Ubuntu / Xubuntu for the O2 Joggler.

[Juggler]

Before I do a final release, please could people try out

http://joggler.exotica.org.uk/img/xubun ... xt4.img.gz (md5sum - 7364d2857f13f5f8d341e34785c5380d)

Changes from previous image:
* Some package changes/pinning to fix some dependency issues
* Includes Kodi 14.2 (With the Re-touched skin)
* Kernel 3.2.69
* use r8168-dkms from Ubuntu repository
* Package rollups

I've had a good few hours play with this and found the following :

* Updates from the repositories fine - no issues / problems I can see here - I like to keep things up-to-date
* Played about with for a few hours and everything is fine as I can tell - works just like previous xubuntu distros you have made for the Jpggler
* Only problem I did encounter, and I don't think that this is specific to this distro, is some sort of clash between the florence on-screen keyboard and other apps - I recall having this before. I found this after installing synaptic package manager. I don't need an on-screen keyboard, so removing florence resolved the hangs I experienced when trying to use synaptic.

Not really a thorough test, but will try to use it some more and report back.

Thanks very much for doing this BuZz - another great piece of work !

If there is anything in particular, that you may be concerned about, let us know...

[Juggler]

I have a Joggler running Buzz's Xubuntu sitting next to my bed and it's connected to the internet by lan. I'm wondering if it's possible to use the Jogglers wifi as an accesspoint?

Yes you can - and it is a good little project too. Plus it can happily run in the background, so you can continue to use your Joggler in the way you are at the moment. I can't remember exactly the details, but there are one or two threads there where people have asked the same question. Also on some of the ubuntu forums the same question has been asked.

Some of the packages you will need to install are :

* Hostapd - the access point software
* wpa_supplicant - facilitate improved wireless security, unless you happy with your neighbours knowing all you do online !
* dnsmasq or similar dns server - issue IP addresses to attached devices
* maybe some others

And you'd need to do some things to get these setup and working together.

Also, you may get better performance using a different wifi driver - this is not the staging driver and I think it is something like rt2800usb, or something like that. This is of course if you wish to use the internal joggler wifi device. You could of course use an external usb wifi dongle and get much better range and use one with a more linux (hacker) friendly chipset.

Hope that helps. Let us know how things go.

[Error]

Cool - good to know!

Is there some kind of tutorial out there to guide me along the way? My knowlodge of linux isn't that great to say the least..

[hawsey]

I would be up for this too
I have a Joggler in the Kitchen and would love to use this as an access point for other devices in the garden / summer house to get internet access .
I was just starting to think of power line adapters but this would be a much nearer solution.

[Juggler]

Error, hawsey - good to see your both interested. It is a great project and is a good use for a joggler, if your using it for other things as well.

I did set-up an access point on a joggler some time ago and for the little bit of time I used it it worked well.

As I'd like to give you the best directions, plus I want to set up something similar, I've done some research and come across what I hope will make things easier, as there are a few components that are necessary and need to work together.

I have the raw research now - pages I've found on the web, which I can state here, but I'd like to give some of it a try before writing. Also, there appears to be a few different ways to set up an access point. I'd like it to work on ubuntu base, but I'm thinking you'd like it to work on xubuntu. What I've found is not specifically for the joggler and I'm not sure if a script, will work on ubuntu.

I'll put my research together here in the next day or so, and if I get further, will write about it too.

The good news is, if a script works, if could make setting up an access point that will work with android, windows phones and the like, quite easy, or so it appears. The method I followed a couple of years ago was not simple, but I didn't know as much about linux then and I was experimenting more - i.e. messing up more, but learning from it.

[hawsey]

Great , I look forward to it , I did look on YouTube and found a couple of bits and pieces but it looked over my head ha

[Error]

I have some questions about squeezeplay on xubuntu:

1. I regularly use squeezeplay on the xubuntu-joggler. How come it doesn't store my preferences? For instance I set it not to make sounds while navigating, I set the display to go off (since it is near my bed) amongst other things, but when I exit Squeezeplay and then re launch it, those settings are gone..?? there is no "save my settings" option right?
Could it have something to do with a lack of space on the usb-stick? I noticed it has only 8 Gb allocated space and that's nearly full used.

2. The used usbstick is however 32gb. When I use Gparted to set it to 32 GB , do I erase all written stuff on the stick?

3. last question; on Squeezeplay via Xubuntu, is it possible to run an USB DAC?
If so it might be cool to run Xubuntu on the buit-in-wall joggler in my living room...

[Error]

Never mind, I just answered my last question I guess

Has anyone managed to get Squeezeplay to play sound through any kind of USB sound card with the latest build of this software.
I can get all other media software to use my USB sound card except Squeezeplay.

Yes, it's just that SqueezePlay is a bit finicky about it's audio settings. The easiest way is to create an /etc/asound.conf file that points to your USB audio device. For example:

Code: Select all

pcm.!default {
  type hw
  card 1
}
ctl.!default {
  type hw
  card 1
}

You can identify the card number of your device using

Code: Select all

cat /proc/asound/cards

This has one downside, in that it is system-wide and bypasses any kind of audio mixer, meaning only one application can access the audio system at a time (so if SQP is running you won't get audio from any other apps). There's likely to be a way around this, but as audio from one app is exactly what I'm after I've never invested the time!

How could you operate any other app while running squeezeplay, on the Joggler I mean?
If I understand correctly Squeezeplay sort of "owns" the DAC but only when Squeezeplay is activated right? So when I shut off Squeezeplay it returns to Xubuntu which then is able to use the DAC right?

[Error]

No one got a clue about my other questions?

I tried to modify the partition on my usbstick today, but gparted can't do that with the f2fs filesystem. Only 8 of the 32 gb is now used, and I'm getting reports that it is now full.

Why is it that the etx4 version doesn't work with my joggler? Am I doing something wrong?

[BuZz]

I wouldn't use f2fs really - ext4 works quite ok . the f2fs version in the image is also quite old.

if the f2fs version works, so should the ext4 version. What problem do you have ?

[Error]

this is the error message:

[BuZz]

md5sum of your image matches ? you sure the partition linux-root exists on the usb etc ?

[Error]

while writing via win32diskimager I check the option "md5sum". Shouldn't I do that?

I formatted the stick with HP utility tool.
Then writing via Win32diskimager is the only thing I do to the stick. Need I do more??

edit: is it smart to download the latest version and then try again? I have an old version now from your website.

[BuZz]

Regarding md5sum, does it print out the md5sum of the image - you need to check this matches the one on the site to make sure your image is correct (and no errors are shown when unpacking)

Assuming you depacked the image correctly first, writing it with win32diskimager should do the trick, but I don't use windows so I can't advise in more detail. You using a hub on the Joggler or just the usb stick plugged in ?

[Error]

I use a hub which is plugged in in the internal usbport. But I did try to plug the stick in in the external port as well, but it returned the same error as above.
While Writing I don't get errors whatsoever. Only message I get is that the write was successful. I didn't check the md5 hash, will try to have a look at it tonight.

I unpacked the image with jzip or 7zip, not completely sure.

[BuZz]

when you tried the usb stick on its own, was the hub still plugged in or not ? Have you tried any other usb sticks also ?

[Error]

hub was still plugged in, yes.
I tried two sticks, both return the same message.


I have a dual boot laptop with Win7 and Linux Mint. If it's more handy to write to the disk via linux then that's also possible?

[BuZz]

try without the hub to see if that makes a difference. if you boot into linux, you could check if all partitions look present and if you are able to read/mount the linux-root pasrtition ok.

[Error]

i did use gparted yesterday to adjust the partition, and there were 4 partitions, that is the "unused space-partition" included. So I suppose that is correct then.

Will try to boot without hub installed, however I don't know if that's gonna be tonight.
Also will do a fresh download, and write that to stick, see how it goes.

thanx for your help so far.

[Error]

MD 5 sum on your website (Ext4 Image) : 7364d2857f13f5f8d341e34785c5380d
MD 5 of downloaded Ext 4 file, generated via win32disk: fa18f7882728d3fd6f2eb086d799cd21