As of summer, 2007, the Averatec battery could not be charged. (The battery light would blink very intermittently.) This site gives instructions for disassembling and re-soldering. This other site gives information for the Averatec 3200.
WARNING: As of my current Linux 2.6.17 kernel, this problem has gone
away. I will keep this message here a little longer for those
with older kernels. After I had upgraded to the 2.6.12 kernel, the Synaptics
touchpad now occasionally freezes. (Don't know if this happens
with later kernels.)
Tracing comments on the web, I found I had to add
append="i8042.nomux"
to a stanza in lilo.conf, due to a bug in the i8042 device. If using grub
instead of
lilo, then add i8042.nomux to the end of the kernel line.
WARNING:
The vendor of the Smartlink modem appears no longer to support a Linux driver
for Linux kernel 2.6.12 or later.
See the modem section below for details of how to
use either the open source ALSA mode modem (built into some kernels)
with the kernel module, snd_via82xx_modem. This might not allow you
to use sound and modem at the same time. An alternative (with some
binary-only parts) described
in the modem section uses the Smart Link modem, and seems to provide
a more reliable connection.
(I also recommend the Averatec notebook, if an economical thin and light laptop is a priority (but see caveat). The Averatec is thin and light, 512 MB, integrated wireless, and under $1,000. The 3270 model includes a DVD burner. However, as one would expect, there are compromises. The battery initialy had 1-1/2 hours capacity, but after 1-1/2 years, the battery had less than 1/2 hour capacity. Also, after 2 years, the DVD/CD-writer is no longer able to write, although it still reads. A second Averatec notebook started overheating with 2 or 3 hours of use, after one and a half years.) Below are my experiences in configuring Debian on the Averatec.
These notes can easily adapted to Debian on another computer. In fact, I wrote these notes down carefully, to use on other computers or helping friends. Additions and corrections are welcome: gene@ccs.neu.edu . As usual, there are no guarantees. Use these suggestions at your own risk.
One general piece of advice, is to first run Knoppix or Kanotix. Under
Knoppix, look at /etc/sysconfig (Does this also work under Kanotix?).
That directory describes the
hardware auto-detected by Knoppix, along with appropriate device drivers.
lspci
and usbview are other useful tools for detecting
devices.
One other piece of advice: use "aptitude" to manage the Debian packages.
If you play with it a little, you will find it very powerful.
If you fail to configure a package during the first installation,
don't forget that
One minor complaint is that there appears to be no hardware reset button
on the Averatec 3200.
If you like to hack around like I do, you will eventually get
the kernel to freeze. The Linux equivalent of CTRL-ALT-DEL is
Alt-SysReq-KEY, where KEY is b (for reboot), k (for kill programs on
current virtual console) and others documented in sysrq.txt in
the Linux kernel documentation.
A good pattern for emergency shutdown is:
For some similar reports on the Averatec 3200 series, see:
I am not a Linux guru. Here are notes on what I did to get all the
hardware features of the Averatec working under Debian. I offer the
notes in case they may help you. But naturally, I provide no guarantees.
Use these comments at your own risk. I installed Debian 3.0 (Woody)
and then upgraded to Debian "unstable". (I'd probably just use "testing",
if I did it again.)
I've also installed Sarge (testing, as of 4/05) on an Averatec 3270.
I also tested under Knoppix 3.6, and most features work.
Note that Knoppix can be installed directly to your disk.
If you want the easy way out, just get a Knoppix, and install it
to hard disk. Then copy the Windows drivers below for wireless
and install it using ndiswrapper. Also get the free Linux driver
for the built-in SmartLink modem. However, your primary upgrade path
will then be to get newer versions of Knoppix, since Knoppix (as of 3.6)
uses a mix of testing and unstable packages. Upgrading Debian packages
the normal way requires you to choose "testing" or "unstable".
Some of the comments below may also be helpful to configure a different
distribution other than Debian or Knoppix.
If you use Grub as your bootloader (the most common choice, today), you
will have no problem. I used the Lilo bootloader. I also had an
NTFS partition (Windows XP Home), a FAT32 partition (readable/writeable
from Windows and Linux), and the usual Linux partitions. My "other"
stanza in /etc/lilo.conf refers to the NTFS partition. Recent versions
of Lilo have automatic changes. Lilo will say something like
"ASSUMING AUTOMATIC CHANGE-RULES" when you call lilo. The result was
that each time I booted under Windows, Lilo set the FAT32 partition to
a hidden partition, and it was no longer visible in Windows. To fix this,
I modified my "other" stanza as follows:
I then ran "lilo", and finally "parted" (or qtparted). Using parted,
I found the FAT32 partition with the "hidden" flag as follows:
(parted) print [ This showed partition 2 to have the hidden flag. ]
(parted) set 2 hidden off [ The number 2 is partition 2. ]
(parted) print [ Check partition 2 now has no hidden flag. ]
(parted) quit
For networking (especially for gateways, routers), I like this
Linux Proxy server
tutorial (firewall) with associated background material
(proxy/nat, networking, modems, etc.). Chapter 10 of
the "Debian Reference" also has some information.
You can force the X Windows system to exit (and possibly restart)
by typing <ctrl><alt><backspace>. You can get to additional
text-oriented consoles (no graphics) by typing
<ctrl><alt><F1>, <ctrl><alt><F2>, etc.
Typically, the grpahics-oriented console
is at <ctrl><alt><F7>.
The sound server is not required by sound applications, and simply provides
additional facilities (mixing, transport of sound across the network, etc.)
Under Gnome, you can choose your sound server via
"Desktop>Multimedia Systems Selector" and selecting
"Default Sink" and "Default Source". (Choosing Alsa or OSS essentially
means no sound server.)
You can turn on or off use of the sound server via
"Desktop->Preferences->Sound", and checking "Enable sound server startup".
As of Sarge (Debian 3.1) and Etch, the Debian kernels seem to include
most sound device drivers, but only as modules. Etch seems to correctly
add the necessary via82cxxx_audio module to
/etc/modules. For the older Sarge, I had to add it.
If in doubt on the correct /etc/modules, note that
Knoppix/Kanotix automatically fills in /etc/modules and provides OSS
(the old sound API) by default (true for Kanotix?).
Other ways to
guess the correct driver are
Alternatively, if you recompile the kernel to include
the device drivers for your computer as built-in, you do not need
to add to /etc/modules. See the kernel section of
this document.
The kernel supports sound via ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture),
or the older OSS (Open Sound System, DEPRECATED).
The older OSS supports
sound through the devices /dev/audio (raw sampled files),
/dev/dsp (OSS compatible PCM or digital audio), and /dev/mixer.
The newer ALSA kernel modules are always named snd-XXX. Examples are
snd-via82xx (via82xxx sound chip), snd-pcm-oss (OSS emulation
to support /dev/dsp), snd-mixer-oss (OSS emulation to support /dev/mixer),
and a rich variety of other devices.
If you want to simply use OSS directly, you will want the
module `via82cxxx_audio'. In the kernel source directory
within `make menuconfig' (libncurses5 and libncurses5-dev packages needed),
select
Newer programs like alsamixer use only the newer Alsa interface.
First, make sure you have Alsa installed. In Debian,
I use the packages: alsa-base, alsa-utils, and alsa-oss.
If gnome-volume-control, the sound volume applet in Gnome,
is permanently stuck on 0 volume, this is an indication that you don't
have Alsa installed. Once Alsa is installed, to enable it, make sure
to run:
Make sure you have Alsa support configured into your kernel.
In the kernel source directory, under `make menuconfig'
(libncurses5 and libncurses5-dev packages needed),
I selected:
Next, in theory, do:
After this, xmms/aumix (using OSS interface) and alsaplayer/alsamixer
(using ALSA interface) both work.
The Gnome applications don't have man pages, and I haven't
found a good HOWTO on setting up Gnome. I find the Gnome help
documentation less than useful. It seems primarily to be of the form:
On top of ALSA, Gnome provides sound servers. If you
get noise when Gnome starts, try disabling the sound server
(see "Enable sound server startup" above). If you want multiple
applications to be able to play sound simultaneously, then try
enabling it.
With Alsa working, OSS compatibility should also work, assuming that
was selected in kernel configuration. Check OSS as above.
Finally, under early kernel 2.6.12, I used ESD (Enlightened
Sound Daemon) when gnome started, I got noise.
You may not see this under later kernels.
I traced it down to the process (created when I login under Gnome's gdm):
If you want to be able to record any device using
PCM (/dev/dsp), use the vsound package in Debian.
For example:
PyMusique
(or alt)
is available as an interface to the Apple iTunes Music Store.
Some other multimedia apps to look into are:
Scribus (desktop publishing);
Blender (tools for 3D creation);
Banshee (iTunes replacement
and more);
gtkpod (alt iTunes replacement to manage iPod; see below for its configuration);
Amarok (alternative to gtkpod, but
not as reliable?);
Audacity
(audio editor and recorder);
Ardour
(multichannel digital audio workstation);
Jamin
(JACK Audio Connection Kit (JACK)
Audio Mastering interface);
toolame
(for creating mp3's (layer 2, to avoid patent issues of lame)
-- a Debian package);
hugin (easily create
panoramas from overlapping pictures);
Kino
(non-linear DV editor for capture, VTR control,
and recording back to the camera); and
dvdbackup
(extracts DVD in format for burning later, easy to use ---
a Debian package)
Separately, MediaInlinux
is a multimedia LiveCd with most of the above packages.
64 Studio for digital
content creation is a Debian Pure 64 offshoot
for AMD-64 and EMT64 only, but it ibut it is still only in testing.
If the microphone doesn't record loudly enough, note that
Alsamixergui has a setting, "Mic Boost (+20)". This has no
volume, but the speaker icons can be turned on and off. Turn it on if
your microphone volume is not loud enough, and don't forget
"Mic Select"..
As for configuring Debian/Gnome to work with iPod, I added:
In Gnome: Desktop -> Removable Drives and Media Preferences:
In theory, it should then be enough to go to:
The fix is to leave "Handle mounting/unmounting of iPod drive"
unchecked, and instead add a file
Finally, in using gtkpod, note that you can select "iPod" and then
drag the text for albums or tracks onto "Local" in order to copy
from iPod to disk. Then click "Sync" before quitting. The reverse should
work in the other direction. The dragging had not been obvious to me.
And as a second finally, when the dialogue comes up for copying tracks as
above, change the "Filename format" to a more sensible:
For playing .m4a files, see the comments about xmms under
sound.
NOTE:
If you have an RaLink RT2500 wireless (Averatec 3250 and 3270),
then try the open source driver at:
http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/wiki/index.php/Downloads .
(Note that the ndiswrapper is reported to have problems with RT2500.
The native driver is preferred for RT2500.)
If you have Broadcom, then read on for how to install a driver with ndiswrapper.
(If you have Broadcom, a good alternative to ndiswrapper is to
go to http://bcm43xx.berlios.de/.
Note that that page now recommends going to a newer page at
linuxwireless.org.
Linux kernel 2.6.17-rc2 and later now has
kernel support, but it also needs the bcm43xx-fwcutter tool,
explained at that page. They also report a Devicescape 802.11 stack
solution, valid for Linux kernel 2.6.18 and later.)
ndiswrapper is available at:
http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/ .
Note that as a prerequisitie to building it you will need both the
kernel source and the package wireless-tools.
After the build, you will need the Windows driver for the wireless chip.
If you have the Broadcom (Averatec 3220), Averatec's driver is at:
http://www.averatec.com/customercare/3200dl.htm
Alternatively,
http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/List
has a list. Look for Broadcom BCM4306 (rev 3). The story seems
to be that bcmwl5a.inf is the right driver, but _not_ bcmwl5.inf .
(Note that it's bcmw "ell" and not bcmw "one".)
After this, iwconfig shows a wlan0 interface.
You can test it with:
After adding it, I found I had to add a line:
The vendor of the SmartLink modem no longer supports a Linux driver.
In the case of kernel 2.6.12, my kernel already had the open
source ALSA version of the kernel module installed as a module:
"Device Drivers-> Sound-> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture->
PCI Devices->
CONFIG_SND_VIA82XX_MODEM" ("VIA 82C686A/B, 8233 based Modem")
The "help" for that module says "support for the MC97 modem on motherboards
with VIA chipsets".
I do not need to add slamr or snd_via82xx_modem to /etc/modules.
lsmod reports that only snd_via82xx_modem is installed.
I find that this modem creates the device /dev/pts/0, just as slamr would
normally do. I run slmodemd as before, and it creates a symbolic link,
/dev/ttySL0. As before, I set a symbolic link, /dev/modem, to /dev/ttySL0.
Apparently, the above solution uses the
via82xx_modem kernel module, which presumably does not use the SmartLink
modem. Unfortunately, it is not possible to use sound
while using the slmodem software in alsa mode.
Luckily, slmodem-2.9.11-*.tar.gz from
http://linmodems.technion.ac.il/packages/smartlink/
at the linmodems site does work. As of this writing,
their latest version is
slmodem-20060727.tar.gz .
Once your driver is working, if you have problems with dropped connections,
check out their
ATCommands.pdf reference.
So far, I've found the modem driver to be stable under
2.6 Linux kernel.
To set up PPP, I used pppconfig, which was fairly painless
Because of call waiting, any new incoming phone call would
interrupt my session. So, I added "*70," as a prefix to the phone number.
After that, pon, poff and plog are available.
Note that by default, root is not allowed to use pon
(see /etc/ppp/pap-secrets). So, you must test as an ordinary user.
I also did
2.6.8 kernel only: If you have the older 2.6,8 kernel, do:
For later 2.6 kernels, the command bwlow should work, with
SCSI_ADDR being your virtual SCSI address.
For CD-RW:
The "nice --10" is to run at high priority, since any pauses will
ruin the recording. To make cdrecord usable for non-root users, do
the following, and then "adduser USER cdrom" or directly modify /etc/group .
To copy a directory to a CD, convert the files in
TARGET_DIRECTORY into an ISO image for writing to a CD, do:
Alternatively, a simpler method, that also allows you to modify the ISO
image is:
The Debian reference manual also shows how to make disk.img bootable.
Do:
In order to convert a data CD to an ISO image on disk, do (as root
with Linux 2.6 kernel):
To backup an audio CD, the
Debian Reference Manual recommends:
I haven't tried burning a DVD, but here are some pointers:
Note also DVD Shrink,
which is free software for backing up your DVDs under Windows.
One use for this is to make a region-free backup, in case your DVD is
set for the wrong region for your DVD player.
DVD Shrink doesn't appear to be open source.
The keyboard also works fine. In Gnome 2.10, "Desktop->Preferences->Keyboard
->Layout Options" has options to create a "compose" key for accented
characters and international characters (e.g. Yen), but it doesn't
work for me, yet. The Gnome Keyboard Indicator applet (different national
keyboards, incl. U.S. w/ dead keys), and Chacter Palette applet
(international characters can be copied and pasted) may also do the trick
for you.
The Gnome CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor shows you if you have frequency
scaling. This requires that it be configured in the kernel. (I think it's
the default for Debian.) It also requires powernowd, below.
Finally, with the 2.6.12 kernel, Etch provides packages hibernate,
powernowd, powertweak, lspowertweak, and laptop-mode.
The packages
Laptop mode is described in:
Others recommend the swsuspend2 patch to the 2.6.11 kernel.
A USB flash drive may mount automatically using udev/hal (Hardware
Abstraction Layer). (Also, don't
forget to unmount before pulling it out with
A digital camera will show up as one or more of
(i) a USB storage device,
(ii) a device using PTP (Picture Transport Protocol), or
(iii) a proprietary interface.
The URL
http://www.wlug.org.nz/DigitalCameraSetup has excellent information.
These days most vendors provide
PTP, and many provide USB storage device interface. If a USB storage
device is supported, you can simply copy the photos from the virtual disk.
For example our Nikon Coolpix 3200 seems to support USB storage, but I
couldn't get PTP to work (neither "Nikon Coolpix 3200 PTP" nor
"USB PTP Class Camera"), while our Canon A5100 worked for us
only using "USB PTP Class Camera".
The text-oriented
Debian package gphoto2 handles PTP devices and vendor-specific
interfaces. To use it, add all users to
the camera group in /etc/group, so that the
/etc/hotplug/usb/libgphoto2 script will give permission to those users
for the corresponding USB device. Then, to import files, do (for example)
Additionally, to view and organize photos on the computer,
the Debian gthumb package provides a nice GUI.
It installs a Debian menu item "Applications->Graphics->gThumb Image Viewer".
The gthumb application has a menu item "File->Import Photos".
If you import from your camera with gthumb, instead of using gphoto,
then attach and turn on your camera,
click the camera icon of the "Import Photos" dialog,
and choose the camera model "USB PTP Class Camera" from the pull-down menu
in the "Camera Model" dialog box. The specific camera models do not work
for me.
A USB mouse did not work at first.
In using a USB mouse, I got a message: usb.agent: usbmouse: blacklisted
in some logs. (Try
For a Logitech USB QuickCam IM videocam, I saw
this
page,
which seemed to have specific advice for USB device 46d_8a6 (my device),
and calls it QuickCam IM/Connect.
They say to install the spca5xx-YYY Debian package, a kernel module that
needs to correspond a.
exactly to your kernel.
(Check the kernel name with
If you succeed in installing the module, you should see
If that doesn't work, try this other possibility that I found.
It didn't work for my model, but it may for your model.
For a Logitech USB webcam/videocam, I followed instructions
at:
Debian Manual --- Setting up a Logitech Webcam.
Fundamentally, the instructions were to get the package
qc-usb-source, and follow the instructions. The script within it,
./quickcam.sh, is well-written and leads you through the installation.
./quickcam.sh said it didn't recognize my videocam (too new?).
I continued to press
Other experiences with USB devices are welcome.
Until then, here are some random links from the web.
If you do build a new kernel,
I recommend having Knoppix or some other Linux rescue CD that will
allow you to fix things in case there is a problem with
your new kernel. (See Recovering when a new
Debian kernel doesn't boot for boot problems.)
Also, keep a copy of the old kernel and modules. The normal
kernel configuration tends to create an old copy for you automatically.
Here's what I did to build a new kernel, after
getting the Debian package kernel-source-*.deb:
For an excellent overall description, see the new
Kernel-HOWTO
(currently, then click on Kwan
Lowe's Kernel Rebuild Guide). I recommend to read that document
carefully which clearly explains all issues except some of the
configuration options. For configuration,
also check out the first two links below for configuring
nVidia video drivers, USB flash drivers, etc.
Here are other good descriptions of compiling the kernel from the web,
which also cover additional issues.
Before starting, here are some general pieces of knowledge to keep in mind:
Then read the lilo man page carefully.
You can compare what the previous lilo invocation did with
dpkg-reconfigure is always available.
(Try locate sysrq.txt or google for it on the web.)
If this does not work,
unplug the battery to force the laptop to power down.
EXCEPTION: For wireless, ndiswrapper is provided by Knoppix,
but a Windows driver is still needed (see below).
EXCEPTION: the modem doesn't work; The modem is SmartLink.
I got the modem working with the free driver for SmartLink modem.
(Although see comment at top about
2.6.12 kernel.)
================================================
I use Debian, but I also run the Knoppix LiveCD for hints about configuration.
I added 'battery' to /etc/modules, and /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/state
now reports the battery level. (Perhaps this is standard with current
Debian installations.)
I might have tried adding 'via-rhine' to /etc/modules for Ethernet, but
I didn't need it.
Knoppix includes a command `acpi -b' with a nicer summary of the information.
================================================
other=/dev/hda1
label="WinNT(hda1)"
change
The "change" command says to use our own empty change-rules and not the
automatic change-rules. The automatic change-rules were the ones making
the inactive dos partition hidden (on the theory that it would confuse
Microsoft Windows?).
debian-reference-en. After that, the menu item
"Applications->Debian Menu->Help->Debian Reference" will appear.
It is also available at
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/, or the latest development
version is at
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/. It's missing
chapters on such things as multimedia, sound, USB flash drive, USB camera,
but what it has is concise, to-the-point, and very helpful.
A good source for the rest (multimedia, sound, USB, etc.)
is
Debian GNU/Linux Desktop Survival Guide.
lspci -v and
cat /proc/bus/pci/devices.
Device Drivers->Sound->Open Sound System:
VIA 82C686 Audio Codec (NEW)
Note that xmms and aumix use the older OSS
interface. (Actually, xmms uses the older OSS by default, but if you
access its "configure" (click "O" for options, and then "preferences"),
you can set it to use ALSA instead of OSS. Select the ALSA output
plugin. If you want to play iPod files, make sure you choose
something for m4a for the input plugin. xmms-mp4 seems to work,
available at:
http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ (multimedia section).)
OSS works through /dev/audio.
Try `cat ANY_LARGE_FILE > /dev/audio' to test the OSS interface.
Device Drivers->Sound->Alsa:
Alsa; (MIDI) Sequencer; OSS Mixer API;
OSS PCM (digital) audio; OSS sequencer API
Device Drivers->Sound->Alsa->PCI:
Via82c686A/B, 8233 SouthBridge
I chose to compile the options built-in. Without that, you have to load
the Alsa modules in /etc/modules. I included:
sound
snd-via82xx (snd_via82xx)
snd-pcm-oss (snd_pcm_oss)
snd-mixer-oss (snd_mixer_oss)
[ OTHERS? ]
For Alsa, check the /proc/asound/ directory to verify that the kernel
has set up your modules (e.g. /proc/asound/cards to see if the kernel
recognizes your sound card).
Check also that amixer or gnome-alsamixer works. (You may need to either try
them as root, or else place the user in the group audio:
adduser USER audio.)
You may also need to run "Applications->Sound&Video->Volume Control"
(gnome-volume-control), and "gnome-alsamixer".
Try both. If alsa sets the volume to zero at the lower level,
or if gnome-volume-control sets the volume to zero at the higher level
within Gnome, then you will not hear sound. Also, in aumixer, did you
raise sound above zero for CD, Video, PCM, line, etc.? For example, you
won't hear sound in video if you don't enable Video (and possibly also
PCM).
/usr/bin/esd -nobeeps [the Enlightened Sound Daemon of Gnome]
Killing esd stopped the noise, and it did not return when esd is reexecuted.
You can also disable the esd from the Gnome control menu (see above).
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing main
to /etc/apt/sources.list .
I could then apt-get install mplayer-k7, etc.
See http://debian.video.free.fr/
for further information, or probably now simply
http://www.debian-multimedia.org/. Note also, the possibility to add:
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org experimental main
to get such packages as dvdrip.
Multimedia: iPod: Check "Sync files when connected"
and specify: Command: gtkpod
banshee is now available as a newer software.
Edit->Preferences: General: Import:
and set iPod Mount Point: /media/ipod
and also check "Handle mounting/unmounting of iPod drive"
However, as of gtpkod version 0.99.2 (I actually use gtkpod-aac
from debian-multimedia.org, which should properly play .m4a files),
on quitting from gtkpod, gtkpod calls "umount" instead of "eject".
As a result, the disk is unmounted, but the iPod is unaware of this,
and continues to indicate "Do not disconnect" on its screen.
~/.gtkpod/gtkpod.out :
#!/bin/bash
and to also add to
/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/eject /media/ipod
/etc/sudoers a line:
ALL ALL= NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/eject /media/ipod
%o;%a/%A/%T %t.mp3;%a/%A/%T %t.m4a;%t.wav
as is done in iTunes.
dpkg-reconfigure locales. Choose the desired
country/language localizations, and your default localization.
Using locale -a then shows you the available localizations.
Starting a window with LANG set ("LANG=XXX xterm") then provides the
accented characters.
ifconfig eth0 up
dhclient [ if you use dynamic TCP/IP addresses ]
Also check the entry for eth0 in /etc/network/interfaces .
You can also add a line:
Next, I did (assuming ndiswrapper, but note newer, better options, above):
[ Read INSTALL file in distribution ]
make install
cd to directory with Broadcom driver. Make sure you have both
bcmwl5a.inf and bcmwl5.sys
ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5a.inf [install it]
modprobe ndiswrapper [make it active]
[add ndiswrapper it to /etc/modules to make this available after every boot]
lsmod | grep ndiswrapper [to make sure it's there]
ndiswrapper -m [to make it available the next time you boot]
This ndiswrapper required a Linux kernel 2.4.20 or higher or 2.6.0 or higher.
iwconfig and dhcpcd.
http://www.debian.org/distrib/packages#search_packages
shows that iwconfig is in the wireless-tools package, and
dhcpcd is in the dhcpcd package. I also installed the
dhcp3-client package.
iwconfig | grep wlan0
Note also:
iwlist scan [ Must be run as root ]
iwconfig wlan0 essid SSID [ Replace SSID by one for your site. ]
iwconfig wlan0 channel CHANNEL [ Replace CHANNEL by channel of
strongest of access points from previous scan ]
iwconfig wlan0 [ Check that the ESSID field is your SSID.
Also check that "Access Point:" has a MAC/Ethernet
number, and does not say "Not-Associated" ]
dhclient wlan0
OR: dhclient3 wlan0
If you succeed, you will see something like:
DHCPOFFER from 172.16.6.1
DHCPREQUEST on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
DHCPACK from 172.16.6.1
bound to 172.16.6.110 -- renewal in 291 seconds.
iwlist wlan0 scan
again. Check if the channel you used corresponds to the channel
given by "iwlist wlan0 scan"
for the "Access Point" listed by "iwconfig wlan0". Try
ifconfig wlan0 down
iwconfig wlan0 channel CHANNEL essid SSID
ifconfig wlan0 up
dhclient3 wlan0
but for the correct channel for that access point.
Then login to wireless provider as before.
/etc/network/interfaces
in order to make it work via ifup wlan0 and
ifdown wlan0 instead of having to use dhcpcd.
Additionally, the Debian package netenv will automatically
start up your network at boot time for you.
OPTIONS='-t 5'
to the case wlan0) in the file /etc/dhcpc/config
Otherwise, the search for wlan0 did not timeout, and netenv would
hang when called at boot time. (To track this down, I went
from "man netenv" to "man interfaces" to "man dhcpcd" to "man dhcpcd-bin".
man dhcpcd makes reference to /etc/dhcpc/config and man dhcpcd-bin
makes reference to the timeout option "-t 5".)
lspci under Linux reports it as
AC97 Modem as indicated below, but the SmartLink driver works.)
0000:00:11.6 Communication controller: VIA Technologies, Inc.
Intel 537 [AC97 Modem] (rev 80)
[ You will need the kernel source if you are using a 2.6 kernel.
I had to get the kernel-source-2.6.*.deb package. Also, I had to
build and use the new kernel. It was not sufficient simply to
point the slmodem Makefile at the new kernel source.
( If you have to build a new kernel, type 'make oldconfig' to
copy the configuration from your current kernel, `uname -r`.
In fact, it copies /boot/config-`uname -r` to .config in
the source distribution. Then follow the kernel build instructions. )
Assuming a 2.6 kernel, in the Makefile of that distribution,
adjust KERNEL_DIR as:
KERNEL_DIR=/path/to/kernel-source
It seems to be enough to do 'make' in the KERNEL_DIR (you do not
need 'make modules'), and then to do 'make' in the slmodem directory.
]
make
# Create driver as device ttySL0
make install
# /lib/modules/2.6.8/extra/{slamr.ko,slusb.ko} should appear
#TRY executing "scripts/debian/slmodemd start"; /dev/ttySL0 should then appear
# A lot of applications look for modem as /dev/modem
ln -s /dev/ttySL0 /dev/modem
#To test on a one-time basis:
# modprobe slamr; scripts/debian/slmodemd start;
# minicom (as root, and set serial port to /dev/modem; then try:
# ath0 atdt PHONE_NUM )
# Type slmodemd each session before using the modem, or else automate as
# part of single-user mode startup, which precedes rest of initialization:
cp scripts/debian/slmodemd /etc/init.d/slmodemd
ln -s ../init.d/slmodemd /etc/rcS.d/S90slmodemd
# The slmodemd script should now start automatically at boot time.
# It then starts the daemon that creates /dev/ttySL0
# You can also start the daemon manually with: /etc/init.d/slmodemd start
An easy way to test the modem is to go to minicom, and type something
like `ath0'. If the modem is functioning, you should see the characters
echoed. To get minicom working, you will need to configure it
(under root) so that the serial device is /dev/modem .
chmod o+r /var/log/syslog so that plog
would work for an ordinary user. I don't log any passwords to syslog.
With some techniques (but not with pon),
you might have to add a user to the
group, dip, in order to use pon, since pppd is in that group.
rm /dev/cdrom; ln -s hdc /dev/cdrom
fixed this.
The Debian reference manual says that writing CDs should work fine with a
2.6 kernel. For the use of cdrecord, it is best to have a kernel
2.6.9 or later.
I currently use cdrecord version 4:2.01+01a03-5.
-dao driveropts=burnfree -data IMAGE.iso \
2>&1 | grep -v ^gettimeofday | grep -v ^ioctl
-dummy to turn off the laser if you only want to test.)
Note that -data is for data CDs and -audio exists for audio CDs.
See the cdrecord man page for details.
nice --10 cdrecord -v -eject speed=2 dev=SCSI_ADDR disk.img
To discover your virtual SCSI address, the package cdrtools-doc
has a file /usr/share/doc/cdrecord/README.ATAPI.setup, which says
to do: cdrecord dev=ATA: -scanbus
This doesn't work for me, but I succeed with: cdrecord dev=/dev/hdc -scanbus
This should produce the SCSI_ADDR after 'scsidev:'.
scsibus1:
1,0,0 100) 'QSI ' 'CDRW/DVD SBW-242' 'UX02' Removable CD-ROM
An alternative using cdrdao is:
cdrdao write --device /dev/hdc --speed 4 cdrdao.toc
[ where I want to write disk.img and cdrdao.toc contains: ]
CD_ROM
// Track 1
TRACK MODE1
COPY
DATAFILE "disk.img"
nice --10 cdrecord -v -eject blank=fast speed=2 dev=/dev/hdc disk.img
OR:
nice --10 cdrecord -v blank=all speed=2 dev=/dev/hdc disk.img
nice --10 cdrecord -v -eject speed=2 dev=/dev/hdc disk.img
dpkg-reconfigure cdrecord
mkisofs -r -V volume_id -J -T -o disk.img TARGET_DIRECTORY/
In order to inspect an ISO image before writing to CD, make sure that
/cdrom is not currently mounted and do:
mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop disk.img /cdrom
cd /cdrom # and look around
umount /cdrom # after cd'ing out of /cdrom
modprobe loop [to make sure kernel module, loop, is available]
mount -t loop disk.img /cdrom
cd /cdrom # and look around
rm -rf newcd; mkdir newcd
rsync -a -H --exclude=ANY_FILES /cdrom newcd
umount /cdrom # after cd'ing out of /cdrom
mkisofs ... newcd/
mkisofs -b REL_PATH/TO/BOOT_IMAGE -c REL_PATH/FOR/BOOT.CAT -no-emul-boot
where boot.cat doesn't exist (mkisofs will create boot.cat,
but it may not overwrite an existing one??) and REL_PATH/TO/BOOT_IMAGE
and REL_PATH/FOR/BOOT.CAT are relative paths to TARGET_DIR.
[ Note that the Debian reference manual omits -no-emul-boot .
But 'man mkisofs' says that the boot image must then be a
floppy image. ]
If your bootable CD is based on Knoppix, you probably want the
following example:
mkisofs -b TARGET_DIR/boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin \
-c TARGET_DIR/boot/isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot ...
I'm guessing that the name isolinux refers to the idea of creating
bootable ISO images in Linux. isolinux.bin is probably the program
with the initial splash screen asking you what kernel/options to choose.
readcd dev=/dev/cdrom
and choose option "11:read disk" (at least as tested with readcd
version 2.01).
The readcd command is part of the
cdrecord Debian package. You will then be guided interactively.
Note that "block size" and "sector size" are synonymous in this context.
# apt-get install cdrdao #disk at once
# cdrdao read-cd --device /dev/cdrom --paranoia-mode 3 my_cd # read cd
# cdrdao write --eject --device /dev/cdrom --speed 8 my_cd # write new CD
cdrdao does a real copy (no gaps, etc...).
Note that when you buy blank CDs, there are "data CDs" and "music CDs".
If your CD player doesn't say that it can play CD-R media, you may
need to use slightly higher priced "music CD" media.
mkdir /media/tmpfs
mount -t tmpfs -o size=1G,nr_inodes=5k,mode=700 tmpfs /media/tmpfs
Additionally, there is a /dev/shm device that the operating system
uses for the POSIX shared memory abstraction. It can be resized via:
mount -o remount,size=2G /dev/shm
An older method to create a ramdisk without using tmpfs is:
# To make a ramdisk of 2 MB (2048K):
mke2fs -vm0 /dev/ram 2048
mkdir /mnt/ramdisk
mount /dev/ram /mnt/ramdisk
# Then write some script that will copy your important files
# to hard disk every 10 minutes or so.
Following the same principles, you can look inside an existing CD or
partition image:
mkdir /mnt/cdrom-extra
mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop CD-IMAGE.iso /mnt/cdrom-extra
tpconfig -i as root
for tpconfig version~ 3.1.3, I get:
auditor:/usr/local/jdk1.5.0/docs/api/java/lang# tpconfig -i
fatal:
No Synaptics or ALPS touchpad device found
I added
battery
to /etc/modules.
acpi -b now works
and /proc/acpi/battery now exists.
It shows battery level. Some other features, such as suspend, may depend
on later 2.6 kernels?
noflushd (spin down hard disk)
and powernowd (adjust speed of CPU) may be useful for
power conservation. powernowd requires the CPUFreq kernel module.
/usr/src/linux-source-2.6.12/Documentation/laptop-mode.txt
(requires linux-source-2.6.12 package).
It says that echo 5 > /proc/sys/vm/laptop_mode will turn it
on with a reasonable value, while 0 turns it off. It also notes that
hard disks in desktop computers typically have
a very limited lifetime measured in spindown cycles (typically about 50,000
times). Check your drive's rating, and don't wear down your drive's
lifetime if you don't need to.
/dev/hdaX is the swap partition. He also
reports that he needs to stop the wireless and unload the wireless
module using modprobe -r before hibernating.
To hibernate, he switches to a non-windows console and types
echo 4 > /proc/acpi/sleep . (<CTRL><ALT><F1> or
chvt 1 to switch to console 1. The original
graphics console is back at number 7 (F7).) See Cormack's page
for details.
lsmod |grep usb_storage
[ If not present, add usb-storage to /etc/modules, and reboot ]
With kernel 2.6.17, I could no longer use my USB stick,
and I instead saw messages like:
usb 1-2: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
Can't accept address 2, error -101
According to Ubuntu Bug #49367, this is a bug with the "experimental
individual usb suspend", and it should eventually be fixed in
a newer kernel. In the meantime, they recommend to disable USB 2.0
via
"modprobe -r ehci_hcd" and then reinsert the USB stick.
You can permanently disable it via:
"echo "blacklist ehci_hcd" > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ehci",
but don't forget to re-enable it with a newer kernel that is hopefully
free of this bug.
umount,
or you could corrupt its
filesystem, and have to remake it.)
To mount the usb flash drive manually, I did:
usbview # Verify USB drive is recognized. Requires usbview package.
# Alternatively: cat /proc/bus/usb/devices
dmesg | tail # See if udev recognized USB key insertion with a device
mkdir /mnt/usbdisk
# YOU MAY NEED /dev/sda OR /dev/sda1 OR /dev/sdb OR /dev/sdb1, ETC.
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usbdisk
# AFTER USING IT, DON'T FORGET:
umount /mnt/usbdisk
If you pull out the USB disk without first unmounting, you risk corrupting
the files, and having to reformat the USB disk. Note that some sites
recommend mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usbdisk (first partition of
scsi disk a). Try that if /dev/sda doesn't work. Also, try
/dev/sdb, /dev/sdb1, for drive b, etc.
gphoto2 --port "usb:" --camera "Kodak CX4230" --get-all-files,
although a simple gphoto2 --get-all-files or
gphoto2 -P should also work.
(See man gphoto for other options, such as
--delete-all-files for reformatting the camera flash memory.)
The file /usr/share/doc/libgphoto2-2/README.Debian
has further information.
grep -i usb /var/log/*) Apparently,
/etc/hotplug/blacklist contains:
# these drivers are very simple, the HID drivers are usually preferred
usbmouse
usbkbd
After commenting out usbmouse and rebooting, the USB mouse worked.
I assume the same would hold for a USB keyboard.
uname -a.)
They also write that the
the newer versions of the driver are no longer called spca5xx but gspcav1
v 1.00.11 is the latest at the time of writing, again, see the changelog.)
Don't forget modprobe spca5xx to install the module.
Also, see the list
of recognized cams, although some other cams also work.
/dev/video0. Then, don't forget
adduser USER video
Next, check out
some utilities that use video4linux (v4l and v4l2).
depmod -a
modules/qc-usb-source# modprobe quickcam
If you've come this far, you should probably go back and read the information
above about compiling the kernel. Below are my own notes, which are not
as good. But here they are, anyway.
(0) set EXTRAVERSION=-20050125 (current date; or whatever else
you prefer); This gives your kernel a unique name. Now
there is no name conflict between files for your new and
old kernel.
original kernel version
(1a) make clean (to remove any old object files)
(1b) make mrproper (optional; to remove old configuration files,
including to remove .config)
(2a) make oldconfig (to take your
old kernel configuration as a default; If .config exists, it
uses that; if /boot/config-VERSION for current kernel exists,
that is copied into .config)
(2b) make menuconfig (to configure the kernel;
has a prereq of the libncurses5-dev and libncurses5 packages
--- not part of the
first three Debian disks for Sarge; Don't forget to make
ext3 builtin and not a module, as explained above.)
(3) make (to compile the kernel)
(4) make modules (to compile the modules)
(5) make modules_install (install the modules by copying
them to /lib/modules/VERSION/
(6) make install (should copy arch/i386/boot/bzImage
to /boot/vmlinuz-VERSION; and copy System.map
to /boot/System.map-VERSION; Note that System.map is
unrelated to /boot/map, a file used by lilo)
(7) Hopefully, you had your ext3 or other filesystem drivers
built in. (If you need it at boot time, and you insisted
on making it a module, you will need to use mkinitrd
to create an initrd. Then copy it to /boot/initrd-VERSION.)
(7) Edit /etc/lilo.conf (or /boot/grub/menu.lst
if you use GrUB). For lilo, make sure that
vmlinuz, map (for System.map), and initrd (if you didn't
follow advice) all point to the right location. Often,
they are set to symbolic links, and you must track down
the target.) Make sure that root points to the correct
partition. Keep a 'image=/boot/vmlinuz.old' stanza
pointing to your old kernel, in case the new one doesn't boot.
(8) If you have more than one partition with Linux, mount
the other partitions, and then edit the additional stanzas
of /etc/lilo.conf to show (for example)
'image=/mnt/hda6/boot/vmlinuz', 'root=/dev/hda6',
'initrd=/mnt/hda6/boot/initrd', 'label=OtherLinux'
(9) /sbin/lilo (to permanently install the new boot options)
(10) Reboot. If there is an error message, pressing ScrollLock
with pause the boot process for you to read it. If the
computer freezes, you can hold down the four
keys: <CTRL><ALT><SysRq>b
to force a reboot (usually). If already under Gnome, try
<CTRL><ALT><1> followed by <CTRL><ALT><SysRq>h
(for help). Then do <CTRL><ALT><7> to return to
the Gnome GUI. If you succeed in booting,
'dmesg' will often describe
problems in loading an individual modules for that session.
'/var/log/syslog' will contain error messages from that session
and from previous ones.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR 2.6 KERNEL
I still make kernels the original, non-Debian way.
For the earlier Debian kernels, I had to turn on Alsa and
CPU Frequency scaling
cp /boot/config-2.6.8 /boot/config-2.6.8.orig
[ Some people call this directory /usr/src/linux-2.6.8 ]
cd /usr/src/kernel-source-2.6.8
[ If you have no other backup kernel, besides a 2.6.8 image,
I suggest editing Makefile, to add a unique string for
EXTRAVERSION= ]
more README
make mrproper [Clean out old .o files]
[ Next, type 'make menuconfig'
(libncurses5 and libncurses5-dev packages needed),
and select: "load from file"
/boot/config-2.6.8 if it exists (to see old choices);
(A shortcut is to have first typed 'make oldconfig' to
copy /boot/config-`uname -r` to .config .)
Then modify the options as desired and save. ]
make menuconfig
[ Next, maybe record your choices; Does make install do this?
cp .config /boot/config-2.6.8-$EXTRAVERSION ]
make
make modules_install install
grep bzImage README
# I already had a backup kernel image. Make sure you're
# not clobbering your only backup kernel before doing
# the next step. If you added to Makefile:EXTRAVERSION= ,
# then you should add that to the 2.6.8 below.
#This next `cp' seems to be done already by Makefile .
#The README says you need to do it, but you don't.
# cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.8
ls -l /vmlinuz
[ Do something like:
rm /vmlinuz
ln -s /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.8-$EXTRAVERSION /vmlinuz ]
[ I use the older LILO. You will need to adjust
the menu.lst of the newer GRUB, if you use it.]
[ Edit /etc/lilo.conf to make sure you have an entry for
/vmlinuz
similar to the existing entry in /etc/lilo.conf
Also, make sure you have an entry /vmlinuz.old that
points to a previous kernel, in case
the new one doesn't boot. ]
Check /etc/lilo.conf, and edit it if necessary.
lilo [ Do this during current session; Else system might
be unbootable when you reboot ]
[ Reboot, and verify with `/sbin/lsmod' that you have your
desired modules. ]
cd /usr/src/linux-source-XXX
make mrproper # Erase all objects, binaries, temporary files, .config
cp /boot/config-XXX .config
make oldconfig
make modules_prepare
Reboot under Knoppix (or with knoppix26 to fix a 2.6 kernel).
Open a terminal window.
su root
# Note that "-o dev" is important in order to execute lilo
mount -o dev /mnt/hda6 # assuming /dev/hda6 is your root partition
chroot /mnt/hda6
# You are now root, looking at your old root partition, and you will be
# using your old binaries. The only difference is that you are
# running the Knoppix kernel instead of your old one.
Then decide what you did wrong. If you simply forgot to type lilo, you
can do it now, and reboot normally.
If it is more subtle, review what
lilo is doing for you. For each O/S or kernel, lilo needs to know:
The files /vmlinuz and /initrd.img are usually symbolic links.
Check what they link to.
lilo -I ... .
If you don't see how to fix it,
you can also restore a previous boot sector with lilo -u .
By default, you get the original boot sector before you installed Debian.
But if you previously did lilo -s, then you have an
intermediate (and hopefully working) boot sector.