Some Newbie Questions, Oz 3.5.2

[californicator]

Hi all,

I have surfed, googled and read a lot about open zaurus and opie in
the last days, but many things are still not really clear to me.

I would be thankful for some answers on the following questions.

I have a sl5500 with oz 3.5.2. Bought it used and oz and opie are already
installed. The device has never been really used so I see no point in
reinstalling. Also, I never installed linux, but am very familiar with
using linux.

- opie wall paper shows 1.2 but sysinfo shows version 1.1.7
   does this make sense?

- when I use the ipk search engine I find opie applications only for
   opie 1.2, I think. Can I install these applications under 1.1.7, or
   do I first have to update opie to 1.2? If so, how?

- given the problems I read about suspend under oz 3.5.3 I decided
  not to upgrade. Or have these been fixed?

- under the memory tab, I am told that I have 30 MB. I thought
  that I should have 64 MB?

- in the system info tab, the tab memory shows me that I have 8MB free,
  without much software installed. Is this normal?
  Again I would have expected more ... Any suggestions on where
  to check if I can free memory?

- what is the difference between memory and storage?
  Under storage, I get internal storage with about 14 MB (all used)
  and internal memory (15 MB, all available)

- my start menu has an entry called terminal. When I started it,
  I get a linux login prompt. However, I do not know login name
   or password. Are there generally used standards? Also, I do not
   know how to return to the GUI ...

- is there any offic program/suite for opie that allows me to read/edit
   word or ooffice text docs, spreadsheets, and presentations?

- finally, is it possible to run wireless using WPA? I played around
   but never got an IP address from my router while wpa was on.

Now, maybe the last question would be: is there a comprehensive
documentation that covers issues like these for newcomers?

Thanks very very much for any input on this. Much appreciated!

Christian

[lardman]

- when I use the ipk search engine I find opie applications only for
opie 1.2, I think. Can I install these applications under 1.1.7, or
do I first have to update opie to 1.2? If so, how?

You will probably be able to install them, equally, someone may have a 3.5.2 feed lying about (coredump?).

To upgrade:
instructions - http://openzaurus.org/wordpress/installation/sl-50005500/
files - http://www.openzaurus.org/official/unstabl.../sl5000,sl5500/

- under the memory tab, I am told that I have 30 MB. I thought
that I should have 64 MB?

Do you also have a RAM-disk? The 5500 can have its memory split (see the installation instructions above). To get the full 64Mb you'll have to flash a different kernel (make sure the version matches the root fs though otherwise you will probably have troubles).

- in the system info tab, the tab memory shows me that I have 8MB free,
without much software installed. Is this normal?
Again I would have expected more ... Any suggestions on where
to check if I can free memory?

You say you've used Linux before - is this the total free memory = free + cached?

- my start menu has an entry called terminal. When I started it,
I get a linux login prompt. However, I do not know login name
or password. Are there generally used standards? Also, I do not
know how to return to the GUI ...

Does it go full screen, can you not click on the 'taskbar'? It may be have moved to a differnet vt, there is a way to get back to opie but I can't remember what it is (tried 'exit' ?).

Standard user is 'root', normally with no password. In any case Opie runs as root so you can edit passwd to remove the password if there's one set.

Now, maybe the last question would be: is there a comprehensive
documentation that covers issues like these for newcomers?

We're attempting to create just such documentation. Look at openzaurus.org, if you have any suggestions for things to add go right ahead (you'll have to register to be allowed to edit it), or add it to something like the pinned docs thread in the Openzaurus part of this forum.

Welcome to the club,


Si

[californicator]

- under the memory tab, I am told that I have 30 MB. I thought
that I should have 64 MB?

Do you also have a RAM-disk? The 5500 can have its memory split (see the installation instructions above). To get the full 64Mb you'll have to flash a different kernel (make sure the version matches the root fs though otherwise you will probably have troubles).

OK; now I understand the meaning of the numbers in the different kernel
files. Learned something, thanks.

- in the system info tab, the tab memory shows me that I have 8MB free,
without much software installed. Is this normal?
Again I would have expected more ... Any suggestions on where
to check if I can free memory?

You say you've used Linux before - is this the total free memory = free + cached?

It is indeed only the free memory; cached is another 12mb.
And x + y indeed adds up to 64 mb.

Do you know why there is, within storage, another distinction between
a) internal storage /dev/root and b internal memory?

are applications installed into the memory part, and where to applications
like calendar store their data?

- my start menu has an entry called terminal. When I started it,
I get a linux login prompt. However, I do not know login name
or password. Are there generally used standards? Also, I do not
know how to return to the GUI ...

Does it go full screen, can you not click on the 'taskbar'? It may be have moved to a differnet vt, there is a way to get back to opie but I can't remember what it is (tried 'exit' ?).

OK, it went full screen and now I understood that I did something comparable
to alt+cctrk+F2 under regular linux. I changed the terminal. I found
the opie terminal under applications.

Welcome to the club,

Thanks! I really like the zaurus! And thanks also for your very
helpful comments!

Christian

[lardman]

Do you know why there is, within storage, another distinction between
a) internal storage /dev/root and b internal memory?

Because you have a RAM-disk probably. Even if you don't have a RAM-disk, there is always a tmpfs which appears on the memory info screen (this is where /var is mounted).

are applications installed into the memory part, and where to applications
like calendar store their data?

Applications can be installed wherever you want them to be. The ones which come with the unit are installed to the built in falsh memory.

I'd guess that /home is still on the flash memory, so the calendar, etc. will be saved there. Look at the output of mount and see where they are mounted.


Si