Nortel i2004 on LinuxMCE?

[pablito]

Hi:

I have an older Nortel i2004 IP/Unistim based phone I'd like to try and use with LMCE. I've found some posts on Asterisks sites about building and installing the chan_unistim module, /etc/asterisk/unistim.conf file, etc. However, as I've found no posts here on the LCME forums I was wondering if there was any reason why this wouldn't be feasible or practical to attempt?

The first thing I noted is that although the chan_unistim module was apparently included in the 1.6 Asterisk stream, I see no logs (/var/log/asterisk) related to the module being loaded on LMCE. Is the LMCE Asterisk build custom? Has chan_unistim not been included?

Even if I build and install the module, do I risk running into other LMCE specific issues? I'm thinking along the lines of creating a new device from the web admin page. Will I need to create a new device template or some such?

I'm just getting started, but thought I'd check before going too far down this path.

pab

[sambuca]

Hi

I think we use Asterisk 1.8 at the moment (in 1004 at least), so in that case the module might be available. But it is probably not loaded by default. Maybe it is as simple as a configuration change?

You might run into some LMCE specific issues, it depends on your device I suppose and what setting it requires.

Creating a device template is always the recommended option. This way you don't have to create it again if you reinstall or otherwise break you system. And other people can also benefit from it.

br,
sambuca

[pablito]

I should have mentioned, but I was on 810 when I posted this. Last night I decided to re-install and started with a fresh 1004 Kubuntu. After doing an update I ran the LMCE install script and it completed successfully.

I plan on having another go at installing the i2004 over the weekend. From a quick look at the admin web site, I see that there is still no i2004 or unistim device in 1004 so I've definitely got some work ahead of me. Before jumping in, I just want to clarify the steps I'll need to follow.

Step 1: Install and get a softphone working for testing purposes. Back on 0810, I didn't even manage to get that right to be honest. I tried installing Linphone as I noticed that it is a listed device in the LMCE admin site. I'd like to have something working there to gain some confidence and have something to test against. Once I have this working, I imagine that I should be able to make a call between Linphone and the hibrid's softphone extension?

Step 2: Install the chan_unistim library on the core's Asterisk installation. From my research, I need to provision each SIP line in the /etc/asterisk/unistim.conf file. Now, if I do this manually, should I expect this to work without the LMCE device template?

Step 3: Having thought about my question in 'step 2', am I correct in assuming that the purpose of my creating the LMCE device template for unistim phones would be to auto-provision the unistim.conf file? If so then I assume creating the template involves some scripting in order to auto-edit the conf file and populate the LMCE device DB table?

Step 4: If I'm right so far, then I imagine I should then delete the manual entry I created in step 2 in the unistim.conf file and them create the device "properly" from the LMCE admin web site?

Step 5 (down the road): Submit the template for evaluation and inclusion into the main LMCE build?

Question: Is the unistim phone device template the only LMCE artifact I need to code/create? I'm assuming that I don't have to also enhance the Asterisk interface template (assuming there is such a thing).

I know I've got some more reading ahead of me, guess I'm sort of thinking out loud to get my thoughts straight. Update: I've found the wiki document called Developing_a_DCE_Device (couldn't post the link) and admittedly haven't read this yet. I assume this is my 'bible' for the next few days?

Cheers,
Pab

[pablito]

Hi:

I thought I'd provide an update on my progress. I finally managed to spend a little time on this today.

Step 1: I have not managed to get my Jitsi softphone to authenticate against LMCE. However, that is discussed in another thread.

Step 2: Turns out that sambuca was right on the money. All that I needed to do was to enable the chan_unistim driver by adding the line "load => chan_unistim.so" to /etc/asterisk/modules.conf and then create /etc/asterisk/unistim.conf. I copied the template for the conf file from here: http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/Asterisk+UNISTIM+channels and made some modifications as per my terminals (I have 2: 1x i2004 and 1x 1120E). After a reboot of the system, I am able to make calls between the sets. I also tried dialing the MD's softphone, but didn't have much luck there. That said, I've not spent a whole lot of time on that.

Next, I'll maybe try and read up on how to create the template. I was also thinking that it would be nice to deploy the phones in the house so I guess I'll need to work something out for service to the outside world... I think I've found some TDM400 clones on eBay. Anyone have any luck with these?

Pab