Orbiter for the WebDT 366 Webpad inside

[tschak909]

After many weeks of work, I have created an orbiter for the WebDT 366 units that were on Ebay (and are still available, talk to tkmedia).

This is a micro-distribution of Debian (based on Lenny), which contains the Linux based orbiter, ready for use.

This is Beta2. Release is forthcoming.

The Image:
----------
The Image is here: http://www.localeconcept.com/private/webpad-beta2.dd.bz2 (must be bunzip2'd before use.)

The Code:
---------
I wrote some code to support this release, as per the GPL, the code is here:

TabletCFG - http://www.localeconcept.com/pub/PadOrbiter/TabletCFG-1.0.0.tar.gz
webdt_buttons - http://www.localeconcept.com/pub/PadOrbiter/webdt_buttons-1.0.0.tar.gz


It also contains:
-----------------
* A nice bootsplash
* A network configurator applet for setting network parameters (ESSID and network key and type)
* A daemon for handling the four hardware buttons and the direction pad.
* A patched Orbiter which creates the correct device template, so that automated orbiter setup will work.

What it does NOT contain yet, and will be there for the release:

* A destructive installer which will erase the onboard flash storage and install the Orbiter.

What this is for:
-----------------
* WebDT 366 based on:
* AMD Geode GX/533
* 256 Megabytes of RAM
* 512 Megabytes of Flash
* Cisco Aironet 350 PCMCIA wireless card (although other cards could be tested and used)
* Penmount DMC 9000 4-wire resistive touch screen on /dev/ttyS0 running at 19200bps

Who this is for:
----------------
* impatient people who want to test this sucker to make sure it works.
* impatient hackers who KNOW HOW TO DUMP A RAW dd IMAGE ONTO A device. If you do not know how to do this, I wouldn't recommend installing this build.

Still here?

Okay.

What you will need:

* a USB hub
* a USB keyboard
* a USB cdrom
* a USB stick or disk with the image
* a Linux live cd with a shell and dd

pressing F1 on your connected keyboard while the blue screen is present, will allow you to go into the bios to tweak boot order if needed.

From this point on, your mileage will vary depending on what you're using to do the dump, but, an example for dd:

Code: [Select]

dd if=/mnt/webpad-beta2.dd of=/dev/hda

PULL THE USB CORD OUT! Reboot the tablet after the dump is complete, and the automated install should happen.

You can use C-t c to get a terminal once ratpoison starts.

What is still needed
--------------------
* Automated installer

Known bugs with respect to the WebDT 366
----------------------------------------
* The Cisco Aironet 350 does not do WPA. It's broken. If you need WPA, put in a different card, and install what you need to via apt to get it working.
* Currently the direction pad button is not mapped correctly. I have to patch orbiter a bit to fix some bugs.
* Be sure to pull the keyboard. My device management is very static at the moment, and can get skittish with devices appearing on the USB bus.

This is for the adventurous. Let me know how it goes.

-Thom

[jimmejames]

Thom-  you're the man.

If I had extra money it'd be coming your way.

Thanks

[tschak909]

Please wait a couple hours. I am uploading a revised beta2 with a tiny minor fix that will put the network card in the right place..

*shakes-his-fist-at-udev-for-putting-mac-addresses-in-persistent-rules!* !!!!

-Thom

[totallymaxed]

After many weeks of work, I have created an orbiter for the WebDT 366 units that were on Ebay (and are still available, talk to tkmedia).

This is a micro-distribution of Debian (based on Lenny), which contains the Linux based orbiter, ready for use.

This is Beta2. Release is forthcoming.

The Image:
----------
The Image is here: http://www.localeconcept.com/private/webpad-beta2.dd.bz2 (must be bunzip2'd before use.)

The Code:
---------
I wrote some code to support this release, as per the GPL, the code is here:

TabletCFG - http://www.localeconcept.com/pub/PadOrbiter/TabletCFG-1.0.0.tar.gz
webdt_buttons - http://www.localeconcept.com/pub/PadOrbiter/webdt_buttons-1.0.0.tar.gz


It also contains:
-----------------
* A nice bootsplash
* A network configurator applet for setting network parameters (ESSID and network key and type)
* A daemon for handling the four hardware buttons and the direction pad.
* A patched Orbiter which creates the correct device template, so that automated orbiter setup will work.

What it does NOT contain yet, and will be there for the release:

* A destructive installer which will erase the onboard flash storage and install the Orbiter.

What this is for:
-----------------
* WebDT 366 based on:
* AMD Geode GX/533
* 256 Megabytes of RAM
* 512 Megabytes of Flash
* Cisco Aironet 350 PCMCIA wireless card (although other cards could be tested and used)
* Penmount DMC 9000 4-wire resistive touch screen on /dev/ttyS0 running at 19200bps

Who this is for:
----------------
* impatient people who want to test this sucker to make sure it works.
* impatient hackers who KNOW HOW TO DUMP A RAW dd IMAGE ONTO A device. If you do not know how to do this, I wouldn't recommend installing this build.

Still here?

Okay.

What you will need:

* a USB hub
* a USB keyboard
* a USB cdrom
* a USB stick or disk with the image
* a Linux live cd with a shell and dd

pressing F1 on your connected keyboard while the blue screen is present, will allow you to go into the bios to tweak boot order if needed.

From this point on, your mileage will vary depending on what you're using to do the dump, but, an example for dd:

Code: [Select]

dd if=/mnt/webpad-beta2.dd of=/dev/hda

PULL THE USB CORD OUT! Reboot the tablet after the dump is complete, and the automated install should happen.

You can use C-t c to get a terminal once ratpoison starts.

What is still needed
--------------------
* Automated installer

Known bugs with respect to the WebDT 366
----------------------------------------
* The Cisco Aironet 350 does not do WPA. It's broken. If you need WPA, put in a different card, and install what you need to via apt to get it working.
* Currently the direction pad button is not mapped correctly. I have to patch orbiter a bit to fix some bugs.
* Be sure to pull the keyboard. My device management is very static at the moment, and can get skittish with devices appearing on the USB bus.

This is for the adventurous. Let me know how it goes.

-Thom

Nice work Thom... as ever :-)

We're trying to 'borrow' a WebDT 366 to give this a try.

All the best

Andrew

[Zaerc]

...

Nice work Thom... as ever :-)

We're trying to 'borrow' a WebDT 366 to give this a try.

All the best

Andrew

If it's borrowed, make sure to save a copy of the current firmware before you begin.

[cyf4746]

IS this orbiter compatible to other WinCE MID under Arm Processor Platform?

[tschak909]

No. If you look at the specifications for the device, the CPU is an AMD Geode, which is an x86 CPU.

-Thom

[rocketlynx]

Can this flash be done using Ghost and if so, is there a .gho image of the WebDT 366 Orbiter image in a Ghost format?  I am backing up my WebDT 366's existing Flash Drive with a "98 Boot USB Flash Drive" using Ghost so that I may reflash it later if something better comes along in th future.

If not the above requested scenario, I'm running 810 Alpha2-Latest and do I need a "Linux (version 810) live cd with a shell image" on USB Flash to go with dd?

If so, where do I get it?  Can I mount the flash on my core and make it bootable and then install dd?  Just some direction will be greatly appreciated for Newbies and Linux-Idiots, like me, who have made it this far with "LinuxMCE 810-Alpha2-Latest" and are quite satisified.

I know I'll be able to do it but I'm not sure how to create the Linux Live CD Image and dd for the flash drive.

Thanks in advance,

Charles

[tschak909]

Use any flash stick image writer to write the gamma1 image to a USB stick. Stick the USB stick into the webpad. Done.

-Thom