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BlackDogKwikis

Here are some Kwikis for the BlackDog palm-sized USB PowerPC Linux Server. The BD is one of a new generation of MicroPCs.

BlackDog APT Repository

DEB packages available from the dogpound and other sites and submissions can be found in the ArchLUG BD Repository for your apt-get pleasure...

See http://www.archlug.org/apt for details. Or add the following to your /etc/apt/sources.list file. 

deb http://www.archlug.org/apt blackdog dogpound
deb http://www.archlug.org/apt blackdog bluedogz
deb http://www.archlug.org/apt blackdog linuxrebel
deb http://www.archlug.org/apt blackdog pliskin

ProjectBlackDog is also hosting a repository for the debs submitted to the dogpound. The above dogpound section of the ArchLUG BlackDog repository will now be a mirror, since the ArchLUG repository was created before it existed. 

deb http://dp-apt.projectblackdog.com/ binary/

If someone wants to submit a DEB for a tar.gz, or provide direct submissions, send your request/submission to webmaster@archlug.org.

Project BlackDog Support

Documentation

A good place to look for answers is in the Project BlackDog documentation:

Project BlackDog SDK Documentation
Includes a developer's guide and the set of third-party documentation that may be useful in developing applications.
Project BlackDog Knowledge Base Wiki
A searchable wiki for BlackDog developers.

FAQs

There are two FAQs available:

Forums and Other Developer Resources

The Project BlackDog Dogpound is a resource site for BlackDog developers. To use the Dogpound, you must register for a free Dogpound account.

Current Bugs

You can:

Downloads

Project BlackDog provides these resources for downloads:

If you add the Debian repositories, then you'll need to import the Debian signing keys. The command to do this is: 

gpg --keyserver keyring.debian.org --recv 4F368D5D
gpg --armor --export 4F368D5D | apt-key add -

gpg --keyserver keyring.debian.org --recv 2D230C5F
gpg --armor --export 4F368D5D | apt-key add -

BD Kwikis

Updating the time on your BD

  • I've had problems connecting to the pool servers, perhaps due to connectivity issues and the NTP protocol (port 123).
  • You can permanently add the time server of your choice to the file /etc/default/ntp
  • So, just try a different server, and 'time.xmission.com' will do. Run the following command: 
ntpdate time.xmission.com

xterm startup scripts not running

  • The .profile/.bashrc on the BD is not being run, because the default xterm command line in /etc/launcher.conf has not been told to be a login shell. This can be taken care of by adding "-ls" to the command line in launcher.conf. In this case, .profile will be executed, which then looks for and executes .bashrc. While you're editing launcher.conf, you can also add "-sb" to get a scroll bar in the xterm.

Persisting entries in the BD /etc/hosts

  • Edit /etc/hosts.d/hosts.tail and any changes there will persist across boots.

Allowing other users to login to the BD

  • edit '/opt/realm/bin/login-screen-loop.sh' in the main comment out '-u root' after 'login-loop'. If the verfication of the fingerprint fails you must type in the username again.

Connecting to the BD from Linux 

xhost + 169.254.0.1
# Insert Black Dog
mount /dev/sr/c0b0t0u0 /mnt/tmp
/mnt/tmp/linux/mps300.hotplug
/mnt/tmp/linux-i386/realm_net /mnt/tmp

Connecting to the BD from Slackware 

#!/bin/sh
cat /mnt/cdrom/net_addr/driver/0 >/dev/null 2>/dev/null
cat /mnt/cdrom/net_addr/3/172 /mnt/cdrom/net_addr/2/027 \
/mnt/cdrom/net_addr/1/072 /mnt/cdrom/net_addr/0/000 >/dev/null

Upgrading the 2.4 kernel in the SDK to the 2.6 kernel on the BD

  • To upgrade the 2.4 kernel supplied in the SDK to the 2.6.8 kernel, even though the BD runs 2.6.10, in the SDK perform the following. 
apt-get install kernel-source-2.6
cd /usr/src/realmlinux
make
  • Installing a new kernel by re-imaging*:

The easiest way to compile your kernel is in the sdk, as noted above. 

apt-get install kernel-source-2.6
cd /usr/src/realmlinux
# Add in patch for 2GB MMC cards
patch -p1 < path_to_it/mmc.patch
make

# Copy the image over to the SDK host machine.
scp arch/ppc/boot/images/zImage.elf username@host:.

Then on your host machine, reimage your blackdog. The instructions and tools to reimage can be found here:

Note: the name of the kernel is zImage.elf in this case.

  • To install without re-imaging*:

For those who would like to replace their kernel without wiping the contents of their Blackdog can try the following. Please understand it does not always work. Back up your data.

When you get to the mps command prompt try the following: 

load 1 path_to_zimage/zImage.elf
run 1

It has often worked for me, but sometimes not.

Building packages for the BlackDog

Direct Networking to the BD w/o Auto-Run

  1. Save the 7 lines at the bottom of this post into a file called BlackdogNetOnly.bat (the long 'type ... NUL' should be all on one line)
  2. Plug in your blackdog, disabling autorun as already mentioned
  3. Open up a DOS window and type something like:
    • ' BlackdogNetOnly d:' (where d: is the cdrom drive letter your blackdog appears as)
  4. The blackdog should do it's usual changeover from usb cdrom to usb ethernet
  5. You can now either SSH directly to the blackdog (IP: 169.254.0.1 username: root no password) with putty
  6. Or if you have Cygwin/X installed you can do 'startx' and 'xhost +169.254.0.1' to get the usual blackdog fingerprint window to appear

These instructions should also work for Windows2000, if you can get the correct USB- Ethernet driver loaded (which I haven't yet). 

@echo off
SET NET3=169
SET NET2=254
SET NET1=000
SET NET0=000
type %1\net_addr\3\%NET3% %1\net_addr\2\%NET2% %1\net_addr\1\%NET1% %1\net_addr\0\%NET0% >NUL
@echo on
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