I find it easier just to use the GUI. If you click on the connect to network, then from the drop down box select ssh. Fill in the details and connect.

Problem solved, thanks bun ;-)

1) use option d, delete, brilliant! It will delete the password without asking for your password. It will ask for the password if you want to change it. So, delete first, and set password.
go into terminal
sudo passwd user -d
password changed

sudo passwd user
USER user new password (type your new password)
USER user password set

Now I have my username and passwd, I can then log in and out and select language.

Hope this helps another dumb user like bun

bun

Yup, you're correct. If your PC's running Linux and you connect your NIT via USB then most Linux distros will try to mount the NIT's rootfs.

So you want to disable the N800/N810's root file system from being mounted under your Linux PC when connected via USB. You have to edit 2 files, osso-mmc-umount.sh and osso-usb-mass-storage-enable.sh

in xterm, run as root:
and change this line:
if [ $? = 0 ]

to this:
if [ $? = 0 -a "$MP" != "/" ]


then fix the second file:
add "DEVICE=${1}p1" without the quotes near the beginning of the file and then replace all instances of $1 with $DEVICE.

jbk

Uh oops >.>

Hehe.. I already mounted and unmounted it to use partimage.

Would someone (bun?) be willing to write up a step-by-step for backing up n8x0 (can't remember if partimage does flash or just cloned sd)? You can assume that we've got a recent version of ubuntu already running. Thanks!!!!

(yes, I already use acronis true image, but I'm trying to kick my windows habit! )

I don't think partimage can do flash, considering flash exists on the built in flash memory of the n800? And whenever you plug it in, you never have access to it (in Windows or Linux). It just doesn't mount..

Edit: I'll give it a try..[the guide writing part, though it might be a day or two]. I'll take some screenshots maybe too?

This guide assumes you use Ubuntu (I'm using the latest as of this date.. 8.10 Interprid Inex)
1) Install PartImage
sudo apt-get install partimage

2) Plug internet tablet into computer, while booted into FLASH. (didn't try when I was in SD.. but considering the SD card is usually locked it probably wouldn't mount anyway).

3) In the terminal type in..
sudo partimage

4) Wait a minute and a command line (really old GUI?) should pop up. Here you can see all the partitions listed. Whether they be ext2/3, NTFS, FAT, whatever. If your tablet is detected then it will show the partitions from your SD cards.

5) Use the Up and Down arrow keys to select the partition you wish to backup. Press Tab to jump from prompt to prompt. (a prompt being anything that can take user input on this screen). The file you want is an ext2/3 file system (if you can't figure which one it is you can look at what partitions are listed before you plug in the tablet). You can also tell by size. For example I have a 12 GB ext3 partition on my laptop, while my tablet's is a 4GB ext partition

6) Name your image file (I usually name it n800 backup)

7) Press F5.

8) At this point it will prompt you with an error message. Telling you which partition needs to be unmounted before it can back it up. Open up a new terminal window (shift+ctrl+N) or File > New Window (tab too if you like tabs).

Type in the command they ask of you. Which would be..

9) umount /dev/******** (****** being whatever it was.. sda2, fda1, whatever they list).

Then hit continue

10) Choose whatever options (I use some compression to save room). It defaults on .gzip You can enter a description if you like. Press F5

11) It will take you to a screen with a progress bar. Leave it sit for a while, it seems to take a while to make sure things are in order before prompting you again with a window inside of the terminal to make sure you choose whatever options you wanted.

12) Sit and wait. It should save in your default /home/USERNAME directory as whatever file you named it.


EDIT: I'll add pictures later.

Thanks a million, Laughing Man!!!

I suppose it would be rude for me to ask for instructions on how to restore the backup to fresh SD??

Relatedly, can someone answer this: I have a cloned 2gb SD and honestly don't know if I'd ever need to something bigger. But assuming that there is sometimes reason to want a bigger SD to hold the clone, is it hard/impossible to put backup that came from a 2gb SD onto a bigger SD? Are there special changes that one would wish to make to, say, partitions and the like? ....... Forgive me, I'm still quite the noob.

I wouldnt know, I havent had to yet.

As for the second, I cant imagine there would be any problems, worse comes to worse you could use something like gparted to resize the partitions.

If it's a fresh SD (or even a larger SD) it's very easy. From your Linux box run either gparted or sfdisk. I prefer sfdisk (but it's command line). Make sure that the SD card is not mounted in Linux before using gparted/sfdisk.

So if you want to get/use gparted run: (considering your on a Debian/Ubuntu box)
# sudo apt-get install gparted (if it's not already installed)
then run it via system > administration > partition editor
or via command line
# sudo gparted

Then simply create your custom partition layout on your SD card. It's a good idea to create a fat partition (size does not matter) as the first partition on the SD card. Click "Gparted" in the upper right of the window, select "devices" then choose the location of your SD card. Right click the free space on the SD card and select "new" followed by what type of file system, size and location of partition. Click "apply" to make the changes stick.



*If your SD card is directly connected to your PC the location might be /dev/mmcblk0. Or f your SD card is connected to your PC via USB the location might be /dev/sdb

Then set up your ext2 or ext3 partition that will be used for your Maemo install. And you can add a separate swap partition as well so you can use more than the 128MB swap file that control panel offers.

Once your card is partitioned and setup, run partimage to restore your image onto the new card. *When restoring with partimage, you can restore an image of a partition that is the same size or smaller than the partition that you are restoring to. So if your original partition that you imaged was 1.3GB, you can restore this image to a 1.3GB partition or larger. You cannot restore this image to a 1.29GB or smaller partition.

So fire up partimage:
# sudo partimage

Select your SD cards partition that you want to restore, example mmcblk0p2 ext2fs

Use tab to get to the "Image file to create/use" section and put in the location of your backup image. Example /mnt/partimage/restore/backup1.000

Tab to the next selection and select "Restore partition from an image file" by hitting the space bar.

Hit F5 to continue. It will show you a confirmation dialog, select OK and keep continuing on. At the last screen it will give you a last chance to abort, select OK to continue and it will restore your image to the partition that you originally chose.

When it's finished it'll give you a confirmation. Your image will be restored on your fresh/larger SD card. Partimage works like a dream. The only thing I'd recommend is directly connecting your SD card to your PC rather than USB.

jbk

@bun: could you please put all things together and place it in wiki ?

Maybe in a section how to back up/ restore the SD