Messages

31

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Pdaxrom Contrib Feed Problem

« on: June 01, 2006, 10:55:00 am »

This feed has some sort of problem:
http://mail.pdaxrom.org/contrib/desertrat/

First of all, it has all of the packages listed twice.

More importantly, though, for some reason, package manager cannot download any packages when you try to install them from the feed. Specifically I tried to install gaim and it said it could not find the file. I was able to download it and install it manually though.

Other feeds on the contrib site seem to work, so it appears to be limitted to desertrat.

Thanks.

32

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Pdaxrom Vs Oz & Gpe

« on: June 01, 2006, 09:29:58 am »

This was the pdaX vs. OZ w/ GPE thread, right?

I hear a lot of "this is faster than that" and "this is more standards compliant than that" talk from the OZ/pdaX battle, but what really matters to most of us is perceived usability. Microsoft relies on that you know, their software may be inefficient, slow and buggy, but most people perceive that that they can get what they want done with it. Obviously we all know better, but the same does apply here. Unless the speed gains are HUGE, and they rarely are, few will switch "ROMs" unless there is a perceived usability benefit.

So, from the standpoint of perceived usability, what does OZ w/ GPE have to offer? I tried the latest OZ/GPE this week, and was kind of unimpressed. Probably some more documentation (which pdaX also needs) and a greater desire to learn would have helped, but I was longing for pdaX.

What does GPE offer to the user that pdaX does not? Is there something fundamental that I am missing?

(On a side note, where can I find doc's for GPE, as in, the keyboard layout (just where IS the ALT key) and window managment (how DO I resize windows)?)

33

General Discussion / Synchronizing Directories With Windows?

« on: May 12, 2006, 02:43:39 pm »

Synchronizing a half-full 2GB SD card via Samba (i.e using Unison remotely and letting Samba handle the Zaurus access) is really too slow!
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=126373\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Yeah, I also find Samba to be dreadfully slow on the Zaurus. Not sure why.

34

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Bluetooth For Dummies?

« on: May 12, 2006, 02:33:59 pm »

Here is how I got mine working, has worked for a long time on many versions of pdaXrom:

https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15397&hl=

35

Zaurus - pdaXrom / A Big Problem... (deleted)

« on: May 09, 2006, 05:30:18 pm »

Here is my thought on all of this. Am I crazy???

If someone REALLY thinks that pdaXrom should be moved over to the OE system, then it seems to me, since all of the source is there in the open, they should just start doing it. I mean, why not one more splinter? Take pdaXrom, port it to OE, make it work, prove to all of us that it works better, and if it really does do everything we want, then we'll come over to your camp.

Personally, I don't want to see Sash stop his current direction. He is pushing toward a production release a of a system that a lot of us can (and already do) make daily use of on a PDA that is starting to show its age. (Mine is anyway. )

Sash does not want to use OE, and there really is no reason to push him to. pdaXrom has this problem you see. It works for us. It does what we want it to. So we really do not want it to change. We don't want to slow down on the development process in order to make infrastructure changes either. Honestly, in five years, most of us will have a new PDA, so delaying development of our working platform for infrastructure changes is not very appealing when what we have works so well for us.

As for OE. I think Mickey's goal is to have a system that we can be using on our new PDA's in five years too. I just wish that some of the OE guys could sit back and let that be their vindication, rather poking at us pdaXrom users now.

(NOTE: "works for us" == "works for us", not "is better" and not "yours does not work", just "works for us")

(NOTE2: I am not implying that pdaXrom has no future, just that most of the pdaXrom USERS are focused on the present. This can be seen by the fact that so many of us flash the latest RC or BETA as soon as it arrives and then proceed to use it daily in production.)

36

Zaurus - pdaXrom / A Big Problem... (deleted)

« on: May 09, 2006, 05:07:15 pm »

...but I'd gladly give up chosing between 10 crappy things when I could just take the one really cool thing out there.

What is crap and what is cool? Who willl judge?
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Good point. I do not think Sash was being nasty here guys! He was just making the point that that is part of the problem.

Mickeyl would rather have 1 nice IMAP client, than 10 crappy ones, but Sash was pointing out that the problem is that everyone has a different idea of what the 1 non-crappy IMAP client is.

It is a problem. It isn't anybody's fault, it is just the way things are.

Remember, be nice, and give everyone the benefit of the doubt here. Text is a poor way to communicate, especially when we are from different countries and don't all use English in the same way.

37

General Discussion / Synchronizing Directories With Windows?

« on: May 09, 2006, 04:22:24 pm »

2. The "Synchronize it!" solution suggested by clofland seems to work fine, but there is one thing I don't like. Does unison handle it in a better way?:
If I delete a file on one of the two replicas, the synchronizing process marks it as "new" for the place where I deleted it, so the first suggestion is to duplicate it.
I'd prefer it to be deleted on the other side by default (as there is usually a reason why I delete a file <g>). How does Unison handle this situation?

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Play with the settings. Try a "backup" sync and see if you like the way it looks. It has a lot of options, and I've always been able to make it do what I want. The main thing I like about Synchronize It! is that it gives me such a nice colorful graphic display of what it is about to do before it does it. I've made a real mess with syncing before. Whether the default is to DELETE non-existent files or to ADD them to the other side, either way, I like making the final decision. There are also command line options for SyncIt. I have my sync between my laptop and Z scripted. It does it all automatically right up to the point where it is done comparing and ready to sync. Then I get to push the bottom myself after I've reviewed it.

Web drive can use FTP, WebDAV or SFTP (SSH). I found that Samba with my Z was A: SLOW; B: Syncing via Samba between an NTFS and an EXT2 drive REALLY messed up things on my Zaurus.  Webdrive seems to handle it better. and C: I use it over the Internet too for other things. (I am VERY GLAD to be able to use it to Sync to my Z, but I don't know if I would have bought Webdrive ONLY for that purpose. It sure works though.) I also use Webdrive and Synchroize It! to sync my files up to a folder on a web server where I can then grab them from any computer in the world on the Internet. I'm kind of a fanatic about having access to my files everywhere. I also consider it a good backup scheme to have my files replicated to several places.

In short, I would choose Samba over Webdrive due to price IF it worked for me. So if you can make Samba do what you want, GREAT!

All that said, I would be interested to see if the Unison program works for you. I am always interested in more open solutions. If you get something going that you like, post a copy of your command line. (Unless it is all GUI.)

38

Zaurus - pdaXrom / A Big Problem... (deleted)

« on: May 04, 2006, 05:31:09 pm »

Agreed. Getting along is VERY important in development.

Remember, it takes two to fight.

Usually the best way to end a fight is to just admit your oponent "has a point" and move on and try to work together.

39

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Xfce Default For Pdaxrom

« on: May 04, 2006, 05:15:54 pm »

these days I'm having some problems with current pdaxromreleases (sounds like everyone is giving everything for CXX00 models, while my poor C860 has been left alone with new arising bugs  )

tomorrow I'll reflash with beta1 (seems stabler than beta2), and I'll be here for testing

Really? I run Beta2 and it works great.

Personally, I kind of expect development to lean toward the newer Z's. After all, how much word do we hear about the 5500 here? I'm just glad my 760 (same as 860) isn't left in the dust completely!

Also, it doesn't really hurt to let those cxx00 users find the bugs first before the ROM is released to the rest of us.

I think the 860 is pretty well supported. I've had no complaintes.

40

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Has Anyone Bought This Book?

« on: May 04, 2006, 04:36:32 pm »

Wow, that is amazing. We take a Japaneses PDA, convert it to English and then Sash writes an almost entirely new OS for it in English and then the Japanese want to port that OS back to Japanese. Crazy!

pdaXrom is bigger than I thought it was.

Sharp should just hire Sashz!

41

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Pdaxrom 1.1.0beta3 For C1000/c3100/c3200 And X86

« on: May 04, 2006, 04:17:35 pm »

Sorry Farkas, I didn't know you were new to pdaXrom. It is a little confusing when it just dumps you to a login and command prompt if you are used to an OS that starts the GUI by default or a PDA.

Fortunatley, this is documented. If you go to http://www.pdaxrom.org/ and click on "Documentation" it explains logging in and running "startx" to get X Windows started.

Most of us here are long time Unix geeks, and so we forget to explain the basics. Sorry.

Glad to a see a Linux newbie tackling a Linux PDA!

42

General Discussion / Synchronizing Directories With Windows?

« on: May 04, 2006, 03:24:53 pm »

I use a program called webdrive. What webdrive ( http://www.webdrive.com/ ) can do is connect to a host via SSH, FTP, or WebDAV and present it to Windows as a hard drive. It is not free, or even cheap, but I find it invaluable. I use it for many things, including using it daily to edit files on my Zaurus from Windows. I also synchronize files between my Windows box and my Zaurus using webdrive along with a program called Synchronize It! ( http://www.grigsoft.com/winsin.htm ) which I registered years and years ago and still use daily (along with its companion program Compare It!).

Just thoughts.

43

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Xfce Default For Pdaxrom

« on: May 04, 2006, 09:44:50 am »

Personally, I just use Matchbox because that is what comes on the ROM, but the main reason is because the new ROM's come out so often I keep reflashing. If I had a year to stay with one ROM, I would probably take the time to test and migrate to a new WM.

REASON: It is just too difficult to get a new WM up and running. So many quirks. I imagine I would have to dig through about 5 to 10 forum topics and read them top to bottom, then install a half-dozen packages, and then spend most of a day fiddling with scripts and settings and such.

ANSWER: Instead of asking for "multiple ROMs" or changing the "default" why not just make a VERY GOOD IPK for each WM? If someone made a one click install (ie. an IPK with proper dependencie set up in a feed) for a desktop envirnoment, I would try it.

I realize that the big problem with developing good IPK's is 1. No one tests them more than once, and 2. They tend to break with each new ROM. I find that even when I report a bug in an install to the forums, I just get, "Oh, just go edit this script, or change this setting and it works fine," but no one will bother to fix the IPK. Very annoying at the next reflash, and very annoying for newbies.

If someone has a one-click install for one of these lovely WMs, I'd be happy to test it for them. I'll even test it more than once!
Just be sure to list any known issues. I'll be very annoyed if I loose my battery meter, cannot rotate, or find that suspend/resume becomes flakey.

44

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Pdaxrom 1.1.0beta3 For C1000/c3100/c3200 And X86

« on: May 02, 2006, 09:02:10 am »

Since this is my first time flashing my Zaurus, which I received only 2 days ago lol, I got everything flashed fine but after rebooting and booting up Pdaxrom for the first time it gave me the wong magic error.  Using a C3200 btw.
cramfs: wrong magic
FAT: bogus logical sector size 381

Relatively new to Linux so I have no idea on how to fix this, even after searching the forums.  Hope a fix comes along soon.  Keep up the good work though!
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Does that error stop it from booting? It is a normal error. Linux is "testing" to see what filesystem is on the Z. It tries different settings until it finds one that works. That is my understanding anyway.

Do a search for the error on the forum and you'll find several references to it.

If this is stopping your Z from booting, then it is probably something after that point that is stopping it.

45

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Maxima For Pdaxrom

« on: April 18, 2006, 04:14:46 pm »

Do a search on the forums.

Here is the version I used:
https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=10065&hl=

If I remember right, it has no GUI, it is just command line based, and so it should work on either SharpROM based ROM's or pdaXrom.

I could be full of it though, it has been a while.