QnetGateway/BUILDING

Creating a DVAP or DVRPTR hotspot based on a Raspberry Pi or a BeagleBone Black that
can connect to both DStar reflectors as well as XREF reflectors based on Scott Lawson
KI4LKF software is easy.

Start with a Raspberry Pi with the latest Raspbian image (see http://raspberrypi.org)
or a BeagleBone Black with the latest Debian image (see http://www.armhf.com). The
g2_ircddb software will EASILY fit on the 2gb on-board memory of the older Rev. B of
the BBB, but you will still need a uSD card to install the armhf.com Debian image to
the on-board memory.

On the RPi, do "sudo raspi-config" and expand the partition, change the password
for the 'pi' user and do any other configuration setup. You don't need to overclock
the RPi for g2_ircddb, the default clock rate is just fine. On the BBB, if you're
using the armhf.com image, follow the instructions on the armhf.com website to
expand the linux partion. Also don't forget to change the password for the 'debian'
user. 

After your Linux is set up, login and plug in your DVAP or DVRPTR_V1 device to see
if the OS is recognizing it. The kernel should auto load drivers and you will see
that with the "lsusb" command. The DVAP uses a FTDI chip and the DVRPTR uses Atmel.
If you don't see an approprite output from "lsusb" after your device is plugged in,
you need to enable it by executing:

sudo depmod
sudo modprobe <YOURDEVICEMODULE>

where YOURDEVICEMODULE is "ftdi_sio" for the DVAP or is "cdc_acm" for the DVRPTR.
After a reboot you should see the device in the "lsusb" list. If you don't see
the device listed, g2_ircddb software will never be able to open it either.

You will need several packages to build the g2_ircddb gateway. You may already
have all or most of these but it still doesn't hurt to be sure:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install make g++ unzip git

and maybe a few more. Here is one of my favorites:

sudo apt-get install avahi-daemon

Then you can "ssh <user>@<hostname>.local" instead of "ssh <user>$<ip address>.
NOTE: Windows user can download and use 'putty' to connect to the RPi or
BBB.

After you configure you RPi or BBB, update, upgrade and install all the required
packages, the gateway installation can begin. Go to your login home directory and
(without root privileges type:

git clone git://github.com/ac2ie/g2_ircddb.git

This will create a g2_ircddb directory with everything you need to build a dvap or
dvrptr ircddb gateway.

The first order of business is to build the necessary wxBase-2.8.12 library. There
is a script in the g2_ircddb directory to do all of this for you. Just cd to
g2_ircddb and type:

./build_wxBase

This will take serveral minutes to complete and you will see a lot of output.
Depending on your device and the OS you are using, you may be prompted for your
password for sudo access. Upon completetion, make sure you are still in the
g2_ircddb directory and type "make" to build all the g2_ircddb executables. If you
need DTMFS then also execute "make g2link_test".

Next, edit all the *.cfg files, g2_ircddb.cfg, g2_link.cfg and either dvap_rptr.cfg
or dvrptr.cfg. These files contain detailed comments about all of the values you
need to set. Just read through the configuration files and edit accordingly.
Additional information about the configuration as well as other important and
useful features are also in the CONFIGURING file.

The gwys.txt file is the internet address and port numbers for any gateway you
would like your ircddb gateway to be able to connect to. The one delivered with
this package is special: It has only DCS reflectors, X-reflectors and DStar
reflectors and the X-reflectors are configured with the 20001 port instead of the
default 30001 prot. This will allow you to connect to these XREF reflectors without
creating any port-forwarding rules on your home router. You will also want to move
X-reflectors to port 20001 if you are going to tether you device via WiFi to a
smart-phone for internet access. Most phone companies will not let you configure
port-forwarding rules on you phone internet account.

There are MANY OTHER gateways to which you can connect. Executing get_gwys_list.sh
will download a HUGE list of reflectors and gateways from www.va3uv.com with port
address that may need port-forwarding to your sytem. I have provided anotherscript,
'get_reflectors.sh' that will download the same list from va3uv.com, but filter it
so that it only contains DCS x-reflectors (DCSXXX), DStar reflectors (REFXXX) and
X-reflectors (XRFXXX) and it will put all x-reflectors on port 20001 so you won't
need any port-forwarding on your home router.

Based on the above discussion, execute either "./get_reflectors.sh" or
"./get_gwy_list.sh". If you want to be able to update your hotspot dynamically,
you can modify either one of these scripts by adding a "reboot" or "service
g2_link restart" command at the end and moving it to /usr/local/etc/exec_?X.sh
where "?" is a number or letter. See the discussion of executables in the
CONFIGURING text file.

If you plan on using DTMFS, you can also edit proc_g2_ircddb_dtmfs.sh to add new
dtmfs commands.

Then install your system. you have two choices, either dvap_rptr or dvrptr by
typing "sudo make installdvap" or "sudo make installdvrptr", respectively.
Finally, if you want/need DTMFS, type "sudo make installdtmfs".

This will install the service scripts and symbolic links in /etc/init.d and
everything else in /usr/local. The executables will be in /usr/local/bin and the
*.cfg files and other data will be in /usr/local/etc. If you find that you need to
modify a configuration file, edit the ones in /usr/local/etc as root. If you edit
the files in the build directory, you will either have to copy these modified
configuration files you you will have to reinstall the application.

At this point, you can either reboot to start the three or four services, or start
them manually with the "service" command. For example to start ircddb, type "sudo
service g2_ircddb start". (See the man page for service.)

If you are having trouble connecting, look in the *.log files in /var/log. These
log files are recreated every time you restart a service. The beginning of each
log file will report the values of all the configuration parameters and after that
you will see the verbose reports of what each service is doing. These logs are
invaluable for traking down problems with your *.cfg files. In a putty or ssh
shell, you can see in real time what is being added to the logs during operation
by typing "tail -f /var/log/<service>.log", where <service> is one of the
service programs, 'g2_ircddb', 'g2_link', 'dvap_rptr', etc.

These services talk to each other through ports and the *.cfg file default values
are set up for a 2M gateway (module C). If you are using a 70cm setup, pay close
attention to the port configuration in the *.cfg files. You will need to change
several values.

You can clean up the build directory of intermediate *.o files with "make clean"
or, you can remove the intermediate *.o files and binary executables with "make
realclean".  Note that "make realclean" only removes the binary files from your
build directory and not the copies you installed into /usr/local/bin with the
"sudo make install..." command.

If you want to uninstall everything return to the build directory and type either
"sudo make unistalldvap" or "sudo make uninstalldvrptr" and possibly "sudo make
uninstalldtmfs".  This will shutdown and remove the service scripts and links and
remove most everything from /usr/local.

Tom Early, ac2ie@arrl.net