X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/a12e90a81cb1ae182e5713cc180abad737b6cfef..31e78b216f079bfa709d1aa5fa4a5d91da9f46bd:/blog/archive/2013/01/01.rss diff --git a/blog/archive/2013/01/01.rss b/blog/archive/2013/01/01.rss index 8197c3648b..943b79c85b 100644 --- a/blog/archive/2013/01/01.rss +++ b/blog/archive/2013/01/01.rss @@ -6,6 +6,766 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + Welcome to the world, Isenkram! + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html + Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:00:00 +0100 + <p>Yesterday, I +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">asked +for testers</a> for my prototype for making Debian better at handling +pluggable hardware devices, which I +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">set +out to create</a> earlier this month. Several valuable testers showed +up, and caused me to really want to to open up the development to more +people. But before I did this, I want to come up with a sensible name +for this project. Today I finally decided on a new name, and I have +renamed the project from hw-support-handler to this new name. In the +process, I moved the source to git and made it available as a +<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/isenkram.git">collab-maint</a> +repository in Debian. The new name? It is <strong>Isenkram</strong>. +To fetch and build the latest version of the source, use</p> + +<pre> +git clone http://anonscm.debian.org/git/collab-maint/isenkram.git +cd isenkram && git-buildpackage -us -uc +</pre> + +<p>I have not yet adjusted all files to use the new name yet. If you +want to hack on the source or improve the package, please go ahead. +But please talk to me first on IRC or via email before you do major +changes, to make sure we do not step on each others toes. :)</p> + +<p>If you wonder what 'isenkram' is, it is a Norwegian word for iron +stuff, typically meaning tools, nails, screws, etc. Typical hardware +stuff, in other words. I've been told it is the Norwegian variant of +the German word eisenkram, for those that are familiar with that +word.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2013-01-26</strong>: Added -us -us to build +instructions, to avoid confusing people with an error from the signing +process.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2013-01-27</strong>: Switch to HTTP URL for the git +clone argument to avoid the need for authentication.</p> + + + + + First prototype ready making hardware easier to use in Debian + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html + Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:00:00 +0100 + <p>Early this month I set out to try to +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">improve +the Debian support for pluggable hardware devices</a>. Now my +prototype is working, and it is ready for a larger audience. To test +it, fetch the +<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">source +from the Debian Edu subversion repository</a>, build and install the +package. You might have to log out and in again activate the +autostart script.</p> + +<p>The design is simple:</p> + +<ul> + +<li>Add desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ causing a program +hw-support-handlerd to start when the user log in.</li> + +<li>This program listen for kernel events about new hardware (directly +from the kernel like udev does), not using HAL dbus events as I +initially did.</li> + +<li>When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware modalias in +the APT database, a database +<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/modaliases?view=markup">available +via HTTP</a> and a database available as part of the package.</li> + +<li>If a package is mapped to the hardware in question, the package +isn't installed yet and this is the first time the hardware was +plugged in, show a desktop notification suggesting to install the +package or packages.</li> + +<li>If the user click on the 'install package now' button, ask +aptdaemon via the PackageKit API to install the requrired package.</li> + +<li>aptdaemon ask for root password or sudo password, and install the +package while showing progress information in a window.</li> + +</ul> + +<p>I still need to come up with a better name for the system. Here +are some screen shots showing the prototype in action. First the +notification, then the password request, and finally the request to +approve all the dependencies. Sorry for the Norwegian Bokmål GUI.</p> + +<p><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-1-notification.png"> +<br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-2-password.png"> +<br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-3-dependencies.png"> +<br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-4-installing.png"> +<br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-5-installing-details.png" width="70%"></p> + +<p>The prototype still need to be improved with longer timeouts, but +is already useful. The database of hardware to package mappings also +need more work. It is currently compatible with the Ubuntu way of +storing such information in the package control file, but could be +changed to use other formats instead or in addition to the current +method. I've dropped the use of discover for this mapping, as the +modalias approach is more flexible and easier to use on Linux as long +as the Linux kernel expose its modalias strings directly.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2013-01-21 16:50</strong>: Due to popular demand, +here is the command required to check out and build the source: Use +'<tt>svn checkout +svn://svn.debian.org/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/; cd +hw-support-handler; debuild</tt>'. If you lack debuild, install the +devscripts package.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2013-01-23 12:00</strong>: The project is now +renamed to Isenkram and the source moved from the Debian Edu +subversion repository to a Debian collab-maint git repository. See +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html">build +instructions</a> for details.</p> + + + + + Thank you Thinkpad X41, for your long and trustworthy service + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html + Sat, 19 Jan 2013 09:20:00 +0100 + <p>This Christmas my trusty old laptop died. It died quietly and +suddenly in bed. With a quiet whimper, it went completely quiet and +black. The power button was no longer able to turn it on. It was a +IBM Thinkpad X41, and the best laptop I ever had. Better than both +Thinkpads X30, X31, X40, X60, X61 and X61S. Far better than the +Compaq I had before that. Now I need to find a replacement. To keep +going during Christmas, I moved the one year old SSD disk to my old +X40 where it fitted (only one I had left that could use it), but it is +not a durable solution. + +<p>My laptop needs are fairly modest. This is my wishlist from when I +got a new one more than 10 years ago. It still holds true.:)</p> + +<ul> + +<li>Lightweight (around 1 kg) and small volume (preferably smaller + than A4).</li> +<li>Robust, it will be in my backpack every day.</li> +<li>Three button mouse and a mouse pin instead of touch pad.</li> +<li>Long battery life time. Preferable a week.</li> +<li>Internal WIFI network card.</li> +<li>Internal Twisted Pair network card.</li> +<li>Some USB slots (2-3 is plenty)</li> +<li>Good keyboard - similar to the Thinkpad.</li> +<li>Video resolution at least 1024x768, with size around 12" (A4 paper +size).</li> +<li>Hardware supported by Debian Stable, ie the default kernel and + X.org packages.</li> +<li>Quiet, preferably fan free (or at least not using the fan most of + the time). + +</ul> + +<p>You will notice that there are no RAM and CPU requirements in the +list. The reason is simply that the specifications on laptops the +last 10-15 years have been sufficient for my needs, and I have to look +at other features to choose my laptop. But are there still made as +robust laptops as my X41? The Thinkpad X60/X61 proved to be less +robust, and Thinkpads seem to be heading in the wrong direction since +Lenovo took over. But I've been told that X220 and X1 Carbon might +still be useful.</p> + +<p>Perhaps I should rethink my needs, and look for a pad with an +external keyboard? I'll have to check the +<a href="http://www.linux-laptop.net/">Linux Laptops site</a> for +well-supported laptops, or perhaps just buy one preinstalled from one +of the vendors listed on the <a href="http://linuxpreloaded.com/">Linux +Pre-loaded site</a>.</p> + + + + + How to find a browser plugin supporting a given MIME type + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_find_a_browser_plugin_supporting_a_given_MIME_type.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_find_a_browser_plugin_supporting_a_given_MIME_type.html + Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:40:00 +0100 + <p>Some times I try to figure out which Iceweasel browser plugin to +install to get support for a given MIME type. Thanks to +<a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MozillaTeam/Plugins">specifications +done by Ubuntu</a> and Mozilla, it is possible to do this in Debian. +Unfortunately, not very many packages provide the needed meta +information, Anyway, here is a small script to look up all browser +plugin packages announcing ther MIME support using this specification:</p> + +<pre> +#!/usr/bin/python +import sys +import apt +def pkgs_handling_mimetype(mimetype): + cache = apt.Cache() + cache.open(None) + thepkgs = [] + for pkg in cache: + version = pkg.candidate + if version is None: + version = pkg.installed + if version is None: + continue + record = version.record + if not record.has_key('Npp-MimeType'): + continue + mime_types = record['Npp-MimeType'].split(',') + for t in mime_types: + t = t.rstrip().strip() + if t == mimetype: + thepkgs.append(pkg.name) + return thepkgs +mimetype = "audio/ogg" +if 1 < len(sys.argv): + mimetype = sys.argv[1] +print "Browser plugin packages supporting %s:" % mimetype +for pkg in pkgs_handling_mimetype(mimetype): + print " %s" %pkg +</pre> + +<p>It can be used like this to look up a given MIME type:</p> + +<pre> +% ./apt-find-browserplug-for-mimetype +Browser plugin packages supporting audio/ogg: + gecko-mediaplayer +% ./apt-find-browserplug-for-mimetype application/x-shockwave-flash +Browser plugin packages supporting application/x-shockwave-flash: + browser-plugin-gnash +% +</pre> + +<p>In Ubuntu this mechanism is combined with support in the browser +itself to query for plugins and propose to install the needed +packages. It would be great if Debian supported such feature too. Is +anyone working on adding it?</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2013-01-18 14:20</strong>: The Debian BTS +request for icweasel support for this feature is +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/484010">#484010</a> from 2008 (and +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/698426">#698426</a> from today). Lack +of manpower and wish for a different design is the reason thus feature +is not yet in iceweasel from Debian.</p> + + + + + What is the most supported MIME type in Debian? + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_.html + Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:10:00 +0100 + <p>The <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/AppStreamDebianProposal">DEP-11 +proposal to add AppStream information to the Debian archive</a>, is a +proposal to make it possible for a Desktop application to propose to +the user some package to install to gain support for a given MIME +type, font, library etc. that is currently missing. With such +mechanism in place, it would be possible for the desktop to +automatically propose and install leocad if some LDraw file is +downloaded by the browser.</p> + +<p>To get some idea about the current content of the archive, I decided +to write a simple program to extract all .desktop files from the +Debian archive and look up the claimed MIME support there. The result +can be found on the +<a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/pub/AppStreamTest">Skolelinux FTP +site</a>. Using the collected information, it become possible to +answer the question in the title. Here are the 20 most supported MIME +types in Debian stable (Squeeze), testing (Wheezy) and unstable (Sid). +The complete list is available from the link above.</p> + +<p><strong>Debian Stable:</strong></p> + +<pre> + count MIME type + ----- ----------------------- + 32 text/plain + 30 audio/mpeg + 29 image/png + 28 image/jpeg + 27 application/ogg + 26 audio/x-mp3 + 25 image/tiff + 25 image/gif + 22 image/bmp + 22 audio/x-wav + 20 audio/x-flac + 19 audio/x-mpegurl + 18 video/x-ms-asf + 18 audio/x-musepack + 18 audio/x-mpeg + 18 application/x-ogg + 17 video/mpeg + 17 audio/x-scpls + 17 audio/ogg + 16 video/x-ms-wmv +</pre> + +<p><strong>Debian Testing:</strong></p> + +<pre> + count MIME type + ----- ----------------------- + 33 text/plain + 32 image/png + 32 image/jpeg + 29 audio/mpeg + 27 image/gif + 26 image/tiff + 26 application/ogg + 25 audio/x-mp3 + 22 image/bmp + 21 audio/x-wav + 19 audio/x-mpegurl + 19 audio/x-mpeg + 18 video/mpeg + 18 audio/x-scpls + 18 audio/x-flac + 18 application/x-ogg + 17 video/x-ms-asf + 17 text/html + 17 audio/x-musepack + 16 image/x-xbitmap +</pre> + +<p><strong>Debian Unstable:</strong></p> + +<pre> + count MIME type + ----- ----------------------- + 31 text/plain + 31 image/png + 31 image/jpeg + 29 audio/mpeg + 28 application/ogg + 27 image/gif + 26 image/tiff + 26 audio/x-mp3 + 23 audio/x-wav + 22 image/bmp + 21 audio/x-flac + 20 audio/x-mpegurl + 19 audio/x-mpeg + 18 video/x-ms-asf + 18 video/mpeg + 18 audio/x-scpls + 18 application/x-ogg + 17 audio/x-musepack + 16 video/x-ms-wmv + 16 video/x-msvideo +</pre> + +<p>I am told that PackageKit can provide an API to access the kind of +information mentioned in DEP-11. I have not yet had time to look at +it, but hope the PackageKit people in Debian are on top of these +issues.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2013-01-16 13:35</strong>: Updated numbers after +discovering a typo in my script.</p> + + + + + Using modalias info to find packages handling my hardware + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_modalias_info_to_find_packages_handling_my_hardware.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_modalias_info_to_find_packages_handling_my_hardware.html + Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:00:00 +0100 + <p>Yesterday, I wrote about the +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html">modalias +values provided by the Linux kernel</a> following my hope for +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">better +dongle support in Debian</a>. Using this knowledge, I have tested how +modalias values attached to package names can be used to map packages +to hardware. This allow the system to look up and suggest relevant +packages when I plug in some new hardware into my machine, and replace +discover and discover-data as the database used to map hardware to +packages.</p> + +<p>I create a modaliases file with entries like the following, +containing package name, kernel module name (if relevant, otherwise +the package name) and globs matching the relevant hardware +modalias.</p> + +<p><blockquote> +Package: package-name +<br>Modaliases: module(modaliasglob, modaliasglob, modaliasglob)</p> +</blockquote></p> + +<p>It is fairly trivial to write code to find the relevant packages +for a given modalias value using this file.</p> + +<p>An entry like this would suggest the video and picture application +cheese for many USB web cameras (interface bus class 0E01):</p> + +<p><blockquote> +Package: cheese +<br>Modaliases: cheese(usb:v*p*d*dc*dsc*dp*ic0Eisc01ip*)</p> +</blockquote></p> + +<p>An entry like this would suggest the pcmciautils package when a +CardBus bridge (bus class 0607) PCI device is present:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +Package: pcmciautils +<br>Modaliases: pcmciautils(pci:v*d*sv*sd*bc06sc07i*) +</blockquote></p> + +<p>An entry like this would suggest the package colorhug-client when +plugging in a ColorHug with USB IDs 04D8:F8DA:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +Package: colorhug-client +<br>Modaliases: colorhug-client(usb:v04D8pF8DAd*)</p> +</blockquote></p> + +<p>I believe the format is compatible with the format of the Packages +file in the Debian archive. Ubuntu already uses their Packages file +to store their mappings from packages to hardware.</p> + +<p>By adding a XB-Modaliases: header in debian/control, any .deb can +announce the hardware it support in a way my prototype understand. +This allow those publishing packages in an APT source outside the +Debian archive as well as those backporting packages to make sure the +hardware mapping are included in the package meta information. I've +tested such header in the pymissile package, and its modalias mapping +is working as it should with my prototype. It even made it to Ubuntu +Raring.</p> + +<p>To test if it was possible to look up supported hardware using only +the shell tools available in the Debian installer, I wrote a shell +implementation of the lookup code. The idea is to create files for +each modalias and let the shell do the matching. Please check out and +try the +<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/hw-support-lookup?view=co">hw-support-lookup</a> +shell script. It run without any extra dependencies and fetch the +hardware mappings from the Debian archive and the subversion +repository where I currently work on my prototype.</p> + +<p>When I use it on a machine with a yubikey inserted, it suggest to +install yubikey-personalization:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +% ./hw-support-lookup +<br>yubikey-personalization +<br>% +</blockquote></p> + +<p>When I run it on my Thinkpad X40 with a PCMCIA/CardBus slot, it +propose to install the pcmciautils package:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +% ./hw-support-lookup +<br>pcmciautils +<br>% +</blockquote></p> + +<p>If you know of any hardware-package mapping that should be added to +<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/modaliases?view=co">my +database</a>, please tell me about it.</p> + +<p>It could be possible to generate several of the mappings between +packages and hardware. One source would be to look at packages with +kernel modules, ie packages with *.ko files in /lib/modules/, and +extract their modalias information. Another would be to look at +packages with udev rules, ie packages with files in +/lib/udev/rules.d/, and extract their vendor/model information to +generate a modalias matching rule. I have not tested any of these to +see if it work.</p> + +<p>If you want to help implementing a system to let us propose what +packages to install when new hardware is plugged into a Debian +machine, please send me an email or talk to me on +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-devel">#debian-devel</a>.</p> + + + + + Modalias strings - a practical way to map "stuff" to hardware + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html + Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:20:00 +0100 + <p>While looking into how to look up Debian packages based on hardware +information, to find the packages that support a given piece of +hardware, I refreshed my memory regarding modalias values, and decided +to document the details. Here are my findings so far, also available +in +<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">the +Debian Edu subversion repository</a>: + +<p><strong>Modalias decoded</strong></p> + +<p>This document try to explain what the different types of modalias +values stands for. It is in part based on information from +&lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Modalias">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Modalias</a> &gt;, +&lt;URL: <a href="http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/how-to-assign-usb-driver-to-device">http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/how-to-assign-usb-driver-to-device</a> &gt;, +&lt;URL: <a href="http://code.metager.de/source/history/linux/stable/scripts/mod/file2alias.c">http://code.metager.de/source/history/linux/stable/scripts/mod/file2alias.c</a> &gt; and +&lt;URL: <a href="http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/dmidecode/dmidecode.c?root=dmidecode&view=markup">http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/dmidecode/dmidecode.c?root=dmidecode&view=markup</a> &gt;. + +<p>The modalias entries for a given Linux machine can be found using +this shell script:</p> + +<pre> +find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u +</pre> + +<p>The supported modalias globs for a given kernel module can be found +using modinfo:</p> + +<pre> +% /sbin/modinfo psmouse | grep alias: +alias: serio:ty05pr*id*ex* +alias: serio:ty01pr*id*ex* +% +</pre> + +<p><strong>PCI subtype</strong></p> + +<p>A typical PCI entry can look like this. This is an Intel Host +Bridge memory controller:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +pci:v00008086d00002770sv00001028sd000001ADbc06sc00i00 +</blockquote></p> + +<p>This represent these values:</p> + +<pre> + v 00008086 (vendor) + d 00002770 (device) + sv 00001028 (subvendor) + sd 000001AD (subdevice) + bc 06 (bus class) + sc 00 (bus subclass) + i 00 (interface) +</pre> + +<p>The vendor/device values are the same values outputted from 'lspci +-n' as 8086:2770. The bus class/subclass is also shown by lspci as +0600. The 0600 class is a host bridge. Other useful bus values are +0300 (VGA compatible card) and 0200 (Ethernet controller).</p> + +<p>Not sure how to figure out the interface value, nor what it +means.</p> + +<p><strong>USB subtype</strong></p> + +<p>Some typical USB entries can look like this. This is an internal +USB hub in a laptop:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +usb:v1D6Bp0001d0206dc09dsc00dp00ic09isc00ip00 +</blockquote></p> + +<p>Here is the values included in this alias:</p> + +<pre> + v 1D6B (device vendor) + p 0001 (device product) + d 0206 (bcddevice) + dc 09 (device class) + dsc 00 (device subclass) + dp 00 (device protocol) + ic 09 (interface class) + isc 00 (interface subclass) + ip 00 (interface protocol) +</pre> + +<p>The 0900 device class/subclass means hub. Some times the relevant +class is in the interface class section. For a simple USB web camera, +these alias entries show up:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc01ip00 +<br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc02ip00 +<br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc01ip00 +<br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc02ip00 +</blockquote></p> + +<p>Interface class 0E01 is video control, 0E02 is video streaming (aka +camera), 0101 is audio control device and 0102 is audio streaming (aka +microphone). Thus this is a camera with microphone included.</p> + +<p><strong>ACPI subtype</strong></p> + +<p>The ACPI type is used for several non-PCI/USB stuff. This is an IR +receiver in a Thinkpad X40:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511: +</blockquote></p> + +<p>The values between the colons are IDs.</p> + +<p><strong>DMI subtype</strong></p> + +<p>The DMI table contain lots of information about the computer case +and model. This is an entry for a IBM Thinkpad X40, fetched from +/sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/modalias:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1UETB6WW(1.66):bd06/15/2005:svnIBM:pn2371H4G:pvrThinkPadX40:rvnIBM:rn2371H4G:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable: +</blockquote></p> + +<p>The values present are</p> + +<pre> + bvn IBM (BIOS vendor) + bvr 1UETB6WW(1.66) (BIOS version) + bd 06/15/2005 (BIOS date) + svn IBM (system vendor) + pn 2371H4G (product name) + pvr ThinkPadX40 (product version) + rvn IBM (board vendor) + rn 2371H4G (board name) + rvr NotAvailable (board version) + cvn IBM (chassis vendor) + ct 10 (chassis type) + cvr NotAvailable (chassis version) +</pre> + +<p>The chassis type 10 is Notebook. Other interesting values can be +found in the dmidecode source:</p> + +<pre> + 3 Desktop + 4 Low Profile Desktop + 5 Pizza Box + 6 Mini Tower + 7 Tower + 8 Portable + 9 Laptop + 10 Notebook + 11 Hand Held + 12 Docking Station + 13 All In One + 14 Sub Notebook + 15 Space-saving + 16 Lunch Box + 17 Main Server Chassis + 18 Expansion Chassis + 19 Sub Chassis + 20 Bus Expansion Chassis + 21 Peripheral Chassis + 22 RAID Chassis + 23 Rack Mount Chassis + 24 Sealed-case PC + 25 Multi-system + 26 CompactPCI + 27 AdvancedTCA + 28 Blade + 29 Blade Enclosing +</pre> + +<p>The chassis type values are not always accurately set in the DMI +table. For example my home server is a tower, but the DMI modalias +claim it is a desktop.</p> + +<p><strong>SerIO subtype</strong></p> + +<p>This type is used for PS/2 mouse plugs. One example is from my +test machine:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +serio:ty01pr00id00ex00 +</blockquote></p> + +<p>The values present are</p> + +<pre> + ty 01 (type) + pr 00 (prototype) + id 00 (id) + ex 00 (extra) +</pre> + +<p>This type is supported by the psmouse driver. I am not sure what +the valid values are.</p> + +<p><strong>Other subtypes</strong></p> + +<p>There are heaps of other modalias subtypes according to +file2alias.c. There is the rest of the list from that source: amba, +ap, bcma, ccw, css, eisa, hid, i2c, ieee1394, input, ipack, isapnp, +mdio, of, parisc, pcmcia, platform, scsi, sdio, spi, ssb, vio, virtio, +vmbus, x86cpu and zorro. I did not spend time documenting all of +these, as they do not seem relevant for my intended use with mapping +hardware to packages when new stuff is inserted during run time.</p> + +<p><strong>Looking up kernel modules using modalias values</strong></p> + +<p>To check which kernel modules provide support for a given modalias, +one can use the following shell script:</p> + +<pre> + for id in $(find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u); do \ + echo "$id" ; \ + /sbin/modprobe --show-depends "$id"|sed 's/^/ /' ; \ + done +</pre> + +<p>The output can look like this (only the first few entries as the +list is very long on my test machine):</p> + +<pre> + acpi:ACPI0003: + insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/acpi/ac.ko + acpi:device: + FATAL: Module acpi:device: not found. + acpi:IBM0068: + insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/char/nvram.ko + insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/leds/led-class.ko + insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/net/rfkill/rfkill.ko + insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/thinkpad_acpi.ko + acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511: + insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/lib/crc-ccitt.ko + insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/net/irda/irda.ko + insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/net/irda/nsc-ircc.ko + [...] +</pre> + +<p>If you want to help implementing a system to let us propose what +packages to install when new hardware is plugged into a Debian +machine, please send me an email or talk to me on +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-devel">#debian-devel</a>.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2013-01-15:</strong> Rewrite "cat $(find ...)" to +"find ... -print0 | xargs -0 cat" to make sure it handle directories +in /sys/ with space in them.</p> + + + + + Moved the pymissile Debian packaging to collab-maint + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Moved_the_pymissile_Debian_packaging_to_collab_maint.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Moved_the_pymissile_Debian_packaging_to_collab_maint.html + Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:40:00 +0100 + <p>As part of my investigation on how to improve the support in Debian +for hardware dongles, I dug up my old Mark and Spencer USB Rocket +Launcher and updated the Debian package +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/pymissile">pymissile</a> to make +sure udev will fix the device permissions when it is plugged in. I +also added a "Modaliases" header to test it in the Debian archive and +hopefully make the package be proposed by jockey in Ubuntu when a user +plug in his rocket launcher. In the process I moved the source to a +git repository under collab-maint, to make it easier for any DD to +contribute. <a href="http://code.google.com/p/pymissile/">Upstream</a> +is not very active, but the software still work for me even after five +years of relative silence. The new git repository is not listed in +the uploaded package yet, because I want to test the other changes a +bit more before I upload the new version. If you want to check out +the new version with a .desktop file included, visit the +<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/pymissile.git">gitweb +view</a> or use "<tt>git clone +git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/pymissile.git</tt>".</p> + + + Lets make hardware dongles easier to use in Debian http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html @@ -23,7 +783,7 @@ I need to talk to it. When I plug in a Yubikey, it could propose the yubikey-personalization package. The information required to do this is available, but no-one have pulled all the pieces together.</p> -<p>Many years ago, I proposed to +<p>Some years ago, I proposed to <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg01206.html">use the discover subsystem to implement this</a>. The idea is fairly simple: @@ -59,7 +819,7 @@ Debian Edu subversion repository</a>. In the process, I updated the package to map the USB ids of LEGO Mindstorms and Yubikey devices to the relevant packages in Debian, and uploaded a new version 2.2013.01.09 to unstable. I also discovered that the current -<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/discover-data.html">discover</a> +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/discover.html">discover</a> package in Debian no longer discovered any USB devices, because /proc/bus/usb/devices is no longer present. I ported it to use libusb as a fall back option to get it working. The fixed package