USB connect to Windows (redux)

[Windrose]

I know this is a Frequently Asked Question, but for me it's a Constantly Doesn't Work. I would really appreciate any pointers or explanation of what's going on.
Basically, I have an SL5600 running the OZ 3.5.1 ROM and I want to use the usb cradle to connect to a Windows computer using TCP/IP. Two different Windows boxes, a desktop running Win2000 and a notebook running XPPro.
I'm using the basic Sharp "Zaurus Manager" desktop drivers that come with the 5600. I'm not greedy, I just want to be able to ftp to the Z to synch daybook files and such. And if I could telnet to it, that would be nice too.
I have tried to follow various step-by-step screeds, setting the ip on the Zaurus to 192.168.129.201, subnet mask to 255.255.255.0 Or I've tried 192.168.129.1 I can get close. The usb ethernet connection appears in the Z as "active", and on the windows end the ftp and telnet attempts do not necessarily claim that the Z doesn't exist, but the best I've been able to achieve is a "connection timed out" response, as if the Z refused to play. I've set network security to "accept connections from all", but to no avail.
Does anyone recognize where I'm going wrong here?
TIA
Windrose

[corky]

You were close but on the wrong box. the zaurus ip  should be 192.168.129.201 the windows box has to have the ip set to 192.168.129.1.

corky

[lardman]

The usb ethernet connection appears in the Z as "active", and on the windows end the ftp and telnet attempts do not necessarily claim that the Z doesn't exist, but the best I've been able to achieve is a "connection timed out" response, as if the Z refused to play. I've set network security to "accept connections from all", but to no avail.

Telnet's not enabled by default afaik, ftp must be to port 4242, and the standard Windows (XP at least) ftp client doesn't allow both a port and a username to be specified.

Try ping'ing both ways; then try ssh.


Si

[zenyatta]

I don't know what software you used on the Win side for connecting via FTP but an easy way to try it is to type the following URL into your favourite Web browser:

ftp://root@192.168.129.201:4242/

This should ask you for a password and then list the contents of the / directory.

Another good way is to go Start > Run... > telnet 192.168.129.201 4242
You should get a welcome message from Qtopia FTP server or something like that.

Once you've established that the FTP server is OK you just need to find a decent FTP client so that you can move files both ways. Also, for syncing via FTP you need to make a change in OZ: Settings > Security > Sync > Sync Software: IntelliSync

z.

[Windrose]

Hmmmph. Okay, from the above I collect that I really don't know what I'm doing more than usual. As for example I'm not quite clear about

You were close but on the wrong box. the zaurus ip should be 192.168.129.201 the windows box has to have the ip set to 192.168.129.1.

The Zaurus Manager application on the W2K desktop allows me to set a hostname (currently set to "poodle") and a host ip, currently set to 192.168.129.201. There's a little note that says the "Communications Setting must match the zaurus PC link settings".

On the Zaurus, there's a Security tab that has
- an authentication screen, I didn't change anything there
- a plug-ins screen, it's empty
- a login screen, it's set to to login automatically root
- and a sync screen, it's set to accept synch from network any, synch software Opie 1.0

Then there is a Network tab that shows two "up" connections. One is the local loopback, the other is
Ethernet (usbd0) 192.168.129.201
The configuration page for the usbd0 connection shows that it is set to "automatically bring up" and a static configuration with IP address 192.168.129.201 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0

And actually, that's pretty much all the relevant settings I can find without poking about in /etc files.

As I said, trying to reach the Z from my desktop basically times out, e.g.

Code: [Select]

[c:\]ping 192.168.129.201

Pinging 192.168.129.201 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 157.130.31.217: Destination host unreachable.

Ping statistics for 192.168.129.201:
 Â   Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 1, Lost = 3 (75% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
 Â   Minimum = 0ms, Maximum =  0ms, Average =  0ms

[c:\]ping 192.168.129.201

Pinging 192.168.129.201 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 157.130.31.217: Destination host unreachable.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 192.168.129.201:
 Â   Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 1, Lost = 3 (75% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
 Â   Minimum = 0ms, Maximum =  0ms, Average =  0ms

[c:\]telnet 192.168.129.201 4242
Connecting To 192.168.129.201...Could not open a connection to host on port 4242
 : Connect failed
You'll note that in the last example I tried zenyatta's idea of a raw telnet to port 4242. I've also tried putty ssh connections, ftp to port 4242, and sundry pings. They time out.

Ideas?

Windrose

[zenyatta]

My suggestions do assume that "ping 192.168.129.201" works which clearly isn't your case. Your configuration on the Zaurus side seems to be fine. I'm not familiar with your Zaurus Manager software but the IP address on your end of the USB link must be 192.168.129.* and it usually is 192.168.129.1. To verify this, you can try the following command:

netstat -rn

which will display your computer's routing table (i.e. which IP address ranges go through which network interface). The output should contain one line with "192.168.129". I predict that it does not contain such a line in your case because otherwise pinging would definitely work (or at least I can't think of a reason why it shouldn't - barring some crazy firewall settings).

Another command you can try is

ifconfig

although I'm not sure whether it's present on Windows computers (the previous one definitely is). ifconfig lists the status and parameters of all of your computer's network interfaces.

I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough with setting up the USB link in a Windows environment. I guess I would go into Control Panel > Network and if there is some sort of "USB Network Adapter" I would click Properties > Bindings and make sure it was bound to TCP/IP. Then there should be a "TCP/IP > USB Network Adapter" line in the network control panel and I would set its properties to 192.168.129.1 etc.

[lumi]

Windrose,

From your previous posting Nov 9 2004, 02:25 PM it looks like your details on the Zaurus are fine.  But you didn't post anything about your PC besides the ping.

I think your PC isn't bringing up its side of the interface.  The 'ipconfig /all' will give the specifics.  Also post the output of 'route -n'.

If I remember correctly, the SharpROM runs a DHCP server on the USB link and the PC gets its IP from the Zaurus.  OZ doesn't run the DHCP server.  What this means is that the Win PC needs to have a static IP setup:

On the Windows PC:
   IP Address:    192.168.129.1
   Netmask:      255.255.255.0
   Gateway:      192.168.129.201

You should be able to ping now.  (I hope.)

You can't use the Zaurus Manager with OZ.  It only applies to the SharpROM.  OZ provides _different_ services.  There is no built-in telnet server.  Use ssh.  You can use PuTTY on Win to do the equivalent.  Just PuTTY to root@192.168.129.201.  I think there is _no_ default password.  Just press Enter.

I haven't tried the built-in, very basic ftp server on port 4242 on OZ 3.5.1.  I'd suggest you do file transfer over ssh with something like WinSCP.

Dave

[zenyatta]

lumi:

The FTP server works OK; moreover, OZ 3.5.1 comes without sftp-server so you can only connect via SSH and not SFTP. I know files can be transferred over pure SSH but I never needed to try that with the Z.

[lardman]

scp works by default for file transfer over the ssh connection.


Si

[zenyatta]

True, but scp is not really useful for browsing around the remote filesystem (or is it?).

[lardman]

No, that's what ssh is for (ls -rtl, etc.) ;-)

I agree, it's a pain; I removed dropbear and installed openssh (you can just install the sftp portion of openssh and it works with dropbear - this is in the upgrades feed).


Si

[bzack]

I think that the newer (SL5600) usb drivers for the Zaurus on Windows work differently. This is what causes the incompatibility with the newer version of Qtopia Desktop 1.7. I believe the new drivers sync with out using tcp/ip. I currently have the Sharp Rom installed and the Sharp version of the desktop (win) which sync fine. I see no usb network devices and I am also unable to ping my Zaurus. Perhaps using an older Zaurus network driver would work. OZ syncs nicely with the Qtopia Desktop 1.7 on linux, but I don’t know how to connect it to the network via a windows box. Do you have a dedicated Linux box you could use as a router to your Zaurus? You might also try Qtopia 1.7 (win) and setting your IR as a network device (I have no idea if this will work).

btw, filezilla is an excellent ftp/sftp client
http://sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla/

[acpkendo]

Actually, the very first thing you should do is make sure the Windoze box recognizes the USB device at all.  Have you set up these computers to connect/sync using a Sharp ROM?  If so, then those drivers should be loaded, and something else is wrong.  Here's how to check:

1) Insert Z into cradle and power on.

2) Right click on "My Computer," and select Properties.

3) Go to the Hardware tab, and select the "Device Manager Button"

4) Under the "Universal Serial Bus Controllers," you should see an entry for "SL Series (WDM)"; if you don't, then your drivers aren't loaded (and there will probably be an entry titled "Unrecognized device" with one of those exclamation point thingies)

If you don't have this driver set up, when you insert Z regardless of what you configure in the Zaurus Manager Windows will not bring up another Ethernet connection.

If the "SL Series (WDM)" does show up for you, then there is another problem.  As mentioned, you can use 192.168.129.201 for the Zaurus, and 192.168.129.1 for the Windows side.  This last one should be in the Zaurus Manager configuration--if you put the SAME number in both, then the Zaurus and the Windows box will have the same IP address, and that is when Bad Things Happen ™.

[lumi]

acpkendo,

The bits you posted about the USB device is appropriate and good reference. However, since the topic is OpenZaurus, the Zaurus Manager IP address setup does not apply.

You (or Windrose) need to set the Win PC USB IP address to static under Windows' own (not the Zaurus Manager's  setup).  In Win2K, Start... Settings... Network and Dial-up Connections and find the likely "Local Area Network Connection x" for the Zaurus.  Right-click and Properties.  In the Properties select Internet Protocol (IP) and click the Properties button.  Click on "Use the following address" and set to 192.168.129.1, netmask 255.255.255.0, and gateway 192.168.129.201.

Once you've done that you should be able to run either ROM as you wish.

Dave

[acpkendo]

@ lumi

Actually, you're right re: the Zaurus Manager--I didn't even have the correct number in there anyway (it SHOULD match the IP you have set in the Zaurus, if it were a Sharp ROM).

@ Windrose

Once you get the "SL Series (WDM)" device driver working, you should be able to follow lumi's instruction to get a working connection.  BTW, once I've configured everything, I've always had to power down, remove the Z for a couple seconds, return it, and power back up again.

Addition:

You should also have a device labeled "SL Series (NDIS 5)" under "Network Adapters" in the Device Manager.