Debian (titchy) Vs. Debian Eabi ?

[ZDevil]

Remember months ago there was a big discussion of getting Debian EABI working on the Z (basically the 3x00 models):

https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=23773

I just wonder how Debian EABI fares now compared to the current Debian (titchy)? What are the important things that work in one but not in the other?

@Chero: You have used both. How do you feel about them?

[Chero]

I don't know much about eabi :
- it is faster
- it can be installed on the Zaurus
- X can be setup quite easily (read this thread)
- broken packages can be replaced by Angstrom ones
- it hadn't been released when I tried, has it already ? edit : but it seems already quite usable
- glad to see people are starting to use it and comment on it in a forum in english

About titchy :
- it can also be installed on the Zaurus
- a bit easier to install
- a lot easier to get X running (apt-get install blabla)
-
- more than just russian users (I've got nothing against russian people, but I don't understand the language and the internet-translators don't translate good enough to understand it all, sorry.)
- a lot more apps available (and a forum to ask for the missing ones    )
- I can run "evolution" when I want to do something special and use "dates" and "contacts" in real life (debian armel will probably do this very soon) .

Conclusion : if you want debian,
I won't be able to wait for the release of debian eabi. Seeing the enthusiasm of the new users in this forum, I will probably try it again between here and a week or so.  

Chero.

[2or0]

Now I am using Debian eabi on C3200 for more than three months. It is quite stable and convenient. I compiled kernel 2.6.22.9 applied with angstrom patches, fastfpe and cpufreq. Yesterday I tried to install and setup Debian (titchy) using my kernels which are for eabi and oabi, but I cannot run xwindow but sound works.  

Anyway, here are some comments for debian eabi.

 - can be installed on sd, cf, internal disk.
 - easy to install using uboot ( at least to me)
 - X is running well. When I use xournal, there is no problem with stylus.
 - support wireless (ambicom). I didn't try bluetooth and wired lan but it shoud work.
 - usb storages ( ntfs rw support )
 - sound is very good, and video also works well with pxa driver.
 - webbrower: dillo, minimo (no firefox    )
 - anything else?

 but
 - lots of broken packages but you can compile them easily.

Check my blog (in Korean) for some screenshots ( http://yonggun.tistory.com/52 )

[ZDevil]

Now I am using Debian eabi on C3200 for more than three months. It is quite stable and convenient. I compiled kernel 2.6.22.9 applied with angstrom patches, fastfpe and cpufreq. Yesterday I tried to install and setup Debian (titchy) using my kernels which are for eabi and oabi, but I cannot run xwindow but sound works.  

Anyway, here are some comments for debian eabi.

 - can be installed on sd, cf, internal disk.
 - easy to install using uboot ( at least to me)
 - X is running well. When I use xournal, there is no problem with stylus.
 - support wireless (ambicom). I didn't try bluetooth and wired lan but it shoud work.
 - usb storages ( ntfs rw support )
 - sound is very good, and video also works well with pxa driver.
 - webbrower: dillo, minimo (no firefox    )
 - anything else?

 but
 - lots of broken packages but you can compile them easily.

Check my blog (in Korean) for some screenshots ( http://yonggun.tistory.com/52 )

For X in Titchy: did you install xserver-zaurus (it's part of the titchy bundle)?
Also it seems we need to set the X server to /opt/kdrive/X, instead of /usr/bin/X,  in xserverrc or xession (something like that).
I don't use xfce4 on my setup, and this my /usr/bin/startx (simplified):

Code: [Select]

export DISPLAY=127.0.0.1:0.0
/opt/kdrive/X &&
exec icewm-session-experimentalCould you provide a pointer to your kernel, or simply upload here? I am very eager to try that!

Does CJK inputmethods (mainly SCIM and UIM) work in Debian EABI? I remember I was trying to set it up when trying Angstrom but I got lost (because of zero documentation on that  )

As you mention (onboard) compilation, I wonder if it is done just pretty much in the same way as the standard method using GCC. Is there any special option/flag to pass at configure time?

Thanks!  

PS: Also do you know the reason why so many packages are broken, if OE is supposed to work so perfectly as often hyped?

[Dromede]

regarding broken packages... --> http://nchip.livejournal.com/10735.html

[ZDevil]

regarding broken packages... --> http://nchip.livejournal.com/10735.html

Well, thanks. But I don't make much of this, because it's just communication between developers/hackers.
I am just a simple-minded user who just wants to get things done.    

***

One day I get thirsty in a hot summer sun and so I reach a fancily advertised brand new bleeding-edge drink vending machine sitting exactly where I used to kill my thirst.

"Ok, well... I've put a coin inside and I've press the right button, but ... my badly needed favorite drink doesn't come out!  I used to get it whenever I want from the good old but slow machine before the replacement."

"No. You simply don't get it. You can't get your drink because you fail to understand the mechanics inside me and how the powerful chips and controllers do their miraculous jobs."  [It turns out to be the machine that is talking]

"(sweating even more and beginning to feel fainted)... But I just want my drink! I am dying for THAT, not the ultimate truth of the deepest secrets in this world... (and beginning to get delusional too: does learning to fix & patch & build this holy machine from scratch save me from this hellishly burning heat, for goodness sake...??) "

"No. You are ignorant. You are wrong. You are bad. You are a problem. You are a failure ----"

 

[2or0]

Could you provide a pointer to your kernel, or simply upload here? I am very eager to try that!

Check here for kernel and module. - http://yonggun.tistory.com/53
One kernel is for SD installation and the other is for installing on hda1. Be cautious that this kernel uses UBOOT.

Does CJK inputmethods (mainly SCIM and UIM) work in Debian EABI? I remember I was trying to set it up when trying Angstrom but I got lost (because of zero documentation on that  )

Yes, I am using uim to type Korean. I didn't try scim but I guess it works.

As you mention (onboard) compilation, I wonder if it is done just pretty much in the same way as the standard method using GCC. Is there any special option/flag to pass at configure time?
Thanks!  

I used the same options to compile the applications as did in pdaXrom compilations. Also I took many applications from angstrom ( minimo, mplayer, gpe-conf, etc.).

[ZDevil]

Hey, that's cool man! I am about to try this EABI on my 3200.

One more question: where is the Debian EABI feed (not just package downloads but a proper feed)?  Thanks again!

[2or0]

Here are feed lists that you can select.

deb kfreebsd-gnu.debian.net/debian  unstable main
deb ftp.easynet.be/ftp/gnuab/debian  unstable main
deb ftp.de.debian.org/debian-kfreebsd  unstable main
deb ftp.ch.debian.org/debian-kfreebsd  unstable main
deb www.gtlib.gatech.edu/pub/gnuab/debian  unstable main

[ZDevil]

Sorry I miss another thing: I see a few Debian EABI rootfs tarballs. Which one is preferred, or they are just the same?

[2or0]

Sorry I miss another thing: I see a few Debian EABI rootfs tarballs. Which one is preferred, or they are just the same?

I used this: http://armel.applieddata.net/developers/li...root-fs.tar.bz2

[jpmatrix]

Sorry I miss another thing: I see a few Debian EABI rootfs tarballs. Which one is preferred, or they are just the same?

I used this: http://armel.applieddata.net/developers/li...root-fs.tar.bz2

i used this one too

[ZDevil]

Ok, i got stuck.

Here are what I've done so far.
1) NAND restore.
2) Boot into the original emergency mode and fdisk /dev/hda there, format the drive into ext3 plus a separate swap partition.
3) Install uboot from SD. (DON'T install from CF, because the uboot will recognize the external card as /dev/hda1 rather than the internal drive!)
4) Boot into the new pdaXrom emergency mode (Press "OK" before power on)
5) Remove the uboot installer files on SD
6) Copy 2or0's kernel (renamed as "kernel.img") and pdaXrom's autoboot.sh to the root of SD.
7) cd /mnt/card
sh autoboot.sh ./

...

But the flashing took so fast, only reporting that there is no bad block, and it starts to reboot very quickly. It seems 2or0's kernel is not flashed properly.
Booting into the pdaXrom emergency mode again, uname -a shows the kernel is still 2.6.16, not 2.6.22.9.

And in the pdaXrom emergency mode the system freezes when I am trying to do something with the internal drive (already formatted as ext3 before installing uboot). The disk green light doesn't lit. Even a simple ls command stops everything.

So, questions:
Q1: Is it correct to use the pdaXrom's autoboot.sh or something else to flash 2or0's kernel?
Q2: Do i need to change /etc/fstab in order to access the internal drive?

[2or0]

Ok, i got stuck.

Here are what I've done so far.
1) NAND restore.
2) Boot into the original emergency mode and fdisk /dev/hda there, format the drive into ext3 plus a separate swap partition.
3) Install uboot from SD. (DON'T install from CF, because the uboot will recognize the external card as /dev/hda1 rather than the internal drive!)
4) Boot into the new pdaXrom emergency mode (Press "OK" before power on)
5) Remove the uboot installer files on SD
6) Copy 2or0's kernel (renamed as "kernel.img") and pdaXrom's autoboot.sh to the root of SD.
7) cd /mnt/card
sh autoboot.sh ./

...

But the flashing took so fast, only reporting that there is no bad block, and it starts to reboot very quickly. It seems 2or0's kernel is not flashed properly.
Booting into the pdaXrom emergency mode again, uname -a shows the kernel is still 2.6.16, not 2.6.22.9.

And in the pdaXrom emergency mode the system freezes when I am trying to do something with the internal drive (already formatted as ext3 before installing uboot). The disk green light doesn't lit. Even a simple ls command stops everything.

So, questions:
Q1: Is it correct to use the pdaXrom's autoboot.sh or something else to flash 2or0's kernel?
Q2: Do i need to change /etc/fstab in order to access the internal drive?

Here is autoboot.sh file which is modified. If you put this and kernel on your sd together and reboot into emergency mode, it will automatically  ask you whether you will install debian or boot in emergency mode. yes, it's easy. Then you can see debian armel system.  

Please take off the extension (tar.gz). This file is just text file.
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

[ZDevil]

Thanks for the script. .  No... uname -a still shows 2.6.16 ...  

But again I cannot access the internal drive. Issuing any command on the internal drive makes the prompt cursor keep blinking forever.

Should I rename the rootfs tarball to something else and put it together with the kernel when flashing?

So ...

I now wonder:
Should I extract the Debian rootfs to the internal drive BEFORE installing uboot and the new kernel?