Author Topic: Possible New Zaurus Kernel For Oe (Read 18754 times)

Mickeyl · « **Reply #15 on:** April 03, 2005, 08:02:58 pm »

It means that the 2.4 kernel for collie will stagnate, since no one is doing any work on that. It also means that 2.6 for collie will sooner or later be available and then you can choose whether to stick with 2.4 and SD or with 2.6 without SD.

JohnKiniston · « **Reply #16 on:** April 04, 2005, 01:17:30 am »

I cant really see the use for a kernel without SD support on my 5500, Being stuck with only the rom or a ramdisk for storage when using WIFI or Bluetooth wouldnt be any fun.

Maybe its time for me to Upgrade to a newer Zaurus.

lardman · « **Reply #17 on:** April 04, 2005, 05:05:34 am »

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Being stuck with only the rom or a ramdisk for storage when using WIFI or Bluetooth wouldnt be any fun.

MMC?

Si

Mickeyl · « **Reply #18 on:** April 04, 2005, 05:15:45 am »

To clarify: No SD on collie means also no MMC. It's the hardware that we can't access, not the protocol.

allanjard · « **Reply #19 on:** April 04, 2005, 11:23:41 am »

Is there someone at Sharp that we can send e-mails to to ask them to release the information about collie's mmc/sd chip set? Why won't they release it - does anyone know?

A

Mickeyl · « **Reply #20 on:** April 04, 2005, 12:48:57 pm »

There are no contacts to Sharp Japan. In the past, they didn't release the code because of the SD Consortium license not allowing that. Since then, those legal issues have been sorted out (ironically, mostly thanks to Microsoft).

So - the only hindering issue for releaseing the SD and CameraCard source code is...

*** drumroll ***

they don't need to.

Sharp never released a single bit more data than they needed to. I don't expect this to change.

weasel123 · « **Reply #21 on:** April 04, 2005, 12:54:20 pm »

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To clarify: No SD on collie means also no MMC. It's the hardware that we can't access, not the protocol.
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Surely it cant be using such a non standard chipset, there is bound to be some other device which usesthe same chipset to which a driver has already been written?

Mickeyl · « **Reply #22 on:** April 04, 2005, 05:14:09 pm »

?

Sharp is a large company, they design and produce custom chips for their own needs.

weasel123 · « **Reply #23 on:** April 04, 2005, 07:19:33 pm »

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?

Sharp is a large company, they design and produce custom chips for their own needs.
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Yes , it appears that the cipset is a propriotory sharp chip, my above statement was made because i thought that maybe the chipset could have been done by some other manufacturer and that the chip would have been used for some other hardware and that a driver maybe available for it But i now see that we most probably will be stuck with the 2.4.18 rmk thing after all As it is unlikely that anyone will reverse engineer it either.

allanjard · « **Reply #24 on:** April 05, 2005, 04:25:30 am »

Time to start saving for a new Zaurus I guess...

jfm3 · « **Reply #25 on:** April 06, 2005, 10:48:20 am »

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Time to start saving for a new Zaurus I guess...
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Don't throw good money after bad.

Is the old driver a kernel module? Can we wrap it with code that will allow it to work with 2.6? It would be an ugly hack to be sure, but better than nothing. These 5x00s really are useless without the extra SD storage.

lardman · « **Reply #26 on:** April 06, 2005, 11:23:26 am »

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Can we wrap it with code that will allow it to work with 2.6?

http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/ker...311.0/0763.html

Not hopeful. That said, I don't know enough about it to make a judgement (but I'm sure I've read some posts about this on this forum before now).

Si

nilch · « **Reply #27 on:** April 06, 2005, 11:40:31 am »

Ok, here a question from an absolute user view perspective ....

All this talk about 2.4 vs 2.6 kernel (and the aoompanying SD access problems) has gotten me confused.

What are the advantages (tangible) of using a newer Kernel 2.6 over the older ones ?
What new features do the Zaurus users get - vis-vis extra functional applications, additional protocols, new features, speed, performance etc ?

If there is no such benefits (apart from the excitement of a brand new cutting edge kernel) , I dont see why a user would really care - particularly if I had to sacrifice the SD card slot totally.

Just want to see the light

jfm3 · « **Reply #28 on:** April 06, 2005, 02:08:28 pm »

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What are the advantages (tangible) of using a newer Kernel 2.6 over the older ones ?
What new features do the Zaurus users get - vis-vis extra functional applications, additional protocols, new features, speed, performance etc ?
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PROS:

Faster kernel performance, smaller context switching overhead, better real-time response, better scheduler, more scheduler features.

More perhipheral device support. fewer bugs in the periperals supported by 2.4, better CF bus utilization.

More modularization. Smaller kernel footprint -- crucial for "embedded" applications.

Fewer bugs. Fewer security holes.

Better kernel interfaces for applications (ALSA, VFS, etc.).

Crucial file system features.

CONS:

Does not make minesweeper any more enjoyable.

nilch · « **Reply #29 on:** April 06, 2005, 02:57:49 pm »

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Quote
What are the advantages (tangible) of using a newer Kernel 2.6 over the older ones ?
What new features do the Zaurus users get - vis-vis extra functional applications, additional protocols, new features, speed, performance etc ?
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PROS:

More perhipheral device support. fewer bugs in the periperals supported by 2.4, better CF bus utilization.

By more peripheral support how does that translate for the Zaurus ?
Maybe for the USB host machines I can plug in USB Cameras, DVD Drives, USB Coffeemaker etc ? What about non-USB devices - theres just SD which anyways is not being supported in the new kernel, and CF devices which I understand require drivers - does that come with the Kernel ?

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More modularization. Smaller kernel footprint -- crucial for "embedded" applications.

Will it make my Zaurus boot faster and be more responsive - I like that.

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Fewer bugs. Fewer security holes.

Not that I cared about security holes in my Zaurus or the root user issue anyways.
What existing bugs will be resolved ?

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Crucial file system features.

Does that mean new file systems (I think we already had that with various flavours of the ROM) or just better features - like what ?

Dont get the impression I am dissing the new Kernel thing - just want to get to know specifics - related to the Zaurus - not general Kernel 2.6 improvements - most of which are topical to server and desktop systems.

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CONS:

Does not make minesweeper any more enjoyable.
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So which experince of a general Zaurus PDA user is more enjoyable ?
I would think if it provided newer bluetooth support and better profiles, better video or audio support features and all that - which translates to some differenrce in trhe user experience - than that is substantial.

Again its all I am questioning from the user point of view - not the geeky "use- bleeding-edge-even-numbered-kernel-release-versions-get-thrill-and-gratification" point of view.

News:

Author Topic: Possible New Zaurus Kernel For Oe (Read 18754 times)