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[overbyte]

I think the Linux kernel used to have all drivers compiled into it, but quite some time ago the scheme was improved so that drivers are loaded into the kernel when they are needed, dynamically.  The drivers can be compiled separately, but the compiler needs access to the header files of the particular kernel version that the driver is going to be working with.   The standard releases of Linux kernels have their header file saved in a repository somewhere for apt-get to find them when needed.   The problem facing me is that Teapot seems to have created his customized version of the kernel with pieces cut and pasted from the OLPC's kernel specific to the XO hardware.   That's how it knows about the XO's special key mapping and devices, I think.  But the header file linux-headers-2.6.25.1.olpc.f10b654367d7065 specific to this customized kernel is not in the standard place.    Maybe Teapot has it on his computer or on a server somewhere.   Without it, new driver modules can't be compiled because the compiler will not have the correct mapping of symbols of the kernel source code to locations in the kernel binary.   I'm afraid chaos will result at some point if I install a wacom.ko driver lifted from a different distribution and plop it into the input driver directory on my XO.

Where is Teapot?....

[ankorite]

Ok this is what I did...

Code:

git clone git://dev.laptop.org/olpc-2.6

This takes a while. After it finished I ran:

Code:

cd olpc-2.6
git reset --hard f10b654367d7065

I then copied the old config to the new kernel

Code:

cp /boot/config.2.6.25.1.olpc.f10b654367d7065 .config

I was trying to compile bluetooth so I ran a make menuconfig and turned it on in networking->bluetooth
Then I compiled the modules by running:

Code:

make M=net/bluetooth

Alas after all that it still wont let me insert bluetooth.ko into my running kernel  
Dont do this on your xo the space is not there instead I added a folder to my /etc/exports on my server and mounted it through nfs on the xo. I had to do the compiling with the xo because I only have AND64 and ppc to work with (The xo is my only x86 comp) good luck!

[rrnwexec]

We (Ubuntu Vancouver) will soon be converting a bunch of XO's to Ubuntu. Can someone direct me to the best set of instructions that will help make this as smooth as possible? Also, are there any particular "gotchas" that we should know about in advance. For example any step that can potentially be disastrous, etc.

Finally (teapot), does it look like 9.04 will be ready before the 24th? We can volunteer to be beta testers if that helps. If not, we'll go with 8.10.

Thanks in advance!
Randall
Ubuntu Vancouver Buzz Generator

--
Event Details:
As many of you know, Ubuntu Vancouver is hosting an "Install Ubuntu on the XO" event on June24th, 2009. If you are in the Vancouver area you are welcome to join the fun: http://www.meetup.com/ubuntuvancouver/calendar/10530878/

[ankorite]

I found out what I was doing wrong when I was compiling the modules. I needed to edit the Makefile by hand to make the version string match the kernel I am running. You can get your kernel version string by running uname -r mine is:

Code:

2.6.25-20080925.1.olpc.f10b654367d7065

In the Makefile I had to edit the forth line and change it from .14 to

Code:

-20080925.1.olpc.f10b654367d7065

after that a simple "make modules" was all i needed to build the modules for the kernel. I then copyed the modules (bluetooth.ko and hci_usb.ko) to my /lib/modules/ dir in the correct place and vola! bluetooth suport in the kernel. After I restarted the bluetooth services my doggle was found and hcitool could use it! This same method can be used for the wacom.ko module and as an added bonus these modules "should" be able to be tranfered between the ubuntu on xo users for easy module insertion. Good luck on your hacking

[ggoebel]

I've had success w/ teapot's distro on SanDisk Extreme III 4GB SDHC cards. As we have 5 XO's, I was looking for a good deal on ordering more. Here's the best I found. The deal expires June 27th, 2009:

http://www.abesofmaine.com/item.do?item=SDSD4GBXIII&id=SDSD4GBXIII&l=FROOGLE

$31.99 for 4GB SanDisk Extreme III SDHC (free shipping)

Manufacture's rebate for quantity purchased:
x1: $10
x2: $30
x3: $60

Note: the rebate comes in the form of a prepaid VISA card... which probably means that $60 card comes with a $? surcharge... Still I ordered 3 cards for $96 w/ tax. And I'm expecting to get back $55 of it. $41 / 3 = $13.67 each!

[mavrothal]

I tried again to install xserver 2.11.0 that works OK both in Sugar and DebXO and allows multiple screen resolutions on the XO. Using the debian package I get

dpkg: regarding xserver-xorg-video-geode_2.11.0-0.3_i386.deb containing xserver-xorg-video-geode:
 xserver-xorg-core conflicts with xserver-xorg-video-2
  xserver-xorg-video-geode provides xserver-xorg-video-2 and is to be installed.
dpkg: error processing xserver-xorg-video-geode_2.11.0-0.3_i386.deb (--install):
 conflicting packages - not installing xserver-xorg-video-geode

Removing with synaptic xserver-xorg-video-geode did not change things.

trying to install from the rpm (!) also failed with

error: Failed dependencies:
   libc.so.6 is needed by xorg-x11-drv-geode-2.11.0-1.fc10.i386
   rtld(GNU_HASH) is needed by xorg-x11-drv-geode-2.11.0-1.fc10.i386
   xorg-x11-server-Xorg >= 1.1.0 is needed by xorg-x11-drv-geode-2.11.0-1.fc10.i386

Any ideas???

Edit: I tried to dpgk -i --force-conflicts the 2.11.0 deb package...bad idea... The display driver never came up. So from the console I reinstalled the Intrepid 2.10.1 driver to recover.
Just so you know....

Still looking for ideas...

[blend]

Has anyone set up a way to share files over their home network much in the same way windows or macs share files by sharing folders?  I've done it on ubuntu befor but I'm pretty reluctant to go messing with this as I just ruined my ubuntu xo install merely by installing the latest Opera (and then couldn't until just now get ubuntu running again!)

So has anyone done it?  Any recommendations or guides?  I'm thinking of just running ftp or webpage from one of the other computers instead of messing with file sharing.

[markhadman]

Has anyone set up a way to share files over their home network much in the same way windows or macs share files by sharing folders?  I've done it on ubuntu befor but I'm pretty reluctant to go messing with this as I just ruined my ubuntu xo install merely by installing the latest Opera (and then couldn't until just now get ubuntu running again!)

So has anyone done it?  Any recommendations or guides?  I'm thinking of just running ftp or webpage from one of the other computers instead of messing with file sharing.

Windows uses the SMB (samba) or CIFS protocol for file (and print?) sharing. Support for Samba is not included in the OLPC's linux kernel (which is used in Teapot's Ubuntu), so you need to install fuse (Filesystem in User SpacE) plus fusesmb, then add yourself to the FUSE group (graphically you can do sudo users-admin then go to the advanced tab), create a folder to mount your smb/cifs network to (eg. mkdir ~/smb), then mount it (fusesmb -s ~/smb). You can now (with a bit of luck) browse all local network shares within that one folder. If you need to, you can set up usernames and passwords in ~/.smb/fusesmb.conf . If you do hit a brick wall with fusesmb, there is another fuse module called curlftpfs that allows you to mount ftp servers within your local filesystem.

I wish I'd known about fuse when I first got my XO. I spent months messing around trying to get unix's NFS (Network File System) running satisfactorily on my windows machine, which was a square peg in a round hole...


EDIT: I just changed the command 'fusesmb ~/smb' to 'fusesmb -s ~/smb' . The -s switch tells FUSE to use a single processor thread, otherwise it tends to crash after a while with 'transport endpoint not connected'.

[Sam J.]

Has anyone set up a way to share files over their home network much in the same way windows or macs share files by sharing folders?  I've done it on ubuntu befor but I'm pretty reluctant to go messing with this as I just ruined my ubuntu xo install merely by installing the latest Opera (and then couldn't until just now get ubuntu running again!)

I've been using nfs at home which works very well if you don't have any windows machines. I use sshfs (and ssh) to access the home server from the xo when I'm away from home. And I use rdesktop to access a windows machine at the office. All of these work well.
I also use opera on the xo and am very happy with it. The zoom feature is particularly hand, especially with the one-stroke keyboard shortcuts set (ie 0 to zoom in, 9 to zoom out). You might want to try again to install it - there's an ubuntu .deb file on the opera download page.

[a-master]

having issues on command

echo -e ',,L,*\n\n\n' | sfdisk /dev/mmcblk0

olpc gives me this in response:

bash: sfdisk: command not found
bash: echo: write error: Broken pipe

im not sure what im doing wrong but some help would be much appreciated

[mavrothal]

having issues on command

echo -e ',,L,*\n\n\n' | sfdisk /dev/mmcblk0

olpc gives me this in response:

bash: sfdisk: command not found
bash: echo: write error: Broken pipe

im not sure what im doing wrong but some help would be much appreciated

You are not root/su. Only "administrators" can use sfdisk.
As the instructions point out your first command when you start the process should be sudo -s or simply su if you are doing it on the XO.

[a-master]

having issues on command

echo -e ',,L,*\n\n\n' | sfdisk /dev/mmcblk0

olpc gives me this in response:

bash: sfdisk: command not found
bash: echo: write error: Broken pipe

im not sure what im doing wrong but some help would be much appreciated

You are not root/su. Only "administrators" can use sfdisk.
As the instructions point out your first command when you start the process should be sudo -s or simply su if you are doing it on the XO.

i followed those, an i used the su command you stated but to no avail, i end up with the same error

[BennyBean]

What was the fix for this? I am having the same problem. I'm using a 4GB PNY USB stick.
Thanks!

[a-master]

What was the fix for this? I am having the same problem. I'm using a 4GB PNY USB stick.
Thanks!

try the command
su -

then put the command you are stuck on in and that did it for me.

i have a new question.

im trying to unmount a device and in su mode but it says the device is busy, what can i do?

[rrnwexec]

Happy to report back to the forum that Ubuntu Vancouver's XO-installfest was a success! Thanks teapot and everyone else who contributed to the distribution. We converted 5 XO's.

If any other XO users in Vancouver want to attempt this, I'd be happy to schedule follow-up sessions. Ping me here or via our meetup site.

Cheers,
Randall
Ubuntu Vancouver Buzz Generator.