Subject: Help for a newbie ArmLinux user

From: Rob Davis <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 10:45:06 +0100

I'm trying to find some reletively simple answers about my version
of ARMLinux I installed over the weekend.  It is the latest version
from the ARMLinux ftp site.

It's running on a RPC600 with a 610 ARM processor.
I apologise if this is written somewhere, but it does't appear
to be in the FAQ.  I fear I'm on a fast learning curve over the
next few weeks.

The kernal I have does not appear to support PPP, is this actually
a problem with the kernel or with PPP?

My CDROM doesn't appear to work.  I have a program in !Boot....Predesk
called !BootIDECD which claims it is SLCD CDROM s/ware.  The drive is
a 2x Panasonic on a Cumana IDE drive (via a special circuit).  It RMEnsures
cdfsdrive 2.20 and .islcd_2 whatever they are.

Can off the shelf applications work, or do they need a lot of hacking.
I'm interested in:  KDE, KDE Office, Netscape and some sort of
spreadsheet.

Our main office is moving to Linux in the new year on Intel machines,
so I want to try and remain compatible.  I have got a Linux book
but it is Intel related (I think for RedHat 5.0 on the CD).  Will
the RPMS of the CD work?
-- 
Rob Davis                OAC Ministries, British Registered Charity, 295432
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homepage: http://www.oac.u-net.com    Mobile: 0973 359577 (SMS welcome)
[email-masked] or [email-masked] to phone

* The box said "For Windows 95 or better", so I'm using an Acorn. *
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From: Phil Norman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 15:07:22 +0100

In message <[email-masked]>
          Rob Davis <[email-masked]> wrote:

> called !BootIDECD which claims it is SLCD CDROM s/ware.  The drive is a 2x
> Panasonic on a Cumana IDE drive (via a special circuit).  It RMEnsures

The CDROMs with the daughter boards are not supported.  I have tried to get
docs from Cumana so I could hack support into the kernel, but unfortunately
they've 'lost' the relevant information.

> I'm interested in:  KDE, KDE Office, Netscape and some sort of

Large applications require ELF (linux's shared library/run-time linking
system), simply because otherwise they run out of memory.  I won't go into
the details now.  Your vanilla armlinux installation does not contain ELF
support, so you may want to sort that out at some point.  However, be warned;
It's not something that's easy to do unless you know how.  You won't be able
to simply install normal applications as they are distributed, since binaries
built for a PC will simply not run on an ARM.  You'll need to recompile.

> but it is Intel related (I think for RedHat 5.0 on the CD).  Will

No, because the binaries are built for i386 (horrible things ;-).  Also, you
won't be able to build RedHat 5 SRPMs (the Source RPMs), or at least not
without hacking, since RedHat 5 requires ELF support.

Not sure about your PPP problem - it has come up before though, so try
leafing through the mailing list archive, which I STR is on ftp.barnet.ac.uk
somewhere.

Phil

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From: Chris Sawer <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 19:09:54 +0100

<snip>
 
> a problem with the kernel or with PPP?

The precompiled kernels from the internet are only really designed to get you
started with Linux. It is best to compile your own kernel fairly soon as you
can then include ppp support, printer support, etc.

My website (for address see my sig) has quite a bit of information about
compiling kernels and getting ppp working. Just don't try downloading the
precompiled GXEdit, as my connection crashed half way through the upload.

> cdfsdrive 2.20 and .islcd_2 whatever they are.

Sorry, I don't have enough power in my Risc PC to connect my CD Rom and both
hard drives (my second one has some of Linux on) so I can't help with this.

> I'm interested in:  KDE, KDE Office, Netscape and some sort of

Almost everything needs to be recompiled - unless there is a specific
ArmLinux version, like distributed.net's RC5DES client. KDE needs the QT
libraries, which I don't think work with a.out (they may need elf - see Phil
Norman's post). Netscape may work using Lesstif (it is designed for use with
a commercial library called Motif, and Lesstif [http://www.lesstif.org/] is a
freeware replacement. I haven't managed to get this to work, though, let
alone Mozilla.

<snip>

Hope my rantings (and website) are of some help - I haven't been using Linux
that long myself, so I'm still learning a lot.

Chris

-- 
  Chris Sawer - Worthing, Sussex, England
    http://members.xoom.com/chrissawer/
E-Mail: [email-masked],  ICQ: 15010147
    PGP public key available on request
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From: [email-masked] (Theo Markettos)
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 21:03:12 +0100

> they've 'lost' the relevant information.

They were equally unhelpful when I tried to get the info out of them.  I've
been trying for some time to hack one of these drives (a Panasonic CR562) to
make into an audio CD player.  I know what the command set is, the pinout,
ISA bus mapping for a Soundblaster interface it connects to, and the SWI
interface to Cumana's CDFSSoftISLCD.  Unfortunately the two main links in the
chain (how the daughter board works and what the electrical interface to the
drive is) have so far eluded me, so I haven't been able to make the drive do
anything useful outside a Risc PC.  What I do know can be found at
http://www.marketto.demon.co.uk/electronics/panasoniccd.html

There is already a Linux driver for these Panasonic drives - there's a link
on my page.  If someone can hack the daughterboard, then it should be fairly
simple to write a driver.

If anyone wants to try writing a driver, let me know.  I can't help with
code, as I haven't the faintest idea about fiddling with the Linux kernel,
but I might be able to help otherwise.

-- 
Theo Markettos          [email-masked]
Liphook
Hampshire               Web site, including Acorn backup software
UK                      http://www.marketto.demon.co.uk/
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From: [email-masked] (gARetH baBB)
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1998 20:08:58 +0100

> they've 'lost' the relevant information.

Can't you just pull apart the SoundBlaster/Panasonic drivers from Linux86
and have a prod about ?
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