[02:53] <MrZorg2> Hi
[02:53] <MrZorg2> I have Ubuntu with lxde window manager installed on my gumstix Overo Air computer
[02:54] <MrZorg2> Is there no way to put a c compiler on it?
[02:54] <MrZorg2> I've tried alot of things
[02:56] <persia> MrZorg2, Have you tried `apt-get install gcc` ?
[02:57] <MrZorg2> It doesn't have wiresless-tools installed, which means I can't use iwconfig
[02:57] <MrZorg2> to get connected
[02:57] <MrZorg2> any other way to get connected?
[02:58] <persia> MrZorg2, Lots of ways, but it depends on lots of things.  Does it have USB?  Do you have a USB wired ethernet device?  Does it have serial?  Do you have serial protocol software installed (e.g. ppp)?
[02:59] <persia> Do you have access to external media?  If so, you could download the packages, and copy them manually (yes, this will be a painful process).
[02:59] <MrZorg2> I downloaded packages and put them on a thumbdrive
[02:59] <MrZorg2> none of them would install
[02:59] <persia> How did you try to install them?
[02:59] <MrZorg2> every one of them complained that there was no c compiler
[03:00] <MrZorg2> I tried putting the binaries of gcc-toolchain on it, but the binaries wouldn't execute
[03:00] <MrZorg2> ./configure, install, make, etc.. the usual
[03:00] <persia> Ah.  Don't do that.
[03:00] <MrZorg2> make's not installed either
[03:01] <MrZorg2> what should I do?
[03:01] <persia> Download the binary packages.  Install them with dpkg -i ${file}
[03:01] <MrZorg2> okay
[03:01] <MrZorg2> cool, maybe I can get the GNU Arm toolchain to work
[03:02] <persia> Should work by default.  It was used to build the entire release.
[03:02] <MrZorg2> I'll give it a try, brb
[03:06] <MrZorg2> every file that's in the bin folder of gnuarm?
[03:07] <MrZorg2> hmm
[03:08] <MrZorg2> dpkg: error processing arm-elf-gcc (--install): subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2 Errors were encountered while processing: arm-elf-gcc
[03:09] <persia> Um, no.
[03:09] <MrZorg2> oh, the binary packages, not the binary files
[03:09] <persia> You want the .deb files for the packages that contain the toolchain.  Basically, the dependencies of the build-essential package.
[03:09] <persia> Right.
[03:10] <persia> We tried to do the hard part already :)
[03:10] <MrZorg2> Sorry.. More brb
[03:13] <MrZorg2> I don't think they offer .deb packages of gnuarm toolchain, get something else?
[03:13] <MrZorg2> nm
[03:14] <persia> I thought we did.  What do you mean by the gnuarm toolchain?
[03:14] <persia> gcc, etc?
[03:14] <MrZorg2> http://www.gnuarm.com/
[03:14] <MrZorg2> it has a bunch of stuff
[03:15] <persia> Oh, no.  That's not offered, although the components (e.g. binutils, gcc, newlib, etc.) are.
[03:15] <persia> e.g. https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/armel/libnewlib0/1.17.0-0ubuntu4
[03:16] <persia> Although I find http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/n/newlib/ easier to navigate sometimes.
[03:17] <MrZorg2> what order should I install these in?
[03:17] <persia> That's trickier.
[03:20] <persia> I'd probably start with build-essential, and then start pulling the packages based on the complaints about missing dependencies.
[03:20] <MrZorg2> If I can't find ubuntu debs I need, can I use ones I find other places, like debian's site?
[03:21] <persia> There's no guarantee of binary compatibility between Ubuntu and anywhere else, so that's a bit dangerous.
[03:21] <persia> But I know you shouldn't need any packages not in Ubuntu for the basic build toolchain.
[03:22] <persia> If you need an esoteric library, and it's not in Ubuntu, you can probably pull the debian-format source from somewhere else and build it (run `debuild` in the unpacked package directory) to get a compatible package.
[03:38] <MrZorg2> arrrgh
[03:38] <persia> ?
[03:39] <MrZorg2> none of the deb packages for wireless-tools will work
[03:39] <persia> How don't they work?
[03:39] <MrZorg2> package architecture doesn't match system (armel)
[03:40] <MrZorg2> i just found another one
[03:41] <persia> where are you looking?
[03:42] <persia> http://launchpadlibrarian.net/19753609/wireless-tools_29-1.1ubuntu2_armel.deb is probably right.
[03:42] <persia> The path to get there is as follows:
[03:42] <persia> Start from https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/wireless-tools
[03:43] <persia> click 29-1.1ubuntu2 (as the version for the Jaunty release)
[03:43] <persia> click "jaunty armel" in the "Builds" portal on the upper left.
[03:44] <persia> click "wireless-tools 29-1.1ubuntu2" in the Resulting Binaries portal on the upper left
[03:44] <MrZorg2> when i searched for wireless-tools on the ubuntu site the search result was for the releaser's website.. so I assumed it wasn't there on the ubuntu site
[03:44] <MrZorg2> thanks
[03:44] <persia> Download the file listed under "Downloadable files"
[03:44] <persia> I don't have a lot of faith in those searches :)
[03:45] <persia> packages.ubuntu.com might be useful though.
[03:46]  * MrZorg2 holds breath
[03:46] <MrZorg2> aww
[03:46] <MrZorg2> got some dependenciies to install first
[03:47] <persia> Yeah.  Until you get a net connection up, you'll be playing that game for a bit.
[03:47] <MrZorg2> heh
[03:47] <persia> There's a couple other ways to do it that promise automation, but this is the one I tend to use.
[03:47] <MrZorg2> it tried to install though.. that's progress, for me
[03:50] <persia> I'm not sure how to document this properly.  We tend to think of armel as just another architecture, not really any different from i386 or powerpc or sparc, except in terms of the instructions.
[03:51] <persia> But I think most people tend to think it needs special tools: there's a lot like yourself that come by looking to do it differently.
[03:51] <persia> Do you have any suggestions?
[03:59] <MrZorg2> sorry, was afk persia
[04:01] <NCommander> persia, he could try apt-moving an amel alternate CD; might be less painfl
[04:01] <NCommander> *painful
[04:02] <persia> NCommander, Or just copy the pool from an alternate and install build-essential from that.  Good idea.  Care to outline the procedure?
[04:03] <NCommander> persia, not really, I never using apt-move, or a file repo before
[04:03] <NCommander> s/file/local/g
[04:03] <persia> Hrm.  Well then.
[04:04] <NCommander> persia, I would think you would have used apt-move before, you've said things about it before :-)
[04:05] <NCommander> also
[04:05] <NCommander> maybe debootstrap --variant=buildd --arch armel --foreign --make-tarball, and then decompress the result in the gumstix's root directory
[04:06] <NCommander> (and then afterwords do dpkg -i --force-all /var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb to make it properly reinstall the base system, or something like that)
[04:06] <persia> Won't that unpack the packages?
[04:06] <persia> And some base system is already installed.
[04:06] <NCommander> -i?
[04:06] <NCommander> -I is install
[04:06] <NCommander> -x is extract
[04:06] <NCommander> er, -i is install
[04:07] <NCommander> It's how I got my babbages setup with a toolchain before we had ogra's handy script
[04:07] <NCommander> actually
[04:07] <persia> RIght, but you weren't working from a preinstalled system.
[04:07] <NCommander> debootstrap --download-only --arch armel --variant buildd --foreign
[04:07] <NCommander> Then copy all the debs, and reinstall to get the necessary dev packages :-)
[04:08] <NCommander> (I figure thats easier than picking through dependencies by hand)
[04:08] <persia> Well, depends.  For short stacks, dependency chasing isn't so bad.
[04:08] <persia> That's why there's a pool on the LiveCDs: to permit one to use that to get basic networking up.
[04:08] <NCommander> The toolchain stack with C and C++ compiler was long enough to make me shiver when I had to do it
[04:09] <persia> Except much of it is usually installed by default, which should reduce it considerably.
[04:09] <MrZorg2> Now I have iwconfig :D
[04:10] <MrZorg2> but no eth0
[04:10]  * MrZorg2 plays detective
[04:14] <MrZorg2> I'm assuming this would install a driver for the gumstix's wireless
[04:14] <MrZorg2> but that would make my life easier
[04:16] <persia> I don't think Ubuntu has a kernel for the gumstix: you'll probably have to get the driver from there.
[04:17] <persia> Also, check if you have a wlan0
[04:17] <MrZorg2> i checked the interfaces file, only lo
[04:18] <persia> and ifconfig -a also reports nothing?
[04:18] <persia> Because /etc/network/interfaces only contains lo by default, regardless of available hardware.
[04:20] <MrZorg2> ifconfig only brings up lo
[04:27] <MrZorg2> hmm
[04:27] <MrZorg2> It doesn't detect the wireless at all
[04:28] <persia> Right.  That's a kernel thing.  Check dmesg to verify, and go hunt for modules from whereever your kernel originates.
[04:32] <MrZorg2> not in dmesg
[04:32] <persia> Right.  If there's nothing in dmesg, it's likely your kernel didn't autodiscover it.  You might be able to force load by modprobing some module, but I have no idea what's available there.
[04:33] <persia> Some day we'll have proper kernel support for all boards in the archive, but that day remains in the hazy future.
[04:39] <MrZorg2> it's funny, before I installed ubuntu I was using what came on the gumstix (OE) and could connect to the internet
[04:41] <persia> So, which kernel did you install when you installed Ubuntu?
[04:41] <MrZorg2> 2.6.28-omap1
[04:42] <persia> and which kernel were you using when you were running OE ?
[04:42] <MrZorg2> Not sure
[04:42] <MrZorg2> if I pop the sd card out, I could probably tell
[04:42] <persia> Well, that's the bit to track down.  I suspect there's a change there that matters.
[04:42] <MrZorg2> ok
[04:42] <MrZorg2> thanks for all your help, by the way
[04:43] <persia> No problem.  That's part of the reason for this channel.
[04:48] <MrZorg2> do you think I should update the kernel?
[05:03] <persia> I have no useful advice for your kernel state.  I know that Ubuntu doesn't supply a kernel that works on that device.
[05:03] <persia> As a result, you'll need to get a kernel somewhere else, either from someone else, or by building it yourself.
[05:04] <persia> So, if you're having a kernel driver issue, I'd recommend taking that up with your kernel supplier.
[05:04] <persia> Or with your device supplier :)
[05:05] <MrZorg2> I don't really have a kernel supplier.. I followed the directions on this page http://johnwoconnor.blogspot.com/2009/04/installing-ubuntu-on-gumstix-overo.html to install Ubuntu on my microsd card
[05:06] <MrZorg2> when you say "kernel supplier" I get this mental image of some guy talking on the phone saying,"We just got in a big shipment of kernels. I'll make you a deal."
[05:06] <persia> So your kernel was downloaded from http://www.gumstix.net/overo-gm-images/v0.91/uImage-overo-v0.91.bin ?
[05:07] <MrZorg2> yeah
[05:07] <persia> heh :)  Well yes.  That is what I mean, except that the phone call in this case happens to be a blog post.
[05:07] <persia> In that case, gumstix.net would have supplied your kernel.
[05:07] <persia> So you'd want to use the gumstix fora to investigate the issue.
[05:08] <MrZorg2> aha
[05:08] <persia> I'm not telling you to go somewhere else because I don't want to help, but only because I can't help, as I don't know anything about that kernel.
[05:10] <persia> Actually, there's a comment about getting wireless to work on that post.  Something about copying the /lib/modules/ stuff right before the last step.
[05:11] <persia> http://overobuntu.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/overobuntu/bin/2.6.28-lib/modules.tar.gz?view=tar may or may not be what you want, and may or may not be trustworthy.