Linux on the Jornada 720 - Status

Joval, I'm happy to publish it in support if you write it up and take the screenshots.

Yes, ntware is right on once again!

Which RasPi you ask? I posted several threads in this section entitled something like "Success: Devuan boots from microSDCard," another is "OMG: youtube plays on J720" and others ...you can get started by reviewing those. It's a history of what I found works for me.

I have used RasPi 3B plus which works well and runs off a a cell phone charger 4000ma pack for 6 or 8 hours, I also have a RasPi 4 which is a bit faster and uses a little more power...I have pictures of both on those other threads. Both are quad core cpu's... I did try an an original RasPi 1 which is single core and it was way too slow! The Zero W is single core too and probably sub-optimal although I don't own one to validate that.

Both the RP 3 and 4 are running on Raspian, a debian derivative, easily downloadable from their web site. I originally prepared my J720 devuan Os on an SD card using an SD Card to cf adapter placed in a cf to usb adapter... using the RasPi to create partitions, and format them as per Stefan's wiki. Later I found I could use the free"mini-partition tool "on my windows laptop to quickly create all three partitons, and greatly enlarged partition 1 as Fat32 to store the WinCE backup file for a pseudo-dual boot option... using superfast microSD card. I found the rootdelay=5 was not needed in the param.txt boot file if fast SDCard is used. I also tried Munchausen's recommendation of using ext2 instead of ext4 on the second/linux partition... seems a bit faster (using ext2 today as I post this).

I've created the JJ720 Devuan OS on both fast CF cards and SD cards/ microSD cards with no noticeable difference IMO. Also I have tried it on J720 with 32Mb memory and with J720 upgraded to 64Mb and essentially works well with both (takes a little longer to boot up with 32Mb IMO)

I've used a wired NE2000 type ethernet card and thin ribbon-like tether cable to connect J720 to RasPi which works without much additional configuring. There is a script that sets the RasPi ethernet port to a stable static address. Works very well and uses less power.

I also used an Netgears MA401 wifi card for wireless connections. This requires configuring the /etc/network/interfaces file using the "nano" text editor in terminal command line. Only used wep and haven't mastered the WPA wifi setup yet, although ntware has done so with great success.

It takes about 5 minutes to boot up into fluxbox window manager, then into bash terminal to use SSH to log onto the RasPi, then you can start vncviewer (either with or without X-forwarding). With the RasPi you do get Sound!!!! thru the headphone jack or hdmi or any bluetooth speaker... easy to set.(we still need the mouse right click key which we lack so
far).

Currently , right now, I'm posting this using a RasPi 4 and wired ethernet tether, with ntware's Tigervncviewer fast (no X-forwarding) fix... while enjoying listening to light jazz music on youtube via RasPi headphone/auio out jack.

If you plug both the J720 and RasPi into wall/AC power you can have it instantly available at anytime... continously playing music, podcast, etc. Yet, it's easy enough to take it anywhere and run off batteries for many hours... say Starbucks, etc'

Drooling yet ?

Joval

Edited by joval 2021-03-14 4:02 PM

Thanks, good to know and share! My last post is a "rough draft" as I am still experimenting. This is a wonderful team effort and just goes to show what a great catalyst the H/PC:Factor website truly is!!

I still have to write some good "emergency" flashing instructions for the C:Monex 4.2 ROM as well for the MP900/c too. I promise to follow through, really!

Hey, thanks again for teaching me the " ls -a" linux command when I first started on this journey... that made such a big difference ( as well as "apt-get update/upgrade"!!

BTW, you once mentioned the limit on the frame rate / refresh rate for the J720 screen. It obviously limits the quality of youtube video playback. Do you recall it??

Also, it's easy to walk away leaving the J720/Raspi logged onto the HPCFactor website 24/7... is that any problem?? Thanks in advance!

Joval

Edited by joval 2021-03-14 5:12 PM

Thanks Joval for all this great input. This definitely looks very promising and I for one am definitely drooling!!!

We really look forward to seeing a step-by-step post (with screenshots if possible) to guide us through this very exciting development.

Thanks again!

Well, let me know and we can get anything like that properly published in the support section.

There isn't a "hardware" limit as such - although the DSTN panel has a horrific refresh cycle on it. Frame rate is contingent on (Codec + resolution + colour depth + free RAM + CPU horse power) = framerate. That's why the Devices & Specification section has a DVD Catalyst rating in it, which we used to use as a video benchmark using a standard control sample file.

As a rough guide though, I seem to recall that a resolution optimised AVI wrapped DivX4 would give 14-20 FPS at full screen as being about right.

Leaving any device on the home page or forums will cause it to poll the server every 10 minutes for updated forum posts. It won't hurt the server because it returns from Elara's cache, but it's wasting everyone's CPU time.

I notice Stefan's wiki site has been down for a couple of days. I was going to try to do Debian on my J720 over the weekend as I just got my Raspberry Pi to get it all connected. But I don't have access to the detailed instructions by Stefan. Are they posted anywhere else that I can get them?

Here's my "how to"... https://www.hpcfactor.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18983&po...

Let me know if there are problems!

Joval

It looks like Stefan's site is back up. Time to get back on this project :-)