Ok, I've installed a full debian arm dist on my central, and I've built a new kernel to support some additional goodies. I'm going off memory here, so I might be leaving something out. If you have troubles, just ask.

Here's how to do it:

1. Read the instructions on how to install a debian system on an empeg player. http://empeg.comms.net/php/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=hackers_prog&Number=56359&page=&view=&sb=&o=

I would change the following things with his suggestions...
a. Don't bother with the nfs share, just drop debian onto /drive0/mnt/debian. (This will allow you to do an "upgrade" from the original central install cd and not wipe your debian install - the upgrade completely wipes the root partition but not the drive0 partition)
b. Make sure to setup name resolution:
'cp /drive0/var/resolv.conf /drive0/mnt/debian/etc/'
You can't use dpkg or apt-get without DNS, and apt-get isn't at all clear about why it fails.

Ok, after all that, you should have a working chroot install and apt-get should work. You will likely need to "apt-get install x" for the following packages among others.

zip
unzip
ncurses-base
ncurses-bin
libncurses5-dev
vim (tiny-elvis is the default, and it's rough to use)
binutils
gcc-2.95.x
sshd or telnetd (You will have to download sshd seperate if that's what you want to use. Check the link at the bottom)

After all that, make sure you have telnet (or ssh) running (install it, run /etc/init.d/inetd start, and add a non-root user) because the central screen isn't wide enough to run a "make menuconfig". I'm quite partial to PuTTY as a telnet/ssh client, and the emulation works very well.

FTP the rio kernel source (linux.tgz obtained from the required GPL release up on www.rioaudio.com) to the central.

cd /usr/src/
tar xvfz linux.tgz

That should create a directory /usr/src/linux with the kernel source in it.

vi /usr/src/linux/Makefile
change: CROSS_COMPILE = arm-empeg-linux-
to: CROSS_COMPILE =
(we are native compiling, so no need for that)

vi /usr/src/linux/drivers/char/Makefile
comment out these lines with '#' characters

export-objs += ucb1200_generic.o ucb1200_sa1100.o
obj-$(CONFIG_UCB1200) += ucb1200_generic.o ucb1200_sa1100.o
obj-$(CONFIG_TOUCHSCREEN_UCB1200) += ucb1200_ts.o

These seem to be unneeded touchscreen drivers, and kill the kernel compile.

cd /usr/src/linux
make menuconfig

Your processor is SA1100 based, and it's the "jupiter" implementation. Add what you would like to support.

make clean dep && make bzImage modules modules_install

Keep in mind that this will install your modules into the chrooted environment. You can still insmod them from there though.

I've inserted some newly built kernel modules and they have worked fine. I haven't gotten up the courage yet to install my new bzImage though.

I'm not exactly sure how the boot process works on the central, is it possible to install a boot loader like LILO or grub so that I can choose between known-good and experimental kernels upon boot?

Links:

PuTTY:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
Where to get debian ARM potato dist:
http://archive.debian.org/dists/Debian-2.2/
Where is the base-2.2 file?
http://archive.debian.org/dists/Debian-2.2/main/disks-arm/2.2.25-2001-06-10/
Where to get SSH:
http://security.debian.org/dists/potato/updates/non-free/binary-arm/
Central Source Code:
http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/support/rio/product.asp?prodID=100

Hey geeknerd -

I am considering getting a Rio Central. Have you had any success in getting ftp up and running ?

CG

Of sorts yes. I just use scp instead of ftp. If you setup a debian (or other linux arm dist) on the HDD (per my instructions) setting up an ftp server would be trivial.

HOWEVER, if you are looking to pull the music off the central, an ftp server (or scp) is not the way to go. The mp3 files are numbered... They aren't named anything intuitive that you could see through an FTP client.

I think someone is updating jEmplode to support downloading mp3s from the central.

Alternately, I think TFabris has a script that will allow you to stream tunes to winamp.

Did that answer your question?

On the whole, I really like the central... It is well put together and is fairly easy to code for...

I'm fairly new to linux. I assume scp is a secure form of ftp. I'm not sure why that would be necessary over a firewalled home lan, however. As far as the numbered MP3's, is there a database somewhere with the cross references ?

>I assume scp is a secure form of ftp.

You are correct. Secure CoPy. It is a service of the ssh daemon that also allows ssh (Secure SHell).

>I'm not sure why that would be necessary over a
>firewalled home lan, however.

It's not, except I run wireless (WEP enabled), and it pays to be extra careful with a linux box. If someone gets into your machine, they can do anything.

>As far as the numbered MP3's, is there a database
>somewhere with the cross references ?

I would imagine so, I would also imagine that the information is stored in the id tags. I haven't figured the scheme out, but it might be the same scheme as is used on the empeg car player. Alternately, there are people on the BBS who could probably give a good push in the right direction if asked.

I haven't had a reason (or time) to tackle that issue yet. If you are interested in working on it, I could help you setup a build environment, etc.

Ok, I'm getting ready to try out a freshly compiled kernel on my central. Does anyone have any last warnings for me?

Beware the Ides of March.