Extreme Newbie Questions

[ZDevil]

Now I am thinking of switching from C1000 to C3200, and I am eager to have an experience of  OpenBSD on Z (finally).
Here are a bunch of questions that a typical newbie (such as I) would ask:

1. Do the original OpenBSD packages need to be recompiled in order to be used on Z?

2. Is the SD driver fully functional now (for storage, not for booting)?

3. Does the screen buttons (those along the display panel) work?

4. Is the USB host fully functional?

5. How is wifi CF and bluetooth support?

6. Does the keymapping work perfectly?

7. How about speed, power consumption, and resource usage on Z?

8. Is it easy to do native compilation on Z?

9. How is OpenBSD compared to pdaXrom generally?

10. (How) Can I dual boot OpenBSD and pdaX?

That's that for now. I have to admit that these are very broad questions, but I hope this would be a good start for an extreme newbie ...    

Thanks!

[jpmatrix]

well,
i'll try to answer as far as i can due to my little openbsd experience on my c3000  people will correct me when i'm wrong


>1. Do the original OpenBSD packages need to be recompiled in order to be used on >Z?

no they do not if you do not want speed optimization

from iamasmith there
https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17871

"On OpenBSD default build uses no xscale optimisation for the bulk of the executables - The Kernel is compiled with -mcpu=xscale but the rest of the distribution is compiled (for compatibility with other ARM architectures) with no optimisations. - It is possible to set some environment variables prior to build that will enable xscale optimisations and you get much better performance when you do this."


>2. Is the SD driver fully functional now (for storage, not for booting)?

not yet apparently :
https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=23517


>5. How is wifi CF and bluetooth support?

my cf wifi card is working out of the box
bluetooth is not yet fully implemented (that's the main reason i do not yet use openbsd on my zaurus


>8. Is it easy to do native compilation on Z?

definitely yes, at least for ports
have a look here
http://www.planetofidiots.com/zaurus/



>10. (How) Can I dual boot OpenBSD and pdaX?

i read that it is not (yet) possible

hth
JP

[Antikx]

I personally look forward to hearing of your pursuits with OpenBSD, ZDevil. I'm sure you'll bring a lot to the table.

[ZDevil]

Thanks for the answers, jpmatrix! Of course i want more ...

Antikx: surely i would, if i could, if i have a decent native/cross compilation setup, IF OpenBSD will get installed and the packages run well on 3200.  

So my current plan is: 860 will go for the latest pdaX release(s), and let 3200 taste OpenBSD, (perhaps) until a final pdaX release is out ... or a dual boot solution is found.

Now having very high hopes of both OpenBSD and pdaX.

[ZDevil]

Find two more useful links for very newbies like me:

Using OpenBSD 4.0
http://www.softwareinreview.com/cms/content/view/56/

Migrating to OpenBSD
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq9.html

[ZDevil]

One new question:

11. What is the safe way to revert back to the stock rom if my OpenBSD setup gets messed up?  Does the DM menu still function the same as before? Read the long OpenBSD/Zaurus installation notes last night but didn't happen to see it there.

[jpmatrix]

yes you can go back and forward as you wish without trouble
i'm used to flash between pdaxii13 , angstrom and openbsd and i don't remember being stuck somewhere, although going to openbsd can be tricky due to special installation process  but nothing is impossible

[ZDevil]

yes you can go back and forward as you wish without trouble
i'm used to flash between pdaxii13 , angstrom and openbsd and i don't remember being stuck somewhere, although going to openbsd can be tricky due to special installation process  but nothing is impossible
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Right, so is it okay if i first flash my C3200 to pdaXrom and then install OpenBSD with the installer (bootloader) ipk?  
I just want to be cautious because i don't wanna waste any time crashing into careless mistakes.
Still awaiting my brand new C3200 ...  

p.s. Yes the installation of OpenBSD looks quite complicated, but thanks to the documentation. It is so amazingly well-written and clear! So i think i won't have big trouble setting up OpenBSD.  

[jpmatrix]

well, i don't remember and moreover i don't know for the C3200, but for my C3000 i follow the first steps of the full install procedure listed here :

https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17213

hope this help
look in the topics for people talking about the C3200 install

[mathemajikian]

1. Do the original OpenBSD packages need to be recompiled in order to be used on Z?

No. You compile the packages you want/need from source via the ports tree.

2. Is the SD driver fully functional now (for storage, not for booting)?

Not  yet, but progress is being made. You can read the data stored on the sd card but writing data to the card is still flaky.

3. Does the screen buttons (those along the display panel) work?

Not yet. Those buttons are a pain in the ass anyway.

4. Is the USB host fully functional?

Somewhat.

5. How is wifi CF and bluetooth support?

Wifi support is excellent, but bluetooth support is still being worked on. The bluetooth drivers exist but the communication protocol isn't in place.

6. Does the keymapping work perfectly?

It can be made to work perfectly but you'll have to generate a .Xmodmap and patch kbd.c.

7. How about speed, power consumption, and resource usage on Z?

Power usage has been discussed in other posts. You are running the OS on a microdrive, so power consumption is going to be greater than that of say Cacko. Checkout the following post for more info: Zaurus Power Usage
All I can say about resource usage is that OpenBSD is quite resourceful.  

8. Is it easy to do native compilation on Z?

Yes.

9. How is OpenBSD compared to pdaXrom generally?

I've never used pdaXrom,  hence I can't help you here.

10. (How) Can I dual boot OpenBSD and pdaX?

"If you know your brother is a greedy bastard
never give him the password
If he goes penguin on you,
stop - being - his brother."

[ZDevil]

1. Ok, just wonder if there is big difference between with or without optimalization when compiling.

3. That's still fine, because the silkscreen is not as important as the keyboard.

4. Of course ...

5. That's fine, because I don't really use bluetooth on Z.

6. Does it mean 4.0 or 4.1 has to be rebuilt with these?  Which keys are not working (normally)?

7. I am planning to swap the internal MD with a hi-speed CF ...

8. How? Any accessible instructions?

10. That's a bit hard for my greedy Z ...  

(sorry, the quote function turns out to be a mess... )

[mathemajikian]

Does it mean 4.0 or 4.1 has to be rebuilt with these? Which keys are not working (normally)?

After you apply the patches you'll have to rebuild the system. The main keys are the CAPS, CUT, COPY, PASTE and the screen dimming keys. You'll see what I mean when you install. However, I've never really had any issues with keyboard usage.

How? Any accessible instructions?

Compiling the system from source is quite easy. (If this is what your asking) Here's some instuctions: Upgrading via CVS

[jpmatrix]

good news for usbhost in 4.1:

Improved hardware support, including:
New USB client controller support:
Support for the USB client functionality in the pxaudc(4) driver on the Zaurus.

[ZDevil]

A few small questions:

-- Is the feed here http://www.planetofidiots.com/pub/OpenBSD/...packages/zaurus still unavailable?  It cannot be opened with browsers

-- How to activate screen rotation?

-- How to load swap? I have partitioned a 256MB in wd0b for swap. Is it turned on automatically when booting? I can't see it in /etc/fstab.

-- Any simple wifi CF setup instructions?

Thanks!

It's amazing to have the real 4.1 running on Z.
Firefox 2.0.0.3 is also running now, which is ahead of all other ROMs.  

*I did read the man pages but didn't find the relevant information there.

[jpmatrix]

-- Any simple wifi CF setup instructions?
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well,
from my memory :
ifconfig wi0 up
ifconfig wi0 192.168.1.5 netmask 255.255.255.0
ifconfig wi0 nwid NETWORK_SSID nwkey NETWORK_KEY
route add default 192.168.1.1

just do a google-search with openbsd and ifconfig to have some examples