Hello
i just bought the efika mx open client and i'm very glad to get one.

I plan to use it first as a server (web -ruby on rails or php- and ftp server)and planned to install debian. But as ubuntu 9.10 is preinstalled i was wondering if it was possible to get an optimized image of ubuntu desktop minimal and a server one ? so we can choose which one to get pre installed or to install via sd card thereafter.

Thanks for your answer.

By te way is there any docs, wiki, how to ?

The preinstalled Ubuntu system is basically the result of the "ubuntu-minimal" metapackage plus a few extras ("nano" editor, wireless-crda, wireless-tools, filesystem tools, "parted" partitioner) to get you started so you don't have to go out to the net to get anything just to format an SD card or edit a configuration file to your liking.

The system is configured to pick packages from the standard Ubuntu ARM repository; if you want a package, just follow the usual rules for Ubuntu.

To update the package lists from the repos:
To upgrade the current package set to the latest (it will pull -updates, -backports and -proposed variants from the above):
These first two are recommended for everyone getting their system for the first time.

If you want Apache and PHP, you can find those packages there using:
And install a good selection:
To install a desktop, the small cheat sheet shipped with every box is a little less than the actual requirement, but we assume everyone has the basic stuff at the top of this list in mind already. To install GNOME, do this:
There are a few things in ubuntu-standard that aren't in minimal and aren't pulled in by ubuntu-desktop. To pick another desktop, just figure out the metapackage, it's xubuntu-desktop for Xfce, kubuntu-desktop for KDE 4.1 and lubuntu-desktop for LXDE.

Why don't we have a wiki or docs for this? Well, because it is all standard Ubuntu operation and Ubuntu do a perfectly good enough job of documenting it along with the Debian distro tools it's based on. We don't really want to reproduce anything here just for the sake of reproducing it, especially when it's 99.9% all an "I'm Feeling Lucky" away.

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Matt Sealey

thanks for your answer
i'm not a sysadmin but i knew nearly all that stuff. Thanks for reminding me,

I appreciate the dhcp and the pre installed ssh server :-) but once logged in i created a new user.
But every time i log in this new user i have to retype the password over and over

Changing password for serveur.
(current) UNIX password:
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:

i create a new password and log in, but as soon as i log out and log in i have the same request …
Never found this before :-(
Any help ?

Thanks

Nico

Hi.
Check your system date, and save your date/time to hardware clock.


Johan.

_________________
Johan Dams, Genesi USA Inc.
Director, Software Engineering

Yep, I have a blog... PurpleAlienPlanet

The system should have the correct time since when the installer runs before shipping (if you grab the flasher tool and installer files from Platform Support too, you'll see.. :) it gives ntpdate a quick spin and waits for the time to settle. The systems come out of the factory with the time set weird but every single one once it has Ubuntu on it has the right time set in the PMIC from an NTP time source.

So the time being wrong.. would be very rare. But you should definitely check (it may indicate a dead battery!)

There are several problems with Ubuntu and it's handling of user accounts, especially that we ship with an "oem" user in order to keep the system compatible with the "oem-config" toolkit in Ubuntu. By running "oem-config-prepare", the next first boot will run the standard OEM setup (create a user, set a hostname, pick the timezone etc.) so the systems can be customized. However, only the FIRST created user (in this case, "oem" and not the one you create during oem-setup!) has the correct group permissions for video and audio playback as per the Debian security policy.

This has been broken since the dark ages and is a problem in Debian too. It may be that your new user account is not in some group that it should be in. You should check /etc/group for entries containing the "oem" user and see if one of them looks relevant to add your user to (as an example, but not solving your problem, the "admin" group)

_________________
Matt Sealey

The system should have the correct time since when the installer runs before shipping (if you grab the flasher tool and installer files from Platform Support too, you'll see.. :) it gives ntpdate a quick spin and waits for the time to settle. The systems come out of the factory with the time set weird but every single one once it has Ubuntu on it has the right time set in the PMIC from an NTP time source.

So the time being wrong.. would be very rare. But you should definitely check (it may indicate a dead battery!)

There are several problems with Ubuntu and it's handling of user accounts, especially that we ship with an "oem" user in order to keep the system compatible with the "oem-config" toolkit in Ubuntu. By running "oem-config-prepare", the next first boot will run the standard OEM setup (create a user, set a hostname, pick the timezone etc.) so the systems can be customized. However, only the FIRST created user (in this case, "oem" and not the one you create during oem-setup!) has the correct group permissions for video and audio playback as per the Debian security policy.

This has been broken since the dark ages and is a problem in Debian too. It may be that your new user account is not in some group that it should be in. You should check /etc/group for entries containing the "oem" user and see if one of them looks relevant to add your user to (as an example, but not solving your problem, the "admin" group)
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Ok thanks for your explanations


i tested via date and the system date is still 01/01/1970

i set up the date via date -s and logged in
OK
i reboot without unplugging
OK
I unplugged the power cord, replugged and the date is good.

so no battery problem i think.

I created a new user to manage ssh and ftp access with a more secure password (though i could have changed the oem's one). And i don't plan to use it as a media player.

I stay in touch.
Thanks

Nico