Fixes For 3.5.4 / Tosa (6000 Models)

[Radiance]

Dear all,

I've been quite early with buying a zaurus 6000 which was a few years ago. I used it a bit in all that time but since the releases up to 3.5.4 it was not suitable for serious use. The reason as many know is that there are too many things which need to be fixed and workarounds to be applied. So i'd be spending more time on working around bugs then really feeling that i can rely on the 6000 when really using it as it was meant to be.

The hardware is excellent, just the software needs to be stable. I just tried release 3.5.4 and i must say i'm impressed, it's alot better and more stable. Yet there're still are several issue's which are IMPORTANT to be fixed. I'm an unix/linux person, with time i can probably fix a few things myself but i don't have the time for this.

In the past i already donated like 400 $ to speed up a bit the support for the 6000 and making it more stable. I've thought hard, get rid of the zaurus and buy some mininotebook which is still bigger than any zaurus or support ppl who can seriously get things fixed...so i'm going to support some one or more to do the following:

- release 3.5.4 must turn into a stable release, reliable and working at least for the 6000 , this means 3.5.4 must be so stable that ppl can fall back on it when future releases are buggy or for any reason not usable in a serious environment.

- In this topic i will gather what needs to be fixed, who is willing to fix it, when the fix is ready and the amount of $ for that persons bother.

- I invite owners of the 6000 and using/willing to use the 3.5.4 release to report what is NOT working, please provide DETAILS and DOUBLE CHECK before you report it.

Please keep in mind that i will select which fixes are important to fix and those that can wait since like most ppl here i don't have unlimited resources to pay for them all.
This brings me to another issue, if there are ppl who want to contribute in $ then this is welcomed ! The more we can financially support the person(s) who are going to fix issues and turn 3.5.4 in a solid stable release the better ! Please contact me either by email or through this board if you want to contribute and what kind of fix you need.
Ofcourse you're free to do it any other way, but this is my topic and place where i'd like things to be done with deadlines.

I've waited now a few years, but it's about time to get the full power of the 6000 going !

########## CURRENT ISSUES ###########


Remember, this is for the 6000 but fixes might apply also to others.

===>> HIGH PRIORITY ON THE GPE - IMAGE / KERNEL <<===

1. alarm doesn't work when unit is suspended (this is in GPE image)

2. wifi goes crazy when unit is suspended and then unsuspended (many posts about this) (gpe and opie)

3. selection color in gpe is too dark, this was also reported by some one.

More bugs exist and are reported to the bugtrackers, when some one picks up this challenge all the other bugs will be reviewed and shown here.

##################################################



### UPDATE 27-03-06 ###

Beside the current work on the current release, i'd like to support also the 2.6 project.

I decided to reward the person who is first to release a stable and fully working 2.6 kernel + GPE image for the 6000 models the amount of 500 $

I  would like this to happen within months, not years.

I hope other 6000 owners might jump in and also add extra $ to sponsor this. I will note them in this topic and the amount they want to add on top of the 500 $

Also i decided that the GPE-Image + kernel in this topic are my high priority. Opie doesn't matter for me anymore.

### UPDATE 29-03-06 ###

Thanks to nevarrie (+100 $) the reward for a fully working oz/gpe+2.6 kernel is now: 600 $

### UPDATE 31-03-06 ###

Thanks to jgardia (+200 $) the reward for a fully working oz/gpe+2.6 kernel is now: 800 $

Other help:

xjqian: offer his 6000W to any one who is going to take up this challenge to use it for testing and working out the details. (can miss it for up to 6 months)

### UPDATE 05-04-06 ###

Thanks to undrwater (+100$) the reward for a fully working oz/gpe+2.6 kernel is now: 900 $

[CoreDump]

The problem with tosa is that very few people in the OZ team own one.
There just aren't any devs with a tosa right now.

As you said, the device is years old but only recently the Fn+number key combination was fixed.
(I mean, lol, this is a 20-minute job at best)

1. keyboard lockups in 3.5.4 need to be fixed
see bug report here: http://bugs.openembedded.org/show_bug.cgi?id=763
(this was noticed in OPIE image but if needed please make sure this is also fixed in GPE image)

2. alarm doesn't work when unit is suspended (this is in GPE image, but please fix it for opie too if needed)

3. wifi goes crazy when unit is suspended and then unsuspended (many posts about this) (gpe and opie)

4. selection color in gpe is too dark, this was also reported by some one.

1: This happens on SL-Cxxxx, too when one presses Fn+Shift, but only then.
2: Kernel bug. It's unlikely someone could fix it without having access to the harware
AFAIK, tosa will be moved to kernel 2.6 eventually which could fix this problem
3: There is an easy workaround possible by doing ifdown $wlan with the apm scripts before suspending
and ifup $wlan on resume.
4: This is one of the bugs which would have been fixed ages ago if we had a GPE dev w/ access to a tosa

[Hrw]

Idea of sponsoring fixes sounds interesting - before 3.5.4 I worked on CFXGA card support - got donation from user of such card.

1. Hm.. this has something with a way how qt/e (used by opie) handle keyboard - currently no time to look inside of problem. If it comes also in GPE then it is strange.

2. I will provide kernel with fix which you mentioned on IRC to test - if it will help then I will rebuild tosa/3.5.4 images to give it for users by default.

3. thats probably can be resolved by unloading all usb modules on suspend and loading them on resume - Sharp shown in past that they cannot write kernel stuff in a way which will work with suspend/resume - look for those usbnet problems on 2.4 kernels

4. you mean selection color of icon titles on desktop? it is matchbox bug not gpe (but seen in gpe-image). iirc someone reported that in gpe bugtracker and in matchbox one.

[Radiance]

Idea of sponsoring fixes sounds interesting - before 3.5.4 I worked on CFXGA card support - got donation from user of such card.

1. Hm.. this has something with a way how qt/e (used by opie) handle keyboard - currently no time to look inside of problem. If it comes also in GPE then it is strange.

2. I will provide kernel with fix which you mentioned on IRC to test - if it will help then I will rebuild tosa/3.5.4 images to give it for users by default.

3. thats probably can be resolved by unloading all usb modules on suspend and loading them on resume - Sharp shown in past that they cannot write kernel stuff in a way which will work with suspend/resume - look for those usbnet problems on 2.4 kernels

4. you mean selection color of icon titles on desktop? it is matchbox bug not gpe (but seen in gpe-image). iirc someone reported that in gpe bugtracker and in matchbox one.
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Hi Hrw,

Thanks man, that looks promising. I know you're one of the best who might be able to create serious fixes to get things going !

You can message me on irc or here if you want to test something, discuss details and so on.

There is one burning question i have ... do you think it's worth it to hammer on a 2.4 kernel release OR do you think with a bit more time, it's very possible to release a 2.6 stable kernel + environment for the 6000 ? I really would like either the current release to work OR if there is a chance that a 2.6 kernel can be release in a reasonable time-line then i'd rather support you on that...Let me know what you would like ...

Thanks !!

Radiance

[Mickeyl]

2.6 is the way to go, even if it takes some more months. 2.4-embedix on tosa has some _inherent_ problems that will come back whenever you use anything but the (ancient) patched sharp versions of software. Look at 2.6 at c7x0, it feels nearly like a new machine.

[Radiance]

2.6 is the way to go, even if it takes some more months. 2.4-embedix on tosa has some _inherent_ problems that will come back whenever you use anything but the (ancient) patched sharp versions of software. Look at 2.6 at c7x0, it feels nearly like a new machine.
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Hi Mickeyl !

My feeling says also to go with 2.6 instead of bothering with 2.4. But ofcourse we need some one who is willing to spend time on getting a 2.6 environment running on the 6000 and most likely if that works fine then for other models it's more easy to get them also in 2.6 running.

So the question is: Who has the skills and time to get the 2.6 up and running for tosa ?

I'm willing to spend my own money to speed up and pay for that persons bother. It would help if others could also join me financially after some one applies to do this.

Greetz,

Radiance

[Hrw]

http://ewi546.ewi.utwente.nl/tmp/hrw/tosa-r47/ directory contain kernel with wake-on-alarms patch from OESF forum. Check it.

[Radiance]

http://ewi546.ewi.utwente.nl/tmp/hrw/tosa-r47/ directory contain kernel with wake-on-alarms patch from OESF forum. Check it.
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Thanks mate, i just tried it but it didn't work. This time when i unsuspended the unit the alarm didn't even bother to go off. hehe

[trichmon]

Thanks for starting this thread  Radiance. And thanks to hrw for trying to build a fix.  The only thing that has kept me from giving OZ a real long spin is the lack of working alarms while suspeneded.  

If it helps (and it may not so dont consider this a flame or a plug) the pdaxrom guys had the same issue.  There was a patch posted to the forums someplace that fixed it.  


Todd

[Antikx]

If it helps (and it may not so dont consider this a flame or a plug) the pdaxrom guys had the same issue.  There was a patch posted to the forums someplace that fixed it. 
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It's not so much a fix as it is a great work around/hack.
You still need to have KO running in the background in order for the alarm to go off.

If a Zaurus's alarm rings when it's suspended does it really make a sound?

[pgas]

It's not so much a fix as it is a great work around/hack.

no trichmon was talking of a patch to the kernel specific to the 6000, the one that hrw has applied.

Though I remember discussions on some more issues related to the 6000 and power management (something to do with the cradle or something)
So more patches may exists in the kernel used by pdaxrom

[nevarrie]

The hardware is excellent, just the software needs to be stable. I just tried release 3.5.4 and i must say i'm impressed, it's alot better and more stable. Yet there're still are several issue's which are IMPORTANT to be fixed. I'm an unix/linux person, with time i can probably fix a few things myself but i don't have the time for this.

I too do not have the time to help fix these problems(I wish I did since i enjoy the hunt).  I can help test and I am willing to donate money to the cause.  I am willing to add $100 to the pot for a working OZ/GPE with a 2.6 kernel.

I have given up on being able to have my Z sync cleanly with the Exchange server where I currently work so I am back to have a portable handheld computer.  

Running e17 is my goal but getting OZ/GPE working with a 2.6 kernel is a good start.

I guess we need to find out who has teh sl6k that are willing to test and work on the creating the list of issues and making sure they are in bugtrackers they need to be in.  Since I am not awear of a bugtracker for openzaurus do we need a keep the list here with links to the bug in its respective bugtracking system?

[Radiance]

The hardware is excellent, just the software needs to be stable. I just tried release 3.5.4 and i must say i'm impressed, it's alot better and more stable. Yet there're still are several issue's which are IMPORTANT to be fixed. I'm an unix/linux person, with time i can probably fix a few things myself but i don't have the time for this.

I too do not have the time to help fix these problems(I wish I did since i enjoy the hunt).  I can help test and I am willing to donate money to the cause.  I am willing to add $100 to the pot for a working OZ/GPE with a 2.6 kernel.

I have given up on being able to have my Z sync cleanly with the Exchange server where I currently work so I am back to have a portable handheld computer.  

Running e17 is my goal but getting OZ/GPE working with a 2.6 kernel is a good start.

I guess we need to find out who has teh sl6k that are willing to test and work on the creating the list of issues and making sure they are in bugtrackers they need to be in.  Since I am not awear of a bugtracker for openzaurus do we need a keep the list here with links to the bug in its respective bugtracking system?
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Hi nevarrie !

Thanks mate ! I will update the first post of this topic and add 100 $ to that amount for a fully working oz/gpe+2.6 kernel !

Thanks,

Radiance

[vorondil28]

I guess we need to find out who has teh sl6k that are willing to test and work on the creating the list of issues and making sure they are in bugtrackers they need to be in.  Since I am not awear of a bugtracker for openzaurus do we need a keep the list here with links to the bug in its respective bugtracking system?[div align=\"right\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

I've got a 6000L and I'm all for improvements.  I'm a broke student so I don't have much to give in the way of cash (maybe buy a hacker lunch?    ),  but I'd be willing to test things in the name of science.  

The OZ-related bugtrackers are linked to from here:
 [a href=\"http://openzaurus.org/wordpress/links/]http://openzaurus.org/wordpress/links/[/url]

And in case nobody has seen this, this page describes the current state of 2.6 on tosa:
http://www.do13.de/openzaurus/

[jgardia]

Hi,
I can contribute with another $200. I don't care very much about the alarm, but the keyboard is killing me. Also, it would be very nice if we can have an icon to manage the wifi connection.

Thanks

Jose