h5550 report

This is my first appearance in this list although I've been using iPAQs
running gpe for about a year now. I use them in teaching as an alternative
to rather expensive commercial development kits. Students enjoy
programming these little things as the look se*y. So, many thanks to
developers of Familiar.

So far I worked with h3870, h3970 and now trying h5550 (the first one
being the most stable). This is my report on what and how I managed to
get working in the latest model.

1. Installed bootgpe2-v0.7.2+unstable16-h3900.jffs2 from
http://familiar.handhelds.org/~pb/unstable/
(detailed instructions in
http://familiar.handhelds.org/familiar/releases/v0.7.2/install/
)

2. Discovered that neither USB nor wifi networking work, so the kernel
upgrade was needed. The CF IBM 1G microdrive worked, so I decided
to transfer the kernel packages by using that microdrive.

3. Upgraded to
kernel_2.4.19-rmk6-pxa1-hh36.11_ipaqpxa.ipk
kernel-modules_2.4.19-rmk6-pxa1-hh36.11_ipaqpxa.ipk
from ftp://familiar.handhelds.org/familiar/feeds/unstable/packages/armv4l/

4. only then managed to get usbnet working
PC:
ifconfig usb0 inet 192.168.1.254 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

PC: /etc/iptables (among other things)
*filter
-A INPUT -i usb0 -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -i usb0 -j ACCEPT
*nat
-P PREROUTING ACCEPT
-A POSTROUTING -o usb0 -j ACCEPT
-A POSTROUTING -s 192.168.1.0/24 -d ! 192.168.1.0/24 -j MASQUERADE
-P OUTPUT ACCEPT

iPAQ:
use GUI to configure usbf networking IP=192.168.1.1 gateway=192.168.1.254

create /etc/resolv.conf conaining "nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"

make sure that one of files in /etc/ipkg/ contains a link to the unstable
feed.

do
ipkg update
ipkg upgrade (answering yes to all questions)
change root password as /etc/passwd gets overwritten)

5. wlan still did not work. I had to do

ipkg remove at76c503a-modules
ipkg install atmel-usb-modules

in order to get it running. GUI is useless in configuring WEP. Use
iwconfig eth0 key <128-bit hex key>
from terminal instead. Then click Aerial applet -> networks -> a window
pops up -> klick the detected nework -> try connect.. option.
The same can be also done from the command line.

Then the wlan led turns green and flashes only when data is transmitted.
You can disconnect the network from the aerial applet or by typing
ifconfig eth0 down

Note: my wifi access point provides WEP-128 and dhcp.

Bug: the key gets lost after sleep, which kills the connection. The above
steps need to be repeated after it.

Question: how to power-down the wifi card? It keeps flashing orange even
if the usb-eth module is removed.

6. No sound by default, I had to do
ipkg install sound modules
to get it working.

7. No mmc card by default. I had to type
modeprobe mmc_h5400
to get it automatically mounted at /mnt/card . This change can be made
permanent by adding the module name to /ets/modutils/kernel-modules .

8. Bluetooth does not work, although all modules are loaded. It responds
"connection timed out" when trying
hcitool scan

9. Other issues:

Could not get kernel output to the serial console during booting. Need to
check: possibly the driver is compiled as a module...

After cold start (battery removing) the iPAQ hangs with white screen.
Needs to be reset and then boots correctly. The absense of the serial
console does not help here!

The 5-way button is ugly, its driver needs refinement.

Typing on the touchscreen sometimes glitches.

The areal applet dies sometimes (scanner off option). I had to put it back
by hand a few times.

Fast reflashing (bootloader, serial console, CF microdrive):
Good that one can do
copy hda1:/imagexxx.jffs2 root
Bad that the other way round does not work. I have to save images across
xmodem by running
save root
.

Bootlaster wince image is useless. The usable one was obtained by
save root
from the bootloader.

Kindest regards,
Alex
Received on Tue Aug 24 10:46:49 2004