BeagleBone Black Wifi connection and VNC settings (Debian)

As mentioned in my previous post (Setting up the Wifi connection of BeagleBone Black (Angstrom)), I couldn't make Wifi connection with the Angsrom images, and decided to test Debian image again.

[A brief note for my first test with the Debian image]
Actually I installed the Debian image several days ago, and did set the Wifi connection successfully. When I tried to update the system, however, the terminal replied with error message said that my system had no enough space. So I went back to Angstrom. And now I'm back to Debian again.

The Debian image was large. After the installation, I checked the disk usage by typing ``df -h''... 93% used... It's crazy.

So, after reflash the on-board eMMC of BBB, I removed something like /usr/share/doc, Chromium, and even Vim (there's vi for later usage). This time, the system updated without errors.

The following paragraphs were my note on the Wifi settings of the BBB with Debian image, and then the VNC settings. Most of the steps were following the guide: BeagleBone Black Ubuntu WiFi Installation and Troubleshooting Guide.

PART 1 Wifi settings

Step 1: Make sure the system know the Wifi adaptor. Use ``lsusb'' and the system return the detected devices. In my case, it's the line with ``Ralink Technology, Corp.''

Step 2: Check ``/etc/rcn-ee.conf'' and make sure it contain the following settings:

Step 3: Edit ``/etc/network/interfaces'' with the following settings:

auto ra0
iface ra0 inet dhcp 
wpa-ssid your_network_name
wpa-psk your_hashed_password 

Finally, restart the BBB system.

PART 2 VNC settings

This part was easy. All the steps were the same as that of my another previous post (Connect to Beaglebone Black via VNC client in Ubuntu 12.04). The only different setting was the starting command of the VNC server (the BBB):

x11vnc -bg -o %HOME/.x11vnc.log.%VNCDISPLAY -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -forever

[QnA] SCIM setting in Debian.. again...

I installed the Debian in one of my PC, but then reinstalled it to give a disk space for the LFS. After the reinstallation, I forgot how to install and set up the SCIM... AGAIN... I even forgot I've had an article about this issue in my own blog HERE. Orz

This time, my procedures are the follows:
# apt-get install scim scim-chinese scim-tables-zh
# vim /etc/X11/Xsession.d/95xinput

/usr/bin/scim -d
XMODIFIERS="@im=SCIM"
export XMODIFIERS

And didn't get what I want, so I kept tring
# vim /etc/X11/xinit/xinput.d/all_ALL

XMODIFIERS="@im=SCIM"
GTK_IM_MODULE="scim"
QT_IM_MODULE="scim"

Then the SCIM setting had been completed.

Finally, I installed the Japanese and Chinese imput methods to which I used.
# aptitude install scim-anthy scim-chewing

(Later, I removed /etc/X11/Xsession.d/95xinput, and everything works well so far.)

[QnA] memo: USB memory stick booting

Links:

• http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch04s03.html.en
• http://fourdollars.blogspot.com/2008/11/usb-stick-debian-gnulinux-50-lenny-rc1.html

Steps:

1. $ sudo umount /dev/sdX (if the USB stick has been mounted; X = a, ..., z)
2. $ sudo mkdosfs /dev/sdX
3. $ sudo su -c "zcat boot.img.gz > /dev/sdX"
4. $ sudo mount /dev/sdX /media/mountPoint
5. $ cp *.iso /media/mountPoint
   

Before the above steps, the capacity of my 8G USB stick was


After the above steps, it became only several MB


But I don't know what caused this.

[QnA] SCIM setting in Debian

When I was installing the Debian, I chose the language environment as English. It always looks better in English environment, for me. This setting has a disadvantage, however, when I need to view or read articles and files in Chinese. Also, sometimes I need to type Chinese even Japanese for searching or composing text files. As a result, I have to make my system capable of showing Chinese characters and to let me input Chinese characters as well.

In Ubuntu, there is an easy way to add new language setting by using System --> Administration --> Language Support. When I tried to do the same thing, however, I found there was no Language Support in Debian. Then the how-to I found is ``Chinese Debian Mini Howto.'' Things were easy, until I installed SCIM and then had no idea how to active it.

Although I have two or three times of experience about SCIM installation in Ubuntu, I actually didn't remember what I had done. I just had the icon on the tray but didn't know how to activate it by pressing Ctrl+Space.

After referred to the following links, I tried to edit the content of ``/etc/X11/xinit/xinput.d/all_ALL'' and then got SCIM work as my expectation.

• Setting up SCIM on Debian
• Per user SCIM setup for GNOME/KDE
• SCIM in Debian Wiki
  

[SW] Debian installation

I have been planning to learn LFS for several weeks. Before dive into LFS, I need a PC with a host system installed. Fortunately, I got a (not very old) PC of the lab from where I graduated. Then I decided to chose Debian as the host system. The reason is that I want to try something new but meanwhile I don't want to go too far away from the path of Ubuntu. By using Debian, in my guess, I could benefit from what I've learnt in Ubuntu. So, I downloaded the image to be burned into the DVD then installed it.

(Actually, I've made a bootable USB stick with the image file, but the BIOS of the PC didn't support this kind of booting... :-p)

The installation was smooth and then I have a PC with Debian installed. It looks great, and I am typing this post with it. :-)