Author Topic: Openbsd And Linux - Using Your Zaurus  (Read 5749 times)

elessar

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Openbsd And Linux - Using Your Zaurus
« on: September 22, 2005, 04:59:59 pm »
I have a Zaurus 3000 and after investigating the different options I decided to go with OpenBSD. I like trying new Operating Systems and learning new things and I like reading good documentation. I have had a lot of good experience with FreeBSD in this way.

Installing OpenBSD allows you to easily dual boot between Linux and OpenBSD. When you see the boot> console I either just press <enter> or <r + enter> depending on which one I need.

I installed OpenBSD 3.7 and came across the following problems. I have been lurking around the forums for a few days now looking to see if anyone else has had these problems and I thought it strange that I would be the only one. To be thorough I am including the problems I had which I have already read about here in the OpenBSD forum (namely 1 and 4).

1.) The install document, while accurate, takes a few reads to get through. I think it would be no problem for someone well versed in OpenBSD, but for me I had the impression it was a doc copied from the generic instruction with some info added about the Zaurus. I plan to write my own install doc at some point, and will post it here when I do. Anyway, installing was no problem.

2.) During the install process and every time I boot, the console is stuck in vertical mode. This is not only annoying by a bit of a pain in the neck (literally). I am a fan of the console, especially when I want to read man pages and administer my system properly after setting things up.

3.) I have a CF wireless card which was not supported. It gets detected, and I have a driver in .ipk format which I unzipped. I think my lack of knowledge would the reason for this one. However the lack of an internet connection is a major handicap and I feel castrated and unable to progress any further.  I barely even use BSD on the Zaurus and probably won't till I get networking setup.

4.) I bought a USB cable and keyboard. This works just fine but after unplugging the keyboard the Zaurus won't sleep unless I take out the battery. It just automatically keeps coming on. In addition, as soon as I try to make it sleep the USB host is no longer detected making me reboot if I want to plug in a different device. This does not happen with Lineo.

5.) Bought a Netgear MA111 version 1 wireless adapter. This has the effect of either not being detect at all, or when I run ifconfig it freezes and drops me into a strange prompt telling me to run trace and ps. I am currently investigating this problem and reading the appropriate man pages.

Notes:
I am impressed with OpenBSD (even if I don't sound like it ) and from what I've read it will really make the Zaurus a fully functional machine which I am excited about. However, the way I want to use my PDA is quickly and efficiently. I don't want to edit a config file every time I rotate the screen. I don't want to reboot every time I unplug my keyboard and want an internet connection. These issues quickly overshadow the coolness of having a PDA that fits in your pocket. I am strong believer that if you do your homework, invest some time and some patience, the thing should just work exactly as you configured it to. My goal is to be able to whip it out, look up a Japanese word, type my notes, surf the web, check my email and pop it back into my pocket during the 10 minute break I get everyday.

I've gotten quite frustrated and the other day I went back to look at the options for the 3000 - the Cacko, OpenZaurus or keeping the Sharp and upgrading the kernel. But I'm convinced that a lot of my problems are simply due to my not being familiar with OpenBSD yet. As such, I plan to install the beta 3.8 version. Perusing Barry G's site has also been very helpful and I plan to read it in more detail. What does Mabuhay mean by the way? Is it Phillipino for "Good Day!”

Been a Linux user for a long time, and I'm ready for a change. Reading the forums here it seems that the USB problems and sleep problem are fixed in 3.8. The rest should be fine once I learn a bit more about OpenBSD. Just wanted to add my experience to the fray.

obscurite

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Openbsd And Linux - Using Your Zaurus
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2005, 05:05:06 pm »
First problem - you're not using 3.8 snapshots!

3.8 is set to be release very shortly, but in the meantime, use the snapshot install. See the openbsd.org/zaurus.html page (very bottom) for snapshot links. I never ran 3.7, but 3.8 does horizontal text just fine, and has been extremely stable (although I have trouble with apm sleep and my NIC).

Most of us (if not all of us) are running snapshots.
C3100, 5500, former C860 owner

barryg

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Openbsd And Linux - Using Your Zaurus
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2005, 11:08:42 pm »
Good Day!

Quote
        <SNIP>

I installed OpenBSD 3.7 and came across the following problems. I have been
lurking around the forums for a few days now looking to see if anyone else has
had these problems and I thought it strange that I would be the only one. To be
thorough I am including the problems I had which I have already read about here
in the OpenBSD forum (namely 1 and 4).
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

        As previously stated, use snapshots.

Quote
1.) The install document, while accurate, takes a few reads to get through. I
think it would be no problem for someone well versed in OpenBSD, but for me I
had the impression it was a doc copied from the generic instruction with some
info added about the Zaurus. I plan to write my own install doc at some point,
and will post it here when I do. Anyway, installing was no problem.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

        It is.  Same as install docs on the alpha, i386, amd64 and ppc.

Quote
2.) During the install process and every time I boot, the console is stuck in
vertical mode. This is not only annoying by a bit of a pain in the neck
(literally). I am a fan of the console, especially when I want to read man
pages and administer my system properly after setting things up.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

        Use snapshots.

Quote
3.) I have a CF wireless card which was not supported. It gets detected, and I
have a driver in .ipk format which I unzipped. I think my lack of knowledge
would the reason for this one. However the lack of an internet connection is a
major handicap and I feel castrated and unable to progress any further.  I
barely even use BSD on the Zaurus and probably won't till I get networking
setup.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

        Provide dmesg.  There were previous posts here and there is the openbsd
faq instructions on how to get and post one.

Quote
4.) I bought a USB cable and keyboard. This works just fine but after
unplugging the keyboard the Zaurus won't sleep unless I take out the battery.
It just automatically keeps coming on. In addition, as soon as I try to make it
sleep the USB host is no longer detected making me reboot if I want to plug in
a different device. This does not happen with Lineo.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

        Use snapshots.


Quote
5.) Bought a Netgear MA111 version 1 wireless adapter. This has the effect of
either not being detect at all, or when I run ifconfig it freezes and drops me
into a strange prompt telling me to run trace and ps. I am currently
investigating this problem and reading the appropriate man pages.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

        Use snapshots.
Quote
Notes: 
I am impressed with OpenBSD (even if I don't sound like it :)) and from what
I've read it will really make the Zaurus a fully functional machine which I am
excited about. However, the way I want to use my PDA is quickly and
efficiently. I don't want to edit a config file every time I rotate the screen.
I don't want to reboot every time I unplug my keyboard and want an internet
connection. These issues quickly overshadow the coolness of having a PDA that
fits in your pocket. I am strong believer that if you do your homework, invest
some time and some patience, the thing should just work exactly as you
configured it to. My goal is to be able to whip it out, look up a Japanese
word, type my notes, surf the web, check my email and pop it back into my
pocket during the 10 minute break I get everyday.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
       
        I *am* quite comfortable with OpenBSD.  But that may be because my
primary workstation runs on one, and all of my 20+ servers too. ;)
       
 
Quote
       
        <SNIP>

[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
       

Quote
Perusing Barry G's site has also been very helpful and I plan to read
it in more detail. What does Mabuhay mean by the way? Is it Phillipino for
"Good Day!
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

        More like Welcome, greetings, and best wishes, rolled into one( ;) ), though
literally it means live!.

Quote
        <SNIP>
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96725\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

       
Mabuhay! barryg

--
Barry Dexter A. Gonzaga, bofh

elessar

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Openbsd And Linux - Using Your Zaurus
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2005, 04:03:31 pm »
Thank you for your replies, I do appreciate the help.
After leaving the zaurus alone for a bit I thought I would give it another whirl. I am currently trying to install OpenBSD 3.8. The disk info seems to have gotten screwed up somewhere along the way. I have set the partition info to match what it says in the install document. Then I thought I would try Barry's example disklabel. However, this leads to some odd errors that tell me I need to wipe the whole disk and reset the geometry. I don't want to do that because I don't have a CF card, and I need linux to insall OpenBSD in the first place. Anyone else get the following errors? or know what they might mean?


wdc0:0:0: timeout waiting for DRQ, st=0x51<DRDY,DSC,ERR>, err=0x00
wd0a: device timeout writing fsbn 7999487 (wd0 bn 9232447; cn 9159 tn 2 sn 49),
retrying
wdc0:0:0:       .......same as above
wd0a:             .......same as above

these errors repeat 4 times each, then I get:

newfs: wtfs: write error on block 7999487: Input/output error

If it would help I can post my disklabel and partition tables. I don't have any way to save these to a file yet and get them to another computer. So I have to type them by hand. dmesg present me with the same problem since I am only just working on the install now.

elessar

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Openbsd And Linux - Using Your Zaurus
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2005, 10:01:19 pm »
I made a mistake in my previous post. I had said before that I matched my disk info with the install file's which look like this:

    0: 83    0   3 13 - 1511   7 17 [          63:      205569 ] Linux files*
    1: 83 1512   0  1 - 7559   7 17 [      205632:      822528 ] Linux files*
    2: 0C 7560   0  1 - 9065   7  1 [     1028160:      204800 ] Win95 FAT32L
    3: A6 9065   7  2 - 67885   5  3 [     1232960:     7999488 ] OpenBSD

However, since I had zeroed the Zaurus and then restored, these numbers have changed. What I have now is this:

    0: 83    0   1  1 - 203   15 63 [          63:      205569 ] Linux files*
    1: 83 204   0  1 - 1019   15 63 [      205632:      822528 ] Linux files*
    2: 0C 1020   0  1 - 1223   2  50 [     1028160:      204800 ] Win95 FAT32L
    3: A6 1223   2  51 - 9159   2  50 [     1232960:     7999488 ] OpenBSD

The Cylinder, Head, Sector numbers (obviously) are different and I am thinking this is part of my problem. I don't understand how this happened though since resetting should have gotten me back to the original numbers like in the install document (I had those numbers the first time I tried to install). However, after the restore I had to futz a bit with the FAT partition to get it recognized, so the restore didn't quite work perfectly. The manpages seem to indicated that the CHS numbers are the format the Bios recognizes, and the byte numbers are the same info only for us humans. So then why would the CHS  numbers be so radically different, or not change at all when I resized the FAT and the OpenBSD partitions to match the install file?

elessar

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Openbsd And Linux - Using Your Zaurus
« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2005, 02:26:48 am »
Bricked....
For the night anyway...(sigh)...

I was so close too. I determined that the disk geometry was my problem, and I found that I could hook up my Ipod, copy the install sets over, and then install. however. Running ./install froze the Zaurus, and I had to reboot. Of course, everything was erased at this point. After getting into single user mode and tyring a few things I came up stumped.
I am assuming the CF card gets recognized in single user so that I can put zboot, zbsdmod.o and bsd.rd on the CF and boot into the install script from there. Is there any way around getting a CF card? (And is that the "failsafe" method I think it is?) USB support is obviously out, and irda needs utilities.....Every idea I had for transferring data to the zaurus comes up short. Is CF the only way to save my Zaurus?

eyes are tired from reading the many disklabel manpages...off to bed...

Any comments would be appreciated.

elessar

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Openbsd And Linux - Using Your Zaurus
« Reply #6 on: October 05, 2005, 07:15:00 pm »
Finally I got my hands on a 16MB SD card and was able to restart the boot process...got everything installed no problem, no errors, rebooted....and was greeted with this:

Code: [Select]
probing: cn0 com0 com1 com2 disk: hd0*
>>OpenBSD/zaurus BOOT 2.08
open(hd0a:/etc/boot.conf): Invalid argument
boot>

This loops over and over trying to load /bsd and /obsd

Googling shows that several people have gotten this error and I am thinking this problem is with the bootloader.

I found this link[1] but did not find it very helpful. I am going to try installing using the whole disk, since the Linux partitions are gone anyway and not recoverable unless I copy the info over from a working bsd installation....which still eludes me....

Hopefully this thread will be helpful to some people who have the same problems, once I have figured out how to get past all these hurdles....in the meantime..any input would be appreciated.


[1]http://readlist.com/lists/openbsd.org/misc/4/22608.html

elessar

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Openbsd And Linux - Using Your Zaurus
« Reply #7 on: October 05, 2005, 07:43:23 pm »
Heh...well...I finally got it all working, and installed everything without problems. Seems like using the whole disk did the trick. I'm thinking that the relevant files in the MBR were not overwritten when I used the 4rth partition slot, since they would've only overwritten the files in that partition.