Debian And Uboot

[Capn_Fish]

I've got a question: If I rip the filesystem off of an ARM Debian CD and stick it on SD/CF, could I use uBoot to boot it on the Z?

EDIT: I forgot to ask what the magic key combos are to pass rootfs location to uBoot. Or do I have that backwards, that you pass where the kernel is?

[svs57]

I've got a question: If I rip the filesystem off of an ARM Debian CD and stick it on SD/CF, could I use uBoot to boot it on the Z?

EDIT: I forgot to ask what the magic key combos are to pass rootfs location to uBoot. Or do I have that backwards, that you pass where the kernel is?
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I use Debian with u-boot on Zaurus.
I crosscompile linux kernel (CONFIG_CMDLINE set rootfs on SD)
Then I untar Debian rootfs on SD. [a href=\"http://armel.applieddata.net/developers/linux/eabi/armel-root-fs.tar.bz2]http://armel.applieddata.net/developers/li...root-fs.tar.bz2[/url]
see http://wiki.debian.org/ArmEabiHowto

[stbrock]

I use Debian with u-boot on Zaurus.

Pocketworkstation was an excellent piece of work but ultimately didn't quite make for everyday use on the Zaurus for me. How well does this Arm EABI Debian work? Is it as fast as other 2.6 kernel distributions on the Zaurus or does running off the SD diminish the benefits? Are there customizations for the Zaurus keyboard, display, touchscreen available? Do the packages usually load and run reliably with apt-get like we are used to on the i386? Presumably, default screen size and dialog boxes beyond the edge of the screen are common? Is recompilation with Zaurus customization necessary? Desirable? Feasible?

The ultimate question is whether this Debian distribution plus some "Meanie-style" customizations to the Zaurus might be a shorter route to a laptop-style distribution on the Zaurus with an instant broad range of applications than the other efforts currently underway.

Thanks for the information and links.

[svs57]

A lot of questions

>How well does this Arm EABI Debian work?
I have only 2 problems:
1.Number of packages less than in original Debian.
I have to compile some packages on Z.
2. Problem with 4G SD. Suspend/resume destroy FS. It's happen only with SD>2G

>Is it as fast as other 2.6 kernel distributions on the Zaurus or does running off the SD diminish the benefits?
Much faster then pdaXrom 121
For example. I compile firefoox on r121 3 days but now 1 day.

>Are there customizations for the Zaurus keyboard, display, touchscreen available?
Yes. But I correct some mistakes.

>Do the packages usually load and run reliably with apt-get like we are used to on the i386?
Yes

>Presumably, default screen size and dialog boxes beyond the edge of the screen are common?
No. IMHO it depends on WM. I use icewm.

>Is recompilation with Zaurus customization necessary? Desirable? Feasible?
I recompile only missing packages

>The ultimate question is whether this Debian distribution plus some "Meanie-style" customizations >to the Zaurus might be a shorter route to a laptop-style distribution on the Zaurus with an instant >broad range of applications than the other efforts currently underway.
I feel myself on Z now as comfortable as on my PC.

[Capn_Fish]

I may have to dual boot...

[ZDevil]

That's very cool!

Also had a brief look at the related links:

ArmEabiPort (from Debian wiki)
http://wiki.debian.org/ArmEabiPort#head-d8...45efe93d48bbc94

Arm eabi port available (from Debian-arm mailing list)http://lists.debian.org/debian-arm/2007/01/msg00034.html

Is there any easy installation and setup guide for Zaurus? The official docs are rather technical for a common user (compared to the docs of OpenBSD    ).

[svs57]

That's very cool!

Also had a brief look at the related links:

ArmEabiPort (from Debian wiki)
http://wiki.debian.org/ArmEabiPort#head-d8...45efe93d48bbc94

Arm eabi port available (from Debian-arm mailing list)http://lists.debian.org/debian-arm/2007/01/msg00034.html

Is there any easy installation and setup guide for Zaurus? The official docs are rather technical for a common user (compared to the docs of OpenBSD    ).
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We can talk with you about this in russian forum (hpc.ru)

[ZDevil]

Pointer (0 competence in russian)?  

[stbrock]

A lot of questions
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Thanks for a lot of answers, and very encouraging answers, too. So here's a couple more. . . .    

Which Z are you running it on? Do you know of any limitations relevant to the Cxx00, C7X0/860, 6000 or 5xxx series?

If someone can post basic installation and customization instructions, I expect a good many here would give this a try and then post further customizations, compile missing packages, and so forth. Someone here would likely be willing to host a feed and other files and links related to the project.

[ZDevil]

Thanks for a lot of answers, and very encouraging answers, too. So here's a couple more. . . .   

Which Z are you running it on? Do you know of any limitations relevant to the Cxx00, C7X0/860, 6000 or 5xxx series?

If someone can post basic installation and customization instructions, I expect a good many here would give this a try and then post further customizations, compile missing packages, and so forth. Someone here would likely be willing to host a feed and other files and links related to the project.
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[span style=\'font-size:14pt;line-height:100%\']
Absolutely!!! [/span]  

[desertrat]

Absolutely!!!  

Hey you have to finish your work in getting a new pdaxrom released before you can go and play with something else  

[anonuk]

Ive been running the arm EABI on my N800 for a little while with a VNC server, works kinda like pocketworkstation. It is however lacking many packages that are on pdaxrom already, xfce was broken and couldnt find firefox/iceweasel, abiword or many others. Then again, icewm + lots of console programs work wonderfully - just not as many packages as pocketworkstation. I think this is because it uses armel feed and therefore doesnt seem to work with regular debian mirrors...

Definitely interested in how to boot this on the Z though and how to get access to more packages if anyone has any other armel mirrors for debian.

[ZDevil]

Ive been running the arm EABI on my N800 for a little while with a VNC server, works kinda like pocketworkstation. It is however lacking many packages that are on pdaxrom already, xfce was broken and couldnt find firefox/iceweasel, abiword or many others. Then again, icewm + lots of console programs work wonderfully - just not as many packages as pocketworkstation. I think this is because it uses armel feed and therefore doesnt seem to work with regular debian mirrors...

Definitely interested in how to boot this on the Z though and how to get access to more packages if anyone has any other armel mirrors for debian.
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Many new packages will flood in if the base system and the toolchain are stable and standard.    

Absolutely!!!  

Hey you have to finish your work in getting a new pdaxrom released before you can go and play with something else  
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Hey don't get me wrong. I am just writing user notes on pdaX for common users, not primarily the hacking stuff (coz i just can't). I think much of the info is shared across platforms when it comes to actual usage and applications.  

[kellyharding]

I'd be very interested in giving this a try.

Some easier to follow instructions would be welcome

I use Debian on my servers (and Debian derived on my desktop), so know Debian reasonably well.

If someone can write a small howto to get this port up and running on a Z =(specifically in my case a C860) and a small guide to getting a environment set up on a debian x86 box to do compilation stuff for extra packages? that'd be great

[stbrock]

It is however lacking many packages that are on pdaxrom already, xfce was broken and couldnt find firefox/iceweasel, abiword or many others. Then again, icewm + lots of console programs work wonderfully - just not as many packages as pocketworkstation.

There are 9000 packages in the armel feed, which seems to have been an initial test, e.g., the log says that firefox 1.5 failed simply because the source was not found.

Definitely interested in how to boot this on the Z though and how to get access to more packages if anyone has any other armel mirrors for debian.
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The developer postings refer to some existing toolchains and feeds, including a toolchain and some packages built and online at OE/Angstrom.

EABI has been around a while, but there seems to have been a burst of activity lately. Someone with a better understanding of the technical details can perhaps give us an idea how useful this could be for the Z community.