Installing Debian 3.0 on Epia M10000-N

3.1 Installing a new kernel

There are two ways to install a more fitting kernel:

• compiling and installing kernel version 2.4.22 from Debian testing
• compiling and installing kernel 2.4.23 specially patched for Epia boards

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dpkg -i kernel-source-2.4.22_2.4.22-3_all.deb

cd /usr/src/
tar xvjf kernel-source-2.4.22.tar.bz2
cd kernel-source-2.4.22
make menuconfig

wget http://witch.westfalen.de/via/config.2.4.22.hexe.10

make-kpkg --revision=name.version kernel_image modules_image
cd ..
dpkg -i kernel-image-2.4.22_name.version_i386.deb

wget http://www.de.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.22.tar.bz2
wget http://www.de.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/testing/old/patch-2.4.23-pre9.bz2
wget "http://www.alterself.com/~epia/files/epia_kernel/patch-2.4.23-pre9-epia1.gz"

tar -xvzf linux-2.4.22.tar.gz
gunzip patch-2.4.23-pre9-epia1.gz
bunzip2 patch-2.4.23-pre9.bz2

cd /usr/src/linux-2.4.22

patch -p1 --dry-run < ../patch-2.4.23-pre9
patch -p1 < ../patch-2.4.23-pre9
patch -p1 --dry-run < ../patch-2.4.23-pre9-epia1
patch -p1 < ../patch-2.4.23-pre9-epia1

cd /usr/src
rm -rf modules
tar -xvzf ../i2c.tar.gz
tar -xvzf ../lm-sensors.tar.gz

cd /usr/src
wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/patch.lm-sensors-source.hexe.2
patch -p0 --dry-run < patch.lm-sensors-source.hexe.2
patch -p0 < patch.lm-sensors-source.hexe.2

wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/config.2.4.22.hexe.epia.1
oder 
wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/config.2.4.22.hexe.epia.2
oder
wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/config.2.4.22.hexe.epia.3

make menuconfig
make-kpkg --revision=hexe.epia.1 kernel-image modules-image
cd ..
dpkg -i kernel-image-2.4.23-pre9-epia1_name.epia.1_i386.deb
dpkg -i i2c-2.4.23-pre9-epia1_2.8.0-2+name.epia.1_i386.deb
dpkg -i lm-sensors-2.4.23-pre9-epia1_2.8.0-2+name.epia.1_i386.deb

wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/config.2.4.22.hexe.epia.1

3.2 Xfree86

To get a frequency for the display better than 60 Hz from vesa driver, Xfree either has to be replaced by Xfree86 4.3.99 or as a workaround the binaries on the CD coming with the board may be installed.

There is a file named CLEXF40016.tgz` in the linux directory on CD. This will have to be copied and unpacked on hard disk. Then the drivers are to be copied to the module and lib directories from X:

tar -xvzf CLEXF40016.tgz
cd CLEXF40016
cp -i RedHat/7.1/pentium/via_drv.o /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/
cp -i RedHat/7.1/pentium/libddmpeg.so /usr/X11R6/lib/

As for Debian Woody exactly these driver version must be taken. Those in other directories will not fit to Xfree version coming with Woody.

The normal way to change xfree configuration is using dpkg-reconfigure. But you may try to edit the config XF86Config-4 in /etc/X11 directly as root or using sudo:

sudo vi /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

The Device Section for the graphic card should look like this:

Section "Device"
      Identifier      "Via VT8623 Apollo CLE266"
      Driver          "via"
      VideoRam        4000
      # Option                "TVOff"
EndSection

To get this activated section Screen must be changed to use it:

Device          "Via VT8623 Apollo CLE266"

Editing XF86Config-4 directly is not the Debian way. So you must be warned: Everything may be lost after next time using dpkg-reconfigure to make changes to the config. So it is a good advice to keep a copy of the file.

If the Monitor Section is set up correctly the frequency should be higher as before. You may discover a problem keyboard not working any longer, if starting X with a display manager like xdm, gdm or kdm. The processes causing the problem may be killed using ssh from another computer. To avoid the problem, X may be started using startx. If a normal user is not allowed to start X this way, this may be changed:

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-common

Even using startx, X starts up very slowly on my computer. I get some errors from the Via driver, The problem still is not solved. If there is a resolution found, maybe, X can be started using a display manager again.

This ist what I get in the log:

(EE) via(0):  Couldn't open "/dev/video0"
(EE) via(0): Can't get through IOCTL to V4L
(EE) via(0): Can't set destroy surface flag 0 to V4L
...
(EE) via(0):  Couldn't open "/dev/video0"
(EE) via(0): Can't get through IOCTL to V4L
...
waiting for X server to shut down (EE) via(0):  Couldn't open "/dev/video0"
(EE) via(0): Can't get through IOCTL to V4L

If someone does know how to get rid of theses errors, please feel free to share your resolution with me. As the driver are binaries, I asked Via, but still got no answer.

3.4 USB

As there are several individual usages of usb, here some general hints.

• USB_UHCI must be activated in kernel configuration
• If cameras or other devices are to be mounted as hard disk SCSI, SCSI generic and others must be activated in kernel
• For very old webcams and the Intel QX3 microscope the CPIA driver must be activated
• to get plug and play ther must be something like usbmgr installed

For me I installed usbmgr using apt-get. Replacing it with hotplug was no good idea for me. The microscope was not longer accessible using the CPIA drivers after reboot. The only way to get it working again was purging (instead of removing) hotplug unsing apt-get remove hotplug --purge and reinstalling usbmgr. To get usbmgr working, for some devices the vendor entries must be added.

To get the correct entries for the vendor entries in /etc/usbmgr/usbmgr.conf ther errors coming up, if a device is connected and switched on, may be used. Here as an example the entries added for QX3 and a camera:

# QX3 Mikroskop
vendor 0x813 product 0x1 module cpia , cpia_usb
# Coolpix 2500 [Nikon]
vendor 0x04b0 product 0x0108 module scsi_mod , sd_mod , usb-storage

The modules needed must be activated in kernel or exist as module to be loaded.

If accessing usb devices using usbdeffs, presuming the kernel is configured correctly, the following lines should be added to /etc/mtab automatically:

/proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs rw 0 0

To access a camera as scsi hard disk the camera must be set up corrrectly and on the other hand scsi must be configured in the kernel. Here an example for mounting a camera:

mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt

For me I got only success using a card reader connected to usb.

There may be additions to this sections in the future.

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3.5 LM-Sensors and I2C

Using the sensors and i2c ist not possible with kernel version 2.4.22 and i2c and lm-sensors packaged from Debian 3.0 (Woody).

I got the source packages for lm-sensors and i2c from the next Debian release and packported the packages to Woody.

The backports may be downloaded from my web server. The first two are the packages needed for kernel compilation:

wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/i2c-source_2.8.0-2_all.deb
wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/lm-sensors-source_2.8.0-2_all.deb
wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/modules.epia.diff

These two pakages must be installed and unpacked into the kernel source tree:

sudo dpkg -i i2c-source_2.8.0-2_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i lm-sensors-source_2.8.0-2_all.deb
cd /usr/src/
rm -rf modules
tar -xvzf i2c.tar.gz
tar -xvzf lm-sensors.tar.gz
patch -p1 < modules.epia.diff

Next step is to configure, make and install the kernel and modules.

If done so, the other packages may be downloaded:

wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/libsensors2_2.8.0-2_i386.deb
wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/acpi_0.06-5_i386.deb
wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/lm-sensors_2.8.0-2_i386.deb
wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/sensord_2.8.0-2_i386.deb
wget http://www.witch.westfalen.de/via/sensors.conf

Installation follows as usual with sudo dpkg -i  package.deb. After doing so the configuration file distributed with the package may be replaced by one fitting the Epia M mainboards:

sudo mv /etc/sensors.conf /etc/sensors.conf.orig
sudo cp sensors.conf /etc/sensors.conf

After the next reboot, sensor values may be read using the command sensors.

The sensors.conf created by me is a result of my studies of all the documentation I was able to get from Via. The conversion constants for voltages and temperature are directly from Via. I proofed the results using the bios values and converting all values from i2c with Via's constants. I did not find any explicit assignment. The configurations found in the web showed up more or less differences to the values shown in bios.

If comparing the values shown by sensors with the values from bios, must consider the consumption of parts accessed in the bios. Temperature values are quite different if some parts of the bios are visited over a long time. Is the temperature eg. much higher than 30 degrees celsius, temperature may drop by 1 to 2 degrees or more, even if you call sensors directly after booting.

Example print-out of sensors:

vt1211-isa-6000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Algorithm: ISA algorithm
+5V:       +4.88 V  (min =  +4.75 V, max =  +5.25 V)   
VCore1:    +1.38 V  (min =  +1.33 V, max =  +1.46 V)   
+3.3V:     +3.26 V  (min =  +3.12 V, max =  +3.45 V)   
+12V:     +11.78 V  (min = +11.36 V, max = +12.55 V)   
System:      0 RPM  (min = 3996 RPM, div = 2)          
CPU:      6425 RPM  (min = 3996 RPM, div = 2)          
CPU:       +58.3°C  (limit =  +65°C, hysteresis =  +60°C) 
vid:       +1.85 V

At the time, these print-out was made the computer was quite busy. All the voltages are dropped down a little. Only VCore1 is the same as before. This marks a high power consumption at this time. Obviously the power supply has enough power. All the values are inside the limits. The system fan is not connected, so there is no value from the sensor. If the values are outside the limits an alarm is raised. The second value (hysteresis) for CPU temperature ist that value which erases an alarm, if the temperature drops after raising above 65° C.

Only a few seconds after the busy period, all values are nearly back to normal:

+5V:       +4.98 V  (min =  +4.75 V, max =  +5.25 V)   
VCore1:    +1.37 V  (min =  +1.33 V, max =  +1.46 V)   
+3.3V:     +3.28 V  (min =  +3.12 V, max =  +3.45 V)   
+12V:     +11.90 V  (min = +11.36 V, max = +12.55 V)   
System:      0 RPM  (min = 3996 RPM, div = 2)          
CPU:      6488 RPM  (min = 3996 RPM, div = 2)          
CPU:       +36.0°C  (limit =  +65°C, hysteresis =  +60°C) 

The sensor values my be read directly by another program and used to mail an alarm or trigger other events.

The CPU fan is said to be adjustable. But if setting the rpm is enabled (pwm2, 2) nothing will happen if speed is set to another value. The speed value does not change at all. Maybe, acpi or anything else is needed to manipulate the cpu fan speed.

Setting uhc_config seems not to work. set config 12 does always result in the (correct) value "3" in the register. Setting uhc_config switches registers of vt1211 from temperature to voltage. But in the M chassis these switchable registers are used to represent voltages or even nothing.

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3. 6 Sound

There is little sound support with my kernel configuration. Wav files can be played with cat into the audio device. For more elaborate sound settings alsa should be installed.

General advice: To allow the user to play sound, use video or other things, he or she must be added to the related group (audio, video eg.). It is not a good idea to change the devices and make them world wide writable instead.