linux ocharts shop failure

[lazy_pete]

"Crostini is not software, neither a Linux distro nor a virtual machine. It is a set of tools that provides a Debian 10 LXD container that works smoothly on ChromeOS. It can run pretty much every Linux software, including Graphical/GUI-based pieces of software like VSCode or Firefox."

https://nichromat.hashnode.dev/what-is-crostini

[bcn]

I think it is clear that we look to understand what does fail in this workflow and the ChromeOS environment and how to give it a solution.
New for all of us.

[lazy_pete]

great - thanks. Must be lots of otherwise ageing 2 in 1 chromebooks around that would work well as a cheap platform for this, even if not waterproof enough for the cockpit.

[bdbcat]

Pete...


I got the the debug log, and I do see a small problem, maybe.
Investigating now. Please stand by for a bit.



Thanks
Dave

[lazy_pete]

great - at least I got that bit right :-) standing by !

[Astrolab]

Hello,

If I can help because I met a similar situation in the past.

When buying a chart, o-charts.org allows two workstations for each chart and for one year.
Unfortunately when on the same workstation we install different OpenCPN versions :.deb, snap or flatpak, each installation is recognized as new.
For me it was in the past with .deb and snapd. So as I had the same chart installed on another device, the new installation was counted as new and the coordinates and passwords were not more recognized.
You must then either buy a new chart for a year or take the USB key of o-chart.org which allows the ulilization of the chart where this USB key will be inserted .

This may be what was met here with the new Flatpak installation ...

[bcn]

This case is different - Flatpak on ChromeOS.
From the o-charts tab you don't even reach the shop to present the credentials.
We see some hints what does fail but we will need some Chromebook for testing. Which is on the way and shall be delivered tomorrow.


Flatpak and a plain install on the same Linux system will bring up the identical system, no second license required. Since some versions ago of the o-charts plug-in.

[Astrolab]

"Flatpak and a plain install on the same Linux system will bring up the identical system, no second license required. Since some versions ago of the o-charts plug-in. "


Good news 👌👍

[bcn]

Trying now to install OpenCPN on ChromeOS and flatpak.
Flatpak is installed, however

> flatpak install flathub org.opencpn.OpenCPN
raises an error:
"Unable to load summary from remote flathub"........"... but no summary found (check the URL)". The URL is copied from flathub.
Any clue?

[bcn]

Installed and running now.
Most probably a typo when installing the remote flathub:
https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/issues/1967

[bcn]

Astrolab & lazy_pete......


short intermediate results of the investigations:


We see here some issues with the encapsulation of the Linux environment, the VM.
How did you get navigational data into OpenCPN? Here no luck with GPS@USB nor with data from the local network (UDP, port 10110).
Without surprise "Send Route to Peer" does not work neither - no peer detected.


The routing issue is one, creating a system identifier is another one. For the latter we might have a solution, but to assure this, we need to comunicate correctly with o-charts. But then bites the routing.


All this on a nice 11.5" 2in1 Lenovo Chromebook we found at Amazon for 119€. Panning and zooming very acceptable. Tested with plain US S-57 charts.
The touch screen works fine with OpenCPN flatpak btw.


We shall see what else we can find with Dave.



Hubert

[Astrolab]

Hello Hubert,

Again, I'm not very sure to be of great help.

As tablets I use some (two) old MS Surface pro 6 with Debian installed and MS totally wiped (no double OS):

$ uname -a
Linux NSPro24 6.10.10-surface-1 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sun Sep 15 03:41:08 UTC 2024 x86_64 GNU/Linux

OCPN works fine with the NMEA data from either localhost.
(as GPS-app with android smartphones, I use NetGPS with TCP)
or with a USB-serial port.

In this later, because of permissions, it is necessary to add a rule, (see the picture)

With flatpak, you could add and check the rules:

$ sudo cp /home/gil_2/.var/app/org.opencpn.OpenCPN/cache/udevYQ6Gqr/65-opencpn0.rules /etc/udev/rules.d
$ cd /etc/udev/rules.d
$ nano 65-opencpn0.rules

In the past, I tried to use OCPN with a VM, but without success.

For chromebooks, I would like to try with "Crouton" (https://geekflare.com/install-linux-on-chromebook/)
By name, Crouton could be close to Crostini, but I never tested.
Because lack of time and I didn't very trust in chromebooks, they aren't opensource.

I better prefer, as ARM devices, to use raspberry cards.
With RPI, #3 and 4 and with touchscreens I obtain the same results like the Surface-MS Linux hacked devices.


Pictures:


https://imgbb.com/y87ftmq
https://imgbb.com/4Rjh0x5





PS: AMD MS surface pro 6 or 7 could be found used for ~ 200 - 250 $ , +/-...

[bcn]

As the issue here is "OCPN flatpak on ChromeOS", or Crostini, we need to look how to overcome the encapsulation of the Linux VM.

For the Nav data we have found a solution - at least the test is running right now - with a ChromeOS extension called Connection Forwarder. Limited to TCP, so connections point to point. From a server in our network to the TCP socket in OpenCPN in the Crostini flatpack container.


No solution yet for a GPS receiver on a USB port.


Communication with the shop is still an issue as well.

[lazy_pete]

Hi - thanks for the above. Apologies for delay in reply - my notifications failed.

I've yet to succeed in getting a USB gps puck to connect to Opencpn through Crostini - i don't think it passes USB through. The same puck is recognised on a much older Linux laptop on port ACM0 (iirc), though i need to install some tweaks to make it actually work.

Could you give me a link to the Connection forwarder ? Will that only work with an internet connection ?

I suppose if I could access the Opencpn store I could use the system for route planning / learning etc, bit obviously not actual navigation without a way to get gps data into it.

My other option for that is to install a pure Linux OS on my chromebook as it's past it's security update lifespan now anyway. I'm not hugely keen on that option, as it otherwise still works fine, but it's an option.

Be really interested if you find a way to access usb ports through crostini - there must be others that would find this a useful pathway to get a 'desktop' version of opencpn onto cheap but good hardware, without having to go 'full linux' (which is a bit daunting for many, myself included).

Cheers,

Pete