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Ubuntu Open Week - Intro to Mobile Testing - Chris Gregan & Dave Morley - Wed, Apr 30, 2008

=== jcastro changed the topic of #ubuntu-classroom to: Ubuntu Open Week | Information and Logs: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek | How to ask questions: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek/Rules | Ask questions in #ubuntu-classroom-chat, prefaced with "QUESTION:" |See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek/JoiningIn to filter out channel noise | Current Session: "Intro to Mobile Testing" - Chris Gregan and Dave Morley

[17:59] <jcastro> Ok, Intro to Mobile Testing with Chris Gregan and Dave Morley, take it away guys!

[17:59] <cgregan> Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone

[17:59] <cgregan> First let me introduce mayself

[18:00] <cgregan> I am the lead tester for Ubuntu Mobile Edition

[18:00] <cgregan> Today we will be doing a review of UME and how testing is being done

[18:01] <cgregan> I will cover several topics. At the end of each section I will open up the floor for questions

[18:01] <cgregan> We'll start with a brief overview of UME, then discuss supported hardware

[18:01] <cgregan> Afterwards a bit about the tools we use to test

[18:02] <cgregan> Then where to get cases and finally how to submit defects against UME

[18:02] <cgregan> So...Lets start

[18:03] <cgregan> UME is a project that was started in collaboration with Intel

[18:03] <cgregan> The idea was to have an open source OS that supported Intel's new Mobile Internet Device platform

[18:04] <cgregan> So...we signed up and have begun putting together a version of Hardy which will do exactly that

[18:04] <cgregan> There are several areas that needed to be adjusted to support this platform.

[18:05] <cgregan> Most changes are Kernel and driver

[18:05] <cgregan> Right now the daily builds are focused on only a couple hardware platforms

[18:06] <cgregan> However, our goal is to make it as widely available, platform-wise

[18:06] <cgregan> Then of course...get all of you involved to improve it

[18:07] <cgregan> So....the platforms we support currently are the Samsung Q1 (known as Mccaslin)

[18:07] <cgregan> and the Intel reference hardware (known as Menlow)

[18:07] <cgregan> They are both x86.

[18:08] <cgregan> We have a project page setup in Launchpad that you can check out for more info: 
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/

[18:08] <cgregan> Ok....any questions so far?

[18:09] <popey> 18:07 < popey> QUESTION: What sort of hardware spec are these mobile devices?

[18:09] <cgregan> popey: QUESTION: What sort of hardware spec are these mobile devices?

[18:09] <popey> heh

[18:10] <cgregan> So they are x86 and at full speed the intel platform runs at 1.6 Ghz

[18:10] <popey> memory, storage, other funky devices?

[18:11] <cgregan> Reference devices so far have been coming with flash drives of about 1 G

[18:11] <cgregan> Memory is around 512Mbs

[18:11] <cgregan> But this is just reference and all those specs can be adjusted by manufacturer

[18:12] <cgregan> Processor speed is about all that is fixed at the top.

[18:12] <davmor2_laptop> artir: QUESTION: Will we ever have a ubuntu phone?(mada by canonical)

[18:13] <cgregan> Just to wet your appetites...the reference devices are very cool. 5 radios, 3d graphics, etc.

[18:13] <cgregan> I know of no plans to release a device from Canonical

[18:13] <davmor2_laptop> QUESTION: can  this hardware be accessible to any developper between shiping date ?

[18:13] <cgregan> Our goal is to become THE OS for MID platform. They will ask for us by name

[18:14] <cgregan> Currently, the only commercial hardware on the market that we support is the Samsung Q1

[18:15] <davmor2_laptop> mybunche: QUESTION: Will you encourage/liase with/assist product manufactures (eg Nokia) to 
adopt UME?

[18:15] <cgregan> We are working on some plans to introduce a program like the laptop initiative from a year 
ago...with MIDs, but we need some commercial devices for that

[18:15] <cgregan> mybunche: They are currently coming to US, but yes

[18:16] <cgregan> Ok.....shall we move on?

[18:16] <cgregan> Tools!

[18:17] <cgregan> So we use a development tool known as Moblin Image Creator

[18:17] <cgregan> It was developed by Intel's Moblin project

[18:17] <cgregan> Basically, it is an image creation tool.

[18:18] <cgregan> Since these devices have no drives, you need to use a boot USB image to flash to a new OS

[18:18] <cgregan> MIC does this for us

[18:18] <cgregan> It is freely available in Ubuntu Universe Repo using Synaptic

[18:19] <cgregan> We have some project wikis with setup info here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/Cases/UMEinstall

[18:20] <cgregan> Once you have it installed it is launched by icon in your Gnome Menu

[18:20] <cgregan> Ok...so now you have MIC, but no UME yet. For that there are two methods

[18:21] <cgregan> First...you are lucky to have a Q1 now...or a menlow device when they come out in a few month

[18:21] <cgregan> What you want is the .img file from our build area

[18:22] <cgregan> For Mccaslin: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/moblin/hardy/menlow_full/

[18:22] <cgregan> Whoops: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/moblin/hardy/mccaslin_samsungq1ultrafull/

[18:22] <cgregan> ok...then for menlow: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/moblin/hardy/menlow_full/

[18:23] <cgregan> The .img files are not too large, but fast connection is recommended

[18:23] <cgregan> Next you need a USB key...1Gb should do it

[18:24] <cgregan> Launch MIC then use the Tools menu to Write USB Image

[18:24] <cgregan> It will then ask you for the img location and then your USB mount

[18:24] <cgregan> Some chugging...and then you have a boot device


[18:25] <cgregan> Plug the key into your Q1 or Menlow and reboot

[18:25] <cgregan> You will get a warning screen....which I repeat here:

[18:26] <cgregan> The image will COMPLETELY overwrite your device storage....so move your rare flac bootlegs and 
pictures of the kid's 1st birthday off first! :-)

[18:27] <cgregan> Ok....that was a fairly large info dump...any questions on device install?

[18:28] <davmor2_laptop> No

[18:28] <cgregan> Ok.....then lets move onto the steps for emulating...so we can all see the build without a device!

[18:28] <cgregan> Built into MIC is a tool called Xephyr

[18:28] <cgregan> It emulated X environments

[18:28] <cgregan> and allows us to test builds without a device

[18:29] <cgregan> It has some drawbacks....like you run as root. But for a basic idea of the build and some basic 
testing it is ok

[18:29] <cgregan> For emulation you need the Project tarball

[18:30] <cgregan> from our build area: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/moblin/hardy/menlow/

[18:31] <cgregan> With MIC open use the File Menu to Load a Project

[18:31] <cgregan> It will ask you to pick the tar file

[18:31] <cgregan> And name the project file to install the chroot environment

[18:32] <cgregan> We tend to use a standard format so we know which build we are working on

[18:33] <cgregan> So something like Menlow04_30

[18:33] <cgregan> It will then think for quite a while

[18:34] <cgregan> So it is a good time to run that load of laundry or grab a bite to eat

[18:34] <cgregan> Once you have the project loaded...you will see it appear in the upper field in MIC

[18:35] <cgregan> Clicking the project will populate the Targets area below

[18:35] <cgregan> We have two in each build, but we are going to focus on the "full" here

[18:36] <cgregan> So....select the full Target and click the Terminal button above it

[18:36] <cgregan> This opens a chroot window for the full version

[18:36] <cgregan> Now....there is a quick change we need to make here

[18:37] <cgregan> The resolv.conf for the chroot is set to the build machine..so you will not have network 
connectivity if you do not edit it

[18:37] <cgregan> So just vim /etc/resolv.conf

[18:37] <cgregan> and change buildd to your domain

[18:38] <cgregan> and the IP to your gateway IP

[18:38] <cgregan> Ping Google.com to confirm

[18:39] <cgregan> Ok....so now lets see the build. Type ume-xephyr-start

[18:39] <cgregan> After a short boot, you will be looking at a "hildon-ized" gnome desktop

[18:40] <cgregan> So rows of icons to access the mobile apps included

[18:40] <cgregan> Now play around. We are still in very active testing so things are very fluid

[18:41] <cgregan> One nice thing about UME is that it is a reference platform

[18:41] <cgregan> this means it is a foundation

[18:41] <cgregan> so it supports flash and html overlays of the desktop

[18:42] <cgregan> so although the standard desktop is kinda utilitarian...you can easily make it quite nice

[18:42] <cgregan> I have seen some very slick demo desktops in flash

[18:43] <cgregan> Ok...questions?

[18:44] <cgregan> Alright.....then lets move to testing

[18:44] <cgregan> We have created a suite of cases based on the partnership requirements with Intel

[18:45] <cgregan> The wiki landing page is https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/Cases/UMEdesktop

[18:45] <cgregan> They are divided into three groups

[18:45] <cgregan> Basic, Advanced, and Compliance

[18:45] <cgregan> Basic is exactly that. Simple cases to exercise the most used features

[18:46] <cgregan> Advanced cases require either more system knowledge, or access to resource that we might not all 
have...like proprietary codecs for example

[18:47] <cgregan> Compliance cases cover the agreed upon stats for the system. Disk usage, UI design, performance, 
etc.

[18:47] <cgregan> These are agreed upon targets that we have agreed to meet

[18:47] <cgregan> So we need to make sure they are met

[18:48] <cgregan> Feel free to click around review and even exercise some cases n Xephyr

[18:48] <cgregan> Each case has a table at the top with version of the build the cases were last run

[18:49] <cgregan> With that said...updating that table has fallen a bit behind in the rush to test this release 
cycle...so they are blank for the most part

[18:49] <cgregan> But feel free to use it

[18:50] <cgregan> Once we have a regular release that can be tracked more like the traditional Ubuntu builds

[18:50] <cgregan> Right now we are not operating that way

[18:50] <cgregan> But after the may release I encourage all of you to look around and test some things

[18:51] <cgregan> So...you tested and now you found some minor issues

[18:51] <cgregan> We have a template we would like to see used

[18:51] <cgregan> You can find it on the wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/Cases/UMEdesktop

[18:52] <cgregan> Paste it into the report and fill out each section as carefully and thoroughly as possible

[18:52] <cgregan> Here is an example of a good one: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/+bug/218850

[18:53] <cgregan> Feel free to add more info

[18:53] <cgregan> Don't worry if you forget to use it...I will remind you: 
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/+bug/221503

[18:54] <cgregan> Of course be sure you are running the latest build when you log an issue against UME.

[18:55] <cgregan> One last thing...more than ubuntu and canonical folks are watching these bugs so lets make sure we 
keep it very professional in the bugs

[18:55] <cgregan> We want to give these customers the best impression of our community

[18:55] <cgregan> And that is it

[18:55] <cgregan> Last 5 for questions

[18:56] <davmor2_laptop> Can it be installed on an eeepc?

[18:57] <cgregan> davmor2_laptop: Not currently...we are building for two specific platforms so the drivers for 
devices not on those platforms are not loaded to save space

[18:57] <cgregan> But it is possible with some kernel changes and modprobing

[18:57] <cgregan> If there is a ton of interest we can look into what exactly needs to be changed and post it

[18:58] <cgregan> But that would be after May 30

[18:58] <davmor2_laptop> one of the other questions was on the browser backend

[18:59] <cgregan> The browser is based on Firefox which has been customized by the Moblin project folks

[18:59] <jcastro> ok, we're out of time, can you point people to your irc channel if they have more questions?

[18:59] <cgregan> Well...thanks for listening in. If you have other questions feel free to ping me on irc or email