Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

debernardis: I can't find the line "key <BKSP> { [ BackSpace ] };" for some reason. I found the line "<BKSP> {type[group1] = PC_FN_LEVEL2"n symbols{Group1] = [" Is that what I'm supposed to replace? Thanks.

Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

Might be that you applied this hack: http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...2&postcount=11 and you don't remind of it? :D (See the last paragraph).

This was to map function-backspace to delete.
I think that if you revert to what I reported before, you lose delete and gain escape - having escape is better imho.

Disclaimer: I've read that an erroneous editing of the rx-51 file might give several problems (continuous rebooting?). So beware...

Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

One feature that xbindkeys provides that xmodmap doesn't offer is to set a combination key press function.

There should be no reason to edit the rx-51 file.

See here for more details:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...2&postcount=11

Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

What's the correct URL for that xbindkeys thread?

--denis

Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

So there's a maemo xbindkeys as well? Because I'm using the Debian xbindkeys.

If we used a combination key press function (like we did on the N8x0 tablets) to gain functionality, what would the combinations be?

I propose something like, "Ctrl-comma" to start "Function key mode" and then one of the keys with the blue numbers to press a function key. For example, "Ctrl-comma" followed by the R key would press F4.

What do you think? What keys would we make available in this "Function key mode"?

EDIT: Here's Jebba's post about xbindkeys

Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

Today I became a bit more foolhardy and tried to see how much I could do with Easy Debian where I was somewhat stuck with Maemo. I had expected to have to use this forum to help me out of the mess I was fearing to end up in, but I can now simply report success :D and ask for feedback before recommending my solution to others!

My problem was this: I need vpnc when I want to connect to some closed-off parts of the network of my workplace, and on my Debian laptop it just works. When I got my N900, I also installed vpnc on it, which is available only in extras-devel (vpnc 0.5.8-0m5). It worked great for me, except for some slightly dubious aspects: it sometimes didn't restore /etc/resolv.conf to its "localhost" setting, but somehow this didn't interfere with anything, at least as far as I could tell. Looking at the source code, I was also worried that the Maemo version of vpnc does check whether it's running under Maemo, but that particular check is always false on the N900, (it checks for an "osso"-related file, which doesn't exist on the N900, probably just exists in older tablets), so it runs a default behavior. Well, it did work for me, so there was no big worry. However, with the upgrade to PR1.1, vpnc caused quite a bit of trouble, which the great community here figured out quickly though. But I was now so suspicious of this package that I didn't re-install it under PR1.1, in particular since PR1.1 has changed a few things in dns handling. People reported no further problems, but this program might become a liability for future firmware upgrades as long as nobody really takes care of vpnc. So far, nobody seems to have touched it since early December.

So, after this long introduction, what I now did was to install vpnc under Easy Debian, i.e. nothing more than "apt-get install vpnc" in Debian chroot. I also installed ssh there, copying over /etc/ssh from Maemo to have the same identity when logging into my computers at work. I thought this would be a safe thing since Easy Debian represents something like a safe sandbox. On the other hand, I wanted to connect to the internet with it. Surprisingly, it worked without any difficulty! I start vpnc-connect under Debian chroot, get a new /etc/resolv.conf under Debian, and everything just works. I could browse closed-off parts of my network at work with Debian's iceweasel, and then also opened the Maemo browser, just to have a look what the error message would be. After all, Maemo cannot see my new /etc/resolv.conf file under Debian, I though. Big surprise: also the Maemo browser worked!!!:cool:

I'm now completely baffled. Instead of asking for help with something going wrong, I'm now asking for somebody to explain me while Debian chroot can possibly work so completely??? :D:D:D:

If nobody finds anything wrong with running vpnc through Easy Debian, this might be a good solution for people who keep asking about vpnc under Maemo, but are scared from using it in its present unfinished state. Would everybody agree that my procedure should be completely fool-proof as far as Maemo is concerned, because no files outside Debian chroot get changed. So even if the kernel gets confused because say vpnc crashes, there would be nothing in Maemo that a reboot couldn't fix. And the Debian image can of course be backed-up separately.:cool::cool::cool:

Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

rebhana: one of the missions of Easy Debian was to make the chroot as "porous" as possible, with as little "sandboxing" as possible. So all sorts of system directories, like /dev and /tmp, get bound to the "real" Maemo ones. This means a surprising number of apps "just work" as if they are being run inside Maemo, but it also means that a Debian app can crash the whole phone or change the behaviour of Maemo apps (positively, like in the case of the Maemo browser working with Debian vpnc, or negatively, like doing an apt-get install of some apps can restart crucial Maemo daemons and crash the phone). In general, however, there are very few things that Debian apps can do that will persist past a reboot.

As for specifically why Debian vpnc works so well? I don't know. I'm really happy that it does, though!

I only wish GConf and pulseaudio worked as well. :(

Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

I understand. I did actually expect some possible interferences, but of a kind where a reboot should restore at least Maemo, if not the Debian image. Is there a noteworthy example of "the very few things that Debian apps can do that will persist past a reboot"?

At any rate, vpnc under Debian should be much safer than running the seemingly orphaned extras-devel version. That version hacks the Maemo file /etc/udhcpc/libicd_network_ipv4.script, which I find very worrisome, for who will take care of consistency with PRx.y?

Regarding why the Maemo browser has no problem with Debian changing routing and DNS settings - isn't it clear that it could not possibly see the new /etc/resolv.conf in /.debian? Perhaps it just accesses the original DNS server by IP address, since that setting is unchanged under Maemo, but all the data exchange is done with the new identity gained under vpn. Then it's no longer so surprising perhaps, but still :cool:

Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

Maemo stores a fair share of the system settings in the /home/user directory. If any of the settings directories get damaged or erased, it could be problematic. Also, using a Debian version of a product also available in Maemo (for instance, a Mozilla product that uses ~/.mozilla) might cause interference by changing settings to something that the Maemo version will crash with.

Nothing really serious has ever happened to me, and I've got my chroot open most of the time, but theoretically, it could.

Re: Easy Debian Fremantle Beta Testing
 

Yeah qole, I guess it seems that way.

It's handled everything I've thrown at it so far on my N800.

http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...&postcount=624