Mobile DSL as server

Forum: User Feedback
Topic: Mobile DSL as server
started by: acgypsy

Posted by acgypsy on April 19 2005,00:21

I'm putting together a bit of a "geek art" project during the last 2 weeks of June 2005. In a nutshell, I will be traveling with an RV (28-foot fifth-wheel pulled by a pickup truck) from Austin Texas to the Adirondack State Park, about 2800 miles. The RV's batteries, thru an inverter and a UPS, will power a Via Epia mini-itx, 2 wap routers (one open, one WEP), webcam, gps, and other toys.

The biggest hold-up in building this was due to choosing a distro to install on it. I needed something lightweight (non-gnome/kde), and after trying several, decided on DSL. It's now up and running with Zope as a webserver and will provide the general website and blog. A GPSd, an mp3 server/streamer, will also be installed.

Packages for gpsd and NoCatSplash would sure come in handy ;)

The project's website can be found at < the acgypsy.com home page >

Posted by AwPhuch on April 19 2005,22:08

Pretty cool...were you planning on doing any high-gain antenna (omnidirectional of course) to boost the performance of your wifi stuff?

What gave you this idea, and what purpose does it serve?

Id like to get more info...this seems like a pretty cool endevor...please keep us posted on your progress

Brian
AwPhuch

Posted by acgypsy on April 20 2005,02:05

AwPhuch - yes, I'm adding an external, magnetic-mount omni (5-8dB) on the roof - my rig is tall enough as it is, I can't put a taller antenna up unless I go with horizontal polarization.

Anyhow, as a "geek art" project, it really doesn't need a "point". Google for "wireless caravan" and read the Wired News article for a taste of my inspiration. I'm just warming-up for some future "WiFi Road Rally Weekend" where technomad-wanabees, weekend geeks, hams, etc get out and try to build the longest wireless backbone possible in a weekend. ;)

All in all, I expect no more than a rolling guest book, a wardriving log, and getting GPSDrive running. ;) I need the equipment for another project, thought I would do something interresting with it along the way. Building a distro for "wireless caravans" would be a neat side-project for the long cold days of winter.

Jeff

Posted by Caspar_s on April 20 2005,21:25

Sounds something like this... < http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymot....3494713 >
High Tech 2000 Winnebago Adventurer 37' w/ Network Gear

Oh, and that wireless caravan sounds cool. Hmmm, I already have the mini-itx... Oh wait, I don't have a car

Posted by AwPhuch on April 20 2005,22:13

Quote (Caspar_s @ April 20 2005,17:25)

Wow!! Rolling Internet Cafe there!

SCHWEET!

Brian
AwPhuch

Posted by acgypsy on April 20 2005,23:53

Quote (Caspar_s @ April 20 2005,17:25)

I'm doing mine on the cheap, but it's not as extensive as that rig. I still have a bedroom and bathroom. Wehn it was all said and done, I bought my truck for $6000 and the trailer for $9000 including all fees, taxes, loan fees, etc. That (unfortunately) includes my commuter vehicle (for another 54 days). Great way to become a first-time homeowner. ;)

The rig on ebay is probably worth at least $30k for a gutted motorhome. I didn't see anything about water tanks, but anything extra (bed, bath, kitchen) can always be installed.

You could have a new home and vehicle! ;)

Posted by acgypsy on April 21 2005,00:06

Quote (AwPhuch @ April 20 2005,18:13)

Quote (Caspar_s @ April 20 2005,17:25)

Wow!! Rolling Internet Cafe there!

SCHWEET!

Brian
AwPhuch

This rig has the terminals removed, you could install them in a tent outside. Using DSL on small recycled PCs (yeah, monitors are an issue, but with those 2 generators...) I'm considering the same kind of thing, but I'd probably use solar panels and batteries instead of generators.

In other news, I got my usb gps today, and although I haven't dug into it, DSL is "missing kernel or user mode driver pl2303". Will investigate further in the next couple days.

Jeff
acgypsy

Posted by DeeJay on April 21 2005,07:30

Quote (acgypsy @ April 20 2005,20:06)

I got my usb gps today, and although I haven't dug into it, DSL is "missing kernel or user mode driver pl2303". Will investigate further in the next couple days.

Maybe I can point you towards the right direction, although I don't have a complete answer.

A Prolific PL2303 is a USB-to-Serial bridge. (It means that your GPS device actually talks asynchronous serial, not USB, and the pl2303 does the translation on-the-fly.)

The Prolific Tech Support site (http://tech.prolific.com.tw) does have a linux driver, although it is noted as being for RedHat. (I can't give you a direct URL, the material on the site is obscured behind .asp interfaces: you have to 'drill down' from the landing page.)

On the Linux-USB site at < http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/showdev.php?id=547 > there is a note that says "As of kernel version 2.4.18, this device seems to be supported."

Hope that helps - I have a GPSr that needs a similar driver - it works OK with that other commercial OS, but I've never tried to get it running under any flavour of linux.

DeeJay

Posted by acgypsy on April 24 2005,19:10

Quote (DeeJay @ April 21 2005,03:30)

Quote (acgypsy @ April 20 2005,20:06)

I got my usb gps today, and although I haven't dug into it, DSL is "missing kernel or user mode driver pl2303". Will investigate further in the next couple days.

I was able to check out the site at work once, but didn't grab the file(s). Now the site seems to have disappeared

Onward!

Jeff

Posted by acgypsy on May 02 2005,14:32

Quote (DeeJay @ April 21 2005,03:30)

Quote (acgypsy @ April 20 2005,20:06)

I got my usb gps today, and although I haven't dug into it, DSL is "missing kernel or user mode driver pl2303". Will investigate further in the next couple days.

It turns out that DSL1.0rc1 has pl2303.o loaded and ready. I just had to install a .deb for gpsd (2.6, packed for ubuntu, it seems), which is working well.

Getting gpsdrive (and all it dependencies) would be great - I had planned on using a 3Com Audrey running VNCViewer to control the server, but may have to use my laptop for the heavy lifting of GPSDrive, streaming mp3's, etc.

Jeff
www.acgypsy.com