Hello FreeRunners,
I am still using QtMoko v14 in onboard NAND on my US GTA02A6. I know
v16 is old by now, but I am not upgrading because it is a huge hassle.
I already upgraded from v11 to v14 months ago; I do not want to repeat
that hassle. I will have even more to do after upgrading from v14 than
from v11 because I have many customisations to restore and packages to
reinstall. Anyway, when I was still living in my parents’s house, I had
the USB networking working with Windows Vista Ultimate Edition SP1
32-bit on optiplex960. My QtMoko had reliable Internet access via the
network bridge (Local Area Connection + Neo Connection). I upgraded
from Windows Vista SP1 to SP2 because I wanted full support for
RealTimeIsUniversal=1. I do not remember testing the USB networking
after upgrading to SP2, so maybe it broke with SP2. I finally chose a
model of laptop, ordered it, and received it. brolin-V13 (my laptop)
runs Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. The USB networking is intermittent
with Windows 7: I can ssh to QtMoko from Cygwin on brolin-V13, but
QtMoko can only partially access the Internet. Name resolution works
sometimes, but most of the time I get “destination host unreachable”
when pinging hosts on my LAN or on the Internet. Sometimes, though, the
pings start working, but I do not know why and I cannot reliably
reproduce the behaviour. I tried USB networking with optiplex960 again
since it used to work there, but QtMoko cannot access the Internet
because I get “destination host unreachable” when pinging hosts on my
LAN or on the Internet. Actually, I do not fully remember what happened
because it was weeks ago and I did not keep a log. I know I should have
asked for help on this list then, but I was trying to be practical and
avoid sidetracking by using what works and not bothering asking for help
with what I cannot get working (USB networking with Windows Vista +
Windows 7). I cannot connect my QtMoko to my WLAN because the QtEI WLAN
GUI does not work properly and using the command line is too much
hassle: sometimes it works, other times it does not, but I do not even
know what is different between when it works and does not work. So,
other than using sneakernet to transfer files to my FreeRunner, the only
reliable network connection is my USB→Ethernet adapter. I had a miniUSB
M→USB AF adapter connected directly to my FreeRunner (not using a long
cable, which I should have done as I discovered later, after it was too
late), then my dual-power USB hub, then my USB→Ethernet adapter, then an
Ethernet cable to my USB→Ethernet adapter. This worked for a day or so,
but I think it was a mistake because there was too much weight on the
miniUSB M→USB AF adapter while I was holding my FreeRunner to use it for
voice calls. Now my FreeRunner’s USB port works for power, so I can
still charge the battery, but not for communications, so I think a
solder connection must have come undone. I need to try disassembling my
FreeRunner to check the connections for the USB connector so I can ask
someone at work to fix (resolder) the connection, but I have not yet
done so. It must be a hardware problem because QtMoko can still charge,
but nothing happens when I connect USB devices to my FreeRunner: no
kernel modules are automatically loaded, there are no kernel messages.
Manually loading the kernel modules (e.g., dm9601 for my USB→Ethernet
adapter) for the USB device does not help. It is not because of the
electrical/logical USB host/device setting because I checked that; I
know how to use sysfs to change it.
Does anyone use USB networking with their FreeRunner with Windows Vista
or Windows 7? I do not want to uninstall Windows Vista SP2 on
optiplex960 because I want full support for RealTimeIsUniversal=1.
There is nothing I can do with Windows 7 because no service pack has
even been released. I have Ubuntu v8.04 LTS on k7t266 at home, but even
if I could get USB networking working with k7t266, that does not help
when I am at work because k7t266 (+ optiplex960) stay(s) on my desk at
home. I want reliable USB networking with Windows 7 on brolin-V13, but
that does not even matter any more until I fix the USB port hardware
problem. I am not running Linux or any other OS on brolin-V13 because I
highly prefer Windows Vista or Windows 7 over Linux (Ubuntu) as a
desktop client OS. I do not want to debate this preference.
Oh well, at least I think I finally have satisfactory earpiece volume on
my QtMoko, at least when there is no or little background noise. I can
live with using the Docked Keyboard in qterminal, but now I cannot even
ssh to QtMoko, never mind reflash nor access the Internet from QtMoko. :(
Brolin
--
Sometimes I forget how to do small talk: http://xkcd.com/222/
“If you have to ask why, you’re not a member of the intended audience.”
— Bob Zimbinski, http://webpages.mr.net/bobz/ttyquake/