WARP Xtra

Those of you who follow FreePBX will likely have noticed that they have posted a second BETA of the upcoming 2.6.0 release. You can read about at www.freepbx.org in this article.

I have been playing with this release on my WARP and find it to be very stable for a BETA release. If you want to try it out yourself, just follow the steps below.

1. Get the latest set of FreePBX for the WARP code from our svn repository, svn export http://svn.pikatech.com/pads/addons/trunk/freepbx-mysql
   
2. Go into the freepx-mysql directory created. Then edit the packages/freepbx/freepbx.mk file by changing the FREEPBX_VER tag at the top of the file from 2.5.1 to 2.6.0beta2.
3. Now just run the build_freepbx.sh script. Sit back and relax and in an hour you will have a set of images you can flash to your WARP in the 2.0.8.3/images/ directory.

That’s all there is too it. If you have any issues with this build process, please post them in our forum post of this here.  If you are running this BETA on your WARP we would like your feedback on how you like it.

Have fun, Skar

In order to use FreePBX on your Warp appliance you will need to update the software images on your unit.  Typically, applications developers use PADS (PIKA’s Application Development Suite) to build the software images themselves and then use the utilties in PADS to install the images on the Warp.  Fortunately, for those who don’t want to get involved with PADS, there is another way:  You can copy the pre-compiled FreePBX images and an automated script to a USB stick and let the script install the images on your Warp for you.   The detailed procedure is decribed below. Continue Reading »

An updated version of the FreePBX Fax Module is now available.

Some key changes since 2.5.0.1 are:

• Email confirmation after file spooled and transmitted
• Support PDF file drops if ghostscript package is installed

Continue Reading »

There has been an update to the PIKA Application Development Suite, PADS, to version 2.0.8.3. This update provides a big improvement to the echo cancellor used on the analog lines of the WARP appliance. It also improves the audio quality on the analog lines. If you are using analog lines in your PIKA WARP appliance, I highly recommend you upgrade to this release.

As always, this means I roll out another new version of FreePBX on top of it. Also, as always, we do not just provide some new version of PADS but something in FreePBX as well.

This time we have added:

1. Enable ftp in busybox for sake of Backup & Restore Module of FreePBX.
2. Fix an issue raised by johnq in forum post http://forum.pikawarp.org/showthread.php?t=39 about faulty asterisk config files.
3. Add more features to crond in busybox.
4. Warp System Tools module was updated to add a page to display available PIKA channels in the system with their status.

If you wish to compile your own version of this release, please follow the instructions here, using revision number 18007.

If you wish to flash the latest load, you can retrieve the image files here in tarball or zip format.

NOTE: As this load has the transfer to SD card functionality enabled in it, it is recommended that you flash this image using a USB stick. If you use the SD card, at the end you will need to remove it and reboot the WARP an extra time. If you do not want the move to SD functionality enabled, you will need to compile your own version.

As always, have fun and enjoy

Skar

Follow FreePBX on the WARP on twitter here for latest development and news.

If you don’t know who David Duffett is you have been missing out on one of great characters and teachers within the Asterisk community.  If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, I would strongly encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity and sit in on his talk (regardless of the topic).  You won’t be disappointed!  David has recently participated in the authoring of a book called “Asterisk 1.4 – The Professional’s Guide”.  I have not yet had a chance to read the book but the contents seem quite intriguing.  Knowing David, with his background in telephony and Asterisk in particular, I am confident that it will be an interesting read.  Here is how he describes the book: Continue Reading »

When I first started working for PIKA around 15 years ago, we had an awesome phone system that was perfectly integrated with our workplace.  It was a Mitel 200 light and my desktop phone had 10 programmable buttons.  There were around 15 of us at that time, 9 had their own speed dial button on my desktop phone (name on the button!), and the last button was for VM…too easy.  The others were close enough to me that I didn’t need a phone to talk to them.  Those were the days, if you knew a person’s name, you could talk to them.  I have long been missing this capability but recently found similar convenience in a little desktop application called InGenius Connector. Continue Reading »