Sl6000l Completely Overwhelmed

[mmoriss48]

This brand new SL6000L has me overwhelmed with questions.

Instead of listing all the questions I have, I'll start with one or two:

1. Can I turn on the unit while it is in the docking station?

    I would like to get some of the software that is on the CD-ROM
    onto the unit (I think), but I find no instructions for doing so with
    a PC running Linux.  This has me completely lost.  I have no MS Windows
    machine available to try to get the software copied.

    I have already entered the parameters for WiFi, but all I can get
    from the unit is "The signal level is low.", so I have not been able
    to connect to my home LAN.  Hence the idea to try the USB connection
    using the docking station.

2.  Do I have to wait for the charging light to go out before turning on the unit?

     Since I have found no instructions for how to operate the unit while it is
     docked, I'm afraid I will damage it.  Another factor in hesitating to turn
     the unit on while it is docked is: the keyboard is not usable while docked.
     This makes me think that the unit is not to be used while docked, which is
      just NUTS!

This is my first hand-held computer.  The goal is to use it while watching TV
for looking up information about TV shows, movies, sports scores, etc.
I made the decision to buy the SL6000L after finding out that the the MythBrowser
plugin for MythTV doesn't work for me.  Besides, I like the idea of a small device
sitting at my finger tips which can be used to quickly look up information without
disturbing the program playing on the TV.

Thanks for any help you might have that will get me started.

--
MM

[adf]

I don't think I've ever used my docking station....


I do use my 6k while being a couch potatato, though

My solution has been to crank up the transmitting power on my wrt54g to get more wireless range for my Z using a third party rom for the router.  I do use the power cable to keep the Z charged while surfing from the couch, though.  If you really want to connect your z to a computer there ia also (on ebay right now) a cable that has a 2 usb and a power connector so that you can connect your x to your computers usb and get power and data (the gadget was made for psp, I think). I haven't tried it, but it loooks cool, and would let you use yout keyboard.

Your cd can be read by your linux box... I don't use windows much, either.
Your best bet for moving software --- I bet you'd really like a console on your z, fior example? is to use a card reader and copy the ipks you want from the cd to a flash card and install from there.  OR you can simply download the doftware from elsix (often beter software) or killefiz or a bunch of other places and install it with your gui package manager.

[mmoriss48]

I don't think I've ever used my docking station....


I do use my 6k while being a couch potatato, though

My solution has been to crank up the transmitting power on my wrt54g to get more wireless range for my Z using a third party rom for the router.  I do use the power cable to keep the Z charged while surfing from the couch, though.  If you really want to connect your z to a computer there ia also (on ebay right now) a cable that has a 2 usb and a power connector so that you can connect your x to your computers usb and get power and data (the gadget was made for psp, I think). I haven't tried it, but it loooks cool, and would let you use yout keyboard.

Your cd can be read by your linux box... I don't use windows much, either.
Your best bet for moving software --- I bet you'd really like a console on your z, fior example? is to use a card reader and copy the ipks you want from the cd to a flash card and install from there.  OR you can simply download the doftware from elsix (often beter software) or killefiz or a bunch of other places and install it with your gui package manager.
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Thanks for your reply.  Yes, I really would like the console application, to see if I can
figure out why I can't get the WiFi to work.

I am so new to hand-held computers that I didn't understand very much of the rest of
your reply.  But I do thank you for taking the time to write.  It's just that I have no idea
whatsoever of how to communicate between my PCs (all Linux machines on the LAN) and
the Zaurus.

When the charging light finally went out, I turned on the Zaurus.  The Linux PC that
had the USB cable plugged into it recognized an event.  The log message showed that
a new driver had been registered, "usbnet".  But that was all that happened.  I have no
clue how to get the two machines to do more than that - one waking up the other.

Is there a Tutorial or a Howto for getting a Linux PC to talk to the Zaurus?  That seems
to be what I need to make any progress.  What is the "card reader" you refer to?  In the
context where you use the term, it seems like there must be a device that connects to
a PC, onto which I could copy some programs.  Then I would connect that device to the
Zaurus and copy the programs from the device onto the Zaurus.  Sounds like that might
work.  Also, I'm wondering what the "gui package manager" is.  Is that the Add/Remove
Software feature in Zaurus' Settings?

But if I never get the WiFi to work, the Zaurus will be pretty much useless (to me).
I have tried changing many of the parameters on the WiFi Access Point, no luck.
And, as far as power goes, I tried everything several times while holding the Zaurus
up against the Wireless Router.  The best I ever saw the Zaurus report was (briefly) 51%
signal strength and 0 quality.  The Wireless Router's blinking light never showed a sign
that there was any WiFi activity.  Which means my worst fear might come true -- the
Zaurus WiFi card/chip/module might be defective.  I see there are CompactFlash WiFi
cards, so that may be a way to save the Zaurus from gathering dust in the TV room.
Newegg.com had a WCF12 card in the $35-range.

Thanks once again for your answers.

--
MM

[adf]

yes, add/remove software is the package manager.

Are you using wep?  That might be the connection problem-- the z can do wep, but I imagine it might hinder your initial setup, if you already aren't sure what's going on.

ther are how-to's here:
zug

[bluedevils]

1. Yes the Z can be operated while docked.

2. Try connecting to the Z without any wep and with static IP/dns/gateway defined to the access point (no wep)

[mmoriss48]

1. Yes the Z can be operated while docked.

2. Try connecting to the Z without any wep and with static IP/dns/gateway defined to the access point (no wep)
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Thank you (and "adf" too) for your latest replies.

I am reluctant to make a change to the Wireless Access Point in my house,
at least for the foreseeable future.  Two systems rely on the access point for
proper operation (MythTV recorders), and when I entered the keys for WEP,
I had a lot of trouble typing in the 26th character.  It's been long enough that
I can't remember exactly how I got that last character accepted.

All of the IP/DNS/Gateway addresses are static.  I don't use DHCP on the LAN.

I might take the Zaurus to the Public Library, which claims to have a public
access point, and see if I have better luck there.

USB ?

Is there an alternative way to communicate between a PC (running Linux) and
the Zaurus, say by using the USB cable?  It seems strange that the unit comes
with a USB cable, yet I am not able to make any headway other than getting
the Zaurus to "wake-up" the PC?

Second wireless LAN card ?

Another choice might be to try a CompactFlash WiFi card, or would you
recommend against that.  The OperationsManual (P. 181) says that an
attached wireless LAN card will be used instead of the internal LAN module.

Eventually, if I can't establish communication between the Internet and the Zaurus,
I may advertize for help, offering to build a MythTV system for someone who has
successfully gotten their Zaurus to access the Internet.

Whatever the outcome, I thank both "bluedevels" and "adf" for your advice.

--
MM

[kmeaw]

If you are using stock ROM (and it seems so ), then switch (in Settings tab) your USB networking into "Advanced TCP/IP networking". On your desktop you need to load usbnet module. When Zaurus is on and is on a docking station, connected to your desktop, Linux will start up a USB network interface. You need to set up IP numbers from the same subnet. For example, use 192.168.215.1 on desktop and 192.168.215.2 on Zaurus.
To set up networking on desktop, type the following command into root terminal:
ifconfig usb0 192.168.215.1

Then test your networking by pinging Zaurus:
ping 192.168.215.2

Then you can exchange data using SAMBA protocol. Try running up konqueror at smb://192.168.215.2

Hope that helps!

[kmeaw]

To connect your Zaurus to the Internet, either install a proxy server (squid), or set up masquerading:
sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s 192.168.215.2 -j MASQUERADE
and change your Zaurus routing table:
route add default 192.168.215.1

[mmoriss48]

If you are using stock ROM (and it seems so ), then switch (in Settings tab) your USB networking into "Advanced TCP/IP networking". On your desktop you need to load usbnet module. When Zaurus is on and is on a docking station, connected to your desktop, Linux will start up a USB network interface. You need to set up IP numbers from the same subnet. For example, use 192.168.215.1 on desktop and 192.168.215.2 on Zaurus.
To set up networking on desktop, type the following command into root terminal:
ifconfig usb0 192.168.215.1

Then test your networking by pinging Zaurus:
ping 192.168.215.2

Then you can exchange data using SAMBA protocol. Try running up konqueror at smb://192.168.215.2

Hope that helps!
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Yes!!  That helps, thank you.  After searching all day, I was finally able to get
connected to the Zaurus SL6000L thru the USB cable.  What it took was exactly
what you posted (above).  I have yet to try the Konqueror step that you included.

Before today, I had failed to find that the interface, "usb0" was actually created
when I plugged in the USB cable - so dumb of me to forget the "-a" on the ifconfig
command.  Just so stupid.  Anyway, I was able to ping the Zaurus, after issuing

ifconfig usb0 192.168.129.201 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

and then making it permanent on my Fedora Core 3 system by creating the file

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-usb0

But, ping is as far as I'm able to go !!  No SSH.  No TELNET.  Nothing other than ping.
I even rebooted the Zaurus.  It didn't help.

I used nmapfe to find that there are only two open ports, 111 and 139.

Tried Konqueror/SAMBA

Now, thanks to your note about SAMBA, I can actually see the /home directory.
But after that, I am lost.  Exchanging data using SAMBA protocol is possible?
How?  Where can I go to read about how to do that?  All the directories inside
the  /home  directory, "/Main_Memory", and others, are all empty.

By the way, I also understand your second note about iptables.  As a long-time
user of VMware, I have set up routing between several physical machines and a
few more virtual machines.  

Thanks again for all the ideas and help you put in your note.

One more thought, different subject (kind of).  I was going to buy a CompactFlash
WiFi card, since the built-in WiFi seems to be defective.  But in all the searching today,
I came across two guys who actually returned SL-6000L's to Sharp for replacements.
So, I may decide to call Sharp and see if they can confirm that this particular unit's
WiFi doesn't work.  If the WiFi had worked out-of-the-box, it would probably have been
a long time, if ever, that I would have looked into the USB connection.

--
MM

[kmeaw]

If you want to have a better data exchange between Linux host and Zaurus, try using the following programs:

QPE-Terminal:
http://www.myzaurus.com/downloads/qpe-term...1.5.0-2_arm.ipk
It gives you a basic shell environment. Using it, you can do everything you want with a handheld GNU/Linux system. To gain root priviliges, type su (no password by default)

SSH (client and server):
http://kmeaw.com/tmp/ (see openssh-*.ipk files)
I think you understand what it is

Most of Zaurus software is in IPK (Itsy-packaging, a Debian-like packaing system) format. To install software, copy in into Main_memory via SAMBA. Then find file you just copyed in Documents tab (on Zaurus) and tap it. Software installation dialog will appear. Install software into main memory and click OK.
Note: sometimes software needs to restart Zaurus to operate correctly

[mmoriss48]

If you want to have a better data exchange between Linux host and Zaurus, try using the following programs:

QPE-Terminal:
http://www.myzaurus.com/downloads/qpe-term...1.5.0-2_arm.ipk
It gives you a basic shell environment. Using it, you can do everything you want with a handheld GNU/Linux system. To gain root priviliges, type su (no password by default)

SSH (client and server):
http://kmeaw.com/tmp/ (see openssh-*.ipk files)
I think you understand what it is

Most of Zaurus software is in IPK (Itsy-packaging, a Debian-like packaing system) format. To install software, copy in into Main_memory via SAMBA. Then find file you just copyed in Documents tab (on Zaurus) and tap it. Software installation dialog will appear. Install software into main memory and click OK.
Note: sometimes software needs to restart Zaurus to operate correctly
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I think I get it.... FINALLY.  Using Konqueror and the smb:// protocol, I can copy
files from the Linux PC onto the Zaurus, into the "Install_Files" directory.  I've
been experimenting with Drag 'n Drop feature of Konqueror and it seems to work.

Above, you wrote that the package(s) should be copied into Main_Memory.
But the Start-up Guide specifies the Install_Files folder.  I'll try the Install_Files
folder first, starting with the qpe-terminal-vga package on the CD-ROM.

If that succeeds, then I'll try the openssh-*.ipk files that you linked to, above.

Thank you SO much for continuing to help me get started with the Zaurus.

--
MM

[mmoriss48]

Well, Konqueror and smb:// worked great !  The qpe-terminal-vga package installed
smoothly and I was able to use it to look at the WiFi connection.  From that short look
using the iwconfig command, and from all the posts that describe the WiFi modules
failures, I have decided to call Sharp and ask for help.

None of the posts about getting help from Sharp has anything bad to say about the
support - in fact it was the opposite.  Sharp seems to be quite helpful.  I will finish
reading and trying all the troubleshooting steps, as well as some of the things that
others had tried, before I call Sharp.    As an example, one user found that if he first
connected to the Access Point with a separate computer, then the SL-6000L would
connect and stay connected.  Without the first connnection, the Zaurus soon dropped
its connection.

Thanks to all who answered my posts - everything you posted helped me get over
being completely lost with my first handheld computer.

--
MM