Plug computing

SheevaPlug plug support from Spinifex

We provide eMail support for SheevaPlugs purchased from Spinifex Computing. Send you support requests to infos<AT>spinifex.com.au or use the mail submission form. We highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the forums at Plug Computing and NewIT.

Getting started with a SheevaPlug

You first need to download documentation and a host support package. At a minimum,download the following items, select the Linux and/or Windows host support package depending on which host system you wish to use. If you have a choice we recommend using a Linux system as your host system.

• PlugComputer Development Kit - README
• Linux Host support package
• Windows Host support package

You can get these downloads from our site

The above is all you need to get started. A number of other downloads are available at PlugComputer.org

Linux

We recommend the cu package, which runs from a terminal (command line).

• Installation may be as simple as apt-get install cu
• Sometimes it is necessary to execute:
  sudo modprobe ftdi_sio vendor=0x9e88 product=0x9e8f for the connected SheevaPlug to be recognised.
• Then it's as easy as cu -s 115200 -l /dev/ttyUSB0 (within a cu session type ~? to list commands and ~z to exit). If the cu invocation responds with an error, then try:
  chown uucp /dev/ttyUSB0 and retry the cu command.

Mac

See http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?topic=34.0

Windows

• It is imperative that you read the .pdf ReadMe (see above). Appendix B gives instructions on how to install the driver for connecting via the USB miniport.
• We recommend PuTTY when working with the USB connection.

When connecting to the SheevaPlug via the USB-serial connection and you are presented with a blank screen, hit the enter key and it should begin to work.

You should be able to connect to the plug via the USB-serial or ethernet connection. The USB-serial connection will allow you to observe the boot process of the plug, the ethernet connection will only be available after the plug has completed booting.

Login in as root with password nosoup4u.

See also:

• NewIT getting started instructions.
• Information regaring the USB connection for all operating systems
• Setting up the serial console under linux
• Using minicom with the serial console under linux
• New Plugger How To
• computingplugs.com wiki (not the same as plugcomputer.org)
• Linux command line tutorial for newbies
• Fixing the out-of-the-box configuration (Note: the issues detailed in this article do NOT apply if you have a UBIFS or SD card boot model).

Additional links:

• PlugComputer Downloads
• Additional documentation
• New plugger How to
• Frequently asked questions
• Sheeva with Linux Pre-built Linux Kernels for the SheevaPlug
• Installing Debian on Plugcomputers
• Code Sourcery Cross Compile Toolchain
• Computingplugs.com
• Making a very green plug
• Spinifex Plug downloads

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Next Steps

These steps are not compulsory.

See Upgrading the existing install and Plug computing HowTo and Plug computing FAQ.

Upgrade your distribution

  apt-get update
  apt-get dist-upgrade
  apt-get autoremove
  apt-get autoclean

Set the time zone

dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Install nano (simple editor)

apt-get install nano

Install aptitude (advanced apt utility)

Aptitude makes managing your installed packages a little easier.

apt-get install aptitude

Reset the SSH keys

dpkg-reconfigure openssh-server

Set the password

passwd

Setting the plug to have a fixed IP address

The plug is provided with an network setup that will used a DHCP allocated IP address. DHCP servers (usually in your router) can be configured to recognize your plug by the MAC address( in very small print on the back of the plug) and you can have the router allocate a an IP address for the plug. Alternatively, you can set the plug to use a fixed IP rather than the use DHCP.
Using an editor of your choice (see nano above), edit the /etc/network/interfaces file. e.g.

# nano /etc/network/interfaces

This should have a section that looks something like:

 ...
# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
 ...

To use a fixed IP change this to:

auto eth0
# iface eth0 inet dhcp
iface eth0 inet static
        address 192.168.0.20
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        broadcast 255.255.255.255

Of course you need to change the address and network entry to suit your network.

The installer