OESF Portables Forum

General Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: jim-in-baltimore on February 09, 2005, 11:42:58 pm

Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: jim-in-baltimore on February 09, 2005, 11:42:58 pm
The new clio NXT (due in April if not vaporware) is an Intel PXA255 400MHz machine w/ 800x600 graphics & touch screen.  Not sure the screen is as nice as the Zaurus 6000, but, it will enjoy better support.

Anyone want to hazard a guess whether the zaurus library can be made to run on it.

See http://www.dataevolution.com/productsClioNxt.php (http://www.dataevolution.com/productsClioNxt.php) for details.
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: Merardon on February 10, 2005, 12:04:14 am
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Pre-installed Operating System

Microsoft Windows CE.NET 4.2 Professional

Not unless someone puts Qtopia/Opie or a Qtopia/Opie emulator (if such a thing even existed) on it. That is a great looking machine though (in my opinion), never seen any of the Clio models before. If someone puts Linux on it it will be on my To Buy list.
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: BarryW on February 10, 2005, 01:41:38 am
I think there was a spot for the old ones at handhelds.org.  Can't really rember.  I really like the design, played with one when I was down in Anchorage about 5 or 6 years ago.
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: Merardon on February 10, 2005, 10:35:34 am
Can't seem to find the page there. This made me laugh though, under the Wearable (http://www.handhelds.org/geeklog/links.php?category=Wearable) section.
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IBM Linux Wris*censored*ch
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: B_Lizzard on February 10, 2005, 11:41:49 am
I was looking into "Linux on Windows CE HPCs" and not many projects came up.Most where abandoned but I think I found one that was still going.I'll try to post a link here once I find it once again.

What is the big deal with porting linux for WinCE? Is it THAT difficult? Most hardware are the same, and as a plus, Pocket PC is based on CE so most of the work has already been done.

The Clio NXT looks nice but it's quite big (Well, subnotebook big).The screen is 10", pretty good, but at 800x600(Thats all the Xscale can handle).Could do better with more RAM and/or ROM, and a pxa 270 at higher speeds instaid of the 255.

Nice device, though.
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: Merardon on February 10, 2005, 01:52:08 pm
I think it's because everything has seemed to move to Windows Mobile, and WinCE is rather rare now, in my experience. I don't play new computer game, and I'm not so incredibly impatient that I can't stand lower speeds, so the specifications don't concern me, it's the looks of it. Not to say I wouldn't prefer something more powerful, but for me, that isn't the primary focus.
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: jim-in-baltimore on February 10, 2005, 10:58:24 pm
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...so the specifications don't concern me, it's the looks of it. Not to say I wouldn't prefer something more powerful, but for me, that isn't the primary focus.
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The NXT looks to me like a nice combination of tablet entry, screen resolution (for pdf reading), and long battery life (I'm guessing 8-10 hours).  I was even thinking this would make a nice add-on for my zaurus.    The athlon tablets I was looking at were $1400+, and, price matters to me .  The ability to run some of the apps that the zaurus enjoys, instead of getting nickeled-and-dimed to death for inferior software, would really add value too.  

I'm still waiting to hear how vaporous this product is.   I suppose if it catches on, OE will get a port.
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: kopsis on February 11, 2005, 07:57:48 am
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What is the big deal with porting linux for WinCE? Is it THAT difficult? Most hardware are the same...
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No, actually most hardware is not the same. Memory maps, GPIO assignments, keyboards, displays, touchscreens, storage interfaces, external interrupts all change from device to device. Porting an OS is not like porting an application. You have to know every detail of how the hardware is designed. Most vendors won't share that information so that means reverse engineering.

On top of that, getting an OS to run on a new platform without access to tools like JTAG emulators (which can tell you what the CPU is doing before you have working software) can be very time consuming. And even those of us who do have access to $6000 JTAG emulators can't use them for such an effort since the required interface is usually designed out when a board is re-spun for production.

No offense, but people who have never done an OS port really need to go off and try it before telling those of us who have how easy it should be
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: adf on February 11, 2005, 05:46:55 pm
I think the ideas on porting oses come from the ease with which desktop (i386) boxes can be loaded with different systems, btw.
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: ev1l on February 15, 2005, 12:26:19 pm
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I think the ideas on porting oses come from the ease with which desktop (i386) boxes can be loaded with different systems, btw.
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Sure, but the difficulty comes mainly from the closed architectures, I think
Title: Will The New Clio Nxt Run Zaurus Software
Post by: DaveAnderson on February 15, 2005, 01:39:55 pm
10" screen is just too big.  I want, well, a pocket pc, which is exactly what the Z is.  The only thing I'd like on the Z is a faster processor and a slightly larger screen, so I can play and enjoy movies at full resolution.  If it had that, I'd be happy.  I can live with my WLAN card installed and I don't want a hdd - 1/2gb SD is fine by me.  But even now I'm happy and I'm now going to start playing with converting some of my DVDs for Z playback.