What's The Best I Can Install?

[[IDC]Dragon]

Please excuse this noob-kindof question,

In short, I'd welcome any status info and pointers what a Simpad can do these days.

I own a simpad with Opie 0.8.something installed, did this perhaps 2 years ago (after an article in the german c't magazine) and haven't changed a bit since. I should care more about keeping it up to date, but am no Linux user elsewhere (Windows lamer, boo).

My pad is still in a state with no useful sound, some ancient opera version which was meant for a Zaurus or so, the mail client was not properly compiled back then, the power button doesn't suspend it and the other buttons are not useful either.
I'd love to have firefox or a more recent opera on it, a mail client and more stability. A JPEG browser woulb be nice, too, I tried MooView but it crashes.

A couple of days ago I read that the 2 founders (cmartin and his fellow) have *sold* their pads, the project is dead. It was pointed to some other Linux port, I forgot the name, which will support the Simpad, but it hasn't been released yet.

More speed would also be great, I vaguely remember having read that there's some display hardware accelerator which is currently unused?

I woudn't mind contributing myself (I'm an embedded software developer), in the past I haven't done so because I have close to no clue about Linux and it was said the setup of a development environment is very demanding. Are "we" perhaps benefiting from the Nokia 770, can that software run on / be ported to the Simpad?

Thanks,
Jörg

[macmanx]

First of all you get the last OpenSimpad 0.9.1 Version from opensimpad.org, and also all the information you need to upgrade the bootloader....

http://opensimpad.org/opensimpad-forum/viewtopic.php?t=835

if you install the new bootloader you can then easily try different distributions with a compact flash card in the pcmcia slot....

like familiar 0.8.3 ( OPIE or GPE image)

http://familiar.handhelds.org/snapshots/v0.8.3/RC2/unsorted/

you need the jffs2 image.

there should also be a new Angstrom distro with Simpad support, but there is nothing released yet afaik...

I'll try the Familiar release tomorrow.... to see whats going on there

If you want to contribute, you should also check

http://oe.handhelds.org/

to get a development environment up and running...

I am just a stupid JAVA developer, nothing to do with this kind of stuff ;-)

macmanx

[[IDC]Dragon]

Many thanks for the initial pointers!

edit 3:
Bootloader update with serload failed on my PC, worked on the notebook.
Familiar "opie-image-simpad-20060129104230.rootfs.jffs2" was bitching alot, but seems to run. Looks different!

Now I'd need Firefox (struggling with Opera ipk). Where would I find that? The builtin email client didn't connect to GMX, but that could well be my fault.

Hardware support seems rather unchanged, still some noise (and only until resumed) instead of sound, the buttons don't navigate, power button does no suspend.

Speaking of Java: Can the Simpad execute Java applets?

Jörg