Htc Universal

[ZDevil]

Cool! I am also going to receive it from ebay soon! Now we have a nice debian/zaurus-alternative.
This is gonna be my third handheld running debian eabi... am i mad?

[ShiroiKuma]

 
You're not mad man, it's the way to go.

I've basically given up on the zaurus, as I've been tired of having a phone and a Z around for everything. But this Universal is very close to the ideal convergence gadget it seems. I've waited long for GNU/Linux to be workable on a mobile phone and this thread has given me the impetus.

Now if we can really get the GPRS and phone/sms to be able to connect from the Universal to the web and do hacking, it'll be good.

From http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=251584 it seems GNU/Linux on the Universal has matured to the usable stage as also a phone, but I didn't fancy using Qtopia, as I feel I need X, but datathief's confirmation that he's got it useable has gotten me started.

Let's see how far we can get going with this. BTW, I'm planning to use your clean configured rootfs tarball for the debian bootstrap on the Universal, but I anticipate problems could maybe occur with it, don't know...

What's your approach gonna be? Use it too, or start from scrach?

[ZDevil]

If there is enough interest, we can ask for a new HTC Universal subforum?  

[datathief]

Can you workingly use GPRS, i.e. connect to the web easily?

Yes.  I'll publish my daemon that handles this soon.

I'm getting the phone today. Can you publish even a work in progress of this daemon - so that one may get started utilizing the GPRS in debian? Also maybe the WIP of the call/sms daemon?

I've got calls and SMS working (no caller ID yet, but my Uni is now my primary phone).  I'll be putting it on the web today  -  watch this space

[ZDevil]

Just curious: How long does the battery last when the device is running Debian with phone functionalities? Is there any way to save power when just using the phone parts?

[ZDevil]

What's your approach gonna be? Use it too, or start from scrach?

I think I will first do debbootstrap to get a ext2-compatible kernel. Then I will put my customized rootfs on my 4GB SD.
I will also try to install the same GUI (work in progress... 90% done) on it.

[datathief]

Just curious: How long does the battery last when the device is running Debian with phone functionalities? Is there any way to save power when just using the phone parts?

I have the phone module always running  -  it wakes the main processor when there's an incoming call.  I'm using the official extended battery (3800mAh), and after a day's use (including three or four hours connected to the internet via UMTS) it's usually still well above 50%.  I think the battery charge drops by less than 0.5% per hour when suspended.

The standard battery is 1620mAh, so I would estimate:
100 hours standby
3 hours internet/calls

That's about half the "official" numbers, and I haven't tested it properly, so YMMV.

[ZDevil]

That's impressive ... Now i am thinking of buying a 4800mAh extended battery, which is cheap (US$25).

[ShiroiKuma]

I think I will first do debbootstrap to get a ext2-compatible kernel. Then I will put my customized rootfs on my 4GB SD.
I will also try to install the same GUI (work in progress... 90% done) on it.

I guess I'm not following, what does doing debootstrap to get an ext2-compatible kernel mean in this instance. I thought you'd use the Qtopia directory kernel from the above site and what's the need for debootstrapping then?

[ZDevil]

Oops. Stupid me. I am confusing things here.
True. debbootstrap just gets the basic rootfs.

[ZDevil]

Two pointers:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/index.php
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=247

It's yet another vibrant handheld community like here!

[ShiroiKuma]

Oops. Stupid me. I am confusing things here.
True. debbootstrap just gets the basic rootfs.

Yep, so what's the advantage of doing it over reusing your old rootfs from the Zaurus? Customization for the Z too Z-oriented, so better start from scratch? If so, how about the rootfs from https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=25421 This is not Z customized, so shouldn't it be a good start?

[ShiroiKuma]

I've got calls and SMS working (no caller ID yet, but my Uni is now my primary phone).  I'll be putting it on the web today  -  watch this space

Allright, it's up  

Thanks a lot for your daemon, I'll begin testing tonight.

[datathief]

Thanks a lot for your daemon, I'll begin testing tonight.

Let me know how it goes.  The code may be a bit untidy still, but it should be quite hackable if you need to.

[ZDevil]

Great page. Thanks again, Mr. Titchy.