Peter Huewe: busybox official spelling

2010-05-17T21:38:32Z

busybox official spelling

Chris at 10:28, 14 July 2007

2007-07-14T10:28:59Z

RBot: Bot (Edward's framework)

2007-03-07T03:34:42Z

Bot (Edward's framework)

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This package provides an alternative to the [[OpenZipIt]] firmware for the [[ZipIt]] Wireless Messenger. Like [[OpenZipIt]] this firmware includes the [[Busy Box]] utilities as well as the Dropbear ssh client and server. Unlike [[OpenZipIt]] this firmware includes a web browser ([[ELinks]]), however, the [[OpenZipIt]] audio applications have been removed to conserve space. Some battery monitoring tools and various other useful utilities are also included. An additional feature of this firmware is that it is modular allowing modifications without the danger of a full re-flash.

== Requirements ==

Installation of this firmware requires a [[ZipIt]] that has been re-flashed with the [[BURN3]] firmware and a NFS server accessible over a wireless network. Re-flashing with the [[BURN3]] firmware makes it possible to boot the [[ZipIt]] to a command line, mount a NFS volume, copy files to the [[ZipIt]], and re-flash the [[ZipIt]]. It is beyond the scope of this document to describe setting up an NFS server. If you are a Linux user consult the [http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/NFS-HOWTO/index.html Linux NFS-HOWTO] or the documentation provided by your distribution.

== Server setup ==

Once your NFS server is functioning properly download Adam's Alternate ROM Load from http://www.mib.org/zip/TEST-ROOT/. Extract the files from the archive and copy them to a directory on the NFS server that will be accessible to the [[ZipIt]]. Depending on your network configuration you may need to change how the NFS volume is being shared. On Linux this is achieved by editing the <code>/etc/exports</code> file.

== Firmware installation ==

All of the commands in this section are executed on the [[ZipIt]]. Although it is certainly possible to type them using the [[ZipIt]]'s keyboard it may be preferable to connect to the [[ZipIt]] from a machine with a full-size keyboard, after network connectivity has been established. BURN3 includes a telnet server so executing

<pre>
telnet zipit_ip_address
</pre>

where <code>zipit_ip_address</code> is the [[ZipIt]]'s IP address from a terminal will allow you to login to the [[ZipIt]] and execute commands as if you were typing them on its keyboard.

=== Establish network connectivity ===

The first step in the installation process is to connect the [[ZipIt]] to the network. If your access point does not use encryption, broadcasts its SSID, and uses DHCP connecting is as simple as issuing the command

<pre>
udhcpc
</pre>

For more complicated configurations involving an access point that uses WEP or does not broadcast its SSID it will be necessary to configure the [[ZipIt]]'s wireless interface using <code>iwconfig</code> before running <code>udhcpc</code>. If your router does not use DHCP use <code>ifconfig</code> to specify the [[ZipIt]]'s IP address manually.

=== Mount NFS volume ===

After successfully connecting the [[ZipIt]] to the network mount the NFS volume to a directory on the [[ZipIt]]. First create a mount point

<pre>
mkdir /mnt/net1
</pre>

Then mount the NFS volume

<pre>
mount -t nfs -o nolock,tcp,intr server_ip_address:/server_folder /mnt/net1
</pre>

replacing <code>server_ip_address</code> and <code>server_folder</code> with appropriate values for your configuration. Next copy all of the files included with Adam's Alternate ROM Load from the NFS volume to the [[ZipIt]]'s <code>/tmp</code> directory

=== Create block devices ===

After copying files from the NFS volume create the two additional block devices that are utilized by Adam's Alternate ROM Load.

<pre>
mknod /dev/mtdblock4 b 31 4
mknod /dev/mtdblock5 b 31 5
</pre>

If all went well

<pre>
ls -l /dev/mtdblock*
</pre>

should produce something like:

<pre>
brw-r----- 1 root root 31, 0 May 19 16:11 /dev/mtdblock0
brw-r----- 1 root root 31, 1 May 19 16:11 /dev/mtdblock1
brw-r----- 1 root root 31, 2 May 19 16:11 /dev/mtdblock2
brw-r----- 1 root root 31, 3 May 19 16:11 /dev/mtdblock3
brw-r----- 1 root root 31, 4 May 19 16:11 /dev/mtdblock4
brw-r----- 1 root root 31, 5 May 19 16:11 /dev/mtdblock5
</pre>

=== Load modules ===

Before re-flashing it is necessary to load several modules that are used by the firmware. These modules are loaded with the commands:

<pre>
cp -R /mnt/net1/* /tmp

insmod /tmp/modules/mtdcore.o
insmod /tmp/modules/mtdblock.o
insmod /tmp/modules/mtdpart.o
insmod /tmp/modules/chips/chipreg.o
insmod /tmp/modules/chips/gen_probe.o
insmod /tmp/modules/chips/cfi_probe.o
insmod /tmp/modules/chips/cfi_cmdset_0002.o
insmod /tmp/modules/maps/readwrite_rescue/danger_physmap.o
</pre>

You are supposed to have the modules folder in the /tmp directory.

=== Re-flash ===

Finally it is time to copy the new filesystems to the block devices and re-flash. First copy the new filesystems to the appropriate block devices.

<pre>
dd if=/tmp/rootfs.gz of=/dev/mtdblock3
dd if=/tmp/opt.cramfs of=/dev/mtdblock4
dd if=/tmp/userprefs.cramfs of=/dev/mtdblock5
</pre>

Then execute

<pre>
sync
</pre>

to write all of the buffered filesystems to disk. Reboot the [[ZipIt]] and if everything went well you should be able to connect to the network using the steps described in the section "Establish network connectivity". In order to automatically connect to a network on boot refer to the section below on customization.

== Customization ==

The multiple partitions used by this firmware make it relatively simple to make your own modifications. At a minimum you will probably want to modify the init scripts in <code>userprefs.cramfs</code> to automatically establish [[WiFi]] connectivity at boot. In order to make changes mount <code>userprefs.cramfs</code> to a temporary directory on your development machine. For example:

<pre>
mkdir /tmp/userprefs
mount -t cramfs -o loop userprefs.cramfs /tmp/userprefs
</pre>

Then copy the contents of the filesystem to a writable location.

<pre>
mkdir /tmp/userprefs_modified
cp -a /tmp/userprefs/* /tmp/userprefs_modified/
</pre>

After making changes to the files in <code>/tmp/userprefs_modified/</code> make a new filesystem by executing.

<pre>
mkcramfs /tmp/userprefs_modified /tmp/userprefs_modified.cramfs
</pre>

Next make the new filesystem available on the NFS volume. Finally download the modified filesystem to the [[ZipIt]], use dd to copy it to the appropriate block device, and sync as describe above. If you wish you can mount the block device that was modified to a temporary directory before syncing and rebooting in order to verify that everything is as it should be.

If the [[ZipIt]] fails to boot hold down the lid closed button during boot. This will prevent <code>opt.cramfs</code> and <code>userprefs.cramfs</code> from being mounted and will drop you into a shell where you can repair things. The file <code>rootfs.gz</code> contains the minimal rescue filesystem that makes this possible even if you screw up the filesystems on the other partitions so you probably don't want to mess with it unless you know what you are doing.

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:38, 17 May 2010
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	This package provides an alternative to the [[OpenZipIt]] firmware for the [[ZipIt]] Wireless Messenger. Like [[OpenZipIt]] this firmware includes the [[~~Busy Box~~]] utilities as well as the Dropbear ssh client and server. Unlike [[OpenZipIt]] this firmware includes a web browser ([[ELinks]]), however, the [[OpenZipIt]] audio applications have been removed to conserve space. Some battery monitoring tools and various other useful utilities are also included. An additional feature of this firmware is that it is modular allowing modifications without the danger of a full re-flash.	+	This package provides an alternative to the [[OpenZipIt]] firmware for the [[ZipIt]] Wireless Messenger. Like [[OpenZipIt]] this firmware includes the [[BusyBox]] utilities as well as the Dropbear ssh client and server. Unlike [[OpenZipIt]] this firmware includes a web browser ([[ELinks]]), however, the [[OpenZipIt]] audio applications have been removed to conserve space. Some battery monitoring tools and various other useful utilities are also included. An additional feature of this firmware is that it is modular allowing modifications without the danger of a full re-flash.

	== Requirements ==		== Requirements ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:28, 14 July 2007
Line 157:		Line 157:

	If the [[ZipIt]] fails to boot hold down the lid closed button during boot. This will prevent <code>opt.cramfs</code> and <code>userprefs.cramfs</code> from being mounted and will drop you into a shell where you can repair things. The file <code>rootfs.gz</code> contains the minimal rescue filesystem that makes this possible even if you screw up the filesystems on the other partitions so you probably don't want to mess with it unless you know what you are doing.		If the [[ZipIt]] fails to boot hold down the lid closed button during boot. This will prevent <code>opt.cramfs</code> and <code>userprefs.cramfs</code> from being mounted and will drop you into a shell where you can repair things. The file <code>rootfs.gz</code> contains the minimal rescue filesystem that makes this possible even if you screw up the filesystems on the other partitions so you probably don't want to mess with it unless you know what you are doing.
		+
		+	[[Category:Zipit]]

ZipIt Adam HOWTO - Revision history

Peter Huewe: busybox official spelling

Chris at 10:28, 14 July 2007

RBot: Bot (Edward's framework)