Asterisk telephony

[Lew Pitcher]

I hope to build a 4-port PBX from an old AMD desktop system running 64bit
Slackware Linux 14.2 (kernel 4.4.240) and a chinese TDM410P clone. To
this end, I'm pulling together the software source and installation
instructions for oslec, libpri, DAHDI, and Asterisk, and have run into a
bit of a quandry.

I understand that I will have to compile the oslec "echo" module sourced
in drivers/misc/echo, and the DAHDI drivers supplied in in the dahdi-
linux-complete-current package, and add them to my already-installed
kernel modules. However, the instructions that accompany the dahdi-linux-
complete-current package specify that "DAHDI needs the BKL (Big Kernel
Lock)" (from the linux/README file), but the BKL was removed from the
kernel around 10 years ago.

Additionally, a quick google search turned up a number of ad-hoc patches
to dahdi-linux-complete to fix some TDM drivers that no longer (as of the
patches) compile.

So, my question... does DAHDI (dahdi-linux-complete) work (compile
properly and properly execute) under Linux kernel 4.4.240? Are there any
gotchas regarding device support (obsolete or not) that I should be aware
of before I take on the task of building this PBX system?

Thanks for any advice you all can give me

[Henrik Carlqvist]

Post by Lew Pitcher
does DAHDI (dahdi-linux-complete) work (compile
properly and properly execute) under Linux kernel 4.4.240?

I have no experience from this myself, but if I understand things right
DAHDI is a collection of drivers for many different cards. Even if a
complete DAHDI does not compile on your system, if you are lucky, the
driver for your card might compile.

If those drivers require a 10 year old kernel, you could also try if it
works better with a 10 year old Slackware like Slackware 13.1 which uses
kernel 2.6.

regards Henrik

[Lew Pitcher]

Hello, Henrik

Post by Henrik Carlqvist

does DAHDI (dahdi-linux-complete) work (compile properly and properly
execute) under Linux kernel 4.4.240?

I have no experience from this myself, but if I understand things right
DAHDI is a collection of drivers for many different cards. Even if a
complete DAHDI does not compile on your system, if you are lucky, the
driver for your card might compile.
If those drivers require a 10 year old kernel, you could also try if it
works better with a 10 year old Slackware like Slackware 13.1 which uses
kernel 2.6.

Good news... with some research, I found that the driver /I/ needed was
one still supported in the latest releases of dahdi. I took a chance, and
stepped through the installation process, and got it installed late last
night.

It seems, like many projects, the documentation lags considerably behind
the code; the reference to the BKL is obsolete (at least, so the detailed
change-log implies), and the drivers no longer require it.

Now, on to recompiling the stock Slackware 4.4.240 kernel to enable the
OSLEC software echo cancellation module.

FWIW, I'm trying to take notes of my process; if this all works, I'll
contribute them to Slackbook and the Slackwiki. P'haps I can drum up some
interest in building a Slackware-based telephony mini-distribution ;-)

Thanks for the suggestions.

[noel]

Post by Lew Pitcher
Hello, Henrik

Post by Henrik Carlqvist

does DAHDI (dahdi-linux-complete) work (compile properly and properly
execute) under Linux kernel 4.4.240?

I have no experience from this myself, but if I understand things right
DAHDI is a collection of drivers for many different cards. Even if a
complete DAHDI does not compile on your system, if you are lucky, the
driver for your card might compile.
If those drivers require a 10 year old kernel, you could also try if it
works better with a 10 year old Slackware like Slackware 13.1 which
uses kernel 2.6.

Good news... with some research, I found that the driver /I/ needed was
one still supported in the latest releases of dahdi. I took a chance,
and stepped through the installation process, and got it installed late
last night.
It seems, like many projects, the documentation lags considerably behind
the code; the reference to the BKL is obsolete (at least, so the
detailed change-log implies), and the drivers no longer require it.
Now, on to recompiling the stock Slackware 4.4.240 kernel to enable the
OSLEC software echo cancellation module.
FWIW, I'm trying to take notes of my process; if this all works, I'll
contribute them to Slackbook and the Slackwiki. P'haps I can drum up
some interest in building a Slackware-based telephony mini-distribution
;-)
Thanks for the suggestions.

why re-invent the wheel?
freepbx, as a web interface you can run it on anything, not just RPM
distros, we first ran asterisk on slackware 7 I think it was, worked
great.

But dont try run it on a lean slackware current, 80% of current is built
agaisnt crap we dont want, like, X and ldap etc.

[Lew Pitcher]

Post by noel

Post by Lew Pitcher
Hello, Henrik

Post by Henrik Carlqvist

does DAHDI (dahdi-linux-complete) work (compile properly and properly
execute) under Linux kernel 4.4.240?

I have no experience from this myself, but if I understand things
right DAHDI is a collection of drivers for many different cards. Even
if a complete DAHDI does not compile on your system, if you are lucky,
the driver for your card might compile.
If those drivers require a 10 year old kernel, you could also try if
it works better with a 10 year old Slackware like Slackware 13.1 which
uses kernel 2.6.

[snip]

Post by noel

Post by Lew Pitcher
FWIW, I'm trying to take notes of my process; if this all works, I'll
contribute them to Slackbook and the Slackwiki. P'haps I can drum up
some interest in building a Slackware-based telephony mini-distribution
;-)

[snip]

Post by noel
why re-invent the wheel?

Because I have specific requirements that I would have trouble meeting if
I used a "pre-packaged" Asterisk Telephony distribution, such as Trixbox,
or

Post by noel
freepbx, as a web interface you can run it on anything, not just RPM

or "pre-packaged" Asterisk installations like FreePBX,

Post by noel
distros, we first ran asterisk on slackware 7 I think it was, worked
great.
But dont try run it on a lean slackware current, 80% of current is built
agaisnt crap we dont want, like, X and ldap etc.

Good to know.

[Lew Pitcher]

I compiled the module and got the telephony card to work properly.
The compile instructions were, shall we say, "mistaken" about the BKL
requirement.

[Aelius Gallus]

Post by Lew Pitcher
So, my question... does DAHDI (dahdi-linux-complete) work (compile
properly and properly execute) under Linux kernel 4.4.240? Are there any
gotchas regarding device support (obsolete or not) that I should be aware
of before I take on the task of building this PBX system?

Looks a very interesting project. Just wonder, if somebody in this newsgroup
attempted something like this before. Any way, good luck!