Feeling Lost With 6000 Options

[yottabit]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the Zaurus world. I bought a 6000 a couple months ago and quickly fell in love with the screen, built-in WiFi, SD+CF, etc.

But now I'm a little lost. I tried out OpenZaurus and it was very promising but it had some disturbing incompatibilities (no brightness control and suspend/resume loops) with the 6000 so I abandoned it. Still no update, so I wait.

I want to run some of the newer software out there that seems really really nice, but most of it never seems to work on the stock Sharp ROM.

A lot of people seem to like Cacko and Cacko seems like it would be very nice for me, but I've never seen that it runs on the 6000.

In general, are the 5500/5600 and 6000 compatible?

And will the Cacko ROM work on the 6000? (Or is there a plan to branch?)

I'm just at a loss here. I came from the Palm (Handspring) world and had tons of applications to choose from that "just worked." But since I'm a Linux user I thought the Zaurus would be a great fit.

So any help or recommendations out there for the 6000 user?

[ev1l]

There is no cacko on the 6k, but Maslovsky said they were planning on porting it, although the main focus is clearly the clamshell models.
What kind of apps are you looking for?

[yottabit]

There is no cacko on the 6k, but Maslovsky said they were planning on porting it, although the main focus is clearly the clamshell models.
What kind of apps are you looking for?

Oh, I dunno. I just search Zaurus Software Index and find an app that looks cool and would be useful to me and then it doesn't work. Usually the problem is either it's a new ipkg that won't work with the built-in GUI installer (those sometimes I can get the packages to install with ipkg-new but I don't know how to get them to install to the SD or CF instead of internal).

Sometimes the problem is missing dependencies and sometimes I can locate and install them and other times not.

And sometimes the packages just hang or don't run at all or complain about versioning problems with other stuff...

I guess what I need to find is a list of 6000-tested packages, especially for the Sharp ROM.

[ev1l]

If I were you I'd ask mas. You ca probably use most of the Cacko software feed on the default ROM, but I'd ask if I were you, there may be elements to it that I'm missing.

[xjqian]

Yes, I confirm you can use almost all of the packages in the cacko feed. I've tested them on my 6k. But installing via network won't work with the sharp rom, neither from the ipkg gui nor command line. You have to download the individual ipk and install manually, which means cares should be taken on the dependency issues. And some large packages like maxima, microemacs only installs correctly from the command line ipkg.

I guess what I need to find is a list of 6000-tested packages, especially for the Sharp ROM.

this thread in the 6000L forum Softwar for the SL-6000

Maslovsky said they were planning on porting it

glad to know about this. btw, adf and guyhelm are trying to clear up the mess in the sharp default rom. see this thread fast 6000 kernel I'm not sure how's it difference from cacko rom in the underlying scheme. But better to unite force if it's not fundamentally different.

[guylhem]

It'd be as close as possible to how it should be (no damn links everywhere, one big r/w partition...), so hopefully it will help with making a cacko rom the 6000.

[adf]

or an updated rom with "current" libs that can use cacko feeds? From what whas been said on the cacko 1.22 thread the main impediment to a cacko port (from the cacko point of view) is video drivers. I think the idea, though, is to simplify the filesystem to something more normal, include updated libs (like th fast libSDL) and have compatbility w/ as much hardware( lots o modules available) and software as possible, while getting a good "bang" out of the 6k for games and multimedia

There is also OZ 3.5.3 to look forward to.

[adf]

or an updated rom with "current" libs that can use cacko feeds? From what whas been said on the cacko 1.22 thread the main impediment to a cacko port (from the cacko point of view) is video drivers. I think the idea, though, is to simplify the filesystem to something more normal, include updated libs (like th fast libSDL) and have compatbility w/ as much hardware( lots o modules available) and software as possible, while getting a good "bang" out of the 6k for games and multimedia

There is also OZ 3.5.3 to look forward to.

[eji]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the Zaurus world. I bought a 6000 a couple months ago and quickly fell in love with the screen, built-in WiFi, SD+CF, etc.

But now I'm a little lost. I tried out OpenZaurus and it was very promising but it had some disturbing incompatibilities (no brightness control and suspend/resume loops) with the 6000 so I abandoned it. Still no update, so I wait.

I want to run some of the newer software out there that seems really really nice, but most of it never seems to work on the stock Sharp ROM.

A lot of people seem to like Cacko and Cacko seems like it would be very nice for me, but I've never seen that it runs on the 6000.

In general, are the 5500/5600 and 6000 compatible?

And will the Cacko ROM work on the 6000? (Or is there a plan to branch?)

I'm just at a loss here. I came from the Palm (Handspring) world and had tons of applications to choose from that "just worked." But since I'm a Linux user I thought the Zaurus would be a great fit.

So any help or recommendations out there for the 6000 user?

Hi, yottabit. I believe I'm partially guilty for nudging you toward your Z -- via Skype, which isn't available for the Z and may never be. Some of these issues I'd mentioned to you; but then, I was relatively new to the Z too and was still finding things out (still am, in fact).

The 6000 seems to take a back seat to every other model. I browse the ZSI and ELSIX quite regularly looking for new software to play with, and it always seems to be that the 55/600s and clamshells are supported but the 6000 is not. This has to do with Sharp changing the ROM for the 6000 and the lack of these models in developers' hands. That they were initially released for corporate users and not rabble like us didn't help. That unfortunate state of affairs is changing, as you can gauge by the response to this thread, but ROM development and app compatibility still haven't proceeded apace of other models.

Rather than be disappointed, which I certainly have been, I figure the easy answer is patience (especially as I have no programming ability). Qtopia 2.1 qill be out sometime this decade, and the improvements it brings will likely spark a flurry of new development. And pdaXrom and Qt/X -- both of which look brilliant -- will eventually make it to the 6000 too. I'm more skeptical of OZ because my experience (like yours) has shown that it's not quite at the level where non-developers like me can use it without problems or quirks. Then again, 3.5.3 could be a triumph. All these will solve some compatibility issues and create others.

The 6000 Software Thread has been really useful in the meantime. Kismet takes a lot of work, but it runs well, as does GAIM. KA/Pi and KO/Pi are far superior to Sharp's default PIM and with each (seemingly daily) revision they are beginning to rival most desktop PIM suites. TextMaker is a great, albeit pricey, word processing app. Kino is slowly getting there, and someday Sharp's new photo storage app will be hacked to run on the 6000 and maybe even read TIFFs. Again, it's a matter of patience. And quite a bit of trial and error.

[xjqian]

What's the current status of Cacko support 6000? What's the obstacles? Lack of units in the developers hands or something serious is incompatiable?

[Jon_J]

I found this feed. It may help.
I've also enclosed the "packages" file as a text file in a zip
The packages.txt shows dependencies for each package.
http://www.externe.net/zaurus/feeds/6000/
EDIT: If the online feed method doesn't work for you, just download the package onto a PC and use a CF/SD card to install to your 6000
This is what I do, I use the package file as a refrence.

This post has been edited by Jon_J: Apr 10 2006, 12:08 PM

Attached File(s)

 Packages__zaurus_feeds_6000_.zip ( 6.58K ) Number of downloads: 18

 

[xjqian]

thanks for the 6000 feed. And most of the packages in the cacko feed works for the 6000. But I'm ask for the status of the Cacko ROM on 6000.

[rrnwexec]

thanks for the 6000 feed. And most of the packages in the cacko feed works for the 6000. But I'm ask for the status of the Cacko ROM on 6000.

While you are waiting for Cacko.... OZ/GPE and PdaXrom are both good alternatives. I have tested them and they are usable with minimal fuss. (FYI, I'm not a developer or affiliated with either project.) Both projects seem to have active development efforts on the 6000.

PdaXrom currently has the lead from my perspective as I was able to easily install and run both Firefox and Thunderbird.

The one weak area for both ROMS is in getting wifi settings configured... However, if you search these groups you'll find posts on how to solve those issues.

Best Regards,
Randall.