General
mknod /dev/lcd c 10 140 The "pacifica" script packages are for Raq architectures, and the "carmel" scripts are intended for Qube architectures. RPM to DEB -d is for debian, the default option; "sudo alien" and "sudo alien -d" are equivalent if there are no other options specified. The "-k" keeps alien from changing the version number. For some reason, alien adds 1 to the minor version number. the -k option prevents this, and so you can know preserve the version number from the rpm to the .deb alien name-of-package.rpm alien -k --scripts name-of-package.rpm -k keep minor version --scripts keep scripts dpkg -i name_of_package*.deb LCD Panel Customizable LCD Status screen for Debian on Cobalt hardware http://isquared.nl/pages/cobaltlcd.html Jeff Walter http://gentoo.404ster.com/projects.php Projects - ebuilds/dev-perl/Cobalt-LCD http://gentoo.404ster.com/projects.php?action=view&id=5 http://www.gurulabs.com/ocontent/rhl-cobalt-howto/redhat.qube3.howto.7.html Inspect the /dev/lcd device entry. This should have been created during the installation of the panel-utils package, but could be created with mknod now if required. (The command would be mknod /dev/lcd c 10 140 if necessary.) Developing for the LCD Panel With some work, making the LCD panel's menuing system work is possible with Cobalt's panel-scripts package. Experimentation is the best approach here. Some copies of the Cobalt OS Restore Disc may have multiple versions of the panel-utils and panel-scripts packages. Find and use the most recent for the architecture. The "pacifica" script packages are for Raq architectures, and the "carmel" scripts are intended for Qube architectures. Even without the LCD panel menus, making the LCD panel display some useful information is fairly simple. The lcd-write command will output two lines of up to sixteen characters. lcd-write "Red Hat Linux on" " a Cobalt Qube 3" | Red Hat Linux on | | a Cobalt Qube 3 | Some people have made some fairly elaborate perl scripts to scroll or animate their LCD screens. For more feedback during bootup, try putting some lcd-write commands in the /etc/rc.sysinit script or in the helper file, /etc/init.d/functions script. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LCD FaQ (http://gentoo.404ster.com/) Q: How do I get to the LCD boot menu? A: Hold down the 'S' button while powering the system on. You will eventually be presented with a menu. Use the 'S' button or the up/down or left/right buttons to navigate the menu. Use the 'E' button to select options or sub-menus. Q: How do I change the boot/root device? A: Either use the 'cmos' tool or the LCD boot menu. To use the 'cmos' tool: cmos -c bootdev [hda1|md1] To use the LCD boot menu, navigate to the "Config boot disk" option, then select the device you want. If the device you want is not listed, you will have to use the serial console ROM interface, or the 'cmos' tool. Q: How do I change the default boot method? A: Either use the 'cmos' tool or the LCD boot menu. To use the 'cmos' tool: cmos -c defboot [d|r|n] To use the LCD boot menu, navigate to the "Configure boot" option, then select the method you want. Q: When I try to write to the LCD/LED's I get the message "LCD is not present" and nothing changes. What am I missing? A: First thing's first, did you compile LCD support in with the kernel? If you did it as a module, is the module loaded? Next, does /dev/lcd exist? If not, you'll have to create it by running: mknod /dev/lcd c 10 63 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------