely advertises support for a cell phone modem interface called "CDC MDLM".  The author of the usbnet module's changes wasn't aware of this and inadvertently broke the C860 support.  A patch was submitted to fix this and that patch appears starting with kernel 2.6.12.  The fedora repository has 2.6.12 posted and you can upgrade to it using yum: "sudo yum update kernel".  I just installed it last night and my C860 is now happily connecting again.

If you want more details google with "MDLM C-860" or go here: http://lwn.net/Articles/130476/ and search for "usbnet fix for Zaurus C-860".

~ray

3

Software / Sftp Gui For Sharp Rom?

« on: June 08, 2005, 11:07:30 am »

Does anyone know if there's a graphical SFTP client for the Sharp ROM?

I've been using tkcFTP for regular FTP and it works reasonably well for me.  I'm trying to close all my FTP and TELNET ports on all my systems though (better late than never, right?) and a Z GUI SFTP is the one hole in my coverage right now...

Thanks,

~ray

4

General Discussion / Trolltech Gets Free Of Canopy, Sco Ownership

« on: May 25, 2005, 11:19:31 am »

<http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050524172943589>

Congrats to lpotter & crew!    

~ray

5

General Discussion / Screen Reader Software

« on: March 08, 2005, 01:40:29 am »

Title says it all.  An online friend in the Rockbox forum asked me if such exists for the Z.  He likes one called Speakup, but it seems to require a hardware-based speech synthesizer.  I did find a software-based speech synthesizer for the Z but I'm not sure if Speakup would support it.  The other obvious problem is Qtopia (versus X), but there's always pdaXrom, I suppose.  Any thoughts?

Thanks,

~ray

6

General Discussion / Zaurus MIDI port?

« on: July 01, 2004, 12:51:41 pm »

Does anyone know of a product that adds a midi port onto a Zaurus or if it's possible to make one using the expansion/serial port on the Zaurus?

I am interested in this mainly for connecting to a guitar processor and backing-up/restoring patch data, etc.  I think the Zaurus would make an excellent tool for an emergency patch restore on the road.

A midi port is just a serial port, I believe, so I think it might be possible to wire one onto the Z's serial port and talk to it using a standard serial driver.

Thanks,

~ray

7

Qt/Qtopia / QGroupBox seg fault

« on: April 19, 2004, 02:13:17 pm »

Hi,

I\'m developing a new Z app using Qt/E and I\'m having a weird problem using a QGroupBox.  Has anyone seen anything like this?

Whenever I add a QGroupBox to my window, the x86 build (running in qvfb) gives a seg fault.  It builds fine; no warnings/errors.  The arm build runs fine (on the Z, of course) with the exact same UI file.  When I remove the group box the seg fault goes away.

I\'m using QTDesigner 1.1 and the standard Z Qt build environment.

I\'ve traced the crash to the showMainWidget() call.  Construction of the main widget is fine -- I\'ve stepped through it and confirmed that there are no null pointers.  I can\'t step into showMainWidget(), however.

The GB is contained in a tab page, which is contained in the main widget.  The GB contains several read-only labels arranged in a grid pattern.  The labels are nested properly (as shown by QTDesigner).  The main widget uses a vert layout, as does the tab, and the GB uses a grid.  I\'ve also tried (in desperation) putting the labels in a grid layout of their own and giving the GB a horz layout (no dice).

Any ideas?

~ray

8

General Discussion / stalled file uploads

« on: March 24, 2004, 09:55:37 pm »

Hi,

I\'ve been having a problem with my Z when uploading files to it (i.e. transferring from PC to Z) over a USB network connection.  It\'ll get part way through the transfer and then stall out.  The point at which it stalls out is different everytime.  It occurs no matter which transfer method I\'m using (ftp, sftp, scp) and it has occurred while transferring from both Windoze XP and from Linux.  When it stalls out, the Z no longer responds to any network traffic at all, until I disconnect it from the PC and then reconnect it.  It seems to happen mainly with very large files.  It doesn\'t happen over a WLAN connection and it doesn\'t happen when downloading files (i.e. from Z to PC).

Based on all of this, it sounds to me like the problem is somewhere in the Z\'s usb networking sub-system.  I have no idea where to start looking for the problem though.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?  Anyone have any idea how to fix it?

Thanks for listening...

~ray

9

Sharp ROMs / screen tap sound file

« on: March 21, 2004, 01:22:45 pm »

Does anyone know if the sound that is heard when the screen is tapped is stored somewhere in the file system?  I have looked for WAV files, etc., but I can\'t find that sound.  I\'ve also checked in places like qpe.conf but can\'t find a setting for this.

I\'m about to give my 5500 to my wife (since I now have a c860) and she really likes the screen tap sound on the c860.  It\'s only a small thing, really, but I\'d like to surprise her by installing the same sound on the 5500.

Thanks!

~ray

10

Cxx0 General discussions / New file uploaded: Opera 7.30 fixes for C-series Zaurii

« on: March 10, 2004, 11:44:51 pm »

I just uploaded a new package to the ZUG downloads area: opera-cseries-fix_7.30_arm.ipk

This package modifies an existing installation of Opera 7.30 and creates the following improvements:

        - creates missing symlink in /usr/share
        - replaces Opera toolbar icons with larger versions
        - replaces Opera desktop icon with prettier version

Most of you have probably already done most of this manually.  This package is just for convenience, especially if you have to reload your Z, and it will also help some n00bs, I suspect.

I uploaded it to Packages/Applications; should be available for d/l soon.

Let me know if anyone has any trouble with this.

~ray

11

General Discussion / USB networking: C860 <-> RH9

« on: March 05, 2004, 03:53:21 pm »

Hi,

I\'ve been trying to get my TCP/IP over USB working from my C860 to Red Hat 9. I\'ve read many HOWTO\'s, etc., but I\'m confused about how to proceed from here.

Many of the HOWTO\'s talk about patching the kernel but I\'m not sure that really applies to RH9. RH9 comes configured for the Zaurus (5500 and A300, at least) right out of the box. All I had to do to get my 5500 working was to create an ifcfg-usb0 file and blacklist CDCEther.

I\'ve briefly looked at the source code for usbnet.c and I can see where it has specific device configs for the 5500 and the A300. I also saw a comment indicating that the A300 entry should work for the 5600 and the C700 series. This seems to imply that there\'s some way to configure RH9 to use these device configs for the C860. But I haven\'t been able to discover how to do this. Is there some way to externally annotate this table or map a new device to these entries (i.e. such as is possible with pcmcia hotplugging)?

It looks like I could easily modify usbnet.c myself to support the C860 just by duplicating the A300 tables and renaming them (and changing the device ID). But I\'d rather not do this if I don\'t have to. Is there a way?

Thanks in advance for your help!

~ray

12

Cxx0 General discussions / Help with setting up USB networking with C860 & RH9

« on: February 29, 2004, 01:16:23 pm »

Hi,

I\'ve been trying to get my TCP/IP over USB working from my C860 to Red Hat 9.  I\'ve read many HOWTO\'s, etc., but I\'m confused about how to proceed from here.

Many of the HOWTO\'s talk about patching the kernel but I\'m not sure that really applies to RH9.  RH9 comes configured for the Zaurus (5500 and A300, at least) right out of the box.  All I had to do to get my 5500 working was to create an ifcfg-usb0 file and blacklist CDCEther.

I\'ve briefly looked at the source code for usbnet.c and I can see where it has specific device configs for the 5500 and the A300.  I also saw a comment indicating that the A300 entry should work for the 5600 and the C700 series.  This seems to imply that there\'s some way to configure RH9 to use these device configs for the C860.  But I haven\'t been able to discover how to do this.  Is there some way to externally annotate this table or map a new device to these entries (i.e. such as is possible with pcmcia hotplugging)?

It looks like I could easily modify usbnet.c myself to support the C860 just by duplicating the A300 tables and renaming them (and changing the device ID).  But I\'d rather not do this if I don\'t have to.  Is there a way?

Thanks in advance for your help!

~ray

13

Cxx0 General discussions / Resolution to ftp & telnet problems with tkcROM 2.5.1

« on: February 25, 2004, 10:43:52 pm »

Some of you may have noticed (in another thread) that I was having some trouble getting ftp and telnet to work with tkcROM 2.5.1 on my c860.  Well, I just found a solution to the ftp problem and perhaps an explanation for the telnet problem.

First, ftp: I couldn\'t login at all.  The server insisted on having a password, even though I have none set.  Some folks suggested setting a password, but I preferred not to have one and never got around to trying it.

I was snooping around earlier looking at some ipkg stuff when I noticed there is a set of ipkg info files in /usr/lib/ipkg/info for the troll-ftpd server; yet, I never installed it.  It turns out that proto must have pre-installed it.  BUT, it\'s not installed correctly: inetd.conf is NOT updated to execute it!  Instead, inetd is executing /usr/sbin/in.ftpd.  I *think* that is the wu-ftp server, which is consistent with the existence of /etc/ftpaccess and friends.

So, I decided to modify inetd.conf to run troll-ftpd instead.  This worked like a charm!  I can now login to ftp as either root or zaurus with no password.

For those who need to know how to do this: load /etc/inetd.conf in your favorite text editor and find the line that looks like this:

ftp stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/in.ftpd -l -a

and change it to:

ftp stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/ftpd

You can then either restart inetd or reboot.

Remember that this exact procedure will work only on tkcROM 2.5.1.


As for telnet, the problem I\'ve been having is that I cannot execute su when I login as zaurus (the error is \"su: BusyBox binary has insufficient rights to set proper UID for applet!\").  I CAN, however, login as root.  This is workable I suppose, but a little inconvenient.

I was always able to become root on my 5500 (with tkcROM 1.x) with no trouble at all.  After comparing the two systems, I suspect the problem is that the group ID of \"/bin/busybox\" is set to \"users\" instead of \"root\" (as it is on my 5500).  I\'ve noticed that many of the system binaries are set this way.  I\'m wondering if proto did this on purpose for security?  I\'m not sure I like it, in any case.

I\'m not quite sure how this works though: su is not in busybox, it\'s in tinylogin (which has the same permissions as busybox).  So, I tried copying tinylogin to my home dir and giving it the proper permissions, etc., and I run it as such: \"./tinylogin su\".  But I still get the busybox error!

Likewise, the telnet server that\'s running is /usr/sbin/in.telnetd, and it also has a GUID of users.  So I tried copying it to my home dir and setting it\'s GUID, etc., and then changing inetd.conf to run the copy instead, but I still get the same busybox error.

I\'m not sure how busybox actually figures into this.  Is tinylogin running busybox for some reason?

I guess the answer to this is probably obvious to someone out there, but I\'m not enough of a linux expert yet to see it myself.

But at least I\'ve got ftp working again!

~ray

14

Cxx0 Hardware / CF ethernet card on c860/tkcROM 2.5.1

« on: February 24, 2004, 02:53:03 pm »

I\'m wondering if anyone might have an idea what\'s wrong:

I have a Hawking Technology CF ethernet card.  It worked perfectly in my 5500 with tkcROM but I can\'t get it to connect on my c860 using tkcROM 2.5.1 (Sash Kernel).

The card is recognized correctly (\"Unknown NE2000 Compatible Ethernet\"; pcnet_cs; net/8390) and the network applet pops up.  I can tell it to connect, etc., but the card seems to never turn on (no lights).

I\'ve compared the environment to that on my 5500 and everything seems identical, as for the card ID and the /etc/pcmcia/config entry that it matches, etc.  I can put the card back into my 5500 and it still works fine (so it\'s not the card).

I\'m not sure where the pcnet_cs module comes from (is it built into the kernel?) so I can\'t compare the modules.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

~ray

15

Software / Kino2 mirror?

« on: February 22, 2004, 11:45:27 pm »

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can find a copy of kino2?

The cacko guys don\'t have it on their website any more and a comment from them seems to suggest they don\'t plan to host any of the Qt-based apps on their new site.

I haven\'t been able to find it anywhere else.

If the cacko guys aren\'t going to host this stuff anymore, maybe we should archive it on the zug?

~ray