FAQ

From OpenZaurus

Frequently Asked Questions


Please add answered FAQs below

Contents

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General questions

Can I use feeds from OpenZaurus 3.5.4 with 3.5.4.*?
Yes you can - OpenZaurus 3.5.4.1 is built with the same toolchain as 3.5.4 so it is compatible. Same thing will be with any 3.5.4.x releases.
Where do I report a bug?
More details on the Bugtrackers page
How do I add an answer or a question to this list?
If you know the answer, just add it. If you think a question should be added but don't know the answer then add it in the WIP section at the bottom.
Why isn't the flash used on models with a internal microdrive?
The main reason is that you have a lot more space available on the microdrive, which doesn't wear out after a number of write cycles.
The other reason is that reading and writing from the microdrive is so much faster, since all the data doesn't have to go through gzip like with jffs2.
Ipkg complains about ldconfig not being found, did you screw up?
No, we didn’t screw that up, it just means that /sbin isn’t in your $PATH. Use ’su -’ to become root, not ’su’


How to compile programs for OpenZaurus?
See Developing.


What should I choose, Opie or GPE? How do they differ, which one has more apps available?
This is, of course, a subjective question. The principle way in which they differ is that Opie uses the Qt/Embedded API and GPE uses "real" X Windows with the GTK+ toolkit. Here is a link to the GPE project's webpage where you can find out more information: http://gpe.handhelds.org/ The Opie project's webpage can be found at http://opie.handhelds.org/cgi-bin/moin.cgi
As for which one has more applications available, the edge probably goes to Opie (for now, at least). Opie has been around a bit longer.
There's a lot of packages available for both in the feeds, and the list grows all the time. Give them both a shot and give your opinions at the Opie vs GPE page.


What's an e-image, available alongside with opie-image and gpe-image?
E17 (the Enlightenment window manager) running on top of X, sans GPE. It doesn't work very well at the moment (6/02/06).


How do I enable swap?
Here's an example for 64 MB on an SD card: 
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/card/swapfile bs=1M count=64
mkswap /mnt/card/swapfile
swapon /mnt/card/swapfile


What is this 'soft-float' which OpenZaurus use?
The CPU used in Zaurus models lacks an FPU so all Floating Point operations are emulated. There are two methods:
hard-float: FPU instructions are placed in the code as though there is a hardware FPU, these cause exceptions that the kernel catches and it then processes the FPU operations in its emulation. This method is in use in the SharpROM and its various clones like cacko.
soft-float: the compiler converts floating point operations into function calls and a special library is used to provide all functions performing the required operations, all in software with no FPU instructions at all. This gives a speed boost (as the code is more effecient and there is less overhead switching to kernel context) but breaks compatibility with 'hard-float' binaries as the format used to represent floats in registers is different. So packages from Debian/arm or SharpROM are not expected to work in correct way. OpenZaurus 3.5.1 and newer use ’soft-float’.
See also ARM Linux FAQ
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Installation related questions

I already have Cacko (or PdaXrom) installed with a resized root partition. I've read that OpenZaurus needs the original partition table to install. I don’t know how to restore the original partition table. What do I need to do to install OZ? Note, this is *not* required for C3X00 models since the flash is only used to contain the kernel.
You need to use the NAND Restore function with an image of a SharpROM (original one or English version by TriSoft).


Given how easy it is to use the NAND restore function to restore a system, why not provide NAND images of OZ GPE/Opie? Wouldn't this make things easier?
We do not release NAND backup images because:
1. To create NAND backup image you need to use a physical machine.
2. Each machine would need its own NAND backup images - with our current system we need only one set of files for all c7x0 models.
3. The NAND Restore process overwrites the /home/ partition.
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OPIE related questions

How can I activate the german keyboard, I found no documentation and keyz does not work on OZ 3.5.4.
Under OPIE on collie you can use opie-zkbapplet (which is based on keyz). Other option would be installing keymaps and keymap-locales and checking how it works.


I installed the sharp-compat-libs, but my sharp-based application doesn't seem to work right. What gives?
From a 04 Nov 2005 forum post by hrw: libqte used in sharp-compat-libs does not work with TrueType fonts (which are default in 3.5.4) so you have to install some of QPF fonts to get any application which use sharp-compat-libs working.


Which feeds are recommended for OPIE and related Software?
Those within /etc/ipkg.conf ...


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GPE related questions

How do I get rid of this AWFUL rxvt black-on-white color scheme?!
We feel your pain.  :) Go into your ~/.Xdefaults file for whatever user you want to change the colors for and enter lines like the following for a more pleasing color scheme: 
Rxvt*background: black
Rxvt*foreground: green
While you're at it, you may want to change the size of the scrollbar to make it easier to grab ahold of with the stylus. 
Rxvt*thickness: 20
For 3.5.4.1 'spitz', you need to create a ~/.Xdefaults-spitz file instead, for 3.5.4.1 on an akita (C1000) you need to create a ~/.Xdefaults-akita file instead, otherwise it will not work
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WiFi related questions

When I insert a wireless card two new interfaces appear, wifi0 and wlan0. Why? Which one I should use?
From Hostap FAQ: 
6. Why did I get two network interfaces (wlan0 and wifi0) when I have only one wireless card?

The HostAP driver supports multiple virtual interfaces per wireless
card. wifi0 is the master radio interface and wlan0 is the first
virtual interface for this radio. Other virtual interfaces are wlan0ap
(for hostapd), and one interface per WDS link.

In most cases, one should ignore wifi0 interface and just use wlan0
interface. In other words, assign IP address to wlan0, not wifi0 and
in general, just ignore the wifi0 interface.


My WiFi card is detected as eth0 instead of wlan0 - why and how to change it?
After the release of OpenZaurus 3.5.3 PCMCIA configs were cleaned to remove duplicates, wrong mapped cards, etc. Some parts of that work are in the 3.5.4 images, some in the upgraded hostap-conf/orinoco-conf packages.
As a side effect some cards are incorrectly mapped to Orinoco instead of HostAP so they show up as eth0 instead of wlan0. So you cannot for example establish a connection to WPA networks. There are two solutions to this:
The first one is an quick workaround. Remove all orinoco stuff with: 
ipkg remove -recursive *orinoco*
The second and preferred one is sending (pc)cardctl ident to the OpenZaurus Devel mailinglist so we can change the mapping.


How can I check if my card supports WPA encryption?
You have to check whether your card has a proper version of firmware. Prism cards need firmware versions of atleast 1.7.0 to be able to do WPA encryption. To check the version look at dmesg output after the inserting the card: 
hostap_cs: Registered netdevice wifi0
hostap_cs: index 0x01: Vcc 3.3, irq 40, io 0xc4820000-0xc482003f
prism2_hw_init: initialized in 190 ms
wifi0: NIC: id=0x800c v1.0.0
wifi0: PRI: id=0x15 v1.1.1
wifi0: STA: id=0x1f v1.8.4
wifi0: registered netdevice wlan0
You need to update if STAtion firmware is older then 1.7.0. To do this you will need the hostap driver with flash support - OpenZaurus does not provide them by default (we do not want to hear that users bricked their cards by mistake). Flashing instructions are provided on this page.
How do I configure WPA encryption?
How do I configure Wifi profiles?
In both situations Roaming with WPA Supplicant HowTo can help. All you need is to use WPA Supplicant with the correct network block created - details are in the wpa-supplicant docs. Note that this requires a card which is supported by the HostAP driver (one that shows up as wlan0 in other words).


Which WiFi cards are known to work with OZ?
Any Prism2 based card will work as will many others. Look at the files under /etc/pcmcia/ in your OpenZaurus installation to get a list of working cards - there are too many of them to list. Many cards are also rebranded by vendors so it hard to provide full list.
Check the list of CF cards in CompactFlashWifiAdapters
Another resource is this list of CF wifi cards supported in Linux. Cards listed as supported in Linux may or may not work in OZ yet.
[edit]

Bluetooth related questions

Which Bluetooth cards are known to work with OZ?
Look at files under /etc/pcmcia/ in your OpenZaurus installation to get a list of working cards - there are too many of them to list here. Many cards are also rebranded by vendors so it's hard to provide full list.
Remember that SDIO Bluetooth cards are not going to work (yet) because of the problem with writing drivers for them - we can't, their specs are closed.
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SD Card related questions

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Which SD Cards work with OpenZaurus

This seems to be related to the hardware. All 2.4 powered models (Collie, Poodle, Tosa) can handle up to 1GB cards only (limitation of Sharp binary driver). All models with Kernel 2.6 should be able to use larger cards too - many users confirmed this already (developers do not have such cards).

A hacked driver for Collie is available and "documented". It is reported to work with 2GB SD Cards.

There is a bounty for working SD/MMC driver for Collie/2.6

[edit]

Zaurus SL-5500 MMC/SDIO technical info

http://josejx.net/collie

For communicating with the MMC/SDIO card SL-5500 uses LoCoMo built-in SPI controller (MMC/SDIO secondary communication protocol) and 3 LoCoMo GPIOs.

All card pins (including SDIO irq pin) are routed on the daughter card (up and down)

LOCOMO SPI registers:

  • LOCOMO_SPIMD for SPI MODE

Lower 5 bits (3+2) are used by the SPI clock divisor.

Setup: SPIMD=0x6c00|(2<<3)|4; SPIMD|=0x80; SPIMD|=0x40;

0x0100 and 0x0400 bits are related to the SPI clock off (suspend).

On suspend the SPI MODE register is set to 0x3c00|(2<<3)|4

  • LOCOMO_SPICT for SPI CONTROL

Useful bits: 0x0001, 0x0040 (SPI_RST?), 0x0080

Setup: SPICT=0x40; SPICT|=0x80; usleep(200); SPICT|=0x1;

  • LOCOMO_SPIST for SPI STATUS
  1. LOCOMO_SPI_TEND (1 << 3) /* Transfer end bit */
  2. LOCOMO_SPI_OVRN (1 << 2) /* Over Run bit */
  3. LOCOMO_SPI_RFW (1 << 1) /* write buffer bit */
  4. LOCOMO_SPI_RFR (1 << 0) /* read buffer bit */
  • LOCOMO_SPITD for SPI TRANSMIT (write)
  • LOCOMO_SPIRD for SPI RECEIVE (read)

LOCOMO GPIO pins:

  • LOCOMO_GPIO(13) for MMC irq / card detect
  • LOCOMO_GPIO(14) for MMC write protect test bit
  • LOCOMO_GPIO(15) for MMC power

All these registers are 16bit, and data transfers are 8bit.

Linux for Gamecube project has an MMC/SD SPI driver http://gc-linux.cvs.sourceforge.net/gc-linux/linux/drivers/block/gcn-sd.c

Atheros SDIO stack http://source.mvista.com/~dsingleton/sdio

A software implementation of the SPI MMC/SD protocol driver can be be found at http://kiel.kool.dk/mmc.c

[edit]

Zaurus SL-5500 compatibility

Polaroid branded PNY 1GB SD card (P-SD1G-RF3/POL)
Card works fine on Collie upon insertion. No fuss. $29 with $10 mail-in rebate at Circuit City. (2007-01-19)
SanDisk 512 MB SD card
Card will mount from the command-line but Opie says the slot is empty. Syslog shows lots of errors trying to determine the file system and trying to find the superblock. Card mounts properly on a Windows XP Professional system and on a Debian Linux (Etch) system.
SanDisk 128 MB SD card
Card will mount from the command-line but Opie says the slot is empty. Syslog still shows errors. Do other users have the same issues with SanDisk cards? I do not have another brand available to test with.
Kingston 1GB card
The cards from Kingston seem to be problematic. I think that generally Kingston is nice, their support was helpful and lifetime warranty is unusual in Europe which reassured me. But the fact of the matter is that Kingston cards and the Z seem to not get along very well. hobbs and agaffney said in IRC #openzaurus they also had problems with their Kingston cards in the Z. So it does not appear to be just me ;-) The part "number" of the card that I had bought was "SD/1GB". It had no problems in my USB reader, reading from the Z was fine as well, but writing to it from the Z produced only corrupt files. --Laibsch 21:54, 25 August 2006 (BST)
Works according to OESF.org forum, might depend on model, though. Try contacting the person in the thread about what model they have exactly. The one I had was certainly not working.
A-Data 1GB
This is the card that agaffney and hobbs unanimously recommended for the Z instead of the Kingston card above and after purchasing it almost half a year ago I can wholeheartedly agree with their assessment. It is an inexpensive card, too. At the time of writing this entry, newegg sold the card for ~17$. The model number seems to be A-Data SDC-1G0. This is the card from the A-Data Speedy series. --Laibsch 21:54, 25 August 2006 (BST)
Extremememory 1GB
Works according to OESF.org forum, might depend on model, though. Try contacting the person in the thread about what model they have.
PNY 1GB
Works according to OESF.org forum, might depend on model, though. Try contacting the person in the thread about what model they have.
Lexar 1GB 32x
Works according to OESF.org forum, might depend on model, though. Try contacting the person in the thread about what model they have.
Lexar 1GB 80x
Works according to OESF.org forum, might depend on model, though. Try contacting the person in the thread about what model they have.


Sandisk 1GB
Works according to OESF.org forum, might depend on model, though. Try contacting the person in the thread about what model they have.
Ridata 1GB X66 SD
Does NOT work according to OESF.org forum, might depend on model, though. Try contacting the person in the thread about what model they have.
[edit]

Zaurus SL-C1000

SD Cards with SDIO won't work because we can't write drivers for them yet. In the future, hardware vendors may supply us with binary modules, but don't hold your breath.
Kingston 256MB memory SD-Card is working fine.
A-Data 4GB memory SD-Card isn't working correctly with Sharp, CACKO and OZ 3.5.4.1-rc2, Zaurus stalls, reset is needed. Experts say this is a hardware intrinsic problem, because the chip doesn't understand to deal with blocksizes greater than 512. So there will be difficulties with all SD memory above 1GB. (If this is not true and you know SD-Cards with size 2GB or 4GB which work inside the SL-C1000 or a ROM which works with those cards, please tell us!)

DeathWolf: i have a 4GB Transcend SD card on my sl-c1000 with cacko 1.23, with tetsu's patch, and it works real well. There have been numerous reports of bigger than 1GB card working.

MindNSoul: I have a 4GB Transcend SD card on my SL-C1000 as well and it is running on Openzaurus 3.5.4.1 with Opie 1.2.1 runing Linux Kernel Version 2.6.16-3.5.4.1. It initially didn't work with the original Sharp ROM.

muramas: I've got a SanDisk 2GB SD that, as of 3.5.4.1rc4 (7/1/06) seems to be working pretty well.

Ulukyn: KingMax 2GB SD work with OZ 3.5.4.1rc4 and cacko 1.23 (with patch).

Anith Anand : My Kingston Ultimate(150x) 2GB works perfectly on cacko 1.23 , with tetsu patch

LodeRunner: Using a Ritek Ridata™ 2GB 150X MMCplus card under OZ (GPE) 3.5.4.1. Haven't encountered any problems yet.

D_a_M : My Lexar 1GB 80x CF card works perfect with my Collie OZ 3.5.4 (Opie). Flashing worked great, and have no had a single problem with using it yet, nor do I forsee any.

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USB related questions

I have SL-Cxx00 and after pluggin USB device it is not recognized. Why?
There are many possible causes for this.
1. Lack of driver - if there is Linux driver then you can contact OZ developers to get it added into feeds.
2. Kernel 2.6 contains a change in policy which prevents initialization of USB devices which are directly connected and which require more than 150 mA of current; this was done to protect the USB power regulator. Unfortunately, news of this refusal doesn't get reported to the system log. The solution is to use device with1 a powered hub.
When your USB device is plugged in, you can check its current requirement by typing 
grep ^[C].* /proc/bus/usb/devices
and look for "MxPwr=nnnmA".


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Development

Is it possible to test/develop applications for Z from the Desktop? (I'm thinking about something like Pose for Palm pilots)
It depends. If you want to develop for X11 based environments (such as GPE for example) you can develop right on your desktop PC (as long as it has X11).
If you want to develop for OPIE then check QvFB from Qt distribution.


[edit]

Work In Progress

Please add questions that require answers below

Once they have been answered, move them up

  1. What's the best system to use for syncing my Z to a desktop computer?
  2. Do Opie's PIM applications work with Qtopia Desktop or some other well-known desktop PIM software such as Evolution?
    • Yes, up to a point. Under Debian Etch at least, one can use Multisync (N.B. this is being rewritten in a new project called OpenSync) with Opie/Zaurus and Evolution as targets. Calendar (and ToDo, IIRC) sync fine, but contacts do not.
  3. I've heard something about "kopi," but don't know much about it and don't know if it would support the Z's built-in functions (such as beaming contacts with the IR port).

Qs: JTD 23:39, 3 May 2006 (BST) A: 163.1.119.44 13:36, 14 June 2006 (BST)

I would like to extend this question to Windows computers. Working in my company I have to use Windows and Outlook on my desktop though I run Linux on all my servers. My Zaurus is a very nice piece of equipment but almost use less as I would need a PDA to synchronize Outlook with.

  • You could help out with the development of Evolution for Windows at http://sourceforge.net/projects/evolution-win32
    • This has recently been ported to Windows, but I'm not clear what that would do for me. What works with Evolution, and how do you configure Evolution to work with it? --70.224.39.134 07:17, 21 June 2006 (BST)
      • Well, Evolution is an Outlook replacement, meaning you would have to dump or import all your Outlook information and work instead with Evolution. It seems to support a lot of functionality, to find out if it supports what you need, try looking at http://www.gnome.org/projects/evolution/ , Evolution's homepage.
  • You could also help out with porting http://www.opensync.org/ to windows. It already has modules for Evolution and OPIE, though I'm not clear what state these are in.

Qs:

Once I get this installed, how do I revert back to the original OS, if I decide it doesnt work as well? Just re-flashing with the sharp ROM update will install all the apps? I cannot get the USB connection to work to install or backup data, so unless that works, I only have the CF card option.

Qs: I can't get the usbnet connection up with my Collie under Ubuntu 6.10. Whenever I plug the Collie in the usbnet module gets loaded and the usb0 device begins to appear and dissappear again. In the syslog I get repeating messages :

Oct 30 19:01:39 garfield kernel: [17180522.940000] usb0: register 'zaurus' at usb-0000:00:1d.0-2, Sharp Zaurus SL-5x00, ba:6d:58:53:d4:96 Oct 30 19:01:39 garfield kernel: [17180523.608000] usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 120 Oct 30 19:01:39 garfield kernel: [17180523.608000] usb0: unregister 'zaurus' usb-0000:00:1d.0-2, Sharp Zaurus SL-5x00 Oct 30 19:01:40 garfield kernel: [17180523.744000] usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 121 Oct 30 19:01:40 garfield kernel: [17180523.940000] usb 1-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice

I normaly ends after some time with "zaurus: probe of 1-2:1.0 failed with error -75". Has anybody experienced something similar?


Qs: I have just installed OpenZaurus 3.5.4.1 on my SL-C3200. I am trying to get usb networking working. My Mandriva 2005 laptop does not see the Zaurus when I connect the two with a USB cable (cable is Male A to mini b). usbview shows nothing although it can see my SL-5500 just fine. I have loaded the g_ether module on the Zaurus and usbcore is also loaded. Do I need to do something on the Zaurus to make the usb port active?


Q: Is there X-windows for OpenZaurus? And can it all be installed on an SD or CF card instead, to save the 128Meg memory?

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