OpenZaurus 3.5.4 released!

Marcin Juszkiewicz March 18th, 2006

On behalf of the OpenEmbedded, OpenZaurus, Opie and GPE teams, I am proud to present to you the fourth OpenZaurus release based on the BitBake build system and the OpenEmbedded metadata repository.

The highlights of this release are:

  • OPIE 1.2.1
  • GPE 2.7
  • Cross SDK provided
  • Native SDK provided
  • WPA support on all machines
  • Linux Kernel 2.6.14-rc1 for C7×0
  • nearly 3000 source packages which result in 12000 packages to install
  • Various corrections to keymaps for all machines have been made
  • Fixed keyboard repeat on c7×0 machines
  • Suspend/resume issues on collie, poodle, tosa have been fixed
  • Bluetooth improvements all over the place, especially in the base system
  • some 802.11g CF cards probably work now
  • Enlightenment DR 17 images (experimental)

This release supports the following Sharp Zaurus models:

  • collie (SL-5000, SL-5500)
  • poodle (SL-5600, B500)
  • tosa (SL-6000)
  • c7×0 (C700, C750, C760, C860, SL-7500)

Due to a lot of problems with 2.4.20 on cxx00 machines we have decided to not release 3.5.4 for those machines. It does not makes sense to release 3.5.4 with crappy cxx00 support and then lose our reputation when some weeks later we could have 3.5.4.1 with proper cxx00 support.

You can help to speed up development by donating money and/or devices to our developers. Compared to other open source projects we receive very few donations, although we spend a lot of our precious spare time and deliver lots of good work. So if you are regularly using OpenZaurus, consider donating developers.

See the ReleaseNotes for important notes before you install OpenZaurus 3.5.4.

Also see Installation for Installation instructions.

Marcin Juszkiewicz
OpenZaurus 3.5.4 Release Manager

65 Responses to “OpenZaurus 3.5.4 released!”

  1. guidoon 18 Mar 2006 at 13:30

    You just made my day, many thanks, this is what I was waiting for ;-)
    Am gonna try it on my Tosa a.s.a.p…thanks for all your hard work!

  2. randallon 18 Mar 2006 at 13:42

    woohooo !!!

  3. I also want to thanks for all OpenZaurus users which joined OpenZaurus 3.5.4 test program - you were big help to me.

  4. Mace Monetaon 18 Mar 2006 at 16:59

    I’m really surprised that Sharp doesn’t provide support to the project. It seems like a wasted opportunity to compete in a growing market that they helped create.

  5. Ciro Mattiaon 18 Mar 2006 at 18:05

    Woah, can’t wait for testing this on my collie!
    Just flashing… :)

  6. Marco van de Voorton 19 Mar 2006 at 11:28

    Any list of new drivers? Most specifically is the new Linksys 54g card (WCF-54g or so) supported on Collie?

  7. Michael Kallason 19 Mar 2006 at 12:49

    Fred, have you tried to flash it with the original Sharp ROM?
    It is a little more “aggressive” than flashing oz.

  8. KarlsBergon 19 Mar 2006 at 13:06

    Anybody with CF Sandisk +128MB Wifi sayme if this CF run on this version of openzaurus WITHOUT install any..?

    or need install the modules ident that 3.5.3?

  9. William McCabeon 19 Mar 2006 at 17:07

    You guys have really done a great job! Not just in releasing the rom, but also all in releasing all of the development tools.

    Thank you.

  10. bjoernon 19 Mar 2006 at 17:22

    Great!!!,
    tried it and everything except some small things works fine on my Collie. (Deactivate LCD only doesn’t work, package manager locks the system up every second install, sd is not shown in the taskbar as mounted, but works fine.) If someone has problems with some packages: (xmms segfaults, mplayer complaints about missing ncurses.., icons not shown), ipkg-link add did the trick for me. Everything else is flawless for me. Great work, tnx alot.
    BTW: will the greatest game ever (nethack) be in the feed again?

  11. Thorndikeon 19 Mar 2006 at 18:19

    Are the 3.5.4 files going to be available on the U.S. mirror? As of now, the latest is 3.5.3. The 3.5.4 files are available on the european mirrors. Can I use those? Are they in english?

  12. nethack was never available for OpenZaurus 3.5.x - it has so weird buildsystem that noone added it to OE yet.

  13. Rutger Hendrikson 19 Mar 2006 at 18:51

    KarlsBerg: the SanDisk ConnectPlus card you’re talking about works great here in WiFi mode. Just plug it in.

  14. Peter M. Neumannon 19 Mar 2006 at 19:10

    After flashing, Opie starts with the calibration screen. But no more!. Calibration
    loops again and again!
    After this, I tried GPE. No Problems.

    My Hardware: Zaurus SL 5500G

    Knows anyone what about calibration Problem ?

    thank you for answers

  15. Robon 20 Mar 2006 at 03:58

    Do you guys have any plans on getting the e17 images for collie?

  16. Anton Dedovon 20 Mar 2006 at 04:31

    Thank you a lot for the efforts! Just know that your work is highly appreciated in Russia too :)

  17. I’m trying to build E17 for collie & poodle - will give info when it will be finished.

  18. Paul Heldenson 20 Mar 2006 at 13:28

    fred, try reformatting your CF, and flashing again by the book.

  19. KarlsBergon 20 Mar 2006 at 15:12

    CF Sandisk ConnectPlus +128MB wifi Run right ? my wifi dont run…

  20. Frank Paul Silyeon 20 Mar 2006 at 19:00

    No support for SL-C1000?

    Congratulations with the release.

    frankps

  21. jx2angon 20 Mar 2006 at 20:26

    Has anyone had succes getting an SL5500 to work with Win XP Pro x64? Any help would be great.

  22. csipodon 20 Mar 2006 at 20:36

    Can I sync this up with my Mac and or Run Mac Apps on it? Wasn’t there a project for that?

    http://tinyurl.com/jew96

  23. WolfBoyon 20 Mar 2006 at 23:34

    Great work!! Thanks!! Flashed my 5500 just now….

  24. Andy Valenciaon 21 Mar 2006 at 15:51

    I think everything finally came together for this release–easy install, runs/suspends/resumes, nice collection of apps. Thanks much!

  25. Noahon 22 Mar 2006 at 10:25

    The US mirror hasn’t sync’d yet. Can you fix it?

  26. spoton 22 Mar 2006 at 21:35

    I just finished to “stabilize” my Z5500 under 3.5.3 with root on SD wich work great !!! ;) for what i do with it..listen to mp3 stremed radios with opie-player read my mailz and pocket wardrive…
    The only bugs i had is when you press continuously the ‘arrow keypad’ it crash
    and also with apm but if i stay quiet with ipkg its ok;()

    What kind of improvements does 3.5.4 bring for a Z5500 ?

    My project is to build a little power supply with Li-Po battery cells and use a solar pannel to charge it to give my Z days of uptime anywhere ;).

    Thanks a lot to the developpers !!

  27. Axioon 23 Mar 2006 at 01:07

    Yeah!

    I’ll try it tomorrow.

    By the way… How bad would it be to strip every single binary, so that the OS takes fewer space ? (my SDCard on SL-5000d isn’t that big…)

    And…err… I think that the tree (/, /root, and so on) is a bit disturbing… I keep editing some conf files here and there, and I wish it was a bit easier to know where files are (mainly conf files, and binaries…). Editing $PATH and ldconfig’s config file isn’t that nice on such a small keyboard you know…

    Anyway,

    Keep the good work mates!

  28. Axio: which packages are not stripped?

    Spot: you will get fixed kernel, working WPA, native root-on-sd solution (rboot will not get updates)

    Frank Paul Silye: look at 3.5.4.1-alpha1 images for c1000 support.

  29. simcop2387on 23 Mar 2006 at 20:00

    KarlsBerg says:

    Anybody with CF Sandisk +128MB Wifi sayme if this CF run on this version of openzaurus WITHOUT install any..?

    or need install the modules ident that 3.5.3?

    i havent installed the release yet, but for the test you’ll want to install prism3-support and prism3-firmware to be able to use the Sandisk+128 Wifi card, i’ve got one too.

  30. Stevenon 23 Mar 2006 at 21:26

    In case anyone is still looking for a US mirror, I have placed the OZ images for the 5000/5500 (Collie) on my server. You can find them

    Excellent release!

  31. PuTTYshellon 24 Mar 2006 at 06:39

    My configuration:
    collie
    64/0+opie

    Try this: When opie desktop pops out, press and hold “cancel” for 2 seconds. Collie is successfully put into suspend mode. Press “cancel” again, opie desktop is called back.

    Now try one more thing, hold and hold “cancel” for 5 seconds. Then, … oops Collie is locked.

    Nevertheless, it’s a great release. I especially like the altboot idea. BTW, the “missing” packages can be borrowed from ipkgfind website.

  32. Deanon 25 Mar 2006 at 15:22

    Well done! I’m using GPE with 64Meg RAM kernel on my Collie. My comments…

    WiFi works out of the box with my Buffalo CF card (I don’t use WEP).
    Nice reorganisation of the network devices in the settings GUI.
    There is an “Altboot” with password, where can I find more info on this ?
    Perl package seems to be available so I’m going to try it.
    Is there any info on installing gcc compiler on the Z for OZ 3.5.4 ?
    USB settings now has option for networking or USB mass storage, looking forward to trying it.

    Is there a man page or something for ipkg, I store my packages on the SD card (ext2 format) 1st partition and works OK except if new libc6 package is installed. Running ipkg-link with mount sd card packages then breaks the Z as libc6 is required to do the link itself resulting in corruption!! Reflash required to fix it. I modified ipkg-link to IGNORE libc6 package to avoid the problem.

    On GPE highlight is too dark on selected icon so can’t read icon text.

    Great stuff.

  33. Machsteron 26 Mar 2006 at 11:59

    No luck here using collie 64-0, GPE or Opie on the 5500.

    Neither GPE or Opie seems able to correctly configure the D-link 660W. It can see the network and says it is connected but the router does not see it and it can’t find the internet.

    GPE also seems to have difficulty with the login. Once the network is attempted to be configured, if the user logs out, he can’t get back in, being presented instead with an unwelcome black screen with a crosshair.

  34. Kirkon 28 Mar 2006 at 06:51

    After spending weeks trying different ROMs on an SL-5000D and breaking them all, I settled on Hentges’ version because it fixed the sudden suspends (and subsequent failures to resume) that corrupted loopback file systems. It included some of the fixes from this release before it came out. Unfortunately, I kept having trouble with the card file system (on SD) and some innocuous installs corrupting the operating environment. By the time I determined it was a function of the low memory on the 5000D’s, this release was out.

    It has solved every last problem I’ve had. No sudden suspends or failures to resume, and (while I’ve had a couple of freezes, and some minor bugs) there have been no “system killer” lockups. One suggestion is NOT to enable the “ask me” option with CF wireless and Opie’s security modules - upon resume the touchscreen is disabled which makes it impossible to login (must remove card and reset).

    As a final comment to anyone who’s not seeing the same kind of success, try flashing again “by the book”. I’ve had several flashes that “take” the second time, sometimes only after removing system folders on external media.

  35. jancicion 28 Mar 2006 at 08:10

    I was using opie because GPE was not good one for me, but I did try GPE first and seems that a lot of work was done, thanks.

  36. Fredon 30 Mar 2006 at 23:53

    I would love to hear back from anyone with a 5600 who was actually successful with this installation. Mine is currently on its way t osharp to be fixed. All this “by the book” help was hogwash for me. I have a legitimate brick for a Zaurus using this release, and it was not due to newbie error.

    It’s too bad because this is a great project and all the other ditributions I tried gave me no major problems.

    I know it’s popular to be arrogant to people wanting help but better clarification of some of these steps and maybe a warning that it does not work on some hardware would have saved me some money and a lot of headaches.

  37. Jason Morganon 31 Mar 2006 at 08:45

    SL5000 (Collie) using opie 32/0

    Problems:
    Using a D-Link CF 802.11 adapater, DHCP does not work, I have to allocate manually, is this a setup problem or an omission?
    The D-Link Adapater keeps going to sleep, breaking TCP connections, even when on AC, how do I stop this happening?

    Documentation
    I see that rboot is now depricated in favor of altboot, I can’t find any up-to-date HOWTO on setting up root on SD without rboot, any pointers?

  38. Jason Morganon 31 Mar 2006 at 11:18

    Oh, and the first time I try installing a package with package manager after a reboot, I get a segfault, retrying immediately always works - any clues on that one too?

    By the way, My SL5000 has been gathering dust for ages due to too much wasted time getting into a useful state. First impressions are that this release is going to put it back into use again - well done.

  39. Bryanon 31 Mar 2006 at 23:18

    RE: Sandisk connectplus wifi + 128: I’ve installed prism3-support and prism3-firmware, and the card is recognized, but can’t configure it with network utility, if/iwconfig or upload firmware as on old guide: http://www.bentzon.net/acb/sandisk.html

  40. VaWaon 03 Apr 2006 at 16:22

    Hi I just tried OZ 3.5.4 on my 5000D. It’s great. Thanks guys.
    It brings new live to my colie. But I find two problems. At first: when i reboot my coolie, time and date is set back to 13.03.2006 0:30. Can someone let me know if it is normal, or if I do something wrong (or may be problem in hw)?
    Second problem is when I try to start ethernet over USB.
    When I click START, it show notice “Starting interface failed”.
    What I must do if I want to connect my zaurus with PC.

  41. www.hasty-solutions.comon 03 Apr 2006 at 16:40

    First I have a zaurus sl-5500g with a AmbiCom 802.11b CF, and a 1GB SD (made by pq1 toshiba)

    First comments installing using the gpe-image and zimage-64-0, installation went slick just follow the desturctions. I was dissapointed to not be able to find the minibrowser or filemanager upon initial install. I feel these should be base packages.

    At the command line I was able to find the 1GB SD automounted under /mnt/card. I was able to create and delete files. I confirmed this by removing the SD and placing it in my desktop card reader to ensure the file creation was real, and it was.

    I launched the package manager and updated its lists, then attempted to install the filemanager and minibrowser. It did not take long to echo back “IPKG backend failure cannot continue.” I did not get a chance to view the log as the app killed once I clicked the cancel button.

    I then placed the filemanage and minibrowser files on the SD using my desktop, and navigated the package manager to “install file” direct from media, with the same results.

    Question?? how do you specify to the package manager where to install packages to?
    I am wondering if the difficulty is that there is no base flash memory space left.
    How do I get packagemanager to install to my ample 1GB SD card?

    Help I am stuck,how do I fix the IPKG backend?

  42. VaWaon 03 Apr 2006 at 20:32

    ok,problem with networking solved. problem with clock is still actuall

  43. zaurianon 04 Apr 2006 at 09:53

    Anyone knows how to configure WPA-PSK on a 5500 ? I tried to enter the key in the field usually used for WEP keys, but it doesn’t help. I have a D-Link 660W, I haven’t tried without encryption, but it worked on 3.5.3 (no encryption).

  44. zaurian: One guy declared that will write WPA howto.

  45. tjacon 07 Apr 2006 at 23:56

    Great job!!!

    I too had trouble getting wireless to work with wep keys. I finally discovered a solution that works for me.

    I used the GUI to configure the SSID, WEP key, etc. Once you exit the GUI (with OK so the config is saved), take a look at the file /etc/network/interfaces

    Notice the lines beginning with wireless_ these lines should begin with wireless-

    Also the syntax for the wep keys on the wireless-key line should have s: in front of the key IF the key is specified in ascii. Leave off the s: if the key is specified in hex.

    It appears the network gui app is writing the wireless config info incorrectly.

    I hope this information helps and is correct. I made the changes to my 5500 several days ago and did not retain the original file.

  46. Daveon 12 Apr 2006 at 12:39

    Same problem as Jason Morgan (#40, above), but with a poodle.

    Using a D-Link CF 802.11 adapater, DHCP does not work.

    It seems like udhcpc tries to get the address a few times, and then hangs.

    How can I allocate the address manually? I tried with dhclient, but the package seems incomplete, and dhclient wlan0 fails stating that wlan0 does not exist, even though I see it with ifconfig.

  47. Jefferyon 20 Apr 2006 at 01:39

    I have an SL-5600 and the SANDisk Connect Plus (WiFi + 128MB). I just loaded 3.5.4 and opie and it boots fine. After configuring my WEP key, the network card seems to work. I have not tried the CF memory yet…

    …and that is because I have two problems I am trying to track down at the moment.

    1.) Power. Now my 5600 does not seem to want to suspend or reboot without locking up, usually requiring me to open the battery compartment and hit the hard reset button. :(

    2.) Media player sound is super fast like listening to the chipmunks…only not as pleasant (ie. very very bad).

    I’ve only had it installed about 30 minutes and I am still trying to fix it, however I had problem #2 under 3.5.3 also. Disappointing that I picked up a new problem instead of solving an old one…

  48. Kyle Reedon 23 Apr 2006 at 22:36

    I did an upgrade with ipkg and after I rebooted, the wireless card that I used to do the upgrade didn’t work anymore.

    It says “unsupported card” on the little CF applet.

    I tried downgrading hostap packages but that still didn’t work.
    BE CAREFUL WITH MACHINE UPGRADE

    I’m running 2.5.4/OPIE on SL5500 pivoted to SD

  49. Kyle Reedon 23 Apr 2006 at 22:37

    BTW the card is Ambicom WL1100C. ^^^

  50. Kyle Reedon 23 Apr 2006 at 22:43

    Another thing that I noticed is that on bootup, kernel is trying to talk to wlan0 (and producing errors) prior to cardmanager being loaded. I have a removable wifi card, could that cause problems?

  51. Mathieu 7-7on 07 May 2006 at 10:26

    Really good work !

    -> Opie on Zaurus SL 5500, 58-6

    SMC 2642W 11Mbps Wireless CF Wifi working out of the box with DHCP.

    Just one bad point for me (like usual) : no web browser, and the package manager cannot install opie-mediaplayer2 :o(
    Maybe it’s me…

  52. Grant Johnsonon 24 May 2006 at 14:23

    I am running on a 5600 with only minor trouble:
    1) IRDA transfers work, but then the machine hard locks, immediately after finishing the transfer. Requires me to open the battery compartment and hit the button.
    2) I can’t seem to set the hardware clock in a useful way (it is 4:00PM on Mar 14, 2006 after every reboot.)
    3) Sometimes (still working on the pattern) holding the cancel key to suspend locks up. The suspend from the menu always works.

    Let me know if there are things I can be testing to help with this.

  53. Philippon 31 May 2006 at 14:56

    I flashed with tosa and have a few problems mainly with the keyboards.
    - “Fn” key does not work for numeric keys
    - if you hit “Fn” + “Caps”, keyboard freezes
    I only can use reset to get the keyboard back.

    Is there anything I can do to correct this?.

    My system: SL-6000L, OZ 3.5.4, Opie 1.2.1

  54. Benon 15 Jun 2006 at 14:24

    Suggestions for SL-5600/poodle users

    Since I don’t have bluetooth hardware I renamed /lib/modules/2.4.18-rmk7-pxa3-embedix/net/bluetooth/bluez.o to bluez.o_NOHW (or anything else so it can’t find it). That saved a few pages of memory and the machine works slightly better (freezing when the machine runs out of memory). Still looking for additional ways to save some of that 32MB memory before having to resort to a swap partition on SD.

    Oh. and don’t reboot poodle if you can avoid it, no hwclock. That’s the main reason why I need this thing to never crash more than ever…

  55. Philipp: fixed keymap is in upgrades - do ‘ipkg update;ipkg upgrade’
    Ben: “ipkg -recursive remove kernel-module-bluez” is better way

  56. lowtecon 11 Jul 2006 at 21:39

    On my tosa:
    Worked OK except:
    * Nasty screen artfacts when moving windows and scrolling while browsing makes it unbearable
    *Internal wifi does not come back up after a resume and the Z must be restarted

    Let me know how to fix screen artifacts and I will be greatful!

  57. felipeon 13 Jul 2006 at 00:00

    Hi,

    someone with fbvncserver success ?

    my vncserver crash at connection, here is the output

    server:

    root@collie:~# fbvncserver
    FBVNCserver Version: 0.9.4
    13/03/2006 00:47:02 Listening for VNC connections on TCP port 5900
    13/03/2006 00:47:02 Listening for HTTP connections on TCP port 5800
    13/03/2006 00:47:02 URL http://collie:5800
    13/03/2006 00:47:20 Got connection from client 192.168.253.1
    13/03/2006 00:47:20 other clients:
    13/03/2006 00:47:21 Protocol version 3.3
    13/03/2006 00:47:21 Pixel format for client 192.168.253.1:
    13/03/2006 00:47:21 8 bpp, depth 8
    13/03/2006 00:47:21 true colour: max r 7 g 7 b 3, shift r 0 g 3 b 6
    13/03/2006 00:47:21 Using ZRLE encoding for client 192.168.253.1
    Illegal instruction

    client:

    felipe@bulla:~$ xvncviewer 192.168.253.150:0
    VNC viewer version 3.3.7 - built Apr 27 2006 07:09:29
    Copyright (C) 2002-2003 RealVNC Ltd.
    Copyright (C) 1994-2000 AT&T Laboratories Cambridge.
    See http://www.realvnc.com for information on VNC.
    VNC server supports protocol version 3.3 (viewer 3.3)
    No authentication needed
    Desktop name “Zaurus”
    Connected to VNC server, using protocol version 3.3
    VNC server default format:
    16 bits per pixel.
    Least significant byte first in each pixel.
    True colour: max red 31 green 31 blue 31, shift red 0 green 5 blue 10
    Using default colormap and visual, TrueColor, depth 16.
    Got 256 exact BGR233 colours out of 256
    Using BGR233 pixel format:
    8 bits per pixel.
    True colour: max red 7 green 7 blue 3, shift red 0 green 3 blue 6
    Using shared memory PutImage
    ReadFromRFBServer: rdr::EndOfStream
    ShmCleanup called

  58. Bobon 24 Aug 2006 at 01:45

    I flashed my SL-6000L and now I’m trying to play MP3s. How do I do that?

  59. Martinon 29 Aug 2006 at 06:47

    This is great! Would be perfect (for me anyway) with klips compiled in. Any idea where I can get the exact same thing, but with klips as well? I need ipsec. I would prefer not to compile this myself as the zaurus is a tad slow in the compilation department and my cross-compilation thing is not 100% reliable.

  60. Martinon 29 Aug 2006 at 06:48

    PS - I am using collie (sorry, I should have mentioned that part)

  61. n3gativeon 30 Aug 2006 at 10:44

    Some addinfo - card manager on taskbar shows empy slots, though i have SD (256Mb - MiniSD+adapter) inserted. Also it’s visible and works fine in Filemanager utilite.

  62. jonnyon 12 Sep 2006 at 23:57

    jonny

  63. Hunteron 18 Sep 2006 at 19:26

    I’m having difficulty with my Sandisk Connect Plus card. I followed the HowTo at:

    http://ozwiki.stuvel.eu/HowTos/SanDisk_ConnectPlus_wi-fi_with_collie

    and am stuck at “voila”. A message pops up entitled “Configure PCMCIA/CF Card”, but I don’t know what to select for the “Bind to:” field; nothing seems to work. If you’ve gotten the Connect Plus to work with your SL-5500/Opie/3.5.4, please tell me how!

    Thanks,

    Hunter

  64. Hunteron 20 Sep 2006 at 21:28

    For any others with the Sandisk Connect Plus card, DO NOT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS at:

    http://ozwiki.stuvel.eu/HowTos/SanDisk_ConnectPlus_wi-fi_with_collie

    When previous posts say that the Connect Plus works out of the box with 3.5.4, they mean it.

    Flash to 3.5.4
    Shutdown
    Stick in card
    Reboot into Opie
    Configure card (from popup)

    If you run “ifconfig -a” from the console it shows wlan0! Now, if anyone can tell me the equivalent location of:

    /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts (FC5)

    on OZ 3.5.4, I’d be grateful. I just need to set up the essid and key automatically, and I rather not hack it in someplace.

    Sincerely,

    Hunter

  65. Hunteron 23 Sep 2006 at 16:10

    Has anyone else run into this situation:

    From altboot select normal boot (1), stop opie from loading, and ssh’ing into collie works fine.

    From altboot select boot from sd (3), from second altboot select normal boot (1), stop opie from loading, and ssh’ing into collie gives “Connection refused”

    This is starting from a clean flash, followed by a clean root-on-sd installation of the opie rootfs.tar.gz loopimage from “Ewi in the Netherlands” site, ssh’ing over usb networking.

    How does one fix this problem?

    Thanks,

    Hunter