Do it yourself Wiki

[jm_eng]

It would be nice to have a thread that provided a clear route to suceess for
the rest of us. More information that is clear and up to date.

1) Using the latest plug instalation utility available at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/esia/files/
For me It only worked on windows XP.

2) Selecting an approriate linux distribution that agrees with the wiki instructions, or if it has
its different makeing it clear what in the wiki needs to be changed.
Which one should we use, to achieve the goals 3-6 below ?

There a two places that have wiki instructions:
http://plugcomputer.org/plugwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
and
http://computingplugs.com/index.php/Main_Page

What I would like to do is

3)  Be able to get apt-get to work.
     
I exexute "apt-get" via a Putty terminal on my vista  Laptop in the garage,
then my laptop on a separate USB connector has a USB antenna which transmits
to my AT&T U-verse wireless router in the kitchen.

apt-get does not work and wiki instructions did not seem to help me.
For example http://computingplugs.com/index.php/Fixing_apt-get
This did not help. I was using debian squeeze - is that my problem ?

I had to download a DHCP program such as: http://www.antamediadhcp.com/
in order to Putty into the Plug on my Vista PC,

I never was able to figure out how to make the Ip address of the plug static
(would it make apt-get work if I did ??)

I could try attaching the ethernet cable from my shiva plug directly to my 2-wire router
box in the kitchen (I may try this and report back, but still I'd rather have
the plug in the garage talk to my router via wireless provided by my laptop.)

4)  apt-get a usable graphical windowing system on the plug.
    lets say gnome for starters.
    Presently I have my system booting to a 4 gb mmc card in the slot.
    I think that ought to be enough room


5)  Install a VNC or Free NX client or is it server on the plug so I can use it with
    a nice shrink wraped VNC or NX remote windowing program on my laptop and now
    I have a very user friendly windowing environment to work in !

6)  Intall and setup a webserver - Use a Dynamic DNS service to get across
    my home AT&T U-Verse box and into the internet. - Make it safe and secure.
    For starters ref:

http://plugcomputer.org/plugwiki/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions#How_do_I_set_up_a_webserver_on_the_plug.3F_Can_I_use_php.3F

Thanks in filling in this "do it yourself wiki " !

[jm_eng]

This is also my quasi blog of my progress: jm_eng

So as far as ESIA is concerned, I was able to get it to progam Ubuntu 9.04 back to my nand flash and I did it With ESIA on vista.
What is helpful are the following tips. Many of these are in this document "Esia_walkthrough.doc" which is located on the docs
folder of : http://sourceforge.net/projects/esia/files/

So here are some distilled tips.
I) ESIA requires that the plug must be in bootloader mode to work, and this must be setup first before starting the ESIA progam,
As folows:  Get as serial terminal progarm (eg hyperterminal) setup on Vista 1) connect the plug computer's small USB jack, next to the SDRam MMC card slot on the sheeva plug, to a USB port on your PC. 2) Setup hyptertermina for 115.2Kb, D=8, P=No, S=1, Flowcontrol = no.

II) Once hypterminal is setup, then push the reset button on the plug, you will see output from the plug "Uboot, etc" and then immediatly enter a keypress into hypterterminal. This disrupts the boot and puts you into Uboot mode neede by ESIA
(Note the reset button is in the small hole to the right of the SDRarm MMC card slot, use a tooth pick like tool to press)
III) Prepare a thumb drives A.K.A "USB DOK" by first formating it to FAT32 (My original attempt used FAT m.b. the problem ??)
Then copy the desired unziped Linux distributions  which you downloaded zipped up from the distros directory of http://sourceforge.net/projects/esia/files/   Note one other thing - They recommend using  a max size thumb drive of 2GB..
IV) Start the ESIA program, follow as per ESIA_walkthrough.doc and , well, It worked for  me !

[jm_eng]

See also that I did get apt-get to work:
http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?topic=2207.0

Here is my latest progress and questions:

I am still lookng to contact the Kenny that runs the site
http://computingplugs.com/index.php/Main_Page

As  a side note one day I may be attaching some hardware to the plug:
I designed my own arduino like board (except arm cortex m0)
Ref:   http://www.lpc1100challenge.com/detail/836
Also check this out:
http://www.arcfn.com/2009/06/arduino-sheevaplug-cool-hardware.html


I presently own two plug computers and am finally making progress!

It looks like I have apt-get of aptitude working and have downloaded to
my plug with debian squeeze installed on a 4 gb mmc card using ESIA.

1) aptitude install gnome
2) aptitude install xfonts-base
3) aptitude install tightvncserver

After this

I DID NOT SEE GNOME ANY WHERE using bash find command SO DECIDED TO ALSO TRY

4) aptitude install gnome-core

Now lets try "df"

debian:/# df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
tmpfs 256748 0 256748 0% /lib/init/rw
udev 10240 236 10004 3% /dev
tmpfs 256748 4 256744 1% /dev/shm
rootfs 3799976 1535404 2071540 43% /
debian:/#

NOW THAT DID SOME DAMAGE, MAYBE IT WORKED !

###################################

BEING A GLUTTON FOR MORE DISKSPACE PUNISHMENT LET try

5) aptitude -install gnome-desktop-environment

THIS ALSO INCLUDES vino which is the "VNC server for GNOME" (nice !)

If this works then I will have both "vino" and "tightvncserver" installed..

Lets try it:

WELL THE "-" in front of install makes it give this comment:

This aptitude does not have Super Cow Powers.

Lets retry

5)  aptitude install gnome-desktop-environment

And my disk space took another hit but survived.
NEXT TIME I WILL USE AN 8 gb MMC CARD !

End of possible sucessful install had this line:

Processing triggers for python-support ...

debian:/# df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
tmpfs 256748 0 256748 0% /lib/init/rw
udev 10240 236 10004 3% /dev
tmpfs 256748 4 256744 1% /dev/shm
rootfs 3799976 2552564 1054380 71% /
debian:/#

################################
if all goes well this may come in handy:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/debian-26/how-to-start-gnome-or-kde=-command-line-468648/

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Finally,

I hope this may all be of intererset or value to you.

At any rate, if you have any comments about what the next steps are to get
a gnome virtual VNC window on my laptop going into my plug computer.
(I think I may have just about installed everthing I need now.
But, how do I flip the on switch ??)

Also I have just installed "TightVNC" onto
my laptop. Up until now I have been using a pUTTY terminal screen to talk to my
plug via my laptop. I am hoping to see a Gnome desktop soon in it's stead.

Take care, and happy plugging

Joe

September 10, 2010 5:15 PM

[jm_eng]

Yes I am still a newbie for linux (don't quote me on that.) It looks like  tightvnc has been installed on my plug ok, but in my scrounging arround for info as to how to start gnnome I read that the command "startx" is what you must execute first. But my plug complains about things:

 debian:~# startx
*
*
Primary device is not PCI
(EE) open /dev/fb0: No such file or directory
(EE) No devices detected.

Fatal server error:
no screens found

Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
         at http://wiki.x.org
 for help.
Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.

giving up.

If I do this.

Another question is with with ms windows version of tightvnc
I assume that I must quit pUTTY to use this on my laptop
and then enter the same IP address I used with pUTTY
but I try this and tightvnc puts up some message boxes like:

TightVNCInfo: Failed to connect to server (192.168.1.69)

On the plug side after executing the vncserver command
when I do a ps I see the following processes running:

debian:~# ps
  PID TTY          TIME CMD
 1573 pts/0    00:00:00 bash
 1586 pts/0    00:00:00 Xtightvnc
 1590 pts/0    00:00:00 xstartup
 1593 pts/0    00:00:00 ck-launch-sessi
 1636 pts/0    00:00:00 x-session-manag
 1639 pts/0    00:00:00 dbus-launch
 1664 pts/0    00:00:00 gnome-power-man
 1665 pts/0    00:00:00 gnome-keyring-d
 1669 pts/0    00:00:00 metacity
 1678 pts/0    00:00:02 gnome-panel
 1679 pts/0    00:00:11 nautilus
 1688 pts/0    00:00:00 bluetooth-apple
 1690 pts/0    00:00:00 gdu-notificatio
 1691 pts/0    00:00:00 polkit-gnome-au
 1692 pts/0    00:00:00 evolution-alarm
 1733 pts/0    00:00:00 ps
debian:~#


MY INTUITION IS THAT   I AM VERY CLOSE TO HAVING IT WORKING ...


Best regards,

Joe

[jm_eng]

Thanks to "big_ignoramus"  for the link to the gnome resources website,
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gnome
This may come in handy in the future..

Although I do not have gnome desktop running yet,
I have to report major success using the instructions at:

http://computingplugs.com/index.php/Installing_X11#VNC_and_IceWM

I think I am using an alternative gui interface called IceWM (IceWindows Manager ??)
but wow, it works ! What I was hoping for I am beginning to have - a nice graphical windows
style way of looking at the file system and at files with "gedit" on the plugcomputer
from my vista laptop in my garage, connected via wifi to my AT&T 2-wire U-verse service
router which is connected via its hardware ethernet port  to the plug in the kitchen.

Van Nuys ! Very Nice !

Best regards
jm_eng