Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 - Personal Mobile Tool Gundam;)

OK, here is my Zaurus stuff I have figured out so far....

This info was gathered from a varity of places:
zauruszone.com, docs.zaurus.com, openzaurus.org, killefiz.de/zaurus (files)
1. go buy a CompactFlash card. This is the only way to load new ROMs.
   And don't reformat it. Get an SD if you have the money (I don't yet.)
2. the thing is just wicked.
3. use the default IP addressing when using the network connections
   (i.e. don't try 'geeking' it up as it works best without).
4. get the terminal package and filemanager packages.
   They are on the CD that comes with it and enhanced versions are available on the web.
   (the filemanager package is not a necessity, though).
5. Install SSH and create the key on the Zaurus (requires terminal package)
   Note: OpenZaurus comes with this already prepared. I wonder if that means all OpenZaurus installs have the same host key?
   
   a) ssh-keygen -b 1024 -f /usr/local/etc/ssh_host_key -N ''
   b) Start sshd (type 'sshd' at the prompt, duh).
   c) ssh in from the PC (ssh -l root 192.168.129.201)

Sharp ROM notes

4-17-2003 - Due to better stability, i have migrated back to the Sharp ROM and I have added links to the apps I have installed to make my life "wonderful" with this most stable and better-behaved image.

• Backup Options

  The Zaurus has some built-in backup and restore functionality, but it only saves your PIM data. If you want to save documents, additionally installed programs, etc., you will need to do something better. The following proceedures are for the Sharp ROM only (though some portions can apply to the OpenZaurus ROM) and are not for the faint at heart. This instructions will, however, backup your ENTIRE install base of software in "RAM" and allow you to restore all of your data files and installed applications and configurations if you have to reflash the Sharp ROM image or you need to perform a hard reset.

  1. Go into the "Settings" tab and choose "Shutdown" then choose "Reboot"
  2. When the Sharp starts up, you will see "Wait 5...4...3" and when you see the "Wait" press the "/" key on the keyboard
  3. This will bring you to a "boot-up" menu. Choose "a" to go to a linux console.
  4. Log in using the user ID root. If you have changed the root password, you will need to enter it here.
  5. Once at a prompt, type the command mount and look for your CompactFlash or SecureDigital card:
     /usr/mnt.rom/cf = compactflash, /usr/mnt.rom/card = secure digital card
  6. Now, we need to go into a state known as "Single User Mode" where most of the applications using your /home area are stopped (there will be a few stragglers, but we will get those also)
     Run the command init S and the system will enter Single User Mode.
  7. Now, you need to run some commands to stop the processes that are using your /home filesystem (this is the RAM location where your data is stored as well as the installed applications.)
     Start by running the command fuser -kvm /home
  8. Watch the output of the fuser command for any "swapfile" lines. If you see them, run swapoff /home/swapfile (or whatever you named your swapfile)
     Run fuser -vm /home and there should be no processes using the filesystem.
  9. You now need to unmount the fileystem so that it is clean if/when you restore it in the future.
     Run the command umount /home and the filesystem will be unmounted.
  10. Remember the path to the CompactFlash or SD card? (/usr/mnt.rom/cf or /usr/mnt.rom/card) Using that path, type the following command
      dd if=/dev/mtdblock1 | gzip -c9 > /usr/mnt.rom/cf/home_backup.dd.gz
      This command will take a little time to run. When it is done, you will see some output like
      

      69043+0 in
      69043+0 out
      

      This indicates that the process has completed.
  11. Check that the file exists: ls -l /usr/mnt.rom/cf/home_backup.dd.gz The file may be 5-7 MB.
      Congrats! you have made a data image!
  12. IMPORTANT:Now, turn off the Zaurus using the "Battery Replace" switch on the back. DO NOT TYPE REBOOT! If you type reboot you will have to run the restore proceedure below because a hard reset is performed.

  Restore (from above backup)

  To restore the file (if something happens and you have to) follow the same instructions above through item 9.
  When you get the /home filesystem unmounted, type the following command to restore your data:
  gzip -d /usr/mnt.rom/cf/home_backup.dd.gz | dd of=/dev/mtdblock1
  Again, when this completes you will see:
  

  69043+0 in
  69043+0 out
  

  
  That is it. Now, TURN OFF THE ZAURUS using the "Battery Replace" switch on the back.

  OpenZaurus configuration...

  1) here are some tidbits of info regarding the OpenZaurus ROM: NOTE: Due to stability issues with the USB cradle interface in OpenZaurus and wake-up-from-suspend delays surrounding the CF card, I have migrated back to the Sharp ROM version 2.38. If you find you use a CF network adapter to flash, you will probably not have some of these problems. 0. BACKUP EVERYTHING... some of these proceedures will backup your data, but may also force a hard reset. But we are, after all, having fun!! Note: The Zaurus can take catastrophic data damage and come out clean by loading either the Sharp ROM, OpenZaurus, or any other ROM. All that is lost is your data. If this is a shock, let me explain: -You can save your data (if you have any) to your PC from the Sharp ROM. -You can go get the 'hancomcreator' and others and backup your commercial apps, -you can then upload the OpenZaurus ROM -and if you don't like it, flash back to the Sharp ROM and the system will be just like when you bought it (unless, of course, the ROM you flash with is newer or older than the original. - The above is from experience (if only within 3 days of receiving it:) 1. You can backup the original rom by nfs mounting a filesystem from the Zaurus. (i.e. setup an NFS share on the computer that you attached the Zaurus to; Linux works best.) mount -t nfs 192.168.129.1:/<share> /mnt/net 2. the command is simply: (For the Sharp ROM) dd if=/dev/mtdblock0 of=/mnt/net/zaurus.root.dd Note: You may not be able to backup the /home filesystem this way (/dev/mtdblock1) as it may segfault. (For OpenZaurus) you can grab all of the memory device entries from a linux box. ssh -l root 192.168.129.201 "dd if=/dev/mtdblock0 " > mtdblock0.dd Repeat for devices 0-6 (7 appears to not be active). I do not yet know what is in all of these, but mtdblock4 appears to be the root device (that is where it is mounted) and mtdblock6 is your /mnt/ram drive. I haven't been able to mount mtdblock4. 3. Go to trolltech.com and grab the QtopiaDesktop for Linux. And setup the following in the File->Settings menu under "Software Packages": Trolltech Qtopia - http://qtopia.net/packages/ ZaurusZone.com - http://docs.zaurus.com/feed/ Grab the 4 "creator" apps: hancomcreator, jeodecreator, operacreator, qtmailcreator (grab the hancomcreator from http://killefiz.de/zaurus/ ..and when installed, they will create packages of these apps so you will have them (by pulling them out of the Documents folder) when you install OpenZaurus ;-) I don't recommend re-installing opera as it gets flakey and konqueror works fine. 4. There is an AMAZING amount of data in /home that looks necessary. So back it up. Here is what I did (my time is your friend). After installing ssh, do the following: a) boot to the Linux console (sounds tricky, eh) : shutdown the Zaurus (from the Settings->Shutdown menu) When you see the SHARP screen and the Wait 5..4..3, press '/' on the keyboard. b) whalla! now, all your junk will be mounted with crud running. Easiest way... init S. c) Now, nothing will be mounted, so mount /home because that is where SSH is...: mount /dev/mtdblock1 /home d) And start ssh: /usr/local/bin/sshd e) And back it up from another box: ssh -l root 192.168.129.201 'cd /home;tar -cvf - .' > ./zaurus.home_backup.tgz whalla again! Note, when I tried to reboot after this, it ended up doing a hard reset. Also note, that the stuff in /home is only necessary if you want to move the hancom, jeode, and opera apps to OpenZaurus. 5. (Sharp ROM) Using the dd method above to backup /dev/mtdblock0, you can mount it using a loop device in Linux: losetup /dev/loop0 ./zaurus.root.dd then mount /dev/loop0 /mnt/loop (assuming you have /mnt/loop created:) You will be able to browse the directories and you will see all of the apps. (Handcom mobile apps, opera, etc.). 6) Flash the Zaurus with the OpenZaurus ROM: 1. go grab the files from openzaurus.org and pull up the install guide. 2. copy the files to the Zaurus through Qtopia Desktop. 3. go into the terminal (or ssh, which is easier) and move the files from /mnt/cf/Documents/applications/octet-stream/* to /mnt/cf and rename the zImage-blah-blah-blah file to just zImage. 4. Follow the instructions on openzaurus.org to flash it. 5. When you start it up, it will build the list of installed files, which takes a little while, but it gives you "..."s. 6. Set up the network this way: -Go to settings and choose Network -choose the usb0 device and choose Configure -check the "Bring up on bootup" line and make the necessary changes (i.e. the gateway will probably not be 192.168.129.200) -click OK -now, choose "Security" and click "OK" (The defaults should be ok). -reboot and when the Zaurus is booted, start Qtopia Desktop. -tap the accept button in the window (This is a security option to prevent just anyone from getting into your PDA). - GO!!! 7) using the ipk files created by the 'creator' scripts in step 5-3, send them to the Zaurus (either via tar through SSH (the goop method) or Qtopia). - Install the packages into RAM (root is the actual 16MB ROM, that only has about 3MB available, so don't loose it). - go to /opt/QtPalmtop/bin and run this to correctly link in mail: ln -s qtmail mail 8) if you want to get freaky, you can search the web for the instructs to create a NAT with the Linux box and be able to directly install files from the server feeds or browse the net:)