Re: Debain arm on a nokia N800
Hendrik Boom wrote:
> On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:33:43 -0400, Jason Edgecombe wrote:
>
>> ...snip...
>>
>>> Which one should I use for this? I'm currently running the factory-
>>> installed OS2007.
>>>
>>>
>> You're running OS 2007 (bora), most of the instructions assume you're
>> running OS2008 (chinook) or OS2008.1 (diablo).
>>
>
> So it looks as if the first thing I have to do is upgrade to OS2008
> (chinook) Or to diablo. Is diablo stable enough for an end-user yet?
> (Yes, in adition to wanting to get to where I can hack the machine, I
> also have to be able to use it as an end-user at any time throuh the
> process)
>
> Presumably I'll still have to get to be root first. Unless I can reflash
> to OS2008 witout gaining root. I'll still have to back up my contacts,
> my calendar, and my sketches first (that's the relevant state I have at
> this point), hoping their file formats will be consistent before and
> after the upgrade.
>
> What's the recommended way to back all this up so it'll be restorable in
> OS2008? My bora-made backups have to be restorable on OS2008. I heard
> that at one time, the backup tools provided wouldn't restore properly.
>
>
I've been running diablo for at least 3 months now. It's stable for me.
chinook was also stable and I ran that on my N800 for 6 months before
upgrading to diablo. The browser switched form opera in OS2006 to a
firefox-based on in OS2008 and above. The web browsing is a little
different.
You can reflash the tablet WITHOUT needing root on the tablet. You only
need root/admin on the PC/MAC that you are flashing with. You will need
the wifi address of your table in order to download the firmware image.
I don't recall how well the system backup tool works when upgrading, so
I recommend that you perform three backups, using the following method:
1. Use the system backup tool to backup to an SD card.
2. open a terminal and use the built-in tar utility to backup /home/user
to an tarball on the SD card
3. open the file manager and copy/move the Nokia N8X0 folder which
contains "Documents", "Images", etc to an SD card.
I do recall one glitch when upgrading. I had to pair my bluetooth
keyboard before restoring from backup. There was some bluetooth config
file in the backup that didn't work right.
After upgrading, try to restore the system backup. If that fails,
restore from the other two methods. Settings like wifi hotspots are lost
when restoring from method 3 and possibly method 2.
>
> So, should I make a wiki page describing my trials, hoping someone who
> knows more can edit it into something resembling instructions? I don't
> feel confident enough about what's going on to make anything that sounds
> definitive, like the existing pages do.
>
You can create a new wiki page, but I suggest putting your steps on the
discussion tab of the relevant wiki page to help others.
> I can't be the only one running bora in the world, can I?
>
>
No, but you're definitely in the minority of people running bora and
trying to hack on the Nokia tablets. I would guess that those left
running bora either aren't developing on the tablet or are running a
N770 and are stuck with OS2007HE.
>
> Probably from some other evanescent repository, back last January.
> Is that still the current version? I'm guessing not. Installing it
> certainly didn't ask me to change the root password.
>
I don't know what the current version is.
>>
>>
>> The rough procedure to boot from an SD card is the following: 1. get
>> root (try gainroot, openssh-server, or rootsh from maemo extras) 2.
>> partition your sd card using sfdisk (install sfdisk form extras?) 3.
>> mke2fs the SD card partitions (get e2fstools from extras) 4. clone the
>> root fs to a partition -- I used rsync instead of tar, because tar
>> wasn't in extras when I tried.
>>
>
> rsync is pretty good.
>
If memory serves, I had to mount the rootfs on /mnt or /opt to be able
to clone it. I had it mounted as / and /opt simultaneously. I think that
was to avoid copying the other filesystems during the cloning process.
>
>> 5. install the bootmenu utility
>> 6. configure it and run the bootmenu install script reflash the
>> bootloader from the device itself.
>>
>> The boot menu config is where you can configure alternate kernels and
>> root filesystems. Steps 2-6 require root access.
>>
>> I recommend dabbling with alternative OS's from an SD card. That way,
>> you can mount the OS from ITOS and easily tweak things using the normal
>> filesystem tools.
>>
>
> That are my long-term plans. At least those were once just my plans, but
> now they're starting to look more like long-term plans.
>
Don't give up on your plans! Just keep working on it and you'll get
there. If you haven't already, I suggest joining the maemo-developers
mailing list. You can get a lot of help there and most of this thread
would be on-topic for the maemo-developers or the maemo-users mailing lists.
Sincerely,
Jason
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