I know this isn't addressed to me but....
If you are absolutely sure that you really want to do this, I could give you some pointers as I have taken both my K's apart. I would not recommend it as the connectors holding the flex cables are very fragile. I am assuming that my warranty is void.

cycle_55

I think I'll just make use of my 2.5" external hard drive instead then.

Thanks,
Doug

well i found a list of winbond wifi cards (its like pulling teath) and i would agree that its the W89C35D 11g USB2.0 Card as its the only wifi card they make that uses usb

there is one funny bug with it, i can see it but cannot enable or disable it with the hotkeys like with bluetooth, so i am assuming that its power pins are not connected to the usb port but instead to the internal power rails, not that it matters

there is a 2.4 dirver by winbond themselves, i did manage to find a product brief that lists the features (such as aes and all that stuff and Wake on WLAN). so unless there is someone with time to burn i would not expect there to be any wifi support as this chip is RARE, and i do mean rare. i cant find any mention of other hardware with the chip, and there is no direct link to the docs on the winbond website.

Ok, Linux purists, look away now

It turns out another option for Linux on the Kohjinsha is to use VirtualBox to run a Linux virtual machine on Windows. The speed is surprisingly good (even in GNOME) and the virtual network operates through the built-in WiFi perfectly. With the VirtualBox guest OS drivers installed I can even run fullscreen at the native 800x480 resolution. This post is coming to you from Firefox in Ubuntu 6.06LTS on my SA1! That is a pleasant surprise considering neither VMWare nor Parallels will run on this machine.

The downside is that it takes a relatively long time to boot, and I'm sure that it's still not as fast as running native. Lastly, if you want direct access to hardware for things like WiFi hacking, this isn't going to cut it. But if you just want to run Linux apps in a real Linux environment (as opposed to something like Cygwin), this is not a bad solution.

AAAHHHHH, my eyes they burn!!!.

the googles... they do nothing

Good news indeed, and thanks for the tip about the little-known VirtualBox !

I'm sure Da Blitz will get his own way eventually, but in the meantime we have a proven workaround... :-)

If you google for "kohjinsha", it will list www.kohjinsha.com.
It is a Japanese website, but google will translate it (sort of).
Anyway, scroll down the page for a link to drivers.
There are linux drivers for the following:

> Media slot Driver - Improvement of compatibility of SDHC card
> AES driver - For kernel 2.6.x
> Chip set Driver - For kernel 2.6.x
> Video driver - For kernel 2.6.x
> Sound driver - For kernel 2.6.x
> Mouse driver - For kernel 2.6.x
> Wireless LAN Driver - For kernel 2.6.x
> Bluetooth Driver - For kernel 2.6.x

Impressive catch -- we're so accustomed to having to reverse-engineer everything that the last place we'd look is on the vendor website (especially in Japanese :-)...

The Google tools are surprisingly good for this, too.

Da Blitz, is this for real ? Unfortunately it seems the Wifi file contains binary, not code...

$%#@*%^&*(^&$%<^$!!!!!!!

now i am impressed with them (and i thought thier windows setup was good)

actually the only thing we really need from them is perhaps the video driver and definattly the wifi, everything else is in the mainline

i knew winbond had 2.4 drivers but 2.6, thats great news

trying now, will report back in the next couple of hours

guess who gave us a binary kernel module [edit] sorry fpp, misread your post [/edit]

will try it latter, but looks like it will make life difficult

also it gave me some clues as to how to set the VGA out port to the desired resoultion, i may need to get in touch with somene still running windows to run a test or two for me

well a quick load of the module and i get an error saying its not in the corect format

thanks for playing try againg next time

anyway it disagrees on symbol struct_module, i am assuming its because i am running somthing latter than what the module expects

if they have a binary perhaps they have more. will get an email message formatted and ready to go. if there is anyone who speaks japanese who wonts to proof read it and make sure its easy to translate then feel free to post

I'll proofread it for ya.

Windows tests ? Just ask :-)

BTW, the rumored touchscreen version does exist after all.

Could you elaborate on that, fpp?
(EDIT: Full specs (courtesy of conics.net) HERE. Costs about 902$, whilst the non-touchscreen models cost about $769.)

Anyways, what's the general consensus on this one? Is it good, or more importantly, is it worth the money?

I'm pretty sure that it has enough horsepower to handle general tasks (office & internet), but what about multimedia? How's the 3D performance (I'm not talking about anything recent, but more like Quake 1 or something like that.)?

It seems like a good device, but I've seen similar devices that are much more powerful (though more expensive, quite obviously) from Fujitsu, and some UMPCs, that are quite similar (but keyboardless).

All the info you need, pros & cons, lies in the 15+ pages of this very thread, and on Kopsis' blog. Sorry for being too lazy to sum up... plus, I own one, so I'm biased :-)

While I'm semi-tempted by the new touchscreen Kohjinsha...

But then started thinking that by the time that you get it with 1GB RAM and 100GB HD, you've now spent about the same ($1000 +/-) as what a new or refurbed Fujitsu P1610 is going for on eBay...

Granted the P1610 is slightly larger (about 1/2" wider and 1/4" deeper...) but, it has better specs and probably better build quality, right??

Of course, then I start thinking about the new Fujitsu 'McCaslin' mini-TabletPC that Intel just showed as part of their presentation.....



So, it goes....

that annoyed me when i heard the anounment, but thats what i get

anyway it plays quake 2 at native rez just fine without slowdown, you might even be able to shoe horn quake 3 on there with the graphigs turned down (i had everything enabled for quake 2, but with a hacked autoconf file)

youtube plays fine if you turn the quality to low, sits at 90% when playing

the windows tests are simple, basically i didnt leave windows on there for long and never played with the monitor

what i need to know is if you want a higher rez on the monitor output does that also put that same rez on the screen (ie if you wanted 1280x1024, is that the same rez bieng pumped out by the monitor and the lcd screen)

i assume thats the case and that you cant change them independentlly, i might point out that under linux at the moment i have the lcd at 800x600 and the VGA out downscaling the 800x600 lcd output to 640x480 (it looks bad but its ok for some things)

i am assuming at this point in time that the "video for linux" part that isnt mainline yet controls the scaling eigine. email msgs from AMD indicate that they were not concontrating on this feature or would leave it till last so its inclusion on the kohjinsha website leads me to belive that it is controlled thrugh that interface rather than presenting a second monitor output (which it cant do and would be ugly in x.org as the second one couldnt display anything)

one advantage is that the rez could be changed easily (output, not the display) althogh xrandr handels that well these days

[email]
Dir Sirs

We are a group of mobile computing enthusiast who use or mainly run linux on our devices such as the zaurus by sharp.

we noticed on your website patches for the 2.6 linux kernel for driver support of the hardware on the device. however we noticed that you provide a binary driver for the widcomm wifi chipset.

We have tried loading the module however there was not enough infomation provided to tell us which kernel it is compatibel with. after looking around online we could not find the source code to this device so that we could use the device. having the source code would be the ideal solution as we would not have to worry about the diffrent kernel virsions and which ones are compatible

we humbely ask you for accsess to the source code so that we may use wifi under linux

thank you for listining and taking our requests into consideration

Jay @#$$# on behalf of the OESF community
misc @ mydomain
[/email]

i tried to approach them in the manner i believe the are accustomed to, i am not sure if i hit the nail on the head with that one but i feel i was close, anyone good with the culture with emphasis on business deals? i think thats the aproch to take but my experince only comes from watching one to many anime (for refrence i hae gone for fudeal japan in the way i talk to them. ie talking to someone who is of higher class)

tell me if i am crazy. thats just what i think and i like to pretend i understand psychology... and spelling

i dont want to force the GPL postion in the opening rounds, i dont think that is a good way to aproch it and i am not sure about the leaglease stuff in this case, you know how the wifi companies are. i belive in this case if they felt "threatened" by the GPL they would mearly pull the drivers. i will make an offsite backup before posting of the drivers in case they pull them and we latter need the drivers

comments?

Hi Da Blitz,

I think you are approaching them correctly. Just a bit of spell checker would certainly improve your email ;-)

thanks, i thought i was going over the top.

should go to firefox 2 like i have on the kohjinsha as it has that nice spell check feature

will wait a day or two then send it off in case someone wants to comment on it

Do you need it translated or are you gonna send it in English?

not sure, i suppose translated is best but i didnt think anyone would offer (if you are willing !!)

I can do it, but I'm snowed under now... So only gonna take the time if you are serious about it. If you don't care, then just send in English.

well i did a bit more searching and found a link to someone fiddling with ndis wrapper (i belive its in french)

http://www.andesi.org/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=51281

i got the basics and it looks like he is using a kohjinsha (i searched for te serial number and the chip identifies itself tha same way, considering the lack of info i would say its only used in this product)

says ho wolud get back to them then nothing, oh well

guess its onto the email message

Yes, it's in French, but it's not about a KJS, he's grappling with a USB Wifi adapter with a Winbond chip. Maybe it's exactly the same as in the KJS though, so if the NDIS wrapper gimmick works for him it might work for us...

Want me to PM him to see if he's still around there ?

Rather than open a new thread (maybe we need a forum for people's candidates for the z-killer or next best thing), I'll put this here because it is a K-like device: The Data Evolution Corp Cathena. Too big and heavy to be a Z replacement, but pricing doesn't seem to be too bad, swivel screen and claimed to have a touch screen.

Edit: I originally linked to the wrong product page, here is the right one for Cathena CX -- thanks b_lizzard, from later post:

http://www.dataevolution.com/cathena_cx_info.htm

Edit: Apr 26 pdf news release: http://www.dataevolution.com/pdf/PR%20-%20...0CX%20Final.pdf

The spec's from LinuxDevices.com:

Key features and specifications of the Cathena CX, according to the company, include:

* Processor -- AMD Geode LX800, clocked at 500MHz
* Memory -- 512MB SDRAM, expandable to 1GB
* Storage -- built-in 40, 80, or 100GB hard drive
* Display:
o 7-inch TFT WVGA (800 x 480) LCD
* User input devices:
o Passive matrix touch-screen
o Built-in touch pad
o QWERTY keyboard
o 5-way directional joystick
* Wireless:
o Integrated 802.11b/g WiFi
o Bluetooth 2.0+ with EDR
* Audio:
o Built in stereo speakers
o Audio in/out jacks
o Volume control
* Other input/output ports:
o Ethernet
o 2 x USB 2.0
o VGA video out (max. 1600x1200)
* Memory card reader (SD/MMC/MS/CF)
* Power -- Li-Ion battery, approx. 5 hours operation
* Size -- 8.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches (218 x 163 x 25.4mm)
* Weight -- 2.2 lbs (990g)

Availability

The Cathena CX is currently available with a choice of Windows XP (Home or Pro) or Windows XP Embedded, and is priced from $799 (depending on options).

That Cathena it's the Kohjinsha+touchscreen, but for an unknown reason they changed the name.

It looks cheaper, though. And also, better support.

if you colud PM him that would be great, might as well ask him if its the KJS, you never know

oh well if no one has any comments on the email i will send it off tomorrow

just noticed that thats a diffrent company offering the Cathena.

things could get intreseting

What am I missing? At the link you provided, which seems to be the company that makes it, it says that it has a 12" non-touch-screen. I assume that the linux devices information is for a different computer.

My bad .... the Apr 26 pdf news release on the same site has the right 7 in screen.

http://www.dataevolution.com/pdf/PR%20-%20...0CX%20Final.pdf

I'll update the original post.

The product page for the Cathena CX is here.

- Omigod! I'm DYIN'

Actually I did so right away without waiting for your answer. He's been posting to that forum recently, we'll see if he gets back to me...

Well, looks like angelv over at http://angel-de-vicente.blogspot.com/ managed to get the binary Kohjinsha WiFi driver working with RH4. He's promised details soon

I see he's also started a SA1 Users mailing list on Google Groups (http://groups.google.com/group/kohjinsha-sa1f00-users). Probably a good idea ... seems odd that right now one of the most active English SA1 discussions is buried on a Zaurus forum

I keep saying this should be a mobilty fourm dedicated to linux, there are other mobility fourms out there but they are all windows witha linux fourm that gets 2 posts a year

still i think i will be signing up to that list

as a side note, been having problems with S3 suspend, the other day i noticed it turns on at random. i did some thinking while in bed and as soon as i thought of it the thing turned on by itself

i didnt know there was a telepathy module in there, i will have to check lsusb again

anyway, seems you cant disable "turn on from S3 when lid is opened" which i find anoying as a slight twist of the screen can turn the thing on without anyone noticing (supprising how long that battery lasts when playing mp3s/doing nothing, it defitattly gets 5 hours and i think i can push it to 6 hours)

final note is that acpitool -B gives you how much battery capacity the thing has in its battery pack (in miliwattts) as well as its current consumption in mW's

lcd off, and playing mp3s/ doing nothing it draws 420mW, screen on 550mW, battery capacity on mine is 2550mW fully charged (it tells me its rated at 2540mW but charged to higher )

I'm in that list real soon too

I am mostly running windows on mine and almost never power down. I just put it on standby and am quite sure that at least a couple of times it randomly turned itself back on. I have noticed some bios upgrades on the Kohjinsha site. On another note, I would hate to see this discussion leave. I know this is an oe site and all that but this information is useful in an overall sense even though it is not specific to the Z. I think we should ask to have a 'Mobility Linux' section added to this site or the tyrannozaurus site.

I noticed that the Cathena appeared on linuxdevices, so I told them it was already around as the Kohjinsha, and pointed them here.

Welcome, LinuxDevices.com readers!

http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS2032212006.html

i wasent too sure if they picked up on that or not

however they do mention the company thats selling them in the us is linux friendly which is good. however all the hard work has been done for them. the hardware design is great in that its os independent. i mean the backlight, touchpad and pointer should all work under dos if you gave it a go

its only the wifi

just noticed the llatest openbsd release had a whole lot of support for the LX chip and its companion (ie this laptop) including the IDE chipset and the AES crypto engine

migh be worth giving it a shot as i am getting some wierd file system coruptoin (must not play with hdparm)

Has anyone tried using external CF wifi cards that they use with their Zauri?
I am asking because apparently the built-in usb wifi is not working well under Linux and as I found out it is most likely not supported in wifi wardriving software like NetStumbler or AiroPeek/AirMagnet.
I am considering purchasing the touch screen model on my trip to Singapore in the end of the month , but having wardriving capabilities is important to me and if internal card is not supported then at least being able to do it with my Ambicom card that serves me so well with my Z.

The Kohjinsha has a Type I CF card slot see specs.
A wireless CF card is too wide (Type II) and will not fit in the slot.

Actually, the slot is wide enough, but they have put in some bumpers that prevent you from inserting anything wider than a regular CF card.

I don't know if a wireless card would work in it if those bumpers were removed, but I'm sure doing that would void the warranty.

Someone should check it out (but not me)

Actually, most CF WiFi cards I've used are Type 1. The only Type 2 CF "card" I've seen is my 4G microdrive. I don't have any of my WiFi cards handy (the beauty of the SA1 is that I don't have to carry all that junk around any more) but I did find an old wired ethernet CF card and when I plugged it in, Windows detected it and prompted me to install drivers. I didn't try to go any farther than that (since I know this particular card is broken), but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work.

Now, whether Linux running on the SA1 would see it may be another matter, but I believe a few posts back that someone (Da Blitz?) determined that the CF slot was being handled as PCMCIA just like it is on the Zaurus.

My CF memory cards all go in the slot just fine, as does my wired ethernet CF card.
My wireless CF card is too wide and will not go into the slot, but it fits perfectly in my Zaurus.

My ambicom wireless card goes in fine and is recognized, have not tried it with linux yet.

cycle_55

my netgear wifi card works fine, detected and worked

Then my wireless card must be the oddball.
It works great in my Zaurus, though.