Messages

1

Gemini PDA - Sailfish OS / Sailfish Ending Kernel 3.x Support / Sauna 4.6.0 Release Last for Gemini PDA

« on: April 12, 2024, 07:53:33 pm »

As per recent announcement the upcoming Sauna 4.6.0 release will be the last update for kernel 3.x based devices.
The list of devices affected includes the Gemini PDA.

This follows the restructuring of Jolla:
https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/sailfish-community-news-30th-november-jolla-reborn/17473.
https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/release-notes-struven-ketju-4-5-0-eula-update/18127
https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/sailfish-community-news-22nd-february-2024-4-6-0-update/18022
 

• 4.5.0 EULA update enables us to provide Sauna SW release as over-the-air update for all currently supported devices (Jolla C, Jolla Tablet, Gemini PDA, Xperia X, Xperia XA2, Xperia 10, Xperia 10 II, and Xperia 10 III)
• stopping selling new licenses for older devices on the Jolla Shop 96
• The 4.6.0 Sauna would be the final release for older devices (Jolla C, Jolla Tablet, Gemini PDA, Xperia X)
• SW releases after the 4.6.0 Sauna release will only be available for devices that we support through the Jolla Shop

2

Zaurus - Other distros support / Re: Connecting SL-6000 to PC running Linux Kernel 3/4/5

« on: August 15, 2023, 05:43:03 am »

The patch has been added to the 4.19.291, 5.4.253, 5.10.190, 5.15.126, 6.1.45, and 6.4.10 kernels, so future Linux distros and kernel upgrades should support USB networking again for the SL-A300, 5600, and C700 models.

Thats great news. Good to see the kernel team still accepting patches for this platform!
Can you confirm if you build any 5.10 - 6.4.10 kernels for these models including your patch and / or any other patches ?
I have not looked into it for a while, but the last kernel building fine for Cxx00 series was 5.4 branch with some ugly patches.
I got a C700 now and would be keen to know if any of these kernels you mention build fine and what works and what not...

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For Sale / Wanted / Re: [WANTED] Zaurus for Development

« on: April 17, 2023, 04:10:25 am »

Just out of courtesy, I want to give big thanks to Steward-Fu for the generous donation I received late last year!

4

Zaurus - Arch Linux ARM support / Re: ARMv5 support dropped in Arch Linux ARM

« on: April 17, 2023, 03:46:29 am »

Not really, at least not all packages. Its quite a bit of work, not to mention the compile times / power usage.
Hence the void linux port, that focuses only on the packages that make sense for the Zaurus platform and as well those requested by the community.
Debian does still offer an armv5tel option I think, but I have not used it for a decade, so I do not want to comment on performance & usability.
But I can confirm another user had success using a recent void kernel with the debian rootfs.

5

Zaurus - Void Linux support / Re: Alpha Testing - Netsurf Browser

« on: April 17, 2023, 02:34:00 am »

Hi CommanderB.

Great, thanks for that. Is that a static build binary? How does gomokus perform on the zaurus ?
I can add gomokus to the next voidz feed perhaps. There is a pull request for void that may help building it https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/pull/42646

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Zaurus - Arch Linux ARM support / Re: ARMv5 support dropped in Arch Linux ARM

« on: March 24, 2023, 03:08:01 am »

just for reference, does anyone got some mirror links ?
tardis and yatli are dead  :'(

7

Zaurus - Other distros support / Re: Linux kernel version 6 support

« on: March 24, 2023, 02:53:26 am »

Hey, just an update.

I did find minimal time to play with 6.2 kernel and basic device tree earlier this year, but it would not boot for me.
It seems I may need to debug the platform code on 6.1 first, to get it to boot, before using 6.2+ as some code already was dropped that may have impact on the Zaurus series.
While I had not the time to dig much deeper yet, I came across these :

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.4-PCMCIA-Char-Dropping
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.4-CardBus-USB-Dropping

Looking further, it does impact Zaurus:
https://lore.kernel.org/all/Y07d7rMvd5++85BJ@owl.dominikbrodowski.net/

While the  PXA PCMCIA driver is not yet to be purged and marked as + (eg may stay) it still an indicator of whats to come:

+ PCMCIA_PXA2XX - pxa2xx_base.c pxa2xx_base.h pxa2xx_mainstone.c pxa2xx_sharpsl.c : bugfix in 2016

Wireless CF cards typically used by Zaurus already have a [-] (eg get removed if no maintainers found):

[-] drivers/net/wireless/intersil/hostap/hostap_cs.c      no specific activity since tree reorganization 2015
[-] drivers/net/wireless/intersil/orinoco/orinoco_cs.c      no specific activity since tree reorganization 2015
[-] drivers/net/wireless/intersil/orinoco/spectrum_cs.c      no specific activity since tree reorganization 2015
[-] drivers/net/wireless/marvell/libertas/if_cs.c              no specific activity since tree reorganization 2015

Long story short, while it looks like there is not much userbase anymore and I am on my own to keep this platform alive, I have not yet caved in, but with the extra pressure mounting to support / maintain extra stuff to keep it usuable (eg PCMCIA and cards), its getting beyond not only my very limited spare time to dedicate to this, but also my skill set as well.

So anyone keen to keep this stuff in the kernel, may pitch it to the kernel mailing list 
I still have some laptops with CardBus and PCMCIA and I expect others have too, but it will be seen if kernel support is to remain on the long run..
Good News is 6.1 is a LTS and if we get it to boot on Zaurus we should be good for some time to come, but the writing is clearly on the wall....

Cheers,
Greg

8

New products and alternatives / Re: MNT Pocket Reform

« on: March 24, 2023, 02:39:45 am »

The crowdfunding started last week on this model. https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/pocket-reform
I was playing with the thought of getting one, just because its odd and has a M2 WWAN slot.
but.. I can not get myself to spend so much for a device that is so slow and chunky.
Not sure.. anyone made the decision to get one ?

9

Zaurus - Void Linux support / Re: Alpha Testing - Netsurf Browser

« on: February 02, 2023, 03:57:57 am »

Hey greguu I'm planning to give this a go at some stage.
Couple of questions:

Can your images run in qemu-system-arm?
Do you have pxaregs installed?

Kexecboot seems to screw up my Zaurus ability to use gadget ethernet (g_ether) to be useful.

Thanks,

Dan

For reference as mentioned in IRC: #oesf @ oftc.net

qemu works reasonably well, but best to test on actual hardware.
pxaregs are not included in any voidz repo, but can be added if needed.
USB gadget mode was broken for ages, but was fixed last year thanks to yatli. Fix was for 5.4 kernel and will be included in next build.

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Zaurus - Void Linux support / Re: Alpha Testing - Netsurf Browser

« on: January 19, 2023, 03:51:02 am »

I forgot to mention the loading and rendering of websites is impressively "fast". . .

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Zaurus - Void Linux support / Alpha Testing - Netsurf Browser

« on: January 19, 2023, 01:54:06 am »

Hi everyone,

a while back I did an experimental build of a very basic test image for voidz that included the Netsurf Browser, running in framebuffer mode, rotated and with touch screen support. This voidz image does not have a package feed and is only for testing, so run it of a SD card.

And I need some testers.  Constructive feedback is welcome and will aid building a new voidz rootfs for the Zaurus series.

https://github.com/greguu/voidz-mklive/releases/tag/v0.4



Cheers,
Greg

12

Zaurus - Other distros support / Re: Linux kernel version 6 support

« on: January 16, 2023, 01:13:12 am »

Just back out of the holidays and I stumbled across this commit (2023 Spring Cleaning). https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/soc/soc.git/commit/?h=for-next&id=94ac29dc59d029c6ff61509e3b58fa0beb1f2966

While not unexpected, it is still sad to see such a large amount of unmaintained ARM SoC's getting purged.

The good news is the Cxx00 series (Akita/Spitz/Borzoi) is to remain within linux 6.2 and this gives again some time to move them to device tree, or at least assist in the process of it and do some testing.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that Corgi, Tosa and Poodle are marked as to be removed. I just got a Corgi donated :\

It would be a good idea to move the discussion into the #oesf IRC channel on oftc.net to work out some plan / project / work load sharing for those with some experience in kernel development and device tree. Leave a post below if you like to join the effort.

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Zaurus - Other distros support / Re: Linux kernel version 6 support

« on: November 03, 2022, 11:33:32 pm »

Everyone is waiting for @yatli to join the party

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For Sale / Wanted / Re: [WANTED] Zaurus for Development

« on: November 03, 2022, 11:31:00 pm »

Thanks Steward, I did respond via PM to your offer. Please get back to me via PM.

Note: Also big thanks to Varti for donating a C1000 and C3000 recently !!   

15

Zaurus - Other distros support / Re: Linux kernel version 6 support

« on: August 11, 2022, 10:39:13 pm »

Great initiative.. perhaps some are interested to join the IRC channel for collaboration on this effort... ?