Hi all
I've finished GPE for Akita yesterday so I thought I'd upload it to get some feedback.
Opie & E17 images will be uploaded when they are ready (maybe next week).
Download the tarball:
EDIT:The new URL is
http://hentges.net/tmp/do_not_use/Content:Kernel - The current 3.5.4.1 kernel (2.6.15)
tarballs - tar.gz rootfs to be used with
altboots tar.gz installer to create a bootable SD / CF card
loop-images - ext2 loop-images. These can be booted directly off SD / CF using altboot. Requires kernel 2.6.15 to work
hentges-*-akita*.tar.gz - Flashable initrd for this release
The tarball includes two different images: GPE and bootstrap. The bootstrap image doesn't have a GUI installed, just the commandline. The GPE image is probably the one your are after
For a normal installation (into the flash) all you need is
- The kernel
- hentges-gpe-akita*.tar.gz
or hentges-bootstrap-akita*.tar.gz
- updater.sh from OZ3.5.4*
To use the .ext2 loop-image all you need is
- An already installed 2.6.15 kernel (the one from 3.5.4.1-apha* should work just fine)
- An already installed altboot bootmanager (again, the one from 3.5.4.1-alpha works just fine)
-
One or more ext2 loop-images from the "loop-images" folder
- Rename the .ext2 file so that it ends in "-rootfs.bin" (example: hentges-gpe-image-rootfs.bin and / or hentges-boostrap-image-rootfs.bin)
- Create a folder called "boot-images" on your SD or CF card
- Copy *rootfs.bin into the folder "boot-images"
- Reboot the Z, launch the altboot menu and select "Boot from [SD | CF]
To create your own loop-image or to install this release directly onto a SD or CF card
you'll need to:
- Copy
one of the files from tarballs/*.rootfs.tar.gz onto SD, CF or into /home
- Reboot your Z
- Launch altboot and select "Advanced/Install tar.gz" (or whatever that was called )
- Follow the instructions (loop-file installs into a loop-image with user-defined size / name, "direct install" installs the FS directly onto the card which
*must* be ext2-formatted in this case!
- Select "Boot from [CF | SD] when the altboot menu shows up
Please note(1): If your SD / CF card is large enough you can install
multiple loop-images
and a direct install onto it
Please note(2): When booting from SD / CF you'll see the message "* * *Booting external rootfs * * *" (or something to that effect).
Each and every message after this is coming from the new rootfs!Since altboot is installed into the new rootfs you'll get a second altboot menu right after this above message is printed.
Do not touch it if you do not know what you are doing.
Please note(3): When booting from something else but flash you'll see some errors about not beeing able to mount /sys and /proc. You can safefly ignore them.
General Notes about the GPE Image- The image is based on the OZ 3.5.4.1 sources from yesterday
- Yes, it runs the new and shiny 2.6.15 kernel
- Sound works out of the box
- All hotkeys (except the ones printed on the LCD) work (thanks florian!):
-- The Calendar, Adresses, E-Mail and Menu buttons work as expected
-- Pressing Home switches through all open windows
-- Fn+Home minimizes all windows and shows the desktop
- The installed apps include (beside others):
-- Abiword
-- Gnumeric
-- Gaim
-- Gftp
-- A working and pre-configured (!) mplayer (read /usr/etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf to enable correct playback in the VT)
-- Gxine (untested!)
- The 2.6.15 kernel is compiled in "quiet" mode.
There will be no message what-so-ever until after the kernel is booted. This is completly normal
- During boot a Splashscreen with the GPE logo will show up and hide all boot-messages. Use Fn+Left-Arrow to show the messages.
- The first boot can take a few minutes due to run-time configuration. This is completely normal.
Have fun
