Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100 with Linux

Email me at or x38x107x179x220 @weller.ws (anti-spam experiment)

I've been told that adding Option "XkbDisable" to in XF86Config. No need to reconfigure the kernel, although it's still a good idea. You just don't need the keyboard patch. Ignore that below.

I originally wrote this page for my own records, but figured that others may benefit from it. If you have any comments, feel free to e-mail me.

If you install Redhat 7.3 on your Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100 with no modification, everything will work, except you will only get 1024x768 resolution, your winmodem will not work, and your keypresses willll rreeeppeeat lliikee crazzzy. Another problem that I experience is that the system freezes when initializing the USB controller IF the system was rebooted. It never freezes if it is powered down. (So, when you install, the RH installer will reboot your system. Don't panic if it freezes). The "Fn" key doesnt work. There's hope because someone reported it broken for the 2.5 kernel.

Presently, I have a dual-boot system (Windows XP and RedHat Linux 7.3) with a GRUB bootloader. In Linux, I have 1600x1200 resolution, with no more keyboard problems. I've only worked around the modem problem by using an external one. I've added NTFS support so that I can see my XP partition from linux, and installed explore2fs so that i can browse my ext3 filesystem from XP. I've added the "fan" daemon which runs the fan when there is AC power and turns it off when it goes to battery.

• Windows XP
  • registered with toshiba + microsoft
  • set screen res to 1600x1200 and aurora background
  • configured isp for quick internet access
  • installed a few "must" apps (ssh, icq, nero, partition magic 7)
  • cleaned up desktop
  • ran "msconfig" and disabled a lot of unnecessary things like norton; (also more in control panel-> admin tools -> services).
  • installed explore2fs so that i can browse my ext3 filesystem from XP.
  • using partition magic 7 (ntfs for XP requires 7 or higher), shrunk 38gig partition to 19gig. it rebooted and ran from DOS, then rebooted again and i was set.
• RedHat Install
  • i hooked up optical USB mouse since i hate the laptop mouse
  • booted off CD by holding down "c" when turning machine on
  • did basic redhat installed; chose all common sense defaults
  • the partition layout had /boot starting at cylinder 2423. i was nervous about it not working because usually it should be under 1024. it worked anyways.
  • i used Grub instead of LILO as my boot manager. i like it because it looks better, can go beyond 1024 cyl, and when you modify /etc/grub.conf, you dont have to rewrite the MBR like lilo.
  • when asked for bootlabel for NTFS, I put "Windows XP"
  • I chose medium security, and said no to eth*, and allowed incoming dhcp, ssh and www
  • changed probed video card from geforce2 to geforce4
  • selected generic laptop 1600x1200 for monitor
  • i was only offer 1024x768 resolution, so i picked that. use 16bit, not 24 until we get nvidia drivers
  • for software packages, be sure to include gcc and the linux kernel source.
  • when it rebooted, it hung on "initializing usb controller". i now realize that the system has to be powered off to get past this. you'll never be able to reboot. let me know if you resolve this.
• Getting X to 1600x1200
  • download 2 rpm files from NVIDIA... Grab NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-2960.i386.rpm (GLX RPM) and NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-2960.rh73up.i686.rpm (RedHat 7.3 UP i686 Architecture )
  • get out of X. logout, then ctrl-alt-f1 for text mode.
  • "rpm -ivh file.rpm" for both of them
  • run "Xconfigurator". select generic laptop 1600x1200 for monitor, select ALL resolutions listed for 8,16 and 24. these will be resolutions available to you from linux.
  • select no ramdac, and don't probe anything (it won't work - trust me). set video RAM to 32M
  • quitting will save to file /etc/X11/XF86Config-4. edit that file, and change the following: (XF86Config isnt used with XFree86 v4+)
    • comment out 'Load "dri"' and 'Load "GLcore"' with #
    • change 'Driver "nv"' to 'Driver "nvidia"'
    • in the same section as Driver nvidia, add on a new line:
      Option "IgnoreEDID" "True"
      this will allow 1600x1200. Otherwise, you'll be stuck at 1400x1050 with the error in /var/log/XFree86.0.log: "NVIDIA(0): Not using default mode "1600x1200" (vrefresh out of range)"
    • change DefaultDepth line to be 24
    • for the Modes line under "Depth 24", the first one listed is the default res. you can reorder it, but i suggest starting off with 1600.
  • Now you can test to see if it works. Try killing your X to have it restart with "killall X" or go to the X window (ctrl-alt-f7) and select restart Xserver. "startx" from the text window should work too if X isnt running (which would be the case if you type "init 3" or replace the 5 with a 3 in /etc/inittab on bootup.
  • here's something that took me a while to figure out. you can change your resolution (with whatever "Modes" are listed in xf86config-4) with ctrl-alt-+ (or -) on the keypad. since we dont have a keypad, you have to turn that on with "Fn-F11" (numlock on/off). then, u=4,i=5,p=+ and ;=-, so ctrl-alt-p(;) can change resolutions. The easier way to do it, is to keep numlocks off and just use ctrl-fn-alt-p and ctrl-fn-alt-; to change resolutions. try it. I've just learned that "xvidtune -next" and "xvidtune -prev" does the same thing.
• Getting X on TV and external monitor
  • In text mode, "toshset -video ext|int|tv|both" works. If I start X and return to text, I experience some flakiness and sometimes I can't see anything unless I run "startx"... I just keep my runlevel at 5.
  • Here's a usenet thread arguing that you can change resolutions with hotkeys, but the desktop size remains the same (ie, you view the same desktop through a different size viewport). To actually change the desktop resolution, you need to restart the X server :( I find that this isn't going to matter anyways, because the X server needs to be restarted to detect an external tv or monitor.
  • In X, you have to configure XF86Config-4.
  • Here are my additions to the /Section "Device"/ Driver "nvidia":

        Option      "IgnoreEDID"    "True"
        Option "TwinView"
        Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync"   "30-60"
        Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "50-70"
        Option "TwinViewOrientation"      "Clone"
        Option "MetaModes"                "1024x768,1024x768; 800x600,800x600; 640x480,640x480"
    

  • TwinView is ONLY activated if a monitor is detected in the TV (RCA) or EXT (VGA) ports. If NO monitor is detected in either port, then XFree86 will use "Modes "1600x1200" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768"" in the Section "Screen". Otherwise, the "MetaMode" overrides it and puts the display in 1024x768 (I'll keep it at a lower res since not all monitors can go beyond 1024. Also, the TV out won't work beyond that).
  • You can restart X from the KDE login screen. If you are in 1600x1200, and plug in a TV or monitor, restart X, and it will go into 1024x768.
  • According to /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/README, TwinViewOrientation can be "RightOf" "LeftOf" "Above" "Below" "Clone". Clone suits my purposes so I made that default.
  • You can also set Option "ConnectedMonitor" to be "tv,crt" or "crt, crt", but that would be stupid to set. Let X detect it automatically.
  • I initially had MetaModes set to "1024x768 @1600x1200,1600x1200;". This means that the external monitor would see the 1600x1200 desktop through a 1024x768 window. This is gay if you want full-screen DVD on the TV.
  • One more fix. Output will show up on TV and INT, but it doesnt show up on INT if EXT is hooked up. Add "/usr/local/bin/toshset -video both" to the start clause of /etc/init.d/fan which starts up on bootup.
• Kernel Build (fixes keyboard + ntfs)
  • There's an annoying trigger-happy key problem that didnt exist in windows. people on the newsgroups will tell you to use "kbdrate -d 1000 -r 10" for text-mode or "xset r rate 1000 10" for X. There's a kernel bug with toshiba notebook computers that disobeys the xset and kbdrate commands. You have to recompile the kernel. sorry. it's been known since 1999, and people have submitted patches, but it never got incorated into the kernel! i guess they dont care :(
  • I have come up with my own patch for the keyboard fix, but here's a slightly cleaner patch found on the newsgroups. This is from y2k, so it must be for a 2.2 kernel. Manually edit /usr/src/linux-2.4/drivers/char/keyboard.c, and find the start of the patch sequence (char raw_mode;), then insert the lines labelled with +'s (remove the +'s obviously). How's that for a manual patch? Oh, one more thing... take out the "printk( "Keyboard glitch detected, ignoring keypress\n" );" line. it makes your syslog grow like crazy! (same to console messages).
  • Similar to my own patch, you can see that the variables are statically set for recording the previous key press (in prev_scancode) and the previous time in milliseconds (stop_jiffies).
  • now compile the kernel. if you havent done it before, it's simple:
    • "cd /usr/src/linux-2.4"
    • "make mrproper"
    • "make menuconfig" if in text mode or "make xconfig" if in X
    • Go down to LOAD, and load this pre-set config file: "/usr/src/linux-2.4/configs/kernel-2.4.18-i686.config"
    • While we're at it. let's kill 2 birds with one stone. Go into "Filesystems" and add "NTFS" as a module, and say yes to the experimental write support (we'll mount read-only, but just in case if we want the feature later).
    • now Exit and save configuration.
    • edit Makefile and change the "EXTRAVERSION" to -3mw2. mw are my initials. set it to yours. You want a unique kernel version to avoid confusion. plus, you'll know for sure which one you're running with "uname -a":Linux weller 2.4.18-3mw2 #3 Sun Jul 28 15:55:27 PDT 2002
    • execute these in order: "make dep" makes dependencies, "make bzImage" makes the kernel, "make modules" makes the modules (.o files), "make modules_install" puts the modules in /lib/modules/VERSION
    • "make install" puts the kernel and initrd in /boot, adds the new kernel to /etc/grub.conf, and possibly writes the MBR. I've learned that unlike LILO, you can make changes to /etc/grub.conf and no MBR changes are necessary. You will now see 2 kernel entries in grub.conf. Keep the original in there just in case. You can remove it later once you know the one you made works.
    • oops. remember rpm'ing the nvidia driver? that placed the module in /lib/modules/2.4.18-3/kernel/drivers/video/NVdriver (from the "rpm -ql NVIDIA_kernel" command). copy that into the new module dir (/lib/modules/2.4.18-3mw2/kernel/drivers/video). then rerun "depmod -a 2.4.18-3mw2" to regenerate the dependency file.
    • "shutdown -h now" (reboot doesnt work, remember?). Turn it back on
    • select the new kernel. Verify you're in it with "uname -a". Verify that characters dont repeat in X.
    • setup your NTFS mountpoint. Create dir "mkdir /c". Add to /etc/fstab: "/dev/hda1 /c ntfs ro 0 0", then mount it: "mount /c". test it "ls /c".
    • I made a link from Desktop to Desktop: 'cd /root/Desktop; ln -s "/c/Documents and Settings/username/Desktop" Windows'
• Annoying wait for eth0 to timeout on bootup
  • You could just disable the eth0, but i like eth0 already being active if it happens to be hooked up to a LAN. In my experience, DHCPD servers only take at most 1 second to respond, so i change the timeouts to 5 seconds instead of 60 seconds. 2 DHCP clients are attempted. dhcpcd is the first one, and pump is the second one.
  • edit "/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup". Insert "-t 5" like so: DHCPCDARGS="$DHCPCDARGS -t 5 -n"
  • create /etc/pump.conf, and put: "device eth0 { timeout 5 }" in it.
• Mouse Wheel
  • ctrl-alt-f1 brings you to TEXT terminal
  • killall kdm (closes your X)
  • mouseconfig -> selected "Logitech wheel USB". unselected "emulate 3 buttons"
  • saved, and restarted "kdm". I was able to scroll up and down in mozilla
  • It added this to XF86-Config-4:

    Section "InputDevice"
            Identifier      "Mouse0"
            # Modified by mouseconfig
            Driver          "mouse"
            Option          "Device"                "/dev/mouse"
            Option          "Protocol"              "IMPS/2"
            Option          "Emulate3Buttons"       "no"
            Option          "ZAxisMapping"          "4 5"
    EndSection
    

• Fan Setup
  • Downloaded toshiba linux utilities
  • Installed with:

    ./configure
    make 
    mkdir /usr/local/man/man8  (or make install will fail)
    make install
    cd /etc/rc5.d
    ln -s /etc/init.d/fan S96fan
    cd /etc/rc3.d
    ln -s /etc/init.d/fan S96fan
    

  • I added /etc/init.d/fan to run "/usr/local/bin/fan -d" in the start clause.
  • Sweet. I tested it. The fan is on when AC power is there. If I switch to battery, the fan turns off, and resumes when I plug it back in again.
  • The only utilities that I got to work were "fan" and "tbacklight". It added to /etc/modules.conf: "alias char-major-10-181 toshiba" as well as /dev/toshiba
  • I tried this guy's patch for toshiba.c. diff shows no diff between kernel 2.4.18 and 2.5.30.
  • by using "make dep; make modules SUBDIRS=drivers/char", and copying over toshiba.o into /lib/modules, the Fn key is still not recognized :(
• Toshiba Command-line utility
  • Download toshset
  • Install:

    ./configure
    make
    make install
    

  • Here's the output of "toshset -q":

     toshset version: 1.53                  battery save mode: user settings
     power source: external                 LCD backlight: on
     fan: low                               select bay: CDROM
    HciFeature::query: HciFunction for feature select bay lock returned NOT_SUPPORTED
     Video out: internal                    Hibernation LBA: 0x0 (0)
    
     flat panel: resolution (7) unknown18 bit TFT lcd brightness: bright
     CPU speed: slow                        CPU sleep mode: on
     Display stretch: on                    CPU cache: on
     cache policy: write back               panel power: off
     hard disk auto-off time: 3 minutes     display auto-off time: 5 minutes
    HciFeature::query: HciFunction for feature HCI power-up mode returned NOT_SUPPORTED
     power-up mode: boot                    battery percent: 100%
     cooling method: performance            power-up alarm: disabled
     auto-off time: disabled                parallel port mode: ecp
     Hibernation: not configured            Pointer: 0
     boot method: floppy->hard disk->CDROM  user password: not registered
     supervisor password: not registered    owner string: [ max length: 513]
    

  • I've tried these, and they work: "toshset -lcd [bright,semi,super]", "toshset -d [turn off display in # min}
  • "toshset -fan [off,low,high]", "toshset -video [int,ext,both,tv]" (i havent hooked up an extra monitor yet)
  • "toshset -cpu [slow,fast]" - /proc/cpuinfo shows no change in MHz, so i'd have to run a benchmark to verify...
• Modem Setup
  • I spent a whole day trying to figure out the software modem issue. I give up for now. Here's my research on my attempts if you want a good laugh.
  • Well, right now, I'm using an external modem which is /dev/ttyS0 (the DB9 com port at the back of the laptop). I'll figure out the winmodem driver problem later... right now, i just wanna get up and running
  • i'm dialing into my sister's prodigy. some ppl on the newsgroups say they are using MSCHAP, some say PAP. who knows. anyways, kppp and wvdial didn't work, so i wont explain my attempts.
  • "cp /usr/share/doc/ppp-2.4.1/scripts/ppp* /etc/ppp". now edit ppp-on, and set the telephone, account and password.
  • in /etc/ppp, options has 0 bytes; i'm not sure if this is used, but "pap-secrets" and "chap-secrets" are identical and contain 1 line "username * password". change both variables. keep the *
  • all of these have been added to /etc/modules: (it's probably overkill, but i dont have time to reduce it):

    alias ppp ppp_generic
    alias ppp0 ppp_generic
    alias /dev/ppp ppp_generic
    alias char-major-108 ppp_generic
    alias tty-ldisc-3 ppp_async
    alias tty-ldisc-14 ppp_synctty
    alias ppp-compress-21 bsd_comp
    alias ppp-compress-24 ppp_deflate
    alias ppp-compress-26 ppp_deflate
    

  • I've added "nameserver X.X.X.X" to /etc/resolv.conf, and typing "/etc/ppp/ppp-on" dials out and connects. it's all automatic. route and IP are set.
• Wireless
  • Ok, I got it working! Since I don't have a wireless network, I registered at tmobilebroadband so that I can access the net from many Starbucks or airports
  • In a nutshell, all you need is to replace the 00:02:2D section in /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts to:

    *,*,*,00:60:1D:*|*,*,*,00:02:2D:*)
        INFO="Wavelan IEEE example (Lucent default settings)"
        ESSID="any"
        MODE="Managed"
        RATE="11M auto"
        KEY="off"
    

  • Make sure that your wireless antenna is ON (6th light on the toshiba notebook should be orange - the on/off for antenna is by the volume on the left side.
  • That's it!
  • Ok. I encountered one problem. Starbucks had 2 networks - public and tmobile. Once it picked public, which is incorrect, so I had to go "iwconfig eth1 essid tmobile; ifup eth1"
  • At my friend's house, he requires a key. This worked: "iwconfig eth1 essid dodgerman key 6e1ea960f989blablablablabla; ifup eth1". You can add it to wireless.opts if that's your only network.
  • The system automatically detects the SSID (tmobile in this case) on bootup. the "ifup eth1" is done automatically which gets the IP from dhcpcd:

    [root@weller root]# iwconfig eth1
    eth1      IEEE 802.11-DS  ESSID:"tmobile"  Nickname:"weller"
              Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412GHz  Access Point: 00:40:96:30:C7:91
              Bit Rate:11Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   Sensitivity:1/3
              RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
              Encryption key:off
              Power Management:off
              Link Quality:31/92  Signal level:-61 dBm  Noise level:-92 dBm
              Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
              Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:7   Missed beacon:0
    
    [root@weller root]# ifconfig eth1
    eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:02:2D:5D:2C:53
              inet addr:208.54.156.197  Bcast:208.54.156.207  Mask:255.255.255.240
              UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:2407 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:2929 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
              RX bytes:603888 (589.7 Kb)  TX bytes:334660 (326.8 Kb)
              Interrupt:11 Base address:0x100
    

  • What confused me when I signed up, was that I thought I needed a key. Apparently, tmobile doesnt use keys. Anyone can get an IP# from the DHCP server. You then go to ANY IP address in a webbrowser such as "konqueror http://1.1.1.1" and the proxy will redirect you to tmobilebroadband.com for login. Once you login, I guess it removes the proxy restrictions for your MAC address.
  • Below are just my attempts at figuring stuff out... it could be useful.
  • Let me update you on what I've learned... cardmgr is invoked by /etc/init.d/pcmcia at startup, which determines what's in the slots. /etc/pcmcia/config then determines what driver to load. the prism2 card can use wvlan, orinoco or wlan_ng drivers. RH7.3 defaults to wvlan. cardmgr writes module info in /var/lib/pcmcia/stab.
  • when wvlan_cs is modprobed, it's mapped to the first eth available (eth1 in my case). /etc/hotplug/net.agent runs when eth1 becomes available and then runs /etc/pcmcia/wireless to configure it. this uses /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts.
  • "iwconfig eth1" is used to configure/look_at the wireless properties like ifconfig is used for NICs. It shows :

    eth1      IEEE 802.11-DS  ESSID:"Wavelan Network"  Nickname:"weller"
              Mode:Ad-Hoc  Frequency:2.422GHz  Cell: 02:8C:C9:D3:C8:DD
              Bit Rate:2Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   Sensitivity:1/3
              RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
              Encryption key:7365-6375-31
              Power Management:off
              Link Quality:0/92  Signal level:-102 dBm  Noise level:-102 dBm
              Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
              Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
    

  • the reason why the defaults are crap, is because redhat decided to show a specific "example" for our card in /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts. As you know, vendor IDs have unique prefices for MAC addresses. The prism2 cards begin with 00:02:2D, so in /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts, set the clause to:

    *,*,*,00:60:1D:*|*,*,*,00:02:2D:*)
        INFO="Wavelan IEEE example (Lucent default settings)"
        ESSID="any"
        MODE="Managed"
        RATE="11M auto"
        KEY="off"
    

  • I believe the "link quality" is 0/92 for "Wavelan Network", which most likely won't exist. That's why setting ESSID to any will pick up whatever's there.
  • When mode is set to managed and there is no access point, the access point will be 44:44:44:44:44:44 (which will become the MAC of the access point when it finds it), and the link level will be 0/92:

    eth1      IEEE 802.11-DS  ESSID:"tmobile"  Nickname:"weller"
              Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.457GHz  Access Point: 44:44:44:44:44:44
              Bit Rate:2Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   Sensitivity:1/3
              RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
              Encryption key:off
              Power Management:off
              Link Quality:0/92  Signal level:-102 dBm  Noise level:-102 dBm
              Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
              Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
    

  • I did some snooping around. eth1 is registered by the module wvlan_cs.o ("man 4 wvlan_cs"). It registers the wireless link on first available ethX.
  • "cardmgr" is the pcmcia manager. It writes info to /var/lib/pcmcia/stab which says I have a " Intersil PRISM2 11 Mbps Wireless Adapter" in socket 0, which i assume means "integrated.
  • "ifconfig eth1" shows typical ethernet-style info, but "iwconfig eth1" shows the wireless-specific stuff.
  • do a "man iwconfig" for info on how to set these.
  • /proc/net/wireless contains wireless stats (like noise, etc)
  • "iwspy" lets you spy on bandwidths of other nodes.
• Firewall
  • Redhat seems to still use ipchains instead of iptables. no big deal. I rewrote the config file to be SUPER strict. It will only let me out, but nothing in.
  • My /etc/sysconfig/ipchains now looks like:

    :input DENY
    :forward ACCEPT
    :output ACCEPT
    -A input -i lo -j ACCEPT
    -A input -p tcp -s 0/0 ! --syn -j ACCEPT
    -A input -p icmp --icmp-type echo-reply -s 0/0 -j ACCEPT
    -A input -p icmp --icmp-type time-exceeded -s 0/0 -j ACCEPT
    -A input -p icmp --icmp-type time-exceeded -s 0/0 -j ACCEPT
    -A input -p icmp --icmp-type destination-unreachable -s 0/0 -j ACCEPT
    -A input -p udp -s 140.142.16.34 -d 0/0 123 -j ACCEPT
    

  • This is more secure since it denies everything by default unless you turn it on
  • The last line is so that "ntpdate bigben.cac.washington.edu" will work.
  • I use DENY instead of REJECT so that hackers won't get "connection refused" when connecting to a port - they just get a hang, leaving no clue as to my presence
  • Also, pings won't return replies. i only turned on echo-reply and time-exceed so that I can get replies, do tracereoutes and receive timeouts.
  • To stop and start ipchains, use "/etc/init.d/ipchains stop ; /etc/init.d/ipchains start; ifup eth1" (or ifup eth0). You NEED to ifup the interface you're using because that calls ifup-post, which pokes a hole in the firewall for your DNS server (after ifup, my "ipchains -nL" reveals an extra line: "ACCEPT udp ------ 209.244.0.4 0.0.0.0/0 53 -> 1025:65535:)
• System Mods
  • Got rid of annoying updatedb crontab: "mv /etc/cron.daily/*locate* /etc"
  • /etc/init.d/crond stop; mv /var/spool/cron/mailman /etc/junk; /etc/init.d/crond start
• Accounting Records
  • I created a file called /etc/init.d/netlog:

    #!/bin/sh
    # Source function library.
    . /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions
    PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:$PATH
    export PATH
    log=/var/log/shutdown
    defint=`netstat -rn|grep "^0.0.0.0"|awk '{print $8}'`
    echo "" |tee -a $log
    echo "$1 (${defint}):" |tee -a $log
    date |tee -a $log
    iwconfig $defint | grep ESSID |tee -a $log
    ifconfig $defint | egrep "RX|inet" |tee -a $log
    start() {
        echo -n $"Logging interface: "
        RETVAL=0
        [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ] && touch /var/lock/subsys/netlog
        echo
        return 0
    }
    stop() {
            echo -n $"Logging interface summary: "
            echo
        RETVAL=0
        [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ] && rm -f /var/lock/subsys/netlog
        return $RETVAL
    }
    case "$1" in
            start)
                start
                ;;
            stop)
                stop
                ;;
            *)
                echo $"Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
                exit 1
    esac
    exit 0
    
    

  • It's purpose is to keep a log of the MB used for the default interface (usually wireless in my case). It could be useful since the tmobile service I use allows me to use only 500MB per month of bandwidth. This will keep track. It's also nice to keep an eye on usage.
  • Steps to implement:

    cd /etc/rc0.d
    ln -s /etc/init.d/netlog K01netlog
    cd /etc/rc5.d
    ln -s /etc/init.d/netlog S99netlog
    

• SanDisk Smartcard Reader
  • This automatically worked. When I plugged it in, I got:

    Aug  2 17:10:05 weller kernel: Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
    Aug  2 17:10:05 weller kernel: usb.c: registered new driver usb-storage
    Aug  2 17:10:05 weller kernel: scsi1 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
    Aug  2 17:10:05 weller kernel:   Vendor: Sandisk   Model: ImageMate SDDR-0  Rev: 0208
    Aug  2 17:10:05 weller kernel:   Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 02
    

  • I mounted it with "mkdir /mnt/sandisk; mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sandisk"
  • It mounted read-only. There is a patch for write-capabilities, but i havent bothered.
  • Ok. I caved in. I got it working for write-mode so i can delete my pictures without doing it from the camera! Here's the MINIMAL steps used to do it (using same source as RH 7.3 i686-uni config (2.4.18-3):

    cd /usr/src/
    ln -s linux-2.4 linux
    ln -s linux linux-2.4.19pre4
    cat sddr09-driver-for-2.4.19pre4.txt |patch -p0
    cd linux
    make dep
    make modules SUBDIRS=drivers/usb/
    make modules SUBDIRS=drivers/scsi/
    cd /usr/src/linux/drivers/usb/storage/
    cp usb-storage.o /lib/modules/2.4.18-3mw2/kernel/drivers/usb/storage
    cd /usr/src/linux/drivers/scsi/
    cp scsi_mod.o sd.o sd_mod.o /lib/modules/2.4.18-3mw2/kernel/drivers/scsi/
    

• Infrared Setup
  • Changed "DEVICE=/dev/ttyS1" in /etc/sysconfig/irda to "DEVICE=/dev/ircomm0"
  • Ran "/etc/init.d/irda start". It loaded modules irda, ircomm, ircomm-tty, irtty into memory. It won't do this if ttyS1 is kept.
  • "ln -s /etc/init.d/irda /etc/rc5.d/S98irda" to startup all the time.
  • Run "irpsion5 -r -v" to receive a file from a psion PDA...
  • The pilot-link rpm has a few tools for pilots. (rpm -ql pilot-link). "ln -s /dev/ircomm0 /dev/pilot" may be necessary.
  • I guess Windows CE communicates with PPP. Here's a FAQ. I believe you give it an IP and communicate with it through that IP.
  • Output of "ifconfig irda0":

    irda0     Link encap:IrLAP  HWaddr f4:3e:e2:b1
              EtherTalk Phase 2 addr:132/229
              UP RUNNING NOARP  MTU:2048  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:30 (30.0 b)
    

• Printer
  • lpd didnt work, but cups does, so i made that my default printer manager:
  • "cd /etc/rc5.d; rm S60lpd; ln -s ../init.d/cups S60cups ; ./S60cups start"
  • "kcontrol" -> System -> Printer Manager -> set to "CUPS" for "Print system currently used"
  • click "Add" icon at top left part of frame -> Network Printer (in my case) -> "IP#" -> port: 9100 -> select mark + model, etc...
  • right-click on printer afterward -> "set as default"
  • konqueror prints dark backgrounds, even if webpage is white.
  • Mozilla wouldnt print until i executed: "/usr/sbin/alternatives --config print", and changed default to "'1": /usr/bin/lpr.cups
• Time Synchronization
  • Created /usr/local/bin/timesync:

  • #!/bin/csh -f
    if (`ps -eaf|egrep -c "l[i]cq|ss[h] "`) then
     if (`ipchains -nL|grep -c "140.142.16.34"` == 0) then
      ipchains -A input -p udp -s 140.142.16.34 -d 0/0 123 -j ACCEPT
     endif
     if (-e /usr/sbin/ntpdate) /usr/sbin/ntpdate bigben.cac.washington.edu >&/dev/null
    endif
    

  • using "crontab -e", added: "1 * * * * /usr/local/bin/timesync"
• Apps
  • MPlayer - for playing DVDs!!
    • grabbed the latest FONT: for OSD/Subtitles support and extract to /usr/local/share/mplayer/font/ (I moved iso-8859-1 to that dir))
    • grabbed win32 codec and moved directory to /usr/lib/win32 (no subdirs)
    • grabbed latest (the Aug 6, 2002 edition solved the .wmz problem) mplayer. configure found the win32 codec for .wmv files.
    • "./configure --disable-gcc-checking --enable-gui ; make;make install" (it complains that gcc 2.96 is bad, so you have to override)
    • cp etc/example.conf /usr/local/share/mplayer/mplayer.conf
    • mplayer.conf has:

      ao=arts
      gui = yes
      skin = BlueHeart
      framedrop       = yes
      cache           = 8192
      alang           = en 
      (+ comment out last line)
      

    • Download skins and put in /usr/local/share/mplayer/Skin
    • "cd ~/.mplayer; rm gui.conf; ln -s /usr/local/share/mplayer/font/iso-8859-1/arial-28 font"
    • now you can play DVDs with "mplayer -dvd:// [-alang en]" or "mplayer -dvd 1"
    • playback was sluggish. The solution for that was to turn DMA on.
    • "echo hdparm -d 1 /dev/hdc >> /etc/rc.d/rc.local" to make permanent
    • "hdparm -d 1 /dev/hdc" to turn dma on now.
    • Sound uses /dev/dsp by default which is BAD since you get "no audio" everytime an app is using /dev/dsp. Use "mplayer -ao arts -alang en -sid 1 -dvd 1". If you want French subtitles and english audio, use "-sid 2" for French. -slang doesnt work. it always uses english. These settings can be set in the mplayer.conf file.
  • LICQ - preinstalled on system.
    • Simply ran "licq" and setup existing user. I manually added my buddies by looking at my contact list on my windows drive: 'less /c/Program Files/icq/Contact List/*"'.
    • Add users while ONLINE! if you don't, their nicknames will be set to their ICQ#s!! i noticed that it crashes a lot while adding users, but once they're added, it's ok.
    • go: menu -> skin browser -> bheart->apply, icq2->apply -> done... then save settings.
    • go: menu -> options -> OnEvent. Change Command from "play" to "playwave". The reason for doing this, is play uses /dev/dsp, so it can't mix with sound if another app is playing sound. you'll get "Can't open output file '/dev/dsp': Device or resource busy". "lsof /dev/dsp" shows that artsd is holding onto it, which is a sound-daemon for mixing. I guess your apps have to be artsd-aware, or else you can only use sound if no other app is running.
    • Change "Message sent" to NULL so you dont get an annoying message everytime you send a message.
  • JDK 1.3.1 (origin)
    • cd /usr/local
    • bunzip2 -c j2sdk-1.3.1-FCS-linux-i386.tar.bz2 |tar -xvf -
    • ln -s j2sdk1.3.1 java
    • set path=($path /usr/local/java/bin)
    • added "pathmunge /usr/local/java/bin after" to /etc/profile
  • OpenOffice
    • downloaded it
    • ran "./install" and it put it in /usr/local/OpenOffice.org
    • ln -s /usr/local/OpenOffice.org/program/soffice /usr/local/bin
    • ran "soffice", then it wants to setup for the first time. do local install. i set dir to "/usr/local/openoffice". (selected JDK 1.3.1 for install).
    • now run "soffice"
  • HTTPD
    • preinstalled on system. i'm only using this for development purposes.
    • setup:

      cd /etc/rc5.d 
      ln -s /etc/init.d/httpd S94httpd
      cd /root
      ln -s /var/www/html public_html
      /etc/init.d/httpd start
      

  • Burning CDs
    • "xcdroast" is a GUI interface to the "cdrecord" command-line. I ran it and set it up for the first time, specifying /tmp as the output dir. I couldnt figure out how to layout a Data CD, so I used cdrecord:
    • commands:

      mkisofs -r -J -o /tmp/output.iso /mnt/sandisk/dcim/100olymp/
      cdrecord -scanbus  (to find out that the cdrw is 0,0,0)
      cdrecord -v dev=0,0,0 speed=8 /tmp/output.iso
      

  • Ripping CDs
    • I CANT find a ripper that will convert from CD to MP3 without going to WAV first. I don't want to create 650 meg of WAVs everytime I want to rip a CD.
    • I started here, which led me to ABCDE. Their TODO list mentions "read_and_encode function that uses named pipes for further ripping/encoding parallelization where possible".
    • I wrote my own script that will PIPE cdparanoia (ripper) to lame (encoder) with the commandline like:

      cdparanoia -q 2 - | lame -b 192 -q 0 --tt "Complicated" --ta "Avril Lavigne" -tl "Let Go" --ty "2002" --tn 2 - Complicated.mp3

    • Here's my "riptool" script
    • Needed: cdparanoia (RH73), wget (RH73), cddb-tool (RH73), cd-discid (gcc -o cd-discid cd-discid.c), lame (./configure; make; make install).
  • Real Player
    • Downloaded Realplayer for Linux 2.x (libc6 i386) RPM
    • "mv rp8_linux20_libc6_i386_cs2_rpm rp8.linux20.libc6.i386.cs2.rpm"
    • "rpm -i rp8.linux20.libc6.i386.cs2.rpm"
    • Since realplay is NOT artsd aware, you have to run "artsd realplay". I cannot figure out how to get mime-types/mailcap to call up "artsd" instead of realplay. It ignores my changes. I tried making a front-end, but that failed. If you just have "arstdsp realplay" running already, then mozilla will USE that app.
  • Acrobat Reader
    • kghostview has problem printing "some" PDFs, so i downloaded acroread...
    • Downloaded acrobat reader 5.06 from adobe
    • "tar -xzvf linux-506.tar.gz"; "./INSTALL"; ln -s /usr/local/Acrobat5/bin/acroread /usr/bin
  • LimeWire
    • LimeWire for Linux
    • sh LimeWireLinux.bin
    • installed to /usr/local/limewire
    • cd /usr/local/bin
    • ln -s ../limewire/LimeWire limewire
  • TightVNC
    • tightVNC
    • rpm -ivh tightvnc-1.2.8-1.i386.rpm
  • Emacs
    • Emacs LISP list
    • downloaded mmm-mode-0.4.7.tar.gz, html-helper-mode.tar.gz, jsp-html-helper-mode.el
    • Added to .emacs:

      (require 'mmm-mode)
      (require 'html-helper-mode)
      (require 'mmm-sample)
      (mmm-add-find-file-hook)
      ;; Use jsp-helper-mode + mmm-mode for JSP files
      (add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.jsp$" . jsp-html-helper-mode))
      ;; Use mmm-mode to activate jde mode for the Java part of the JSP file
      ;; and javascript mode for any JavaScript code in it.
      (mmm-add-mode-ext-class 'jsp-html-helper-mode "\\.jsp\\'" 'jsp)
      (mmm-add-mode-ext-class 'jsp-html-helper-mode "\\.jsp\\'" 'html-js)
      (mmm-add-mode-ext-class 'html-helper-mode     "\\.js\\'"  'html-js)
        (set-face-background 'mmm-default-submode-face nil)
      

  • JAVA Stuff
    • Downloaded: netscape 7.02, mozilla1.2.1, tomcat,
    • j2re1.4.1_01 (for netscape plugin), j2sdk1.4.0_03 (needed latest for corba's poa), j2sdkee1.3.1 (need for servlets), JDBC-Mysql driver
    • Need to do some linking to get things to work:
    • cd /usr/local/netscape/plugins; ln -s /usr/local/j2re1.4.1_01/plugin/i386/ns610/libjavaplugin_oji.so .
    • cd /usr/local/java/jre/lib/ext; ln -s ../../../mysql/mysql-connector-java-3.0.6-stable-bin.jar .
    • cd /usr/local/java/jre/lib/ext; ln -s /root/tomcat/common/lib/servlet.jar . (NOTE: if I use j2ee.jar instead, tomcat won't start - took forever to figure that out)
  • Kazaa / Wine
    • Got latest wine "wine --version" shows: Wine 20030219
    • Uninstalled present wine: "rpm -e wine-devel; rpm -e wine"
    • Installed latest rpm: "rpm -ivh wine-cvs-unstripped-031403-1.i386.rpm"
    • Got KazaaLite v1.72 (ppl said v2 was really slow)
    • Followed Frank's instructions (I'll regurgitate just in case).
    • Grabbed Wine-Tools which helps you set it up!
    • Grabbed Frank's registry file
    • as non-root user: "cd ; mkdir .wine; winetools"
    • created fake windows directory and exited.
    • "tar -xzvf wineregistry.tgz; cp system.reg .wine"
    • Edited "config" and made changes/additions:

      "Windows" = "win98"
      [AppDefaults\\kazaa.exe\\DllOverrides]
      "commctrl" = "native"
      "comctl32" = "native"
      "shdoclc" = "native"
      "shdocvw" = "native"
      "shlwapi" = "native"
      "ole32" = "native"
      "oleaut32" = "native"
      "rpcrt4" = "native"
      

    • I copied the entire Windows\System\*.DLL on a Windows 98 machine (I smbmounted the machine to my machine, and copies). I got fed up with selecting just a few and getting errors, so I did them all.
    • ran "wine kazaa-lite-172-english.exe".
    • Added to ~/.tcshrc: "alias kazaa 'wine ~/.wine/c/Program\ Files/KaZaA\ Lite/Kazaa.exe'"
    • Made a simple link: "ln -s .wine/c/Program\ Files/KaZaA\ Lite/My\ Shared\ Folder/ kazaa/"
    • Aaah, now I understand the difference between "builtin" and "native". I copied way more DLL's than I needed. Here's the list:

      > lsof | grep -i dll | cut -d/ -f2-|sort -u
      home/weller/.wine/c/Program Files/KaZaA Lite/cd_clint.dll
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/COMCTL32.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/MLANG.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/MSVCRT20.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/NETAPI32.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/NETBIOS.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/OLE32.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/OLEAUT32.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/OLEDLG.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/OLEPRO32.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/RPCRT4.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/SHDOCLC.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/SHDOCVW.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/SHLWAPI.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/URLMON.DLL
      home/weller/.wine/c/Windows/System/WININET.DLL
      usr/lib/wine/advapi32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/comdlg32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/gdi32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/icmp.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/kernel32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/lz32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/mpr.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/msacm32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/ntdll.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/shell32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/shfolder.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/user32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/version.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/winedos.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/winmm.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/ws2_32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/wsock32.dll.so
      usr/lib/wine/x11drv.dll.so
      

  • Nero with WINE
    • I didnt get it completely working yet. There are instructions here and here
    • I tried the demo Nero 5.5.10.15a
    • I ran it with "wine ./nero551015a.exe". It errored out on install, as documented. I did:

    •   1167  13:03   cd .wine
        1173  13:03   cd c/Windows/
        1177  13:03   cd RarSFX0/
        1180  13:03   mv RarSFX0/ ../../Nero
        1181  13:03   cd ..
        1182  13:03   cd ..
        1186  13:04   cd Windows/System
        1187  13:04   mkdir orig
        1190  13:04   cp MSVCP60.DLL orig/
        1192  13:04   cp MSVCRT.DLL orig/
        1194  13:04   cd ..
        1196  13:05   cd Nero/
        1198  13:05   cp *.DLL ../Windows/System
        1200  13:05   cd Nero
        1210  13:12   wine -dll ole32,oleaut32,rpcrt4=n ./nero.exe
      

    • When I go to create the CD, I get "could not find the Nero Plugin manager. Please reinstall Nero"
    • Ignoring that error, I get another one when I try to find my music on my drive: "wine: listview.c:1238: LISTVIEW_GetColumnInfo: Assertion `nSubItem >= 0 && nSubItem < infoPtr->hdpaColumns->nItemCount' failed."
    • It seems to be only when i browse the UNIX drive instead of the FAKE windows drive...
    • I give up for now... gotta study :(
• General Aesthetics
  • kcontrol -> look and feel
  • -> theme -> nostalgy
  • ->background -> uncheck common background -> set single scaled wallpaper; 1=kiagara, 2-kde_passion, 3=wintertheme, 4-aliennight
  • -> colors-> dark blue -> apply
  • ->screensaver -> the matrix
  • konsole -> settings -> scheme -> transparent for MC -> save settings
  • FOR login background - there's some bug in kcontrol -> system -> login manager, so here's a workaround. in /etc/X11/xdm/Xsetup_0, comment out "/usr/bin/xsri --redhat-login --set" and add "xsri --scale-width 100 --scale-height 100 --set /usr/share/wallpapers/kde_passion.jpg"