Full set of efont

Just found a zip file contained the full set of efont (range from font size 8 to 24). It is about 24MB which is quite a lot, but I think I will still load the font into my zaurus to make the best out of it. I will do it once I have time.

By the way, I have been trying to play some mpeg (VCD format) using Kino2, however it seems quite slow and the video/audio do out of sync during playback. Wondering if any tweak is necessary to get it work. Or maybe the only way is to overclock + convert the video in the PC before loading it in Zaurus. In addition, I can't get wmv to play in Kino2, maybe a codec has to be installed. Hmm.... think I will have a do quite a lot of research to get the optimal results.

Another software I'm looking for is a good remote control software which will work with my Media Center. See if I can find it shortly. :-p

Fixing up Harddisk partition for Sharp/Cacko Rom

After testing on the OpenZaurus and pdaXrom and want to go back to Cacko, there is a problem in booting up now, due to the changes made to the Harddisk partition. (Can't believe such thing is happening! Can't they just boot off the flash and ignore the Hdd!)

Ok, after spending a few hours going through the forum, here is the step by step fix:

Step1. Download the necessary
You can download all the necessary files required to get the Sharp/Cacko rom working here: http://www.trisoft.de/en_index.html
For my SL-C3200, I need this file: SLC3200SYSPART.zip

Step 2. Run in command prompt
In order to re-partition the harddisk, you will at least able to run the necessary command from a console. You can follow this emergency recovery procedure:

• Take the battery out and wait for a moment
• Hold "D" + "B" buttons and put the battery in and lock it
• Turn the device on (keep the keys pressed)
• Now it should boot up with a Sharp logo and end with a login promot
• login as root

Step 3. Repartition the harddisk
This is the requirement of the partitions:
/dev/hda1 Start 1 End 20 Blocks 10048+ id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda2 Start 21 End 40 Blocks 10080 id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda3 Start 41 End 7936 Blocks 3979584 id c System Win95 FAT32 (LBA)

You can use fdisk to set it up
# fdisk /dev/hda

(I won't be wasting the time puting all the necessary steps in using fdisk here)

Once you have done the setup, you will have to create the filesystem.
# mke2fs -j /dev/hda1
# mke2fs -j /dev/hda2
# mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/hda3

Step 4. Copy the necessary files
In this example, I have extracted the files from SLC3200SYSPART.zip in the Compart Flash Card.

// mount the harddisk drive
# mount /dev/hda1 /hdd1
# mount /dev/hda2 /hdd2

// copy the files from CF Card
# cd /hdd1
# mkdir .sys
# cd .sys
# cp /mnt/cf/hdd1sys/* .

# cd /hdd2
# mkdir .sys
# cd .sys
# cp /mnt/cf/hdd2sys/* .
# cd

# umount /hdd1
# umount /hdd2

Step 5. reboot
Now type in reboot to restart the system, Sharp/Cacko Rom should now run happily again!

OZ + pdaXrom test

Just tried to flash the latest available version on OpenZaurus (OPIE) and pdaXrom.

OZ failed to boot OPIE, can work in terminal mode though, not quite sure about what's going on, so I think I will wait for the next release or see if someone can come up any solutions in the forum.

For pdaXrom, the process of installing the rom is smooth, however when I try to do startx, all the xterms cannot show the ASCI properly (using the default settings), and not as user friendly as in Cacko. It also takes a quite to load the application.

As a PDA, I do prefer to have a quicker response and faster application loading. Guess pdaXrom is not for me at this stage. I will try that out again later.

So, after all, I think I will go back to Cacko 1.23 for the moment.

Unicode font (efont)

Been going through a number of forums for the chinese display solution, most of them refers to the efont package from zaurus.cis92.net. However it seems to be down, and it takes me a while to find the efont package in 2 size. Size 16 and 24.

The way people suggests is to remove all the links to the font helvetica_xx_xx.qpf and instead links to the efont_xx_xx.qpf within /home/QtPalmtop/lib/fonts/. I have done it for the efont_240_xx (since the fonts is larger and is more easily read on the screen.)

example like this:
# ln -s ./efont_240_75.qpf helvetica_100_75.qpf
# ln -s ./efont_240_75.qpf helvetica_120_75.qpf
# ln -s ./efont_240_75.qpf helvetica_140_75.qpf
# ln -s ./efont_240_75.qpf helvetica_160_75.qpf
.....

after a reboot, I can now display chinese with the helvetica selected (or efont) which points to the same font set anyway.

Below is the screen shot of the English-Chinese dictionary.

Running software for older model

Just found out the way to open the VNC Viewer in native 640x480 mode. Just hold down the stylus on the application icon for a few seconds, uncheck the option "Display with magnified screen".

Basically this should be applied to all applications default to run in 320x240 mode.

Telnet service

The default state of the Telnet service in Cacko is diabled. In order to enable the service, you will have to login as root and modify /etc/inetd.conf. This file is read by a program at boot time to determine which services to run.

Here is what has to be done (I have installed nano as my editor):
> sudo nano /etc/inetd.conf

uncomment the following line (use the one with TCP Wrapper)
telnet stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd in.telnetd

Save and exit. In order to see the effect immediately, issue the following command:
> killall -HUP inetd


Side Notes:
TCP wrapper make use the rules in /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny for access control with the running Internet services, so it should be more secure if setup porperly.

PC Sync with Cacko

There is a document on the net showing how to install English version of IntelliSync for the Cxx00. Here is the summary of the steps:

1. Download English of it from http://www.trisoft.de/download/pcsoft.zip (This version will not be working on the C Series)

2. Install the software, pick only the "Intellisync for Zaurus" to install

3. Make a copy of the "Intellisync for Zaurus" directory under the install path

4. Uninstall the english version of the software

5. Install the Japanese version of the software which comes with the CD, pick only the "Intellisync for Zaurus" to install.

6. Overwrite the "Intellisync for Zaurus" with the copy we made earlier.

When you run the application, it should be in English now. Have fun!

Black screen!?

Been having some weird problem with some software running in 320x240 mode. I have tried a VNC viewer (teakettle v0.6 - found in a forum somewhere). It seems to work at first, however when I try to run it again within the wifi connection, the screen turned blank, and there is no response to any action I've made. This happens even after I did a reboot. I ended up reflashing the ROM.

Next I have tried to install Gaim, which also seems to run in 320x240 in portrait mode only, again the first time I run it, it seems ok. But when I try to run it again, black screen again!!! However this time everything works fine after a reboot.

I'm suspecting there might be some lock up with the 320x240 mode software, maybe I should spend sometime trying to figure out what's going on. (Or maybe it's time for me to try another distribution.)

Chinese Display (Sort of success)

It is very strange that I can read chinese characters under Kconsole when I try to list the directory in the SD card. However, I cannot read those chinese characters under the explorer or applications like movie player.

There is a fix to this problem. Just modify the following file:
/home/root/Settings/locale.conf

change Language = en to Language=zh_TW

then do a reboot.

Ok, I can read chinese everywhere now. However one big problem.... all the fonts (both english and chinese) beome so small that it is very hard to read!!! I suspect it must be the problem on the default fonts being used.

Until I found out how I can read the chinese (+english) in a more comfortable size, I'm going to stick with Language=en for now.

WPA setup

WEP was easily being setup with Cacko, WPA is a bit more complicated. You will not be able to set it up via the Graphical Interface.

Here are the summary of the steps involved:

1. Use the network applet to create a connection. The settings will be stored in /etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.opts

2. Edit the /etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.opts.
Search for the settings related to the connection you have set in Step 1. Add WPA=y in the settings. Note that if you use the Network applet again to modify the setting for this connection, you will have to add WPA=y again as the settings will be overwritten.

3. Last, you will have to modify /etc/wpa-supplicant.conf. Before doing so, back up by doing the following
> cp /etc/wpa-supplicant.conf /etc/wpa-supplicant.conf.bak

clean the file and put the following lines in the file:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

network={
ssid="SSID for your network"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA
pairwise=TKIP
group=TKIP
psk="your password"
}

Done!! :-)

Wifi Setup in Cacko

I just managed to setup the Wifi network and surf the web using my Zaurus. Following is the summary of what I've done.

Hardware: PLANEX GW-CF11X 802.11b Compact Flash Wifi Card

When I first plug this card into the CF slot, the system automatically detected it, you can go to Network within the Settings Tab to do the configuration. (Trust me, it is as easy as setting it up in Windows)



Basically you will need to add a connection type, settings as follow:
Account - put in the account name that describe your connection
Config - you can put in your network's SSID and the type (Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc)
WEP - put your network's security information here
PPPoE - option to use the PPPoE authentication
WEB Auth - option to use the web authentication
TCP/IP - either put in the static IP or check the box for DHCP setup
DNS - option to put in the name servers or do auto-detect
Proxy - set the proxy if you require one to work with

Once you have set it up properly, it should allow you to connect to the network. Now you can use Opera to surf the web!

(Something to look at: there doesn't seems to be an option to use WPA-PSK as the security option, is it not available in the Cacko release by default?)

What to test out next: PC synchronisation with the Zaurus.

Look at my Zaurus!

Haven't got time to play to this little dog in the evening, after coming back home from dinner, I decided to take a few photos of it.















Next to it is my NDS, which is slightly larger than the Zaurus. They are actually about the same weight but I think the Zaurus looks more attractive. (Wonder how it will compare to the DS Lite?)

There are so many distributions available for the Zaurus, refer to the QuickStart guide from TRIsoft, following are what's available:

• TRIsoft ROM (www.trisoft.de)
• SHARP Rom (www.ezaurus.com)
• OpenZaurus (openzaurus.org)
• OpenBSD (www.openbsd.org/zaurus.html)
• Debian (http://pocketworkstation.org)
• pdaXRom (http://www.pdaxrom.org)
• Cacko Rom (http://my-zaurus.narod.ru)

The image on here shows my Zaurus flashed with the latest Cacko Rom (v1.23).

I did have problem install it in my Zaurus (SL-C3200), it is due to the script and the folder setup which does not included the C3200 build. In order to get it working, basically you need to modify the script to include SL-C3200 model and copy the files (or rename the folder) from SL-C3100 to SL-C3200 within the tools.tar file. I will be spending the next few days playing with this distribution to test things out!

My next task will be getting the WiFi to work at home!

Received my first Zaurus!

Wow! I just received my first Zaurus (SL-C3200) this morning!

I have just ordered the device from pricejapan on Saturday morning, expected the bank transfer to show up on their account sometime this week and receive it next week.

What a surprise my dog (Terrier - codename on the SL-C3200) shows up this morning!!

Thanks PriceJapan! You are the best!

I will post some more information tonight when I got home! :-)

Welcome to my first Zaurus Blog

Welcome all!

I'm from Australia and I've just ordered my Zaurus (SL-C3200) via www.pricejapan.com. I believe I should share my experiences on this lovely gadget, and hence the result of this blog.

For those who do not know what a Zaurus is, it is a PDA from Sharp which feature Linux as the Operation System. However, the latest and greatest of the device will only be available in Japan and no where else, hence you will have to import it.

Here are some places where you can get it.
http://www.pricejapan.com
http://www.dynamism.com