General Linux Questions

I am a Linux newbie and have truly appreciated the guidelines and help in the archive. I am hoping someone can explain the intructions below for the prebuilt. I learned how to format the partition from the instruction on Jlime. But the next step stumped me. What and how do I go about uncompressing and extracting? Do I do it from the terminal?
"As root user uncompress the image (expands to roughly 250 meg)
As root user extract the files from inside fat16.tar.bz2 to fat16 partition.
Then extract the ext2.tar.bz2 to ext2 partition."

And how do I extract a file from INSIDE fat16.tar.bz2?

Also when I download params.txt it opens a txt file. Do I then save the file into the home directory?

I copied the instructions below from the readme here: http://freeshells.ch/~wicked74/j720/icewm720/7xxREADME.txt

Partition your CF card with a 10 meg (minimum) fat16 partition
and make the other partition ext2 (300 meg or more)
Format the partitions. (e.g mkdosfs /dev/sda1 and mke2fs /dev/sda2)
As root user uncompress the image (expands to roughly 250 meg)
As root user extract the files from inside fat16.tar.bz2 to fat16 partition.
Then extract the ext2.tar.bz2 to ext2 partition.
Edit params.txt in fat partition to say mem=32m if using a 710/720
Thats it.

Thanks. I am almost there with Jlime but thought I may look into this prebuilt also.

They are similiar ( i built both jlime mongo and the icewm/gpe prebuilt images ). Just a few differences.

Prebuilt: Everything comes in 1 file to download. Just extract the archive to your desktop/laptop in a convienient location. Say /home/root/prebuilt for example. This leaves you with 2 archives, fat16.tar and ext2.tar. You can use command line or any GUI archiver to extract the files.

It has sound support because it uses the older 2.4 kernel. And its setup with most everything the average user would need for instant messaging, browsing the web, email, media players, games, PIM etc etc.

Jlime: Have to download a few files (as you may have found out), but the process is similar. Copy the 3 files params.txt, zimage(kernel), and jlinexec.exe to fat partition. Then extract the userland to the ext2 partition.

No sound support yet with 2.6 kernel, and less 'pre set up', but offers more packages to install and is more up to date.

For a new user as yourself i think my prebuilt would be best to get started with as nothing really needs to be setup. Just install it and use it.

Cheers.

RTFM,
I'll probably try your prebuilt now that I kinda figured out what's tarring and all that
I have to wait until I can get a larger CF card; I just have the 256MB for JLime. Your readme for the prebuilt states a min of 512MB card?

Here's another question:
I have a Transcend 4GB card that I used for my WinCE stuff. If I were to partition it and use for the prebuilt, are the extra storage used for, well, storage for documents, music, etc...?
Or should I invest in a smaller CF card?

Oops! Duplicate post.

Edited by justetina 2008-07-01 11:50 PM

Yea 512 meg minimim as i crammed loads of stuff into the userland. It actually uses around 350 meg if i remember correctly.

4 gig cf would leave you tons of room for mp3s, movies, etc. I guess thats up to you if you want to get a smaller card. If i had a 4 gig cf i'd sure as heck fill it with music and videos, ebooks etc etc.

Cheers.

OK. I'll use the 4GB when I tackle your prebuilt.
Last question (I hope at least for a while), I am trying out your GPE prebuilt first since it looks to fit my 256MB card. How do I edit the params.txt? I assume I need to edit it in the terminal? I found a way to do it with the edit command but I could not figure out how to save (e.g. I don't know a save command).

Many thanks!

You can use notepad in windows if need be. Or in linux i prefer to use midnight commander. Most distros have it preinstalled. Type 'mc' in terminal. It opens a 2 paned file manager similar to the old norton commander. Highlight (use arrow keys and enter to move about the file system) params.txt and hit f4 to edit and f2 to save.

Cheers.

I figured out how to edit with vi.

But I am having problems with extracting the files into their partitions. I am doing as root but I keep getting the message "cannot change ownership to uid 1000, gid 10; Operation not permited" or if I try to uncompress first then move the files to the partition, I get "failed to preserve ownership" message.

I can uncompress just not able to move the files into the partition.

Any suggestions?
Thanks!

I fixed the problem but it was through trial and errors and I forgot the steps (to post for others). I think after I downloaded the tar.bz2 onto the desktop (by default), I created a Prebuilt folder in /home/linux. Then I moved the file from desktop to /home/linux/Prebuilt. Then uncompressed it there. After extracting all the files fat16.tar.bz2, I moved each files into the fat16 partition individually.

man you did things more difficultly... i'm only saying this because when i first installed rtfm's first build i basically thought of the same logic... i'm glad you figured it out on your own... i milked PS dry(i think he still avoids my casual im's because of them)!

I feel for those who try to help newbies like me. We don't know enough to ask the "right" questions. Takes times and patience to muddle through and learn but that is the only way to do this. Google is our friend. Even with the step-by-step guide, it's still confusing for a complete novice The reward (linux on my j720) is well worth it though.

Thanks, all.

In case this helps another newbie:
When I traced back the steps, I found when I could not move the files from /home/linux/Prebuilt to the fat16 partition, I can copy (using cp) the files into fat16. After some googling, I found some info about linux not allowing you to move files that are in different format or whatever the term is --- anyway, it's some sort of precaution. But it will allow you to copy the files and leave the original behind.

The steps worked well. Just have to make sure you have the correct path to the files.

New to Jornada 728, have tried jlime and the prebuild mentioned above. I get partitioned through Knoppix 5.1 live cd and then they lock as lost and found as one partition ext2. Tried DSL cd- doesn't find pci media reader (came on compact pc). Had it right once and then wouldn't let me open tar into ext2. I need to update the HP 728, using generic 4gb card seems to be compatible A Data. Using instructions from prebuilt site and more detailed jlime site. Will try reformat and file by file method.

i always use puppy linux... dunno it boots fast and seems pretty straight forward... you can im me if you like...

After much sobbing and hair pulling I have decided to stick w/win ce for now. I'll wait till jlime is smooth and have/pay to have it put on cf card to avoid the previous headache and hopefully not wipe out my wife's hard drive by mistake 2 am in the morning. I'm fine with a desktop, even a ibm 760lx lap, but small factor using cards and embedded- lost.