add draft post for mmdvm hotpot on arch linux (raspberry pi 2)

still waiting for the compile of arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc

content/posts/2024/mmdvm-hotspot-on-archlinux/index.md

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+---
+title: MMDVM hotspot on Archlinux
+summary: On a Raspberry Pi 2
+date: 2024-01-28T10:10:11+0000
+lastmod: 2024-01-28T10:12:11+0000
+categories:
+  - amateur-radio
+tags:
+  - archlinux
+  - dstar
+  - hotspot
+  - linux
+  - mmdvm
+  - raspberry-pi
+
+# showBreadcrumbs: true
+# showDate: false
+# showReadingTime: false
+# showWordCount: false
+# showPagination: false
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+# feed_exclude: true
+# site_exclude: true
+
+# some help
+#
+# highlighting with highlights
+#
+# use table, as inline creates a padding around
+# and it pushes the text more to the right side (end of screen)
+#
+# ~~~html {linenos=table,hl_lines="3-6"}
+# ~~~html {linenos=inline,hl_lines="1,3-6"}
+
+draft: true
+
+---
+
+## Installation ala wiki pages
+
+I usually setup any Raspberry Pi without screen and keyboard but I make use of
+the [serial console](https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/configuration.html#configuring-uarts).
+
+![Raspi 2 with wires connected to GPIO Pins GND, RXD and TXD](setup_console.jpg "I haven't changed a thing of the initial configuration")
+
+### Preparations (microSD card)
+
+Partition the microSD card.
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo fdisk /dev/sda
+~~~
+
+~~~
+Device         Boot  Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
+/dev/sda1        2048   411647   409600  200M  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
+/dev/sda2      411648 15759359 15347712  7.3G 83 Linux
+~~~
+
+Format filesystems.
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
+$ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
+~~~
+
+I am curerntly in `~/mnt`.
+
+~~~console
+$ mkdir boot root
+$ sudo mount /dev/sda1 boot
+$ sudo mount /dev/sda2 root
+$ wget http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-rpi-armv7-latest.tar.gz
+$ sudo bsdtar -xpf ArchLinuxARM-rpi-armv7-latest.tar.gz -C root
+$ sync
+$ sudo mv root/boot/* boot/
+$ sudo umount boot root
+~~~
+
+So, place the microSD card in the Raspberry Pi and boot it up (with the serial console connected).
+
+### First start
+
+There are the following two users pre-defined:
+
+| Username   | Password   |
+|------------| -----------|
+| _root_     | _root_     |
+| _alarm_    | _alarm_    |
+
+I prefer my username as _dominic_, so I changed it:
+
+~~~console
+# usermod -l dominic -d /home/dominic -m alarm
+# groupmod -n dominic alarm
+~~~
+
+{{< alert circle-info >}}
+The user _alarm_ may come from **A**rch**L**inux **ARM**.
+{{< /alert >}}
+
+So the first real thing is upgrading the system. We start as this:
+
+~~~console
+# pacman-key --init
+# pacman-key --populate archlinuxarm
+# pacman -Syu
+~~~
+
+Some general system administration tasks as time setup network setup etc...
+
+I'm using NetworkManager on the Raspi so I install it
+
+~~~console
+# pacman -S networkmanager
+# nmcli device wifi connect {network-ssid} --ask
+~~~
+
+Now we may login via ssh.
+
+## Installation of DStarGateway
+
+I prefer compiling as normal user so I login as _dominic_. We will need some packages.
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel wget boost man-db gtest
+~~~
+
+I hope I got all that we need, if you run into errors, just install the missing ones :wink:
+
+~~~console
+$ mkdir git && cd git
+$ git clone https://github.com/F4FXL/DStarGateway.git
+$ cd DStarGateway
+$ make
+~~~
+
+This ran for 38 minutes -- I will not forget to add `-j4` the next time :face_with_rolling_eyes:
+
+You would now typically install the files but this is the part that made me stop for a while.
+Whatever I was doing, it won't work automated. I'm not a developer, but to me this looks like as
+if `make -C` enters the directory before it runs the top-level Makefile so the `export ...` lines
+never get executed and the Makefiles in the sub-directories will never know about them. I didn't
+want to dive deeper into this and decided to just install the rest by hand.
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo make install
+~~~
+
+It will break, but at least install the binary files into `/usr/local/bin`. Also install the
+hostfiles (will need the program _wget_).
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo make newhostfiles
+~~~
+
+Copy the systemd unit files to the right directory per hand:
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo cp debian/* /usr/lib/systemd/system/
+~~~
+
+{{< alert >}}
+Inspect them because you may edit some paths.
+{{< /alert >}}
+
+Also have a look at the configuration files in `/usr/local/etc/`.
+
+Enable the services, but I don't start them yet (except for a short test) because
+the hotspot will connect to the DSTAR reflector but we can't talk or hear anything.
+Once they are enabled, they will autostart at the next reboot.
+
+To enable the services:
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo systemctl enable dstargateway.service
+$ sudo systemctl enable dgwtimeserver.service
+~~~
+
+Because the `make install` did not finish before, I have to manually install the
+`Data` folder contents (AMBE files, Hostfiles). I could not get this to work the
+way it was described in the repository, but I installed them this way:
+
+Move to the `Data` directory and add the following line on top of the file:
+
+~~~make
+export DATA_DIR=/usr/local/share/dstargateway.d/
+~~~
+
+Then rund `sudo make install` within the `Data` directory again and all should be fine.
+
+## Installation of MMDVMHost
+
+Also this requires special packages, although I think those are for the new
+FM features -- that a hotspot won't use at all...
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo pacman -S libsamplerate
+~~~
+
+~~~console
+$ git clone git@github.com:g4klx/MMDVMHost.git
+$ cd MMDVMHost
+$ make -j4
+$ sudo make install-service
+~~~
+
+That would fail, but we can do it by hand.
+
+Setup the user _mmdvm_:
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo useradd --user-group -M --system mmdvm --shell /bin/false
+$ sudo usermod --groups uucp --append mmdvm
+~~~
+
+So we run the command one more time:
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo make install-service
+~~~
+
+Binaries are installed and the systemd unit files too.
+
+Modify the configuration file `/etc/MMDVM.ini`.
+
+Enable the service:
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
+$ sudo systemctl enable mmdvmhost.service
+~~~
+
+## Setup the UART
+
+We can't start MMDVMHost right away (well, we can, but it will not work yet).
+
+We need to disable the serial console because we need the UART at the GPIO pins
+for our modem hardware.
+
+Disable the service, that accesses the serial console:
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo systemctl disable serial-getty@ttyAMA0.service
+~~~
+
+Open `/boot/cmdline.txt` and remove `console=serial0,115200` from the line. Save
+and reboot.
+
+Another problem occurs, I will probably have to flash an actual firmware to the modem.
+
+~~~console
+E: Received a NAK to the SET_CONFIG command from the modem
+I: MMDVMHost-20240126 exited on receipt of an unknown signal
+~~~
+
+But we need another compiler. I install [paru](https://github.com/morganamilo/paru)
+to get that compiler with its dependencies.
+
+The installation of paru is very easy:
+
+~~~console
+$ sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel
+$ git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/paru.git
+$ cd paru
+$ makepkg -si
+~~~
+
+~~~console
+$ paru -Syu
+$ paru -S arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc
+~~~
+
+Oh hell, this is going to take ages on the Raspberry Pi 2...
+
+## DSTAR Registration
+
+A DSTAR registration is mandatory if you want to be transmitted on
+original ICOM repeaters. Otherwise your transmission will not be
+forwarded properly and you may look for errors for a long time...
+
+I registered in 2020 at <https://regist.dstargateway.org/> but there
+is one important thing to add to the webui there: do not choose long
+passwords (like those from a password manager) because it will get
+cut off somewhere and it took me quite a while to find that error.
+
+{{< alert skull-crossbones >}}
+**I can't believe that there are still websites in 2024 that limit
+the lenght of a password!**
+{{< /alert >}}
+
+I do have 12 characters now, I usually use 20 or more.
+