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Date:      Mon, 13 Jan 2003 15:52:32 +0100
From:      Gunnar Flygt <gunnar.flygt@SR.SE>
To:        freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG, Gunnar Flygt <flygt@SR.SE>
Subject:   Re: Sharp Zaurus sync
Message-ID:  <20030113145232.GE51087@sr.se>
In-Reply-To: <200301111027.h0BAR1qx061010@lurza.secnetix.de>
References:  <20021013081738.GA33907@sr.se> <200301111027.h0BAR1qx061010@lurza.secnetix.de>

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On Sat, Jan 11, 2003 at 11:27:01AM +0100, Oliver Fromme wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Sorry for this very late reply of mine in this thread, but
> I think this information might be worth ending up in the
> archives, in case someone else searches for it, too ...

Thanks for all the info. have you succeeded to get the Qtopia
for Linux running on FreeBSD?

> 
> Gunnar Flygt <gunnar@oldie.sr.se> wrote:
>  > Is there any work going on, to sync Sharp Zaurus 5500 to FreeBSD via usb?
> 
> It currently is not supported, and won't be (at least not
> soon).
> 
> Here's some background information.  The Zaurus' USB port
> can work in two different modes:
> 
>  - In network mode.  This works exactly like one of those
>    PC-to-PC USB cables (except that Sharp modified the
>    protocol slightly), running TCP/IP directly on top of
>    the protocol.  This is the default mode.
> 
>    In Linux, the "usbnet" driver supports such PC-to-PC
>    USB cables, but because of Sharp's modifications, a
>    newer version called "usbdnet" is required.
> 
>    As far as I know, FreeBSD does not support any of those
>    PC-to-PC USB cables, so a driver would have to be
>    written from scratch.
> 
>  - In serial mode.  This, in fact, emulates an ucom device.
>    It then runs PPP over the serial connection over USB,
>    and then TCP/IP on top of that.  This is _not_ the same
>    as a native serial connection (which the Zaurus also
>    supports, but you have to buy a special serial cable
>    first, because it's not included).
> 
>    Linux supports that with the "usbserial" driver in
>    generic mode.
> 
>    FreeBSD supports serial USB adapters, too, however, we
>    have got a small problem here.  In FreeBSD, the drivers
>    are separated in the frontend driver "ucom" which makes
>    the actual serial tty devices, and several backend
>    drivers (uplcom, uvscon, uftdi) which support specific
>    variants of serial-over-USB protocols by different chip
>    vendors.  We do not have a "generic mode" like the Linux
>    folks do.  However, I _think_ that one of those backend
>    drivers could be talked into accepting the Zaurus' USB
>    serial protocol, without too much trouble.  (Or maybe,
>    one of them could be even cloned and converted into a
>    generic USB-serial driver, like Linux has.)
> 
> You can switch the Zaurus between those two modes using the
> /etc/usbcontrol script.  There's no GUI for it, so you have
> to open a terminal (I recommend installing OpenSSH on the
> Zaurus and then make an ssh connection to it, because it's
> more convenient).
> 
> "/etc/usbcontrol serial" switches to serial/PPP mode,
> "/etc/usbcontrol net" switches back to network mode.
> 
> So, the bottom line is, it does not work with FreeBSD,
> unless someone knowledgeable writes a driver or modifies
> an existing one.
> 
> HOWEVER -- There are _so_ many ways to connect the Zaurus
> to a network or to a PC, that you really should not worry
> much about it.  Most of them require buying additional
> hardware, though, such as a serial cable, a WaveLAN CF
> card, or an Ethernet CF card.  If you've got a notebook
> with infrared port, you can also sync via IrDA (you can
> use /usr/ports/comms/birda), although that won't be very
> fast, I guess.  I haven't tried this.
> 
> Personally I decided to buy a FastEthernet CF card for my
> Zaurus, which isn't terribly expensive (I found one for
> 50 Euro at a German online shop).  It's plug&play at its
> finest:  Insert the card, connect to switch, configure IP
> with the GUI "Internet Wizard", and there you are.  I got
> 20 MBit/s raw throughput from/to my fileserver at home,
> which isn't really bad for a PDA.  ;-)
> 
> For more information, I have created a small web page
> which lists some of the Zaurus connectivity possibilities,
> and which contains some more information:
> http://www.secnetix.de/~olli/Zaurus/CF/FE/
> 
> Hope that helps.
> 
> Oh, by the way, the Sharp Zaurus is a _really_ cool PDA.
> I would recommend it to everyone who is looking for a PDA.
> Well, it doesn't run BSD, but a Linux-variant known as
> Embedix, but it runs quite smoothly, and _much_ better
> than WinCE.
> 
> Because it's Linux-based, you can run almost any UNIX
> software on it (I've installed ssh, sshd, a VNC server,
> Python for writing scripts, DooM and Quake and a bunch
> of other games, and more).  I _really_ like it.  There's
> also a gcc package which runs on the Zaurus, so you can
> compile stuff yourself.  And there's a crosscompiler
> for Linux/i386 with complete development environment,
> but I haven't figured out yet how to run that under
> FreeBSD.  (Has anyone tried?)
> 
> Regards
>    Oliver
> 
> -- 
> Oliver Fromme, secnetix GmbH & Co KG, Oettingenstr. 2, 80538 München
> Any opinions expressed in this message may be personal to the author
> and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of secnetix in any way.
> 
> "All that we see or seem is just a dream within a dream" (E. A. Poe)
> 
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-- 
Gunnar Flygt, Postmaster SR

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