July 2009

Onwards and upwards

Well… three bits of news to share… I can’t be stuffed doing three separate posts however, so I’ll stuff all three into the one, it puts less load on the servers involved.

X.org working on Yeeloong

I managed to get X going on the Yeeloong within Gentoo… I’m currently battling problems with Python 2.6 not building, but at least X runs.  I hope to get the necessary patches into my overlay shortly.

  • latest xorg-server ebuild works… you just need to add the loongson patch for version 1.6.0.  This is already in my overlay, just needs updating.
  • xf86-video-siliconmotion needs a patch to detect the video RAM.  This is due to the driver relying on some magic BIOS trickery which naturally doesn’t work on a BIOS-less RISC machine like the Yeeloong.
  • xorg.conf needs the LCD panel resolution specified … that is: Options “PanelSize” “1024×600” in the options for the siliconmotion driver.

VK4MSL contactable via IRLP

I recently put my homebrew 2m vertical back up … this time, using the mounting brackets from my old 2.4GHz vertical, and mounting the thing up as high on the antenna mast as I can push it. The choke balun on the antenna is level with the TV antenna yagi, so most of the radiated power is well above the TV antenna.

With this, I am now not only kinda able to work previously impossible repeaters such as VK4RBS (Bayside/Alex Hills), but also VK4RSS at Ocean View. What’s so good about VK4RSS? Well, I’m tripping it with 500mW of power (therefore good access when using 5W)… and it happens to be accessible via IRLP as node 6215.

I can also be sporadically reached on EchoLink node 37 37 40.

Graduated at last

I did say there were three items in this bulletin. I finally received my academic transcript, confirming that I have formally completed my studies at QUT, graduating with the following qualifications…

  • Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics)
  • Bachelor of Information Technology (Software Engineering)

This is timely, right at the bottom of the employment market… but I can’t help that.  Now begins the task of finding work in the Brisbane area.  I’m still running to/from Laidley doing some work out there… which may turn into paid employment (I hope so anyway… costs me almost $8 a day with a student discount in transport… That’ll double to about $15 when that card expires).

If anyone’s looking for someone to assist, particularly in the telecommunications field (I have a soft spot for radio and embedded systems)… feel free to get in touch directly.

2009/07/26 by Amateur Radio Gentoo Development Linux Development Public Syndication University 0

Gentoo/Yeeloong Status

Well… I’ve been quiet, but slowly, I’m preparing what will become a port of Gentoo/MIPS to the Lemote Yeeloong.

I have it booting off a USB HDD for now, sans X11, but I’m working on that.  The kernel at present needs some patches not yet present in the Linux/MIPS kernel tree.  To build a kernel, you also need GCC 4.4.0 (which supports -march=loongson2f) and binutils (2.19.51.0.2 or later) with this patch.  I’m looking into what is necessary in order to get these patches into our tree.  Patched ebuilds for both are in my overlay.

Once that is done… next attention will be to Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and Mozilla Thunderbird, both of which have been lagging on MIPS since I took my hiatus.  I’m still running to/from Laidley, but with the travel time… this would seem an excellent moment for package testing once I get Gentoo installed on this machine.

Here’s hoping I can return with some goodies for everyone shortly.

2009/07/23 by Gentoo Development Linux Development Public Syndication 3

I’m Baaaaaaack…

It has been a while, but I can safely say I have returned.  Not sure what the next step is… looking for paid employment I guess, but I have passed all subjects this semester, which should mean that I am now qualified in IT and Electrical Engineering as a graduate.

After the last exam, I could not run out of the building fast enough.  6.5 years of studies has certainly taken its toll on my mental state.  Anyway… I wound up traveling northern and central NSW with my father and his girlfriend for the last fortnight — got back home yesterday.  I am currently putting together some photos, and I’ll have a slide show ready for the next BOSQ meeting.  I’ll put a link up to the photos when they’re done processing (the aging PIII 550MHz webserver here takes a while to resize over 500 photos, most 10Mpixel in size).

Where did we go?  We camped at:

  • Dalmorton (abandoned settlement on the old Grafton-Glen Innes road) — overnight
  • Glen Innes — overnight
  • Bingara — overnight
  • Waa Gorge (pronounced “war”, part of Mt. Kaputar National Park… you’re not supposed to camp here, but it was late in the day, and the road in/out passes through private property with many gates) — overnight
  • Mt. Kaputar National Park — 3 nights
  • Coonabarabran — 2 nights
  • Port Macquarie — 3 nights
  • Dorrigo — overnight
  • Grafton — overnight
  • Brooms Head — overnight

In that time:

  • We explored a number of walking tracks at Mt. Kaputar, Dorrigo and Brooms Head.
  • Did some sight seeing at Port Macquarie and Coonabarabran.
  • Checked out the sandstone caves in the Pilliga State Reserve
  • Got bogged on a forestry road in state forest just north of Coffs Harbour (thanks go to the Clarence Valley State Emergency Service for pulling us out of that muddy mess)
  • HanoiCalc got a bit of work done — it works now.
  • I checked into three nets:
    • Ipswich & District 80m Net (3.585MHz LSB) from Waa Gorge
    • AWNOI Net (3.595MHz LSB) from Mt. Kaputar
    • Coffs Harbour & District 2m Net (146.650MHz FM) whilst waiting for the SES to arrive

We learned:

  • Setting up the annex and awning on a hard-floor camper trailer for an overnight stay is a pain in the bum.
  • My camp stretcher doesn’t fit in the camper itself, and only barely fits in the annex.
  • Holden (or Zupps) decided to put a really low tow hitch on the back of my father’s car… meaning we had to either find rocks/blocks of wood/bricks to back the car’s back wheels on to, or dig a hole just near the jockey wheel in order to unhitch from the trailer
  • Just because a road is marked on a GPS or paper based map, does not mean that it is in drivable condition, nor does it necessarily mean the road’s actual route bares any resemblence to the marked route.
  • The NRMA do not assist people who are bogged, they refer you to the SES instead.  (I hope some of the fees we’re paying are helping fund the SES for their troubles!)
  • My HF radio, which is normally very touchy on 10m… works fine on that band up in the higher altitudes — I suspect a temperature-related issue.

What now?  Well… as I say, I’ve got to find some employment somewhere.  I now officially become “unemployed” according to the damn lies^W^Wstatistics.  Potential employers in the Brisbane area, should contact me directly.

This also means I should have some time to dedicate towards Gentoo.  My last attempt at stage builds got sidetracked by a need to study and also hit technical issues (something in glibc’s build kept hard-locking boxes).

Also on the agenda here is a proper port of Gentoo to the Lemote Yeeloong.  The little netbook has been running well under Debian, with Gentoo sitting in a chroot environment… now that I’m no longer using the machine for daily studies, I think the time is ripe to start looking into reloading the machine.  Zhang Le did a great job incorporating Lemote’s patches into a mirror of the Linux/MIPS git tree, which I’ve been using to build my kernels… 2.6.30-rc4 has been quite stable.

I’ve also been looking at the ARRL handbook, with the view of upgrading my license to the Advanced level.  Then I’ll be paying for a 5-year license before the ACMA/WIA decide to up the fees again.

So, much to do, and a mountain of bugs in Bugzilla with my name on them… Ohh joy.

2009/07/06 by Amateur Radio Gentoo Development Linux Development Nature Public Syndication University 3

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