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[NewITMalcolm]

GuiPlug v2.6 will be available from the Shop on SD card or for free Download

http://www.downloadsnewit.co.uk/SD-images/Dreamplug/GuiPlug/NewIT-GuiPlug-4Gb-25Jun11-v2.6-Dreamplug.img.gz

Now featuring

-  Portrait/Landscape screen rotation with touchscreen calibration.
-  No requirement for a powered hub with any of the NewIT usb monitors.
-  Vnc access if no Monitor found
-  Kernel 2.6.38.8
-  Debian Squeeze
-  Gnome Desktop
-  WiFi client
-  SSH server with keys generated at 1st boot.
-  Bluetooth
-  Audio support
-  Auto login

[zoukimando]

Now available you say. Where from?

[NewIT_Jason]

Hi There

James has said "GuiPlug v2.6 will be available from the Shop on SD card or for free Download", and as for when, it looks like being the end of this week: http://www.newit.co.uk/shop/proddetail.php?prod=Dream_GUI.

[NewITMalcolm]

Hi zoukimando,

Here is the link to the 4Gb image. Should fit most 4Gb SD cards and anything larger.

http://www.downloadsnewit.co.uk/SD-images/Dreamplug/GuiPlug/

Please let me know how you get on with it.

NewITJames

[zoukimando]

Many thanks. I'm also really looking forward to trying the multi boot version. You guys are doing some great work. Oh, BTW, I was trying to compile a driver for a USB wifi stick, but it of course needed the header files. When I tried to apt-get them it said it couldn't determine which sub-version of the kernel had been used and gave me a long list of possibilities. You couldn't tell me which one is correct could you?

[NewITMalcolm]

I was trying to compile a driver for a USB wifi stick, but it of course needed the header files.

You should find them here


http://archlinuxarm.org/mirror/with-linux/index.php?dir=2.6.38%2F2.6.38.8%2F

[zoukimando]

You sir, are a gentleman. Many thanks

[zoukimando]

One thing that struck me is that there are two ways of using the plug PC. A client, or more likely as a server. And these version's of Debian are aimed squarely at the client market. For example, Network-Manager is great for client use but not for use with a server. And it seems from my observations that the reported flakiness of the wireless is down to Network-Manager ( I can't say for definite yet, but it certainly looks that way) . And on the whole, a GUI is wasted on a server most of the time, just consuming cpu.
I think it would be really nice to have a basic version of Debian with say, just SSH, that an efficient, lean server could be built on. ( Just my 5 cents)

[NewITMalcolm]

I think it would be really nice to have a basic version of Debian with say, just SSH, that an efficient, lean server could be built on.

Headless versions of Debian Squeeze, Wheezy and Ubuntu are in the pipeline and will be offered on SD card and for free download.

And it seems from my observations that the reported flakiness of the wireless is down to Network-Manager

Wireless should be 100% stable on the GuiPlug v2.6.

NewITJames

[zoukimando]

It just gets better and better. Thanks James

[zoukimando]

Now, I have just setup /etc/network/interfaces for my wireless, and disabled Network-manager and the difference in speed is remarkable, even compared to an ethernet connection (under NM). I don't know if that is just coincidence, and that other factors are at play, but the GUI is so much more responsive now over VNC
I know that was a little risky to change that but I figured I wasn't going to lose much if it failed as I had only just installed it.

[zoukimando]

Hey James, I've been using the new version all day now. I have to say a great job. I've had no issues at all.
Everything working well, and it feels smoother. I'm really pleased. I have a PicoITX box here too, that is also running Debian and that was significantly better/faster to use in comparison to 2.5. This update has made them equal. Take a Pat on the back

[zoukimando]

My local Linux guru told me how to put the 4GB image onto an 8 or 16GB uSD card and resize the partition once its booted.
Apparently you can resize a mounted partition under recent kernel versions.
I've used it and it worked fine for me

Login as root
cfdisk /dev/sda         # "delete" then "add" the gui-rootfs partition ( sda2) using the offered size, then write
shutdown -r now       #to reboot

Login as root again then

resize2fs /dev/sda2     # e.g. sda2

Obviously you should check your drives match these.

[USSJoin]

Apologies if this is already linked somewhere else in the forums, but I was unable to find it. With the GuiPlug image, is there a way still to use the DreamPlug as an access point? How do I go about doing that?

Also, could you point me toward the configuration files for the XTightVNC server?

Thanks!

[Ralph Houston]

I tried GuiPlug v2.5 and was most impressed - it fired up immediately with a DisplayLink adaptor.
However, there were issues with disc integrity and I found that partition 1 ran off the end of the disc. I had to rescue the file (uImage) and recreate the partition.

Using dd to load GuiPlug 2.6, the sizes were OK, but partition 1 was created as type 83 (Linux) instead of 06 (fat16) and again fsck was unhappy, of course.

Anyway, having fixed that, it booted first time and very impressive it is too!

One question - some websites (notably BBC Iplayer) think the device is a phone - is it using small or slow modules to save space/processing power?

Regards
Ralph