Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How can I make fullscreen sessions work with the thin client and my FreeNX server? (this question is now outdated, as FreeNX has moved on, and we ship version 3.2 of the NoMachine NX Client).
A: If you use FreeNX 0.5.0 with the NoMachine NX Client 1.5 embedded on our thin client, then a request for a fullscreen session from the NX client is not honoured correctly by the FreeNX server. Possible solutions are: File a bug report and request a fix for FreeNX by emailing the maintainers, patch FreeNX yourself (or consult us to do this), or switch to using NoMachine's own NX server, which doesn't have this problem and is production ready. We can supply NoMachine server licences.
Q: How can I stop the thin client screen going blank after a period of time spent idle?
A: Screen blanking for power saving is implemented in the X server. In the default xorg.conf for the thin client, dpms is enabled with default settings in a line in the "Monitor" section:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "My Monitor"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
UseModes "Durango"
Option "dpms"
EndSection
The 'Option "dpms"' line is the culprit.
You can turn this off by removing the 'Option "dpms"' line from the section (or by commenting it out by placing a '#' character at the start of the line).
You can edit xorg.conf using the onboard nano editor at a terminal. You need to do this as root (see another Q for details on how to become root):
nano -w /etc/persistent/xorg.conf
The '-w' switches nano out of auto-line-wrapping mode.
If you want to keep dpms, but modify the timeouts, then the relevant settings are:
In the "Monitor" section of xorg.conf reinstate dpms:
Option "dpms"
And in the "ServerLayout" section add:
Option "StandbyTime" "10"
Option "SuspendTime" "20"
Option "OffTime" "30"
with times in minutes to suit your application.
Q: My monitor only works in 640x480 mode, but it's a brand new 19" TFT??
A: The thin client uses DDC to work out the video settings for your monitor, falling back to a basic resolution if this fails. Some monitors fail to implement the DDC protocol correctly and the X server on the thin client can't read the settings from the monitor.
To fix the problem, you will need to tell the thin client the Vertical Refresh rate and Horizontal Sync frequency of your monitor. You can do this by editing the xorg.conf file on the thin client:
Open the xorg.conf file at a terminal using the editor:
foundrylinux$ nano -w /etc/persistent/xorg.conf
Then find the "Monitor" section and add HorizSync and VertRefresh entries to match your monitor (please consult the monitor documentation for this information):
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "My Monitor"
VendorName "HannStar"
ModelName "HannsG"
HorizSync 79.976kHz
VertRefresh 75.03Hz
UseModes "Durango"
Option "dpms"
EndSection
In the example, the VertRefresh and HorizSync entries have been set to match the specifications given in the manual for this HannStar HannsG monitor.
When you have edited the file, you can re-start X by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace or by rebooting the thin client.
Q: How do I upgrade the WML Linux Thin Client?
A: See instructions on this site.
Q: How do I become the root user?
A1: Press Ctrl-Alt-F1 or Ctrl-Alt-F2 to get to a text console. Login as "root" and use the normal admin password. To get back to your X session, press Ctrl-Alt-F5.
A2: Switch on "remote access via ssh" in the Foundry Linux Setup Manager. Then, at a normal X terminal, type:
ssh root@localhost
And enter the normal admin password.
Q: How do I set up the Atheros wireless device on my WMLLTC166LX?
A:Currently, wireless networking must be configured by editing text configuration files.The settings for the wireless device are configured in the file /etc/persistent/prestartup.sh. This file is used to load the correct kernel modules to drive the wireless device and to then configure the wireless device. prestartup.sh is not used to set up the IP address, this is done in the file /etc/network/interfaces (which is a symlink to /etc/persistent/interfaces). The interfaces file is a standard Debian style config file to set the network settings on the thin client.
To edit prestartup.sh, you must get a root shell on the WML Linux Thin Client - see the FAQ above. Now edit the file (note: edit is a symlink to Gnu nano):
edit /etc/persistent/prestartup.sh
And modify the commented out commands. The first commands load the kernel modules to drive the wireless device. The next group of commands use iwconfig to configure the SSID and WEP or WPA settings for the device.
Here is an example of prestartup.sh:
#!/bin/sh
# This script is executed at startup before the network interfaces are
# configured. It's the right place to configure wireless devices.
#
# Example 1: setting up integrated minipci Atheros wireless network card
#
###############################################################################
#
## Load 3 modules for the integrated minipci Atheros wireless network card
## (madwifi 0.9.4):
modprobe wlan_scan_sta
modprobe ath_rate_sample
modprobe ath_pci
#
## If you need WEP, then add the wep module
modprobe wlan_wep
## If you need WPA then add these two modules:
#modprobe wlan_tkip
#modprobe wlan_ccmp
#
## This module uses wireless-tools (iwconfig etc) for controlling settings
#
## Set up wireless interface. Here the SSID is set to join a managed wlan
## called HYPERCUBE.
iwconfig ath0 essid HYPERCUBE >/dev/null 2>&1
## If your SSID has spaces in, then place the SSID in double quotes:
#iwconfig ath0 essid "HYPER CUBE" >/dev/null 2>&1
#
## If you want to use WEP, set the key like this for your ascii key.
## (Don't forget to modprobe wlan_wep, above)
#iwconfig ath0 key s:asciikey
## or for a hex key like this:
iwconfig ath0 key 1a1a1a1a1a
#
## If you want to use WPA-PSK, then uncomment this line, and edit
## /etc/persistent/wpa_supplicant.conf with your ssid and
## WPA-PSK passphrase. We find the pause here is necessary with the
## Atheros wireless device.
#wpa_supplicant -B -Dwext -iath0 -c/etc/persistent/wpa_supplicant.conf
#echo "Wireless: Associating with wireless access point..."
#sleep 15
#
## Bring up the interface (i.e. switch on the radio)
ifconfig ath0 up
## Apply a timeout to allow Atheros chip to find correct wireless frequency
## and especially if you use dhcp to obtain an IP address.
echo "Wireless: Waiting for IP address..."
sleep 15
## Network settings can now be made for ath0 by manually editing
## /etc/interfaces (use the nano editor)
This example was created by taking the default prestartup.sh, and un-commenting the lines for a WEP based wireless network. You can always get the original example prestartup.sh file by extracting it from the default settings archive:
cd /tmp && tar xvf /usr/persist.tar prestartup.sh
will extract prestartup.sh into the /tmp directory
If you want to use WPA-PSK, rather than WEP, then comment the line "iwconfig ath0 key 1a1a1a1a1a" and un-comment the wpa_supplicant line. You will then need to edit /etc/persistent/wpa_supplicant.conf so that it looks something like this:
# This is a configuration file for the program wpa_supplicant. You can find
# further configuration options in the wpa_supplicant documentation, which
# can be found online.
network={
ssid="YOUR_SSID"
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
# Either use the passphrase un-hashed:
psk="Your_passphrase"
# or use the hash generated with: wpa_passphrase "YOUR_SSID" "Your_passphrase":
#psk=c2cc546a4b526622eae137106dff9a24e46591d01fabf7429e9623a54fc0f9cf
}
You may need to experiment with the number value for the "sleep 15" call (which means pause for 15 seconds).
Once the prestartup.sh file (and for WPA-PSK, the wpa_supplicant.conf file) has been configured correctly, you will need to manually amend the /etc/persistent/interfaces file. An example of a dhcp configured system with an Atheros network interface is:
auto lo ath0
iface lo inet loopback
iface ath0 inet dhcp
To configure the IP address settings statically, edit /etc/persistent/interfaces to look something like this:
auto lo ath0
iface lo inet loopback
iface ath0 inet static
address 192.168.0.10
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.1