Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

This board posts about running linux on your webdt366
volkswagner
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by volkswagner »

rockerrock wrote: Using Windows 7 x64 w/ winzip 64 using dd for windows to external flash drive that has been working in the past. Flashing TO USB disk from WINDOWS for boot off of EXTERNAL USB, NOT internal. I still have winCE on the tablet and plan on keeping it there, for now..
I am going to try to see if dd to USB is possible.  Aside from the boot target there may be other issues.  For example depending on the USB drive and if there is a compact flash inserted the USB may not be named as expected to properly edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst

You should however create a backup of your existing WinCE.  You can find excellent instructions here.  Once you create this backup you can restore it to new condition, if anything should happen to your internal disk, or if you decide to try an alternate OS.
Nothing is ever easy, but if it is difficult you must be doing it wrong.
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durendal4444
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by durendal4444 »

Noobie question: Is it possible to install/uninstall programs?  Does LeafPad open .PDF files?
quotaholic
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by quotaholic »

Hello,

Yes it is possible to install programs. Debian uses apt and synaptic to install programs. I have advised against using the traditional method as it uses a lot of disk space. The DT does not have a lot of disk space. In stead I have good luck by googling the package for debian 5 or "lenny" and downloading the .deb file. then using this command we can install it.

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sudo dpkg -i software.deb
If all the dependencies are met you will see no errors. If the package has dependencies then you will have to repeat with the deps or use a debian 5 image available on another medium with this command:

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sudo apt-get -f install
That will attempt to repair any installed packages that dont have all they need to run.

I no longer have the LXDE 1.1 image installed on my DT. But if you are seeking a pdf viewer try two things for me.

Try using xournal to open the pdf.

From a text prompt try either of the two commands

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gv

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gs
I remember xournal having a pdf dependancy and it was either the ghost script or the ghost viewer that did it. From memory these are seperate programs one can use by them selves. I made mention of this in the first LXDE image I made on "lenny" as I included a pdf viewer there too.

quotaholic
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by ionbladez »

I just got a 1gb cf card today, is there any way I can definitely compile an mp3 player with gcc or similar on the cf card? I just want it compiled, then I'll install it on the device itself.

I found some good ones, I like amarok, I used it in opensuse, and I really like xmms. my favorite.
Small, lightweight, just for the webdt.

But I don't want to try compiling before I know it will work.
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by vinograd19 »

xmms is good.
if you install it via repos, use

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sudo apt-get install xmms2
It was just core. Then you have to find client for xmms.

If you don't have net, or if you care about apt cache, you find a package here http://packages.debian.org/en/lenny/xmms2-core

I think that Mplayer is better than xmms.

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sudo apt-get install mplayer
Another problem : sometimes after reboot or waking up from suspend I got buttons on the front don't work.

Any ideas?
Last edited by vinograd19 on Thu May 21, 2009 5:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
quotaholic
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by quotaholic »

Audacious is the current version of what we remember as Xmms. Xmms continued as the BMP or beep media player and then to Audacious. I saw 64 mb of extra packages come in with audacious however I did not use David_Hallidays method of reducing apt-cache. I prefer the local method of pulling packages from an iso file on a cdrom versus online. Then issuing an

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apt-get -f install
to repair deps.

Buttons:

Debian Lenny includes the atlas button kernel driver by default. This is what allows the buttons to operate via an event handler. We are not 100 percent at this time but it seems the event handler can switch inputs becoming miss mapped. Still looking for a way to play with the stock config or remove it. I suspect that a lock file gets placed in var and when you come out of suspend the event handler switched inputs from /dev/input/event2 or the like to say /dev/input/event1 and looses association. This is a theory and is still being researched.

quotaholic
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by ionbladez »

Sorry to be a bother, but the next image you build, can you please include some kind of C compiler, I'd like to run a gameboy emulator, or an mp3 player.
A lightweight one is fine, I can work with cc or cl.

But anything would be appreciated.
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by quotaholic »

First request of its kind and I am happy to see it. No bother at all.

Let me ask this, as a compiler and build tools take up about 66 to 99mb depending on distribution.

Would you rather use your 1gb chip or your 500?

I can make you a basic gui based desktop on debian (around 330mb) with the "build-essential" package which takes about 66mb. That will leave you at 400mb with no programs installed. You will have gcc and make at your disposal.

Or I can do the same thing on slackware 12.2 and it will only take about 350 - 370mb all together.

If you felt like using your 1gb chip then just about anything goes.

I have to warn you that although slackware can take up a lot less space than debian I have not gotten the air-350 cisco card working yet. The Cisco g card I have (AIR-CB21AG-A-K9)  works great though.

Think about it, let me know. Its hard for me to shoot blind making images. If there are things or functions you want to see please let me know.

quotaholic
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by ionbladez »

I'm going to use my internal storage for this one, but please include the drivers and bluetooth. Everything else I can basically do my work from.

Thanks a lot
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by plane_crazy »

Quota,

I have tried for a couple of days now to get your image onto my memory stick with no luck.

I have used "dd for Windows" with no luck. I have tried several commands 

1) dd if=E:\DT366\LXDE.img of=F:\ bs=1M  **File is on my USB HDD. Stick is F:**
2) dd if=E:\DT366\LXDE.img of=\\.\F: bs=1M  **\\.\ comes from the dd for Windows website under examples**
3) dd if=E:\LXDE.img of=F:\ bs=1M  **moved LXDE to the root of USB HDD**

Each time I type the command and press enter the program just repeats what I have typed in the next line and gives me a cursor again. Nothing happens.

I have put this file on my laptop and booted it up to Puppy Linux Live and used dd from a console with just about the same results using the commands above.

Is it even possible to put this on a stick? What am I doing wrong?

Bruce
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by quotaholic »

Hey Bruce.

This is my opinion but I feel your platform may be less than optimal. Mixed feedback on DD for windows. I have not heard good things about it. The only method that I have used has worked each time for me. As we all use different usb sticks and hubs mileage may vary.

My technique is the one Volkswagner discovered using Slax 6.1.1. It has worked well each of the 5 times I have used it.

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http://webdt.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=542#p542
I use a walmart "Targus" multi card reader plugged in to a walmart ",i" passive hub. Once I see the light flashing and the DT booting to the drive I plug in my keyboard and follow the directions in Volkswagners post.
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by kluut »

Hi,
I finally managed to get this working. (Had to change usb hub, previous one wouldn't let me boot over usb...)
But now I've got debian installed. Thanks a lot, quotaholic!

I did create a symlink to compact flash, as suggested, and have plenty of space now. I just symlinked the whole /usr/share directory, together with /var/cache/apt/archives. Allows me to just do apt-get's to install stuff.

I have the webdt mainly for my 2yo, and have tuxpaint, gcompris and childplay installed. He loves it. I think the webdt is really a great kid's computer. Also have nx-client to do more stuff via my desktop.

Only thing that wince did better than debian is the virtual keyboard, linked to the keyboard button. Any ideas to get this going under linux?

Also, I'm looking forward to your slackware 12.2 build!

Cheers,
  kluut
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by quotaholic »

Very glad that you got it installed. I often have to "play" with my usb hub only leaving the drive plugged in and plugging in the keyboard and mouse after the device starts to boot.

Thats great that your two year old loves it. Often I had thought about age range and how well it would or wouldn't work for lower ages. Good to hear!

State of buttons:

Still in development

Buttons will be possible on Debian however we may have to wait on Slackware until the next release. Slackware's next release will include a better native compression format hopefully allowing for less space taken on disk. Slackware 12.2 does not include the needed - "Atlas ACPI Button Controller Kernel Module".

This kernel module is in Debian lenny and since buttons do register an action "out of the box" the next step is to lock down the event handler that is watching the input and adjust its configuration to what we want to see.

We have played with the program "evrouter" which helps us understand the addresses of the buttons involved and a little on the actual target the event handler is looking at however in using evrouter we duplicated the event handler and got two sets of actions for each button press.

In a c file that was given to me I have a small script that starts an event handler and in the process eliminates the other event handlers and their associated lock files in /var. Its designed to handle the events coming from the altlas button controller. I have not dedicated a great deal of time to working with this file however I invite anyone more gifted that I with c code to take a crack at it. Now that I have relocated and gotten set back up I hope to make time to put to the buttons on Debian.

Last I was working on this I left off on weighing the time to either try to find the first button handler and kill it (allowing evrouter to work) or to work with the c code which automatically scripted that functionality in.

Please pm me if you would like to take a crack at the c code.


I also have one fix for this release that surfaced recently. In /usr/share/applications there is a blueman.desktop file. If you get the chance please eliminate the "sudo" out of the line that executes the program. Something like "exec=sudo blueman". This causes the cpu to get stuck on a process that will not resolve. Double check that you are in the sudo group with "sudo cat /etc/group". As long as you are blueman should start ok but we have reports that pin management is not working. Please let me know if this is the case for you as well.

Thank you
quotaholic
Last edited by quotaholic on Sat May 30, 2009 9:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
plane_crazy
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by plane_crazy »

Quota,

In your original post you stated:
quotaholic wrote: Disc usage is 505964 total
              451840 used
               54124 free
I am still struggling with this. When decompressed the md5 sums don't match and the image file is 512 Mb. I have downloaded it twice now and used two different utilities to extract it. The partitioning tools I have used all state 499 Mb free on my drive. And there is only one partition showing. Is it possible that there is another partition on the drive I cannot see. If so how would I be able to see it and delete it?

As I have told you when I try to install this it tells me that there is not enough space on the disk to copy all the files. The Debian here will not even finish the install and will not boot. I did manage to install the Nimblex but got the same error message. However the md5 check on that file was OK and the OS booted and ran? I could not however configure the wireless to work.

Can someone verify the size of their file after extraction? Also can someone let me know what size is reported on their internal drive?

Bruce
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Re: Debian5-WebDT366-LXDE-1.1

Post by quotaholic »

After checking with a couple folks who are using this image consensus was no one uses windows to decompress the tar archive.
If anyone here is using windows to do this can you please let us know what program you are using to decompress the archive.

How about this:

Put the image on a thumb drive and use the Slax 6.1.1 boot drive you have made for installing with and boot your windows computer to Slax. From within Slax decompress the image on the thumbdrive and see if the MD5 matches then. 

If you have a link you can pm me I would happily transfer the uncompressed image directly to your server. Or if you know of a file sharing site like file planet that works with files over 500 megs please let me know of it.

quotaholic
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