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Sharp ROM version 3.1

The new ROM for the SL-5500 is only available in English, but it can be used on German machines as well. And it is very well worth it. Applications are more stable and faster, the new email application and the Opera 6.0 Web browser are wonderful, and so far we found no problems at all.

On a German Zaurus, a few things need to be done after the ROM has been flashed. First, install the keyz-zkb package to get the German hardware keyboard back. Unfortunately, the GUI doesn't work on the new ROM, but you can edit the file /opt/QtPalmtop/lib/zkb.xml and just replace "BG" with "DE" and "bg.xml" with "de.xml". Save the modified file, reboot and you'll see a new tray icon which is either "DE" or "EN". Click on it and select the keyboard layout you want to use.

Of course this only changes the keyboard, but not the language of the applications which are still in English. However, some apps have been written multilingual, and those can be switched to German if you modify a few more files. First, edit /opt/QtPalmtop/qpe.sh and /home/zaurus/.profile and insert the following lines:

export LANG = de
export LC_ALL = de

Then, edit /home/zaurus/Settings/locale.conf and insert

language = de
Timezone = Europe/Berlin

The last line should of course be entered even if you prefer your applications to be in English, as this affects the time zone of your calendar application.

All in all, we installed the new ROM on our machines and love it. We won't go back!

By the way, please note that you need to install the new version of IntelliSync as well if you want to sync your Zaurus with a desktop. The old version is not compatible with the data structure of the new PIM applications on the Zaurus.

In some cases you may get an error message about conflicting versions when you are trying to sync. In this case you need to leave "language = en" in locale.conf.

Must-have applications

In order to get the most out of your Zaurus, you should have a close look at these applications - at least. There are of course many more available at www.killefiz.de/zaurus

OPIE Advanced File Manager

OPIE Embedded Console

Portabase Database

Voice Recorder

To use the voice recorder, you need a regular headset (like those for mobile phones) with microphone. These usually come with a 2,5 mm plug, so you may also need an adapter that goes from 2,5 mm to 3,5 mm (stereo).

Alternatively, you can use earplugs from a Walkman (or similar) for stereo output, and use a separate microphone plug for recording.

Stylus

If you lose your stylus, you can (in Germany) get a replacement by calling Sharp's parts service Deubel + Höfermann (phone +49-40-41365-303, fax -399) and ordering part number CPENP1008YC01.

Alternatively, the stylus from the Palm Tungsten fits perfectly in the Zaurus except that it sticky out by about 3 - 4 mm from the top of the Zaurus. They can be ordered from Amazon.com, for example.

Keyboard

There is no Ctrl-key on the keyboard, but control keys can be generated by pressing Fn + Shift + key on the keyboard. Ctrl-Z/X/V/C can also be produced by Fn + key alone.

Some special characters can be entered by pressing a combination of keys together:

[ Shift + Fn + Del
] Shift + Fn + ,;
{ Shift + Fn + .:
} Shift + Fn + Enter
| Shift + Space
Esc Cancel

The up/down/left/right disc button generates the arrow keys, the center button generates a space.

Hancom Mobile Office

Each user of the Zaurus SL-5500G owns a license for Hancom Mobile Office. The current files can be downloaded from the Hancom Web Site:

http://mobile.hancom.com/download/download.html

Just click onto the "SL 5500" button and provide the serial number of your device.

Files and directories

The standard Sharp ROM uses the following directory structure:

/home/root/usr/lib/ipkg contains one text file for each installed application (at least for those who were installed as ipk packages) which contains a list of the files which were installed.

/mnt contains subdirectories for each memory card slot, network devices etc. If a CompactFlash card is inserted, its files and directories are found under /mnt/cf; a SD card can be accessed under /mnt/card.

/home/QtPalmtop/apps contains description files for the desktop pages; one subdirectory of files for each page on the desktop. The description files are text files which contain information about the name of the application to display, the name and location of the executable, and the icon file.

/home/QtPalmtop/bin contains the installed executables, i.e. the built-in applications like the addressbook or opera as well as applications which have been installed by the user.

/home/QtPalmtop/pics contains icon files in PNG format and other pictures. Applications which come with own icons may have their own subdirectory there. PNG files can be viewed with the built-in image viewer application. 

/home/root/Applications contains subdirectories which contain data files, for example /home/root/Applications/addressbook contains the file addressbook.xml which holds all the address data, plus some support files with business card and synchronization data. Most of the data files are plain text files in XML format.

/home/root/Settings contains configuration files for some of the applications.

/usr/bin, /usr/sbin and /usr/local/bin are by default included in the path, so if you want to install console applications (programs which don't have an icon on the desktop), these are the directories to use. As a general Unix rule, sbin contains applications which can only be executed by root, and bin contains applications for the average user.

If applications are installed onto a memory card, a QtPalmtop directory is created on the card.

PIM applications

The data for the PIM applications of the standard Sharp ROM is stored in the following files:

/home/root/Applications/addressbook/addressbook.xml
/home/root/Applications/addressbook/businesscard.vcf
/home/root/Applications/datebook/datebook.xml
/home/root/Applications/todolist/todolist.xml
/home/root/Applications/todotemplates/templates.idx
/home/root/Settings/Categories.xml

Locating files

Use the find command in the Zaurus terminal console to locate specific files on your Zaurus:

find / -name filename

Filename accepts wildcards, and instead of the '/' you may specify any valid directory name as the starting point of the search, like for example /etc or /mnt/card.

Executing stuff at startup

Code which should be executed at startup should be installed in a file in /etc/rc.d/rc5.d. A good choice for a filename might be S99local. The first lines of S99local should be:

#! /bin/sh
#
# S99local - run local startup stuff
#
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/lib:/usr/lib:/home/QtPalmtop/lib

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH PATH

If you also want to set the hostname, add the line

hostname myhost.my.domain

Be sure to make S99local executable by entering

chmod 750 S99local

Additional pages on the desktop

To get additional pages on the desktop, you have to create a new directory under /home/QtPalmtop/apps/ with a new name, and create a file ".directory" with three entries. 

For example, if the new page should be named "Extra", create the directory /home/QtPalmtop/apps/extra and in there the file /home/QtPalmtops/apps/Extra/.directory with the following lines:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Extra
Icon=down

In order to move icons from any page to the new "Extra" page, locate the icon file for the application in the directory of its current page, and move it into the newly created directory. All icon files have the extension ".desktop". For example, the icon file for the clock  is /home/QtPalmtop/apps/Applications/clock.desktop

You need to reboot after having done these modifications.

Alternatively, you may install the application "TabManager" which can be found on Killefiz.de to modify your Tabs with a nice GUI. Also, if you upgrade to ROM 3.1, a tab manager is already included.

Creating a desktop icon which launches an application with parameters

Imagine that you want to have a desktop icon which launches Portabase with a specific database. Unfortunately, Qtopia disregards parameters in .desktop files, so simply changing the properties of the icon won't work. Alernatively, you need to create a simple shell script that launches the application and passes all required parameters, and create a link to this script on the desktop.

Accessing the Zaurus via FTP

You may use any FTP software on your computer to access the docked Zaurus. Simply create a new FTP connection, enter "192.168.129.201" as IP address and remote port "4242". The username should be "root" with either no password or "root" as password - just try it out.

Unix console commands

A brief description of common console commands can be found here.

© 2002, last modified 30-Sep-03 21:10

© 2003 by Rundel Datentechnik, Germany.
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