[ANN] Object Oriented Christmas (Squeak PC)

Dan Ingalls Dan at SqueakLand.org
Mon Dec 15 04:01:10 UTC 2003


> > 1) It's Linux. So how much Linux will I need to know just to run Squeak?
>> I'm mainly concerned about using USB memory sticks, peripherals, powering
> > off the system, etc. What can I say...I'm a Mac user.

So am I.  Everything I know I got off a plastic command summary I found in the bookstore in Truckee.

>Don't worry; most of what you'd need to know would look the same as it would in a Mac terminal session.
>I believe that the file system isn't compressed, so if you edit a file on the CF it'll just stay there.

This is true.  The sources are compressed, but you don't need to know about that either.

>As far as using USB memory sticks, you should be able to set the system up for auto-mounting;
>if you're just using Squeak, you could use OSProcess to do mounting and unmounting
>(or you could set it up so that hotplug would auto-mount).
>
>The way I use the USB memory sticks in Linux is mostly this: I add a line to my /etc/fstab
>
># pen drive
>/dev/scsi/host1/bus0/target0/lun0/part1         /pen    vfat    user,noauto     0       0
>
>and then just say
>	mount /pen
>and
>	umount /pen

Well, this may be better than what we do.  Michael set it up for automount.  The only thing is that, although it will automount, you have to use 'ls' to force it to do so.  If you just go to the fileList and look at /mnt/auto/usb1, it will hang.  You have to first (via OSProcess Linux shell window, or via a specific OSProcess waitForCommand: (or variant)) do
	ls  /mnt/auto/usb1
Once this responds with a reasonable listing of the volume contents, *then* you can use the fileList on the USB volume just fine.

> > 2) Will there be a way to restore (from some kind of backup) the initial
>> flash configuration so that the system can be restored to its pristine
>> condition?
>
>Sure, why not?
>Plug the flash into your Mac (using a PCMCIA/CF adapter if necessary),
>and use dd to copy the contents of the block device to a file. Reverse to get the flash back.
>
>	<eject the disk from the Finder>
>
>	su
>	dd if=/dev/disk1 of=TheFlashStuff

Ned:  If this is true, it's wonderful.  If you're in Mac mode, you cannot read (ie automount) these flashes because they have ext2 partitions on them.  There is a freeware extension that can be downloaded, that lets you do so, but I consider it test pilot material.

I know of no way to clone these flashes on a Mac, but this sounds like one.  If it works, you get a free bottle of (very good) champagne.

Also in my experience, using the extension I have, Flash gets corrupted if you try to mount it using a USB reader.  It has only worked successfully for me using a PCMCIA card adaptor.

>I'm sure that as people work with these more there'll be handy tricks available on the Swiki.

Yes.  i am gradually copying whatever seems to be unabmiguous, confirmed and useful to the swiki page.

Ciao
	- Dan



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