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EFIKA as EdUbuntu thin client
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Author:  czp [ Mon Jan 08, 2007 12:14 pm ]
Post subject:  EFIKA as EdUbuntu thin client
Image

EFIKA works very nicely as a thin client for EdUbuntu. On the other hand, it's a lot of DIY and fighting with lack of proper documentation, especially if someone like me uses a nonstandard network layout. First I wanted to make it a wiki on the Ubuntu website, but as my primary Linux is openSUSE, I felt, it's better to discuss it first here. Instead of step by step instructions, I provide here a bunch of pointers glued together with some explanatory texts.

What is needed:
* a local network
* a PPC machine as EdUbuntu server (preferably a Pegasos :-) , which I will use in this guide )
* at least one EFIKA, as thin client

If all hardware is available, the first step is to download and install EdUbuntu on the 'server'. Download it from: http://www.edubuntu.org/Download

Use the DVD, which has all files necessary for booting on Pegasos, or use mkvmlinuz from an already installed Ubuntu 6.10 to crate a boot kernel (or mkzimage from openSUSE, like I did).

The normal installation does not install the LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) environment. There is a script to install it afterwards, but it failed on me five out of five times after working for about an hour. Restarting a broken installation does not work. This leaves us to create the LTSP environment on installation. Use the 'expert' menu point, or add the 'priority=low' boot parameter to get some more control over installation and be able to install LTSP. Some help is available at: http://www.edubuntu.org/GettingStarted

To save yourself a lot of trouble, it's better to use a network setup as suggested in the documentation: a 192.168.0.0/24 network, with EdUbuntu server at 192.168.0.254 (see some explanation at the end).

Xorg does not work on a fresh install. Please see http://www.pegasos.org/index.php?name=N ... e&sid=1229 how to get Xorg running on the 'server'. This will take a while, as many packages are updated over the Internet.

Use information from https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowTo ... Management to upgrade software inside the LTSP directory. Look for the 'Updating your LTSP clients NFS root' part. Replace 'i386' with 'powerpc' as needed. This will bring the LTSP environment up to shape, and also makes sure, that Xorg works.

Next task is to download prebuilt EFIKA kernel and modules from http://www.efika.info/ and copy to the appropriate directories. 'kernel_efika' goes to /var/lib/tftpboot , modules should be extracted to /opt/ltsp/powerpc/lib/modules

Also check /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf , probably it needs to be adjusted from i386 to powerpc. Don't forget to restart it, if anything is changed.

To get rid of some warnings, edit /opt/ltsp/powerpc/etc/lts.conf . Kernel support is missing so, make sure, that 'SOUND=False' and 'NBD_SWAP=false' are in the file.

Now EFIKA should be able to boot over the network with the following command:
Code:
boot kernel_efika kernel_efika ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs
Author:  czp [ Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:10 am ]
Post subject: 
If you want to spare your bandwidth, then don't try to download development version of EdUbuntu, there is no driver for Pegasos IDE in kernel (or kernel modules)...
Author:  czp [ Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:46 am ]
Post subject: 
Here is an update for EdUbuntu 7.04. I just list the differences, but if you find it too confusing, I'll do a full rewrite :)

- PowerPC became a port, so download it from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/port ... owerpc.iso

- there is no more DVD with Pegasos bootable kernel, so use http://genesi.hu/ubuntu/feisty_inst to boot the CD

- no need for 'expert' option, LTSP installed / configured nicely during installation without any further manual intervention.

- 7.04 offers to configure one network interface, which you can configure to any IP you want, and sets the other to 192.168.0.254. This is an ideal setup, where all the thin clients are on a switch behind the server, of course, your setup may differ. It's still advisable to use this as initial setup and testing, and later change it using information from the bottom of https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowTo ... Management
update: this seems to be intentional, even if not documented at all: on x86 using just one network card I got a warning...

- use kernel from http://genesi.hu/ubuntu/feisty_boot to boot the system. Neither mkzimage, nor mkvmlinuz can create a bootable kernel from the EdUbuntu vmlinux and initrd. On first boot there will be some filesystem checking and a reboot, the second boot will work fine except for starting GDM, so you will be left with a text based login screen.

- update the hosting Pegasos to get Xorg running using info from http://www.kozz.org/?postid=18

- if updating fails with OpenOffice / fontconfig related problems, either touch each of the directories (proper solution), or use 'date' to set your clock a day ahead (quicker & dirty hack)

- it's worth to update also the LTSP environment, using information from https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowTo ... Management

- modify your dhcp configuration in /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf . My config is here:
Code:
authoritative;

subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.0.20 192.168.0.250;
option domain-name "example.czp";
option domain-name-servers 194.45.148.253;
option broadcast-address 192.168.0.255;
option routers 192.168.0.254;
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
filename "kernel_efika";
option root-path "192.168.0.254:/opt/ltsp/powerpc/";
}
Dont' forget to restart it (/etc/init.d/dhcpd restart).

Enjoy!
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