K3 Firmware Updater under Linux / Wine

[Julian, G4ILO]

I have switched over to Linux for my shack computer but have observed an issue affecting some programs that use the serial port including the Elecraft K3 Update Utility. These programs populate a list of COM ports available to use and only allow you to use one of them. Under wine this list is empty, therefore you cannot use the software.

In my own program I was able to overcome the problem by changing the software to allow me to force the serial port by typing it in, even though it was not listed in the drop-down. The K3 Update Utility allows me to type in COM1 but then displays an error when I try to use it. Is it possible it could be made a bit less strict in this area to allow its use under Linux / wine?

[dj7mgq]

Hallo Julian,


> could be made a bit less strict in this area to allow its use under Linux /
> wine?

Afaik, using a Wine/Linux combo is likely to be a problem because the K3
utility reconfigures the serial port as needed. I'm fairly sure that
this is not easily doable, when running Wine. Wine is not a 100%
implementation of the windows APIs. You might have more luck using a
virtual computer, e.g. VMware, VirtualBox,  etc. Maybe this will help
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_virtual_machines>.

Elecraft did anounce that there will be a pure Linux version of the
tool, so eventually you will not need to Windows or MacOS for updating
your K3.

vy 73 de toby
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[ac0h]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

This is correct.

I banged my head against this for a month or so trying to get MixW work
with Wine/Debian. I'd manually enter the serial port info only to have
it erased. The windows API, more correctly the Wine implementation of
the WinAPI, doesn't know /dev/ttyS0 from Sunday. It doesn't know how to
translate /dev/ttySx to COMx.

Probably better to keep a Winders machine around till the Linux app is
finished.

Toby Deinhardt wrote:
| Hallo Julian,
|
|
|> could be made a bit less strict in this area to allow its use under
|> Linux /
|> wine?
|
| Afaik, using a Wine/Linux combo is likely to be a problem because the K3
| utility reconfigures the serial port as needed. I'm fairly sure that
| this is not easily doable, when running Wine. Wine is not a 100%
| implementation of the windows APIs. You might have more luck using a
| virtual computer, e.g. VMware, VirtualBox,  etc. Maybe this will help
| <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_virtual_machines>.
|
| Elecraft did anounce that there will be a pure Linux version of the
| tool, so eventually you will not need to Windows or MacOS for updating
| your K3.
|
| vy 73 de toby
| _______________________________________________


- --
R. Kevin Stover, ACØH
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[David Fleming-2]

Julian,

The Linux version of the K3 Utility is forthcoming. It
should be ready for testing sometime this coming week.
The serial port routines I'm using do not always
identify -all- of the serial ports on a Linux system
(eg USB to Serial adapters). So if the active serial
port is not listed in the popup menu, the user may
specify the active serial port by typing it into a
text field. On my system, the Keyspan USB to Serial
adapter is assigned to /dev/ttyUSB0 ..

*Minimum* requirements for the Linux version include:

x86-based Linux distributions with GTK+ 2.8 (or
higher)
glibc-2.3 (or higher)
libstdc++.so.6
**A PROPERLY CONFIGURED RS-232 PORT THAT IS KNOWN TO
WORK WITH OTHER APPLICATIONS**

Other requirements may be necessary for certain Linux
distros. I'm running it successfully on Ubuntu 7.04
Feisty Fawn.

I hope you'll be willing to do some testing. At this
point, you may be the only other Linux user with a K3.
If there are others that would be willing to help
test, please contact me off list and I'll keep you in
the loop.

tnx,

David, W4SMT




--- G4ILO <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> I have switched over to Linux for my shack computer
> but have observed an
> issue affecting some programs that use the serial
> port including the
> Elecraft K3 Update Utility. These programs populate
> a list of COM ports
> available to use and only allow you to use one of
> them. Under wine this list
> is empty, therefore you cannot use the software.
>
> In my own program I was able to overcome the problem
> by changing the
> software to allow me to force the serial port by
> typing it in, even though
> it was not listed in the drop-down. The K3 Update
> Utility allows me to type
> in COM1 but then displays an error when I try to use
> it. Is it possible it
> could be made a bit less strict in this area to
> allow its use under Linux /
> wine?
>
> -----
> Julian, G4ILO  K3 s/n: 222 K2 s/n: 392
> G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
> Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
> --
> View this message in context:
>

http://www.nabble.com/K3-Firmware-Updater-under-Linux---Wine-tp15117763p15117763.html

> Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at
> Nabble.com.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
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>
>
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> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>

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[Kevin Cozens-2]

G4ILO wrote:
> I have switched over to Linux for my shack computer but have observed an
> issue affecting some programs that use the serial port including the
> Elecraft K3 Update Utility. These programs populate a list of COM ports
> available to use and only allow you to use one of them. Under wine this list
> is empty, therefore you cannot use the software.

Have you used the WINE configuration program to set the mappings between Linux
serial devices and Windows COM ports?

--
Cheers!

Kevin.

http://www.ve3syb.ca/           |"What are we going to do today, Borg?"
Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172      |"Same thing we always do, Pinkutus:
                                 |  Try to assimilate the world!"
#include <disclaimer/favourite> |              -Pinkutus & the Borg
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[Julian, G4ILO]

R. Kevin Stover wrote

I banged my head against this for a month or so trying to get MixW work
with Wine/Debian. I'd manually enter the serial port info only to have
it erased. The windows API, more correctly the Wine implementation of
the WinAPI, doesn't know /dev/ttyS0 from Sunday. It doesn't know how to
translate /dev/ttySx to COMx.

Probably better to keep a Winders machine around till the Linux app is
finished.

I had the same problem with my own software. Fortunately, as I wrote it, I was able to fix it. The problem has nothing to do with the actual communication but is to do with the way Windows software enumerates available serial ports. I don't know how others do it, but mine looks for certain registry entries. You can create symlinks between COM1 and /dev/ttyS0 etc to make the serial ports available under Wine, but Wine does not create these entries in the registry, and current versions won't let you add them using regedit either.

[Julian, G4ILO]

David Fleming-2 wrote

Julian,

The Linux version of the K3 Utility is forthcoming. It
should be ready for testing sometime this coming week.
The serial port routines I'm using do not always
identify -all- of the serial ports on a Linux system
(eg USB to Serial adapters). So if the active serial
port is not listed in the popup menu, the user may
specify the active serial port by typing it into a
text field. On my system, the Keyspan USB to Serial
adapter is assigned to /dev/ttyUSB0 ..

*Minimum* requirements for the Linux version include:

x86-based Linux distributions with GTK+ 2.8 (or
higher)
glibc-2.3 (or higher)
libstdc++.so.6
**A PROPERLY CONFIGURED RS-232 PORT THAT IS KNOWN TO
WORK WITH OTHER APPLICATIONS**

Other requirements may be necessary for certain Linux
distros. I'm running it successfully on Ubuntu 7.04
Feisty Fawn.

I hope you'll be willing to do some testing. At this
point, you may be the only other Linux user with a K3.

David, I will be more than happy to test your version of the utility. I'm running Xandros Desktop 4.0 which is based on Debian Sarge and it appears to meet your minimum requirements. I also have an Asus Eee PC which runs a later version of Xandros so I'll test it on that too, using a USB to serial adapter. I assume the K3 has some sort of unbreakable bootstrap loader so if a firmware update goes horribly wrong it doesn't have to be shipped back to Aptos for rectification...

[Dick Dievendorff]

The Windows K3 Utility, like many Windows programs that obtain the machine's
inventory of serial ports, enumerates the registry values under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\SERIALCOMM.

In an upcoming revision the utility will not display entries whose names are
"winachsf0" which seems to correspond to internal modems in laptops.

An alternative way of inventorying available serial ports is to attempt to
open them all, from COM1 through COM255.  I didn't choose that technique.

Dick, K6KR


-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of G4ILO
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 9:47 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Firmware Updater under Linux / Wine



R. Kevin Stover wrote:

>
> I banged my head against this for a month or so trying to get MixW work
> with Wine/Debian. I'd manually enter the serial port info only to have
> it erased. The windows API, more correctly the Wine implementation of
> the WinAPI, doesn't know /dev/ttyS0 from Sunday. It doesn't know how to
> translate /dev/ttySx to COMx.
>
> Probably better to keep a Winders machine around till the Linux app is
> finished.
>

I had the same problem with my own software. Fortunately, as I wrote it, I
was able to fix it. The problem has nothing to do with the actual
communication but is to do with the way Windows software enumerates
available serial ports. I don't know how others do it, but mine looks for
certain registry entries. You can create symlinks between COM1 and
/dev/ttyS0 etc to make the serial ports available under Wine, but Wine does
not create these entries in the registry, and current versions won't let you
add them using regedit either.

-----
Julian, G4ILO  K3 s/n: 222 K2 s/n: 392
G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
--
View this message in context:
http://www.nabble.com/K3-Firmware-Updater-under-Linux---Wine-tp15117763p1512
1702.html
Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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[Julian, G4ILO]

Dick Dievendorff wrote

The Windows K3 Utility, like many Windows programs that obtain the machine's
inventory of serial ports, enumerates the registry values under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\SERIALCOMM.

Yep, that's the way I did it, too. That registry key does not exist under wine, and attempts to manually create it result in an error message.

If, in the upcoming revision, you could make it possible for the user who knows best to type in the port name, it would enable your utility to be tried out under wine. It may or may not work, but I don't personally see why there should be a problem. If it does work, it could actually be useful to someone running a version of Linux that is not compatible with the native updater. It's ironic, but sometimes it's easier to get Windows software working on Linux than to resolve all the dependencies needed by the native Linux version...

[Dick Dievendorff]

I'll see what I can do.  But I can't go down a long road of resolving issues
with Wine software that I don't have the time or test machines available at
home to test. Our plan is to port the code to Mac/Linux rather than use an
emulator.   That way the Mac app looks like a Mac app, etc.

Dick, K6KR


-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of G4ILO
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 10:26 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K3 Firmware Updater under Linux / Wine



Dick Dievendorff wrote:
>
> The Windows K3 Utility, like many Windows programs that obtain the
> machine's
> inventory of serial ports, enumerates the registry values under
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\SERIALCOMM.
>
Yep, that's the way I did it, too. That registry key does not exist under
wine, and attempts to manually create it result in an error message.

If, in the upcoming revision, you could make it possible for the user who
knows best to type in the port name, it would enable your utility to be
tried out under wine. It may or may not work, but I don't personally see why
there should be a problem. If it does work, it could actually be useful to
someone running a version of Linux that is not compatible with the native
updater. It's ironic, but sometimes it's easier to get Windows software
working on Linux than to resolve all the dependencies needed by the native
Linux version...

-----
Julian, G4ILO  K3 s/n: 222 K2 s/n: 392
G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
--
View this message in context:
http://www.nabble.com/K3-Firmware-Updater-under-Linux---Wine-tp15117763p1512
2183.html
Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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[Julian, G4ILO]

Dick Dievendorff wrote

I can't go down a long road of resolving issues
with Wine software that I don't have the time or test machines available at
home to test.

Entirely understood. But at least this small change would make it possible to see if it would work or not.

[Simon (HB9DRV)]

The very best way to determine the list of COM ports is to use
GetDefaultCommConfig(). If you can get info, it exists, that's it.

There are more advanced solutions, these require functions in SETUPAPI.DLL
such as SetupDiEnumDeviceInfo() and is not for the faint of heart. With this
interface you can get all the information shown in the Device Manager applet
including drivers and physical location.

Don't dig in the registry, this is not recommended, especially when
documented interfaces exist.

Simon Brown, HB9DRV

----- Original Message -----
From: "G4ILO" <[hidden email]>
>>
>> The Windows K3 Utility, like many Windows programs that obtain the
>> machine's
>> inventory of serial ports, enumerates the registry values under
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\SERIALCOMM.
>>
> Yep, that's the way I did it, too. That registry key does not exist under
> wine, and attempts to manually create it result in an error message.
>
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[Dick Dievendorff]

MSDN documents that function as being available on Windows 2000 and up.  I'm
supporting Windows 98 SE. YMMV

I'm using exactly the technique that the .Net frameworks uses, for similar
reasons.

Dick


-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Simon Brown (HB9DRV)
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 2:58 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Firmware Updater under Linux / Wine

The very best way to determine the list of COM ports is to use
GetDefaultCommConfig(). If you can get info, it exists, that's it.

There are more advanced solutions, these require functions in SETUPAPI.DLL
such as SetupDiEnumDeviceInfo() and is not for the faint of heart. With this

interface you can get all the information shown in the Device Manager applet

including drivers and physical location.

Don't dig in the registry, this is not recommended, especially when
documented interfaces exist.

Simon Brown, HB9DRV

----- Original Message -----
From: "G4ILO" <[hidden email]>
>>
>> The Windows K3 Utility, like many Windows programs that obtain the
>> machine's
>> inventory of serial ports, enumerates the registry values under
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\SERIALCOMM.
>>
> Yep, that's the way I did it, too. That registry key does not exist under
> wine, and attempts to manually create it result in an error message.
>
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[Simon (HB9DRV)]

Hi Dick,

I very strongly suggest that you use GetDefaultCommConfig whenever it is
available. There is no guarantee that installing a driver updates the
registry entries that you reference. Using the API ensures you're OK with
future versions of Windows and oddly enough Wine.

As for Windows 98 SE - I wish you the very best luck there is :-)

Simon Brown, HB9DRV

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dick Dievendorff" <[hidden email]>
>
> I'm using exactly the technique that the .Net frameworks uses, for similar
> reasons.
>
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