New Pdaxrom Release R198, for C1000-C3x00 (sorry no c3000 yet) Options

[adf]

Review, anyone?

Do the system control applets (like network, light n power, etc) work?

How's the speed?

memory use?


video/game playback?


suspend/resume?

alarms/wake on alarm?

I've been looking forward to this.....

[Capn_Fish]

Review, anyone? 

1: Do the system control applets (like network, light n power, etc) work?

2: How's the speed?

3: memory use?


4: video/game playback?


5: suspend/resume?

6: alarms/wake on alarm?

I've been looking forward to this.....

1: Network- Not OK, lightnpower: OK, input: Not OK

2: About the same as in previous 2.6.x-based pdaXroms

3: In a bad case (X using twice what it usually does), ~10MB free, ~35MB cached, ~18MB used (total (~53MB)-cached)

4: Not tested

5: Works OK, AFAICT (on a C3100)

6: Not tested

Seems pretty good in general. The prompt for a non-root user is nice, but the new user isn't really usable (not in sudoers file, startx broken). Runs MUCH faster than Beta 3. inputconfig.py has to be fixed as in previous betas and the netconfig app is totally broken still.

It looks like Firefox will be in the feed, so that's good.

Stability is fine. No crashes yet (nor do I expect any, within reason). The apps I've tried work fine (Kismet, Fluxbox, Nano, MRXVT, package manager, etc.)

Some stuff wasn't in /etc/fstab, like the SD card and microdrive. The first partition was supposed to be mounted as CF, but it wasn't. Put in my own fstab, SD mounted fine, and the MD mounted OK on reboot.

It does turn on automatically after pulling all power and reinserting it, and the clock does reset back to 1970.

The keyboard still gets a little messed up after leaving X, solved with a script I can call to reload the kernel keymap. , and / are reversed back to normal, which is good.

Thats all for now.

[ZDevil]

We are updating the Documentation in the pdaXrom page now.
For those who are new to pdaXrom and who want to try out this bleeding edge release, here is a provincial how-to:

Installation of this release consists of two steps:
1. Installing/updating the U-bootloader:
http://www.pdaxrom.org/?q=node/106

2. Flashing the release image:
http://www.pdaxrom.org/?q=docs/installation/quickguide

[tombraider]

Thanks, Capn_Fish.

One more question,,,maybe this is of interest to others too. After installing uboot and r198, if I want to return to my beta3 setup can I just do a nand restore? Or is it a one way ticket?? :-)

1:What are the directions for flashing this?  Are the directions different from flashing beta3?
2: Do I have to install uboot first?  Where are the instructions for that?
3: I resized the partition for beta3 - do I have to resize again?
4: If there's no nand backup,  what DO you DO?  Live without backups?

Thanks.

So the long awaited public release is here, Keep in mind this is still in testing...

So, here you go

http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distri.../download/r198/

the feed is there also...

c7x0-860 is also coming in a few hours

Late

1: Install uBoot (files on SD, SD in Z, all power out, hold C+D, insert power, wait for LEDs to go off), install pdaX (files on SD, SD in Z, all power out, hold OK, power in, say "y")

2: Yes (see #1)

3: Not that I know of.

4: Yup, we live without backups

Hope that's clear enough.

[ZDevil]

Thanks, Capn_Fish.

One more question,,,maybe this is of interest to others too.  After installing uboot and r198,  if I want to return to my beta3 setup can I just do a nand restore?  Or is it a one way ticket??  :-)

This requires three steps:
1. Do a NAND Flash Erase (in the DM menu);
2. Do a NAND Flash Restore with the original Sharp Rom image (also in the DM menu);
3. Then flash Beta3 as usual (using the "OK mode")

This probably can go to the FAQ in the new Documentation.

[ZDevil]

Just found r197 for Corgi: http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distri.../download/r197/

Should it be r198? And does it already come with U-Boot?

[InSearchOf]

Just found r197 for Corgi: http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distri.../download/r197/

Should it be r198? And does it already come with U-Boot?

I'm waiting on the uboot to build... I had a copy of the akita uboot that I could put out there, but I didnt for corgi

and prior to building corgi... I forgot to do an SVN update.. so that came out tagged as r197... there shouldnt be any difference...

So that is why I didnt announce the corgi build yet because the uboot install files arent out there... but if you already have uboot installed you can go ahead and use it :-)

Late

[Capn_Fish]

Thanks, Capn_Fish.

One more question,,,maybe this is of interest to others too.  After installing uboot and r198,  if I want to return to my beta3 setup can I just do a nand restore?  Or is it a one way ticket??  :-)

This requires three steps:
1. Do a NAND Flash Erase (in the DM menu);
2. Do a NAND Flash Restore with the original Sharp Rom image (also in the DM menu);
3. Then flash Beta3 as usual (using the "OK mode")

This probably can go to the FAQ in the new Documentation.

Why can't you just restore a beta x (x<4) image? Or NAND erase, then restore a beta x image?

[ZDevil]

I'm waiting on the uboot to build... I had a copy of the akita uboot that I could put out there, but I didnt for corgi

and prior to building corgi... I forgot to do an SVN update.. so that came out tagged as r197... there shouldnt be any difference...

So that is why I didnt announce the corgi build yet because the uboot install files arent out there... but if you already have uboot installed you can go ahead and use it :-)

Late

Cool! Can't wait any longer as r191 drove my 860 crazy...

[ZDevil]

Thanks, Capn_Fish.

One more question,,,maybe this is of interest to others too.  After installing uboot and r198,  if I want to return to my beta3 setup can I just do a nand restore?  Or is it a one way ticket??  :-)

This requires three steps:
1. Do a NAND Flash Erase (in the DM menu);
2. Do a NAND Flash Restore with the original Sharp Rom image (also in the DM menu);
3. Then flash Beta3 as usual (using the "OK mode")

This probably can go to the FAQ in the new Documentation.

Why can't you just restore a beta x (x<4) image? Or NAND erase, then restore a beta x image?

The thing is NAND backup of Beta3 doesn't seem to be reliable...

[ZDevil]

Ok, here are some quick fixes:

I. Upgrade from previous Beta4, r121, r1xx ... (assuming U-Boot has already been installed in your Z)
Flashing the new image is now not done in the Sharp Flash ("OK") menu. So you need to do this to install the new release
1) Unzip the new release archive to the root of SD or CF (in my case SD works but not CF); make sure that there are three files - autoboot.sh, kernel.img, rootfs.img
2) Take out AC and the battery. Wait 10 secs.
3) Press the OK button on the keyboard.
4) Put the battery back and plug in AC.
5) Power on the device.
6) It should boot into the Emergency system screen.
7) You'll be asked whether to proceed to install pdaXrom or the emergency system. Press "y" and then [ENTER].
8) Then you will be in a bash prompt (heading with a hash "#"). Switch to the location where the release files are:

CODE

cd /mnt/card  (or cd /mnt/cf )

9) Run the installation script by typing

CODE

./autoboot.sh .

(the last dot "." is necessary)
10) Then you'll be asked once again whether to install pdaXrom or the emergency system. Again, press "y" and then [ENTER]
11) Flashing will then begin. Just let it do its job. It may take minute or two.
12) After flashing is done, the system will reboot automatically.
13) One new thing you'll notice is: upon first booting you have a choice of logging in as a non-root user. Just make your choice. I choose "n", which means to be root, because things get easier.
14) Go through the fixes in II & III.


II. Fix the card mounting issue (thanks to louigi600 for providing this)
You will notice that upon reboot after flashing, both SD and CF are not mounted.
To fix this, edit /etc/fstab. Use your favorite editor to do so.
Open the file, in the lines for /dev/hda1 (for CF) and /dev/mmcblk0p1 (for SD), change

CODE

noauto,owner

to

CODE

owner

Save the file, exit the editor.
Then the cards will be mounted automatically.


III. Fix the four application keys (Calendar, Address, Mail, Home)
Edit /etc/X11R6/kb/[Husky/Akita/whatever-your-Z-is-called]/xmodmap
(Note the following applies to C760/860; C1000/3000/3100/3200 have a different keymap)
First look for "keycode 107" (= the Home key), you will see its mapped to "XF86AudioPrev", pressing it will launch xmms, in addition to power on your Z. Strange (and annoying, too ).
So change it to

CODE

keycode 107 = XF86LaunchD

Moreover, add

CODE

keycode 67 = XF86LaunchA
keycode 68 = XF86LaunchB
keycode 76 = XF86LaunchC

(XF86LaunchA = Calendar; XF86LaunchB = Address, XF86LaunchC = Mail)
Save the file. (Re)Start X.
The four keys should work now.

The Menu key (XF86Start) doesn't seem to work in Matchbox. In Icewm that can be easily fixed by assigning XF86Start to something (see the "icewm ultimate configuration" thread for example)

That's all for now. This build seems less crazy than the previous ones. Will keep testing it.
Many thanks to all the devs for all the hard work to build. You've come a long way!

Again, please report bugs in the bugtracker (see my signature).

This post has been edited by ZDevil: Apr 14 2007, 02:13 PM

[tombraider]

I flashed to r198 but had trouble right off the bat. Despite having calibrated the stylus on bootup, the stylus input doesn't "register" on the screen and hitting "enter" or "cancel buttons doesn't work either within the setup utility window...so basically, there's nothing I can do. I tried to select "recalibrate stylus" in Input settings but can't get out of that screen. Then the "exit box" pops up and won't respond to the enter button or the cancel button or the stylus. This is pretty much a nightmare so far. Tried the reset button to start over but that did not help.

Minor problem when I booted up....after choosing to create a non-root user when I entered the password I made a mistype on the confirmation of password and it would not allow me to go back and correct it and put in a new password.

Edit: So I finally went into Input settings and although the stylus was about 10 miles off target, I managed to select the reset stylus option and hit okay, the exit box came up and I managed to navigate to hit the okay THEN when I exited startx and tried to reenter I found out that my "a" button does not work so I cannot actually get back into the desktop. All I can type is "strtx". :-) Is this some kind of joke???

So the long awaited public release is here, Keep in mind this is still in testing...

So, here you go

http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distri.../download/r198/

the feed is there also...

c7x0-860 is also coming in a few hours

Late

[ZDevil]

Do you mean the inputsetup window? You can use the Tab key to cycle thru the keys (just look at the dotted frame wrapping around the item).

Also try rm /etc/pointercal and then restart x to calibrate the stylus pointer.

[tombraider]

Yes, that's how I was navigating...by using the arrow keys. I managed a total reset-reboot and was able to calibrate and now it works.
My Ambicom card is recognized and flashes, but won't connect to the internet. I set it up in the network settings. Is there something special I have to do?

Aren't you glad to have a totally clueless individual try this out.

edit: Network settings keeps resetting the device to "none" as soon as I okay out of it. I just put the name as ambicom..is something else required? Looked at ifconfig -a in the console and did not know what to do with the information.

Do you mean the inputsetup window? You can use the Tab key to cycle thru the keys (just look at the dotted frame wrapping around the item).

Also try rm /etc/pointercal and then restart x to calibrate the stylus pointer.

[Fatty]

Yes,  that's how I was navigating...by using the arrow keys.  I managed a total reset-reboot and was able to calibrate and now it works.  
My Ambicom card is recognized and flashes,  but won't connect to the internet.  I set it up in the network settings.  Is there something special I have to do?

Aren't you glad to have a totally clueless individual try this out.  

edit: Network settings keeps resetting the device to "none" as soon as I okay out of it.  I just put the name as ambicom..is something else required?  Looked at ifconfig -a in the console and did not know what to do with the information.

The card LED flashing means the interface doesn't go up (you can tell by ifconfig with only lo up). Since kernel 2.6 beta, you need to rename the network profile name to your card interface name- probably eth0 or wlan0. Also everytime you startup network applet, it shows up none, but correct profile will be used. Mine works with wlan0.