Completely baffled about instructions on OpenSimPad site

I've asked this in another thread, but decided, rather than simply wait for answers, to study the docs a bit more and I have to say that the installation instructions are a complete mess. Maybe it's all clear for a kernel developer, but I can't make heads or tails of it.

The site:

http://opensimpad.org/

The OpenSIMpad wiki has a document that pertains to give installation instructions; the first line of it gives instructions for a serial installation for >= 0.9. I'm assuming this is version 0.9 of OpenSIMpad. Strangely enough on the download section, only version 0.8.1 is mentioned! I tried SourceForge, but the filelist on that site is even more confusing: what do I need, in what order does it need to be installed? It seems magical attributes are needed to find that out. Back to OpenSIMpad...

The installation instructions themselves say to "serload blupdater.img", yet no file of even remotely that name figures on the download list. I know this is not an abnormal thing for open source, but the guys who wrote those words have to be aware that they're dealing with potentially device-wrecking procedures. You'd think they'd care at least a little...

So, maybe the old instructions (for version 0.8.1) are a little clearer? At least they've been around longer, right?

Wrong. It starts with "run serload loader_bl.alt". There is no "loader_bl.alt" in the download section (which I by now already expected). Then I looked at the rest of the instructions and thought: Blow this for a lark. I'm not going through a process of 10 extremely complicated steps (yes, I admit it: they are complicated for me)if they can't get the first filename right. I'm really, seriously wondering how anyone can but brick their SimPad with such a documentation. Read e.g. this:

"7. Start a Terminal connection.
As connection settings you should use 38400 baud 8 databits no parity 1 stopbit (38400 8N1); Note: Sometimes it happens, that there is no response from the SIMpad? to this. Only solution so far has been the complete poweroff (not reboot) and repowering of the PC computer system."

Are you afraid yet? Well, are you??

I would like to have Linux on my SimPad, but not from a site that apparently was put toghether by a paranoiac on Ritalin (only marginally joking). Is there any other place, preferrably put together by sane people, where I can find logical installation instructions to get Linux on my SimPad?

For the #7. It sounds like hyperterminal. It is a program in Windows which will let you null modem connect into a device. I do it with an old DEC machine sometimes. For that you need a serial cable.

I don't know anything about simpads, so I might not be any help other than that. Good luck.

I'm certainly anything but an expert on the SL4.
However wouldn't the flash procedure for Linux be the same as with WinCE?

http://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/h/0032.asp ( )

And another thing: why is one image called "initrd-SL4_0.8.1-1.bin" (the Opie one) and another one "simpad-gpe2-20030728.img"? Why the different file extensions? Do they need to be installed with different tools? Is one of them not a valid image file? And is 2003 really the most recent version of the GPE-port? I mean, /really/ ???

And what's the deal with all those different "alternative kernel images"? Does this mean that in Linux, I have to choose beforehand how much of RAM I want to dedicate to program storage and how much to RAM memory? And if so, why the f*ck would anyone even want to install Linux, if it is such an inflexible system?

And where are those 0.9 images the installation docs hint at?

Who knows? I've found two installation procedures on the OpenSIMpad site, and neither of those are completely identical to the one you refer to.

I am getting seriously frustrated, in case you hadn't noticed.

It wasn't the communications settings part I was referring to as scary, rather than the fact that someone would seriously include as part of installation instructions: "By the way, if anything goes wrong, just pull the plug and try again".

it's not scary, you can't brick a simpad that easily forever don't worry.

Maybe not, but my intention is not to have some dubious fun by repeatedly doing the wrong thing. I'm looking to get a Linux-powered SimPad that simply works, preferrably without having to resort to jTag to get it working again.

I've played around with Wince 4.1 and frankly, I'm apalled by it: it's slow (my old Newton is nippier), it's unstable (heck, just turning it on and waiting for the WiFi card is almost a gamble) and the software that runs on it is very disappointing (Transcriber is a far cry from PenOffice and I can't even get it to understand Dutch, Wordpad is -- well, Wordpad, and PocketIE is a joke: it'd probably be faster if I let DHL send in hardcopy of the websites). The only (and I really mean "only" advantage Windows has is that it has a native version of Ereader for my ebooks (and even that required me hacking at it to get it to find the books). So I'll read my encoded books on my Sony Ericsson P910 and use Linux for everything else -- if I can find a way to reliably install it...

Correction, you *can* brick an SL4 'easily' if you do something wrong. A Zaurus SL-5500 on the other hand, is virtually brick-proof ... I'm speaking from multiple flashing of both my previous SL4 and the Z.

Having said that, there is the step by step CESD C:Amie pointed out and if you follow it to the word, you are pretty much covered.

The pit fall is that the flashloader for SL4 is unique for wince and linux (or (opensimpad, opie, gpe)). I would presume the warning you found refers to the versions 0.9 and above of opensimpad. Once you flash that, it overwrites both the OS flashROM + flashloader segment. The scary part is if the flashloader segment went kaput while flashing, then you have no OS loaded, plus you cannot flash a new OS as well. In which case, you have to recover using JTAG, a four pin thingie for recovery.

PS: Oh and I wrote that CESD ... so follow it will you!

interesting that you had these experiences. ive never had an sl4 but i have two hpc's with the same OS (ce.net 4.1), and they're very stable, especially the bsquare phh. that thing never freezes. wifi works reliably. but sigmarion 3 doesn't really like the bluetooth driver (it causes a slowdown at power up)
IE 5.5 and its rendering is very good on these pda's i have. speed isn't as good as NF 3.1 on a zaurus SL-C760 but the rendering is certainly better. NF 3.1's speed on the zaurus is simply amazing. but IE is nice as well. IMO.

so i'm really sorry that you had so bad experiences

btw did you try calligrapher for handwriting stuff?

ok i knew cenet is not a platform but can it be this different from pda to pda?

Jazz, I agree with you. After reading the wiki I walked away. There's so much contradictory info there.

Snappy!, I downloaded loader_bl and loader_bt.alt from opensimpad.org. Does this mean I'll brick my SL4 if I use them to flash in cenet 4.1? Where can I get the ce compatible bootloaders?

In fairness, the slowness annoys me more than the occasional freeze (after all, I get freezes with my Newt and Lunasuite as well). Granted, I've gotten accustomed to Pentium DualCores and gigabytes of RAM, but both my Newtons and my SE P910 run circles around Wince, on processors that are not that different from the SimPad's.

I do stand by my assertion that Pocket IE is crap: half the time it does not recognize (or can't be bothered with) the images on a site, which can be a real pain if said image is one of those "retype the letters to prove you'e a human being" thingies; it even manages to render sites differently on different occasions (phase of the Moon perhaps?).

I have PenOffice on my Fujitsu Siemens tablet, so I know that Transcriber is a licensed, limited copy of Calligrapher. What I do see is that PenOffice recognizes text much better, and that even Transcriber's printed recognizer is less than 75% accurate. I'm not even going to compare that to the Newton's cursive recognizer (which, incidentally, is just anearlier version of Calligrapher) and its 99+% record (even virtually 100% when writing in English). Oh yeah, and why can't I get language modules with Transcriber?

Now, I do like handwriting a lot, and I realize that Linux doesn't have anything that comes even close to Calligrapher, but I'd gladly turn in HWR for character recognition if it improves my general computing experience.

Another annoying thing of Wince: the onscreen keyboard is really only usable in one of its largest incarnations. Which would be nice, if there were a way to de-maximize Wordpad. As it is now, I can type about half a page (almost touch-typing, so not everything is bad) and then the text disappears behind the keyboard: stop typing, move keyboard, lose train of thought, curse at idiots at Microsoft, oh good train of thought back. Obviously, the text I type is now below my keyboard, which adds to the general feeling of surrealism.

I was beginning to wonder why you people even have forums dedicated to Wince, but then it hit me (again): virtually nobody can install Linux on an HPC either...

I think I'm going to shelve this thing, chalk it up as a learning experience and start saving for a Zaurus.

Or you could sell it on HPCbay. There are a lot of users looking for the SL4 if I remember right.

I could, but I won't.

If anyone can provide me with the correct bootlaoders for the WinCE/Linux installations. I will get them added into that Flash Guide for everyone.