[ These notes were used for a talk I gave 5 January 2001 to the Cambridge & District Amateur Radio Club . I would like to thank the committee for inviting me to speak about "Amateur Radio and the Linux Operating System". Good luck. - M/VE1MCT ] Intro to Linux Linux a free Unix clone created in 1991 by Linus Torvalds Important things about Unix multi-tasking operating system multi-user environment everything is a file - cat /proc/cpuinfo Simple commands can be "piped" together to form powerful mini-programs Operating System, and User Interface are seperate - The user has a choice of different command line interfaces, and different GUIs. Kernel / Distribution Linux itself is just the operating system, it handles the most basic computer tasks, read/writing files, memory management, boring details. People who want to do something need a distribution of programs which add common programs such as a command line interface (shell) a compiler, and text editing tools. These and typically many more tools and utilities are packages into distributions, available on low-cost CDs, or in more complete boxed sets which include technical support and printed documentation. Open Source Source code is available, which allows anyone to add enhancements, if Linux does 95% of a task, it is easier/cheaper to add the remaining 5% to Linux than start from scratch. Free Software The idea behind free software is the freedom of user should not be limited by restrictive and complex license agreements. This means you can freely redistribute as per the terms of the license agreement, the Linux kernel and depending on the distribution, all the included software and documents or at least most of the basic utilities. Use modern distribution, makes life easier Device drivers up to date, and bug fixes Do not buy a set of CDs/boxed set more than 6 months old Web sites to buy from in UK (I haven't dealt with most of them): http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/ (corrected) http://www.linuxit.com/ http://www.linux123.co.uk/ http://crazypenguin.co.uk/ http://www.dgc-nms.co.uk/ Be wary of bookstores and Staples; they often stock old versions Boxed sets from bookstores include printed manuals which are nice, but be certain to get a current version. As of 06/01/2001: Debian 2.2r2, SuSE 7.0, Red Hat 7, Mandrake 7.2 Hardware: Recommend minimum: 486 w/ 16MB RAM 500MB harddrive Pentium 75 w/ 32MB RAM for X-Window (GUI) Recommended distributions: Debian, SuSE, Red Hat, Mandrake Debian, Slackware 7.1 okay if experienced with Unix SuSE, Red Hat, Mandrake otherwise Wireless Ethernet 802.11 Support in kernel http://consume.net/ non-profit group in London Maybe interesting to build hi-speed network using 802.11(b) 2Mbps original FHSS (Freq hopping spread spectrum) 802.11b 11Mbps DSSS (Direct sequence Spread Spectrum) Intro to AX25 Simple protocol, modified X.25 datalink layer NetRom or TCP/IP above it for routing Linux kernel has AX25 support protocols AX.25 Net/Rom X.25 PLP (Rose) device (tnc) drivers serial port KISS serial port 6pack bpq Ethernet high-speed SCC Z8530 SCC Baycom ser12 fullduplex Baycom ser12 halfduplex Soundcard modem YAM Still user tools need to be added Packaged with SuSE, available for Debian, Red Hat, Mandrake Need kernel with AX25 support, available on SuSE CDs from boxed set you need to recompile for other distributions Get latest stable source code (2.2.18) from http://www.uk.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel v2.2/linux-2.2.18.tar.bz2 warning!!: 14 MB Patches for new versions are much smaller, less than 1MB. 2.4.0 was released Friday 5 January 2001, I would not recommend installing it until a) it comes with a distribution, who have tested it for you b) at least 1 month to work out any serious problems if you are comfortable compiling kernels For help compiling the kernel... The Linux Kernel HOWTO (in short form:) $ make mrproper $ make menuconfig enable [*] Amateur Radio support --- Packet Radio protocols Amateur Radio AX.25 Level 2 protocol [ ] AX.25 DAMA Slave support Amateur Radio NET/ROM protocol Amateur Radio X.25 PLP (Rose) AX.25 network device drivers ---> --- AX.25 network device drivers Serial port KISS driver $ make clean ; make dep $ make bzImage $ make modules $ su Password: # make modules_install # cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.2.18 # cp System.map /boot/System.map-2.2.18 # vi /etc/lilo.conf # lilo !!!!Do not ignore any errors here, or you machine will become unbootable!!!! User land tools and stuff... libax25 0.0.7 ax25-tools 0.0.6 ax25-apps 0.0.5 Current version from hams.sourceforge.net http://sourceforge.net/projects/hams/ $ tar xzvf libax25-0.0.7.tar.gz $ cd libax25-0.0.7 $ ./configure $ make $ su Password: # make install # make installconf edit /etc/ld.so.conf add line /usr/local/lib # ldconfig # exit $ $ cd .. $ tar xzvf ax25-tools-0.0.6.tar.gz $ cd ax25-tools-0.0.6 $ ./configure $ make $ su Password: # make install # make installconf # exit $ $ cd .. $ tar xzvf ax25-apps-0.0.4.tar.gz $ cd ax25-apps-0.0.4 $ ./configure $ make $ su Password: # make install # make installconf # ax25-config (!!just added - 13/01/2001) from http://www.1409.org/projects/ax25-config.html tool to help you configure your ax25 setup. # cd /usr/local/etc/ax25 # vi axports # The format of this file is: # # name callsign speed paclen window description # kpc VE1MCT-7 9600 255 2 144.750 MHz (1200 bps) The speed above refers to the speed which the computer talks to the TNC, 9600bps in this case, even though the kpc is only 1200bps. # /usr/local/sbin/kissattach /dev/ttyS0 kpc 44.135.34.204 or # /usr/local/sbin/kissattach /dev/ttyS0 kpc 10.0.0.1 If you do not have a AMPR.org IP address allocated to _you_ (44. something) use 10.0.0.1 Important: Do NOT make up a random IP address, use one from the reserved ranges (RFC 1918) ; Configure ax.25 connection for TCP/IP # /sbin/route add -net 44.0.0.0 -netmask 255.0.0.0 ax0 routes all ampr.org traffic via TNC. ; If using ping for testing without flood local RF network $ ping -i 5 ve1mct.ampr.org where -i is the interval in seconds (i.e. 5 seconds) Make a AX.25 connection to ve1aeh $ /usr/local/bin/call ve1aeh To listen to AX.25 (similar to tcpdump) # /usr/local/bin/listen To see what stations your TNC has heard # /usr/local/sbin/mheardd (after some time) # /usr/local/bin/mheard This only works if the mheardd (daemon) is running. Useful Resources General Linux resources: http://www.linux.com/ http://www.Linux.org/ Google: Linux http://www.google.com/linux Linux Documentation Project (LDP) http://www.linuxdoc.org/ Linux & Amateur Radio AX.25 user tools and library http://hams.sourceforge.net/ linux-hams mailing list http://hes.iki.fi/archive/linux-hams/ TAPR linux-sig TAPR net-sig http://www.tapr.org/tapr/html/sigf.html There are AX.25 and HAM HOWTOs at LDP, but they are out-of-date People's setups mctaylor VE1MCT http://www.mctaylor.com/ve1mct/ PA3GCU's (Richard Adams) AX25 How i do it page http://people.zeelandnet.nl/pa3gcu/ax25.htm John Ackermann N8UR http://www.febo.com/linux-ax25/index.html - ve1mct@rac.ca 06/01/2001 13/01/2001: corrected http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/ (thanks Robert) added John Ackermann N8UR's AX.25 setup added ax25-config added format of etc/ax25/axports minor typographical changes