Messages

1

Zaurus - Hardware discussion / Re: C1000, C3xxx: is the PXAfb/LCD 16bpp?

« on: July 11, 2025, 04:52:13 pm »

Code: [Select]

mykboot-v5-r30_modified $ make run
mykboot_init ...
fb_init_mode_set()
Switching to 32bpp mode ...failure
Switching to 24bpp mode ...failure
Switching to 18bpp mode ...failure
Switching to 15pp mode ...failure
Switching to 16bpp mode ...success
angle = 90 detected
fb_init_geometry_set(): 480 640 16

That's compatible with what I observe from ioctrl 

2

Zaurus - Hardware discussion / C1000, C3xxx: is the PXAfb/LCD 16bpp?

« on: July 02, 2025, 05:41:39 pm »

Only consider 640x480: is the PXAfb/LCD 16bit per pixel? RGB565?
doesn't it support 8 bit per color? RGB888?
doesn't it support 6 bit per color? RGB666?

I wrote a framebuffer application, from my testing, it seems 16bpp only.

Is it correct?

3

Zaurus - Hardware discussion / Re: C3000 can't update when the microdrive is missing

« on: June 25, 2025, 10:08:08 am »

I guess the simplest way to fix this is to by editing the update.sh script to remove the need for the microdrive. The file itself is encoded with a simple character substitution algorithm, here's a simple program to encode/decode it: endecsh.c at the bottom of this page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160505230130/http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~rimemoon/zaurus/memo_008.htm

Code: [Select]

### Check model ###
/sbin/writerominfo
MODEL=`cat /proc/deviceinfo/product`
case "$MODEL" in
    SL-B500|SL-5600)
        ZAURUS='poodle'
        ;;
    SL-6000)
        ZAURUS='tosa'
        ;;
    SL-C1000)
        ZAURUS='akita'
        ;;
    SL-C700|SL-C750|SL-7500|SL-C760|SL-C860)
        ZAURUS='c7x0'
        ;;
    SL-C3000|SL-C3100|SL-C3200)
        ZAURUS='c3x00'
        check_for_hdd
        check_for_tar
        ;;
    *)
        echo 'MODEL: '$MODEL 'is unsupported'
        echo ''
        echo 'Please reset'
        while true
        do
        done
        ;;
esac

I wonder what the point is in coding a script that absurdly...
In any case, this is where it probes for the microdrive.

4

Zaurus - Other distros support / Re: it looks like a dead forum, is it just a bad moment or is it really dead?

« on: June 20, 2025, 05:28:20 am »

Yes, the Zaurus section of the forum unfortunately has a very low activity since many years, which is expected since only the SL-5500 and SL-6000 models were sold outside Japan. I still have my collection of Zauruses and switch them on from time to time, I read the posts here with interest.
I suspect there are other users following the various threads but they never answer. We have a views counter for each thread, there are between 5000 and 19000 views for each of them, though most of them are be probably made by bots. I prefer to keep the subforums open for read-only access for non-registered users, so that it's easier for Google to index the pages and make the information here more accessible.
Other users that have posted here in the past are probably following this subforum. To any of you, please post here so that we can have a rough idea of how many of us are here.

Varti

But C1000? C3xxx?

I wonder what's the point of reading without ever replying 
I've opened several topics, with zero interest, I'm developing a bootloader, and I've written about this thing, again with zero interest.
I've asked for patches, and I've had no answers, I've asked about the microdrive, explaining the matter well, and I've had no answers.

I mean, frankly, it's so bloody frustrating this way ...

5

Zaurus - Other distros support / it looks like a dead forum, is it just a bad moment or is it really dead?

« on: June 20, 2025, 03:51:13 am »

From what I see the interest in Zaurus is very low, weeks without posts, is there anyone still here?

6

Zaurus - Hardware discussion / C3000 can't update when the microdrive is missing

« on: May 16, 2025, 09:13:34 am »

hi
I am developing my own bootloader, supporting
- C1000
- C3000

yesterday I prepared an SD card
- PC partition FAT16
- mkfs.fat

then I copied
- update.sh
- zImage <----- my application

I followed the instruction to enter the Sharp Menu.
As result:
- C1000 perfectly flashed, now it boots my bootloader
- C3000 says it can't update anything "because the microdrive is missing". No option.

I removed the microdrive because it was faulty, the C3K is designed to boot completely from the SD card. I still need to find and buy a replacement for the internal MD.

It's absurd that update.sh refuses to flash because the microdrive is missing ...

Any workarounds?

7

Zaurus - Void Linux support / Re: who is working on the Zaurus Kernel?

« on: May 14, 2025, 10:17:50 am »

I know there is a JTAG interface inside the PXA270 SoC.
I don't know if it is connected to a PDA connector.

Any doc?

8

Zaurus - Void Linux support / Re: who is working on the Zaurus Kernel?

« on: May 14, 2025, 08:51:38 am »

In particular, I'm trying to figure out what problems there are with

• Flash on Zaurus -> can I erase everything and use the Zaurus Flash (C1K, C3K) for my stuff?
• Suspend/Resume
• PowerCharge
• PowerManagement
• TouchScreen -> too noisy on a SDL application I wrote to take notes -> should I put a software filter into its kernel module?!?
• USB, why is it so slow?!? I get ~1Mbyte/sec on a 10/100Mbps USB-NIC ---> it's not USB2, but rather USB1?!?

I also found a Russian forum that was about Gentoo/Zaurus around 2009.
I see patches for kernels 2.6.22 and later.

9

Zaurus - Void Linux support / Re: who is working on the Zaurus Kernel?

« on: May 14, 2025, 08:42:41 am »

p.s.
wrote a nice tool to automagically get stuff from an internet url, even recursively

Code: [Select]

macmini2-intel irc # echo "https://logs.nslu2-linux.org/livelogs/kexecboot/" > url
macmini2-intel irc # myNET-get-files-from-url url
list_preparing1, getting index.html ... success
preparing /list ... done
downloading [kexecboot_20110601.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110602.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110603.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110604.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110605.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110606.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110607.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110608.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110609.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110610.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110611.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110612.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110613.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110614.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110615.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110616.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110617.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110618.txt] ... success
downloading [kexecboot_20110619.txt] ... success

I take this opportunity to test it 

10

Zaurus - Void Linux support / Re: who is working on the Zaurus Kernel?

« on: May 14, 2025, 08:39:15 am »

thanks!

I am working on a low level bootloader, plus kernel stuff.
Need info, I can't find around.

I will wget and search into logs

11

Zaurus - Void Linux support / who is working on the Zaurus Kernel?

« on: May 12, 2025, 12:50:37 pm »

hi
is there a mailing list or something to discuss the kernel development? patch? etc
is there still interest?

let me know.
D.

12

For Sale / Wanted / Wanted: TRENDnet TE-CF100, CompactFlash 10/100 Mbps Fast-Ethernet

« on: May 10, 2025, 05:29:54 pm »

HI
I need it for the development of Zaurus C3K
Let me know if you have one for sale.
Thanks

13

Zaurus - Arch Linux ARM support / Re: Update: C1000 / Akita support

« on: May 02, 2025, 02:03:51 pm »

Another thing: I know Xscale can "scale" the CPU frequency.
Can the Linux Kernel reduce the clock frequency at run-time?
It is useful to extend the battery usage time

if I use the PDA to write with { GNU/Nano, VIM, ... }
I do not need 400Mhz, I can very well work at 200Mhz

14

Zaurus - Arch Linux ARM support / Re: Update: C1000 / Akita support

« on: May 02, 2025, 02:03:21 pm »

I would like to comment on the lines of kernel code that activate the suspension when the power/on button is pressed.
to prevent the PDA/Akita from crashing if accidentally pressed

Code: [Select]

disable apm_queue_event() on key_suspend
--- drivers/input/apm-power.c.original  2025-05-02 17:58:24.140000000 -0000
+++ drivers/input/apm-power.c   2025-05-02 17:58:23.788000000 -0000
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 {
        switch (keycode) {
        case KEY_SUSPEND:
-               apm_queue_event(APM_USER_SUSPEND);
+               // apm_queue_event(APM_USER_SUSPEND);
                pr_info("Requesting system suspend...\n");
                break;
        default:


15

Zaurus - Arch Linux ARM support / Re: Update: C1000 / Akita support

« on: May 02, 2025, 02:02:32 pm »

Code: [Select]

macmini2-intel kernel-5.4.229-arm-akita # ./mybuild-2024 2
[step2] compiling
kernel-5.4.229(arm/zaurus-akita)
| vanilla + patches from Void
| status:
|  boots(from SD)
|  boots(from CF-microdrive)
|  usb-lan DM9601 works
|  suspend
|    failure on c1k
|    success on c3k
|  irda/raw serial, added, to be tested
toolchain(armv5tel-softfloat-linux-gnueabi:2.40.0/12)
-----------------------------------------------
checking myhost as qualified_host ... success
checking .config ... success
checking blobs ... success
-----------------------------------------------
gadget_to_do(build) ... overlay/build
cleaning ............... done
gadget_to_do(clean) ... kernel/clean
building kernel ... success
-----------------------------------------------
gadget_to_do(binary) ... overlay/binary
gadget_to_do(sweep) ... kernel/sweep
app_body    =kernel.zImage
app_size    =5003576 byte
app_size_max=6000000 byte
checking size ... passed
gadget_to_do(binary_report) ... overlay/binary_report
macmini2-intel kernel-5.4.229-arm-akita #

that's how I compile kernels for all the platforms I support, mainly MIPS, POWERPC and HPPA2.
I wrote a "builder" in bash-scripting + C/89, to help managing patches, configuration, and checks

Every build comes with a "profile", which tells about

• the toolchain, with constraints on the min and max versions of binutils and gcc
• the ecosystem (it's called "qualified machines", can also be a chroot, or a container), to ensure you are using the right setup, at least "tested"
• the final size of the kernel
• the final file-format { uboot, elf, bin, zImage, ... }
• etc...

Code: [Select]

checking .config ... success

Here, it checks a file in ensures that the .config contains options considered "essential", and that it does not contain options considered "to be avoided"

Code: [Select]

macmini2-intel kernel-5.4.229-arm-akita # cat profile/config_check.list
CONFIG_PANIC_TIMEOUT                 # without this, panic() loops forever

CONFIG_USB_NET_DM9601                # Davicom DM9601 USBv1.1 10/100 Ethernet NIC

not CONFIG_CMDLINE_FROM_BOOTLOADER     # do not allow the bootloader to pass cmdline
CONFIG_CMDLINE_FORCE                 # built-in cmdline
CONFIG_CMDLINE                       #
                                     # console=ttyS0,9600n8 console=tty1
                                     # noinitrd
                                     # root=/dev/hda2    /dev/sda2
                                     # init=/bin/bash
                                     # rootfstype=xfs ro
                                     # video=pxafb,mode:640x480-2
                                     # fbcon=rotate:1
                                     # (debug)
CONFIG_EXT2_FS
CONFIG_EXT3_FS
CONFIG_XFS_FS

CONFIG_IKCONFIG                      # save .config into /proc/config.gz

CONFIG_GPIO_PCA953X                  # set the GPIOs in Akita
....