Ubuntu Bionic for OpenFrame

[hawsey]

I got a bit further, so I think I've managed to do everything correctly however can not launch the desktop, I assume it should auto launch and it did not so I tried to log in via putty and I can.
When I Googled it said type in launchlxde but it won't open it says cannot open display.
Everything up to this point went OK and installed.

This is what I have done,
Wrote bionic to USB stick.
Boot image.
Log in via putty.
Expand image
Update / upgrade
Add user
Install xorg
Install lxde

Reboot




Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk

[microwax]

@hawsey,

The error might be arsing from the fact that you're trying to launch an Xwindows program (LXDE) from your SSH session, rather than from a session attached to your main display.

To specify the main display, try this...
DISPLAY=:0 launchxde

To be honest, I've no idea whether that will work or not - and you might run into further problems with permissions or Xorg/LXDE configuration. Graphical stuff in Linux is not exactly my strong point - in fact, it gives me a headache. If you found that getting to this point took a while, well, brace yourself - the next steps may prove to be even more taxing!

[microwax]

@roobarb / group,

Further to my post of last week, I'm going to attempt a build of Ubuntu Bionic with a 4.x kernel.

I've gone over the instructions at https://github.com/birdslikewires/openframe-kernel and https://github.com/birdslikewires/openframe-linux, but it's not entirely clear to me where the kernel packages I generate (according to the openframe-kernel instructions) come into play in the openframe-linux instructions.

Could you please give me a litlle guidance?

Thank you.

[hawsey]

@hawsey,

The error might be arsing from the fact that you're trying to launch an Xwindows program (LXDE) from your SSH session, rather than from a session attached to your main display.

To specify the main display, try this...
DISPLAY=:0 launchxde

To be honest, I've no idea whether that will work or not - and you might run into further problems with permissions or Xorg/LXDE configuration. Graphical stuff in Linux is not exactly my strong point - in fact, it gives me a headache. If you found that getting to this point took a while, well, brace yourself - the next steps may prove to be even more taxing!

Thank you, I've still not managed to get to a basic desktop but will keep trying. I think I am almost there as my USB stick now says it is launching the desktop and I see the purple Ubuntu logo flash up on screen but it never quite gets there.
I'll try another usb stick tomorrow.

Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk

[roobarb!]

Could you please give me a litlle guidance?

After you've created the .deb kernel installation packages, use of-imgcreate.sh and point it to a directory holding those packages. You only need the image one for a working system, but if you subsequently want to compile software on the Joggler you'll need to install the headers package as well. I don't install it on the release images as it takes up space and is easily added later.

There are a tonne of options on of-imgcreate.sh, just run it with -h or --help, it should explain the required options.

Good luck!

[microwax]

Thanks roobarb.

[roobarb!]

Thanks roobarb.

No worries. I'm going to try to get the latest 5.x longterm kernel working soon. But I say soon, this whole virus affair has me rather busy at the moment.

It's so bad my own kitchen joggler has been sat on a login prompt for months!

[microwax]

Well, after my own failed attempts at compiling the kernel and rolling my own images, I think it's probably wiser now for me to wait for your official release!

A shameless request... I'm not sure if you saw my earlier post, but it would be really helpful if the forthcoming Debian image had overlayfs and zram support enabled in the kernel. Overlayfs would allow the Joggler to run LXC containers which have been created as snapshots of a base container (thus simplifying container management and greatly reducing the storage space required for multiple containers). And zram support would allow for efficient use of memory - particularly with respect to ram-based log files. This was why I attempted to roll my own from the github repos - to enable those kernel options - but I have to admit, I was out of my depth.
'
Anyway, I trust your kitchen Joggler didn't get as lonely as the one sitting in the corner of my room!

Cheers.

Thanks roobarb.

No worries. I'm going to try to get the latest 5.x longterm kernel working soon. But I say soon, this whole virus affair has me rather busy at the moment.

It's so bad my own kitchen joggler has been sat on a login prompt for months!

[roobarb!]

it would be really helpful if the forthcoming Debian image had overlayfs and zram support enabled in the kernel.

No problem, I will sort this out, work has just been so crazy recently that the thought of sitting in this chair any longer at the end of the day has not been enticing!

Anyway, I trust your kitchen Joggler didn't get as lonely as the one sitting in the corner of my room!

Poor thing has been neglected and I curse every time I'm in the kitchen because I haven't sorted it.

[microwax]

Thanks roobarb.

I can totally empathise with you on the 'home office chair' syndrome - so much so, that I re-purposed the living room table into a second workstation just for the occasional change of scenery! (And fortunately, there's no-one else around to moan about the encroaching technology

[roobarb!]

Well, I honestly didn't think I'd get around to it this soon, but kernel 5.4.69 has just compiled successfully on my test VM with overlayfs and zram baked in.

I'll package it up and feed it into the image builder, see if that can't mess things up. The custom modules are probably kaput.

A few seconds and the scripts should kick in... haha, broken.

Attempt two. Looking better.

Yes, there we go, all done! This version of 5.4 is very likely missing any drivers for the RTL8821CU card, as there may be some in the kernel these days and the builder script skips those modules if kernel >4. I haven't tested this on an actual OpenFrame device, but the log looks good.

@microwax, definitely let me know how you get on with overlayfs and zram. I've been meaning to toy with overlayfs for some time, but have never got myself the practical experience.

[roobarb!]

Update on this 5.4.69 based image; it's all working correctly except I've left hyperthreading off - I'll fix that, because it does make a difference. FIXED, 05/10/20@2327

However, the usual problem with the audio IC is back.

Essentially, with the default ALSA configuration the internal speaker cannot be muted. With headphones plugged in to the output the right channel carries system noise and the left channel carries nothing while auto-mute mode is enabled. When auto-mute is disabled you get clean audio on both the audio out and the internal speaker at the same time.

Essentially, auto-mute is muting the line out when it's connected and not the internal speaker. Using the old patch this gets switched, but to the extent that the internal speaker ONLY outputs noise while the external connection is in use.

I've had an ongoing thing with this for years, but if anybody out there with any ALSA experience could help with the pin patching it would make the world of difference.

[pete]

Tinkering today with new build / desktop on an OpenPeak labeled Openframe 2 (speakers in front).

of@ICS-Jog-SQP-19:~$ uname -a
Linux ICS-Jog-SQP-19 5.4.70op #1 SMP Thu Oct 8 05:18:05 BST 2020 i686 i686 i686 GNU/Linux

Looks good here. Touch screen is quick. Using a Logitech K400r wireless keyboard and noticed that mouse is really slow. Not sure why. Just lags.

Want to play with the audio after I get this mouse going.

[DJWillis]

Running the latest 5.4 image on 3 Jogglers with extremal DAC's and seems solid and as reliable as the 3. kernel, not found any regressions, at least in my use case. Can't say I have tried anything exotic or demanding mind you as these devices are either Squeezeplay or Chromium (showing Home Assistant's GUI).

I still get the odd crashes of Squeezeplay (mentioned a few posts back) but now have some vague ideas on what might be causing that as I now have a few example songs in my collection that reliably and consistently crash it when you transition from them in a specific order on all my devices , that is this weekends further debugging.

Interestingly, I can't seem to get this image booting on my OF2, but that is a Telio model with the default EFI that requires blind typing into the EFI shell (as I previously rewrote the stock OS to internal storage in a moment of madness while testing something) so I'll put that down to user error on my part for now .

Thanks so much for the work on this, great to see them kept alive.

Separately, I know you had issues with the raw recent Debian derived images, what sort of problems did you have? Can't say I have ever got it up and running on the Joggler's but I have a fair bit of experience doing embedded board bring up work with Debian (mainly ARM and MIPS) so might be able to help (a big might).

[roobarb!]

Want to play with the audio after I get this mouse going.

That would be amazing. Any steps forward would be great, it's the last remaining bug!

If you check /usr/sbin/of-identifier it has a little bit of code in there that triggers one of three (kernel 3, 4 or 5) patches for the audio which you could use to tinker with. I've managed to use the kernel 5 one to flip muting so the external speaker is muted when the headphones are connected, rather than uselessly muting the headphones when they're connected. However, it doesn't solve the crackling of the right channel, which means something isn't being muted properly. IIRC there should be three auto-mute options, Enabled, Disabled and Enabled + something-or-other. If you compare the kernel 3 image and the kernel 5 image you should see what I mean.

I know you had issues with the raw recent Debian derived images, what sort of problems did you have?

This audio pin configuration is the last remaining major bug, everything else I think I can iron out before finally moving over to Debian now that 32-bit is nearly done in Ubuntu. In theory examining the pin config of the STAC9202 audio chip from kernel 3 and comparing it to kernel 5 should lead to a solution, but I never got to grips with it. Any help much appreciated!

[pete]

Interestingly, I can't seem to get this image booting on my OF2, but that is a Telio model with the default EFI that requires blind typing into the EFI shell (as I previously rewrote the stock OS to internal storage in a moment of madness while testing something) so I'll put that down to user error on my part for now

You can boot up with an Ubuntu stick and format the OF2 Emmc drive if you want then write over it with the new 5.4 build via a USB boot.

[pete]

Today write the new build on an Openpeak device (which looks like a Joggler but isn't). This Openpeak device is using a 16Gb SSD drive inside connected via ZIF cable. I just moved the OS partition to the 16Gb SSD and expanded it. Changed the boot UUID numbers in grub and fstab. This one has a 5 port USB hub glued to the back of it and an added RTC clock. I tried to reinstall the USB WLAN stick and see it too big now with the RTC clock / SSD drive in place.

Works great and is fast.

Well updated it to XUbuntu and now rebuilding it again with a simple Ubuntu core build.

Gonna also redo the OF2 box to make it a bit more basic.

Haven't touched these two devices in about a year. Been using the other 15 "Jogglers" here for Windows embedded touchscreens for automation and three for Squeezeplayers.

[roobarb!]

Been using the other 15 "Jogglers" here for Windows embedded touchscreens for automation and three for Squeezeplayers.

Niiiiiice!

I've recently discovered Hubitat and got all my AlertMe devices (what Iris in the US was derived from) working again. Yes, I went nuts and wrote all the drivers, including figuring out a bunch of raw Zigbee commands.

There's a decent dashboard that is going to be perfect for the OpenFrames, plus so many ways to add functionality. Gonna be good!

[pete]

How do you like the dashboard for Hubitat on the Openframe?

I have a Hubitat and 2 Smartthings here for tinkering. They are currently off though.

For main automation (heartbeat automation) in the house currently utilizing a Leviton OmniPro 2 alarm automation panel (well 20 years now) with X10, UPB, Zigbee and ZWave devices plugged in to it. Many sensors here are hardwired to the panel. (zones, temperature, humidity, thermostat, outputs, et al). I also have the OmniPro custom touchscreen software running on a couple of Jogglers (using the HAI designer for these).

Then the addendum automation is Homeseer 3-4 running now in Linux. I have been using Homeseer since the late 1990's with Homeseer 1. It used to run on Windows server here. Now it runs on Ubuntu (well a while now).

Been testing opensource automation for a bit now initially testing OpenHab, Home Assistant, Linux Automation, Home Genie and Domoticz.

Lately been tinkering with WiFi devices with Tasmota and Espurna.

Just configured house #2 with a Ring Alarm system (all wireless) and Wifi (modded) switches where everything is talking MQTT now in that house including the Ring Alarm system plus a few Amazon echo devices (well Amazon Show devices). I am impressed so far with it.

Rambling now...

[roobarb!]

How do you like the dashboard for Hubitat on the Openframe?

Barely had chance to do anything with it to be honest. By default it's a bit clunky, but some recent third-party updates have started to bring it to life.

I love the Maker API on Hubitat though. It is so fast and easy to use, just send a HTTP request with the right URL and you have control of whichever devices you enable, locally, with no internet diddlin'. I can use that to make my own local web page and control absolutely anything. Again, not that I've had time to get around to that, but sometimes it's the possibilities!