OpenSIMpad.org

1 Preamble
2 On the SIMpad side
3 On the Desktop side
4 Debian
5 Gentoo folks
6 windows driver

Preamble

Since not everyone has a network or WLAN card handy it would be necessary to set up USB networking in order to install software directly from the net or from your PC. You could also use a Compact Flash card, but that's not the topic here. Now on to setting up USB networking.

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On the SIMpad side

USB Networking is preconfigured on the SIMpad. You only need to set the network address, netmask, gateway and dns (or use dhcp) in the Network Settings application. If the interface doesn't want to "eat" your configuration then open a Konsole and run:

   ifconfig usbf 192.168.129.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

for instance to set the IP manualy. You could then set the default gateway with

   route add default gw 192.168.129.1

If you also need DNS entries then run

   echo "nameserver YOUR.DNS.IP" > /etc/resolv.conf

If you need a second DNS run

   echo "nameserver YOUR.2ND.DNS.IP" >> /etc/resolv.conf

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On the Desktop side

Make sure you have USB and USB_NET support in your kernel. You also need hotplug installed and working. If that is the case create (or edit a present one) a file such as /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-usb0 (on my Mandrake 9.1 it's this one). Now give it this contents:

   DEVICE=usb0 
   BOOTPROTO=static 
   IPADDR=192.168.129.1 
   NETMASK=255.255.255.0 
   NETWORK=192.168.129.0 
   BROADCAST=192.168.129.255 
   ONBOOT=yes

Make sure DEVICE and file name resembles the device your hotplug set up for you (see 'ifconfig -a' for that). On my PC this file is executable. I'm not sure if this is necessary, but if so run 'chmod 755 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-usb0'. Now when you plug your SIMpad into the PC you should have a USB network. If you plan on using your PC as a gateway you would have to set up Network Address Translation (NAT) for that.

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Debian

Debian Etch seemed to like the following, though i am not sure about the details. This creates a network connection and routes internet traffic. On the pad-side, the usbf interface would connect using a static address (e.g. 192.168.2.88), like described above.

 allow-hotplug usb0

 mapping hotplug
   script grep
   map usb0

 iface usb0 inet static
   address 192.168.2.81
   netmask 255.255.255.0
   up echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
   up iptables -P FORWARD ACCEPT
   up iptables -A POSTROUTING -t nat -j MASQUERADE -s 192.168.2.80/24
   down echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
   down iptables -t nat -F POSTROUTING

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Gentoo folks

Quoting darac from oesf forums: Drivers: Device Drivers -> USB Support -> USB Network Adapters Set "Multi-purpose USB Networking Framework" as a Module and turn on "Embedded ARM Linux links (iPaq, ...)" and "Sharp Zaurus (stock ROMs)" Rebuild your kernel or just "make; make modules_install" if you're feeling brave. (In other words, CONFIG_USB_USBNET=m, CONFIG_USB_ARMLINUX=y and CONFIG_USB_ZAURUS=y)

This will make the "usbnet.ko" module.

PC-Side changes Now there used to be a need to install "hotplug" package, however nowdays you should do fine with udev. I do plan to publish a rule for the simpad here, as soon as I get it to work.

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