I have a GPRS connection over T-Mobile basically working on my FreeRunner using the Qtopia software. It isn't yet working for dialing over bluetooth though, to use the phone as a modem for my laptop. I hope to figure that part out soon.

Things are a little erratic — sometimes I have to try an extra time or two before it will connect to the network.

First, go to Main > Settings > Internet. From the menu icon, select New and then GPRS.

Then do the Account settings. Account name is whatever you want. The APN should be internet2.voicestream.com. I leave "Startup mode" on "When needed", but this does not yet seem to have the desired effect of connecting on demand when sending an e-mail or what not. Username and Password should be blank.

In Network Settings, I have "Timeout" unchecked, and "Auto name server" checked. Maybe I shouldn't have "Timeout" unchecked. I don't really know.

Under Advanced, I have "Auto Routing" checked, and Hardware checked under "Flow ctrl". "Wait time" is set to 15s.

Now, ssh into the device. A patch is needed to /opt/Qtopia/bin/ppp-network to get these settings right when going through the GUI, but until then, here's what I did. I removed /etc/ppp/resolv.conf and symlinked it to /var/run/ppp/resolv.conf, which is the file that actually seems to get updated on ppp connect.

A patch is also needed to do the right thing with the /etc/ppp/chap-secrets file. With the file the way it is by default, the device will attempt to authenticate even though the ppp options file tells it not to. This results in no connection. So, I added a line to tell it to stop trying. This is what my file now looks like:

# Secrets for authentication using CHAP                                        
# client        server        secret    IP addresses                     
*                *        ""                        * 

Other files of interest on the device include:

• /home/root/Applications/Network/chat: This is the chatscript created by the GUI. I imagine that fiddling with this might make starting the connection more reliable.
• Various /etc/ppp/peers/dialup* files are created by the GUI, and those contain the ppp settings.

Sometimes I IRC from my phone (a Nokia E61 using Putty connecting to a screen session running ERC in Emacs). Nevermind whether this is a healthy thing to do or not. The screen is only 56 characters wide (give or take). This means that with the default ERC mode line, my channel activity notifications are too far to the right to be displayed. I find having the server name in the mode line to be unnecessary; I just want the channel name. (setq erc-mode-line-format "%t %a") does the trick and gets most notifications back on the screen.

But then there is still the long-winded away message format. I don't need to have the full timestamp there, so I'm just going to roll with (setq erc-mode-line-away-status-format "AWAY ").
That makes it easier to quickly check up on activity without having to unset and reset the away message.

Vertical space is also limited, and I don't usually need to see the channel topic. The channel name is already in the mode line. (setq erc-header-line-format nil) gets rid of it entirely.

The "Roomba-cam" and the "Roomba painter" sound like fantastic ideas. Don't forget to obey the Asimov laws though.

A newly published book includes a chapter about installing Linux on iRobot's "Roomba" robotic vacuum cleaner. Hacking Roomba, by Tod E. Kurt, includes a variety of fun robotic hacks and projects, none of which will void the device's warranty or prevent its operation as a vacuum, according to the publisher.

Via linuxdevices.com