720degrees Linux for the Jornada 720

Hello all!

While we're waiting for ProgramSynthesizer's distribution to take shape, I thought I'd release a pure Debian-based distribution for the J720 Linux community. Basically it's just a raw Debian Sarge base system, freshly installed via debootstrap.

Unlike the current Debian Sarge for the Jornada 720 (the Matthis image), all the files are stable, not testing, and there are no leftovers from Woody.

I decided to release it as it's own distro since I preconfigured it to just drop in and be ready to go. Even though it's essentially Debian at heart, I'll be taking Jornada 720 specific enhancements from all the existing distros and information pages and making them either preinstalled or ready to install, so that users of this distro can benefit from both the specialized efforts of the handheld/embedded Linux developers as well as the vast support of the existing Debian ARM package repository.

Check out the rudimentary webpage for this release at:

720degrees Debian

At this point, I'd like to discuss with anyone who'd like to help with this distribution, particularly Debian users. And if anyone would like to help me get the word out and/or host files or torrents, that would really help since I'm just hosting off a home broadband connection.

Looking forward to community feedback on this release!

Edited by snickersmd 2006-02-22 3:31 PM

Hi,

Your page is very interesting, and I will dowload what it is requiered an try to install your distro

oski

Any chance there will be one for the MP790?

Edited by Yoldering 2006-02-22 9:50 PM

I'm afraid not, at least not from me, since I don't have one

Yoldering: if you like to do some work look at "linux4sig2", is for sig2(HPC2000) that is a MIPS VR 4121, I think similar to yours.

You can probably recompile the kernel for your MP.

oski

Correction: sig2 is VR 4131

oski

Lol, wait for me! I am seriously starting to worry about the microdrive, it has yet to arrive, after 3 weeks.

How about we merge when the time is right?

EDIT: When I get my server up and running, I would definitely mirror your site for you. Although, I still need that desoldering tool and 64mb of ram...

Edited by ProgramSynthesiser 2006-02-23 2:20 PM

PS, I would not worry when its after 3 weeks ... I would give it up or call the state attorney office. I would worry after 3 days. ok, maybe 5 days, but I would start emailing or calling the store if its 2~3 days after its due arrival. 3 weeks? That store's mail server would have gone down by then...

Great to hear from you again PS! Was wondering where you had disappeared off to, guess the microdrive explains it. 3 weeks *is* a bit long to wait for something from eBay.

Merging sounds like a plan. It would certainly take care of your problem of what to call your distro, (see I already even have a cool distro logo for desktop wallpaper, and stickers) . And there really is no point in trying to have multiple distros with the same goal -- to specialize Linux for the 720. Thing is, together we can kill two birds with one stone, I can continue to tailor Debian for the 720, you can do a slim branch which doesn't rely on Debian, and both of us can share in specific hardware support things like keymaps and other script and code. To have both projects under one name would also make more sense with the name, since 720degrees is a double turn. OpenPsion has a similar effort where they have a base Linux distro and for Debian users they have SargeBook under the same project.

Another great reason to merge would be to give Michael just one place to look. The closer we're working with the kernel maintainer for our device, the better the distro becomes.

***

Anyway, news on this distro and other issues. Any feedback reports from people who have tried this? (Where is Karloch?) So far, it runs without a hitch on my 720. The irony of this is that even though the problems with the Matthis image are solved with this release, i.e. having a stable fresh Sarge install sans Woody components, I find that out of the repository, most of the packages I need are actually in Etch and Sid. One of the first things I did after installing was a dist-upgrade. At least, that goes smoothly without breaking anything, as anyone who has used the Matthis image recently will notice that it takes a bit of doing to update the set (keeps complaining about e2fsprogs, and fixing the system needs a force loopbreak option).

Another issue that I ran into was finding a working X server. The Xorg server from the Debian ARM repository does not work out of the box. The Matthis image included the X server from the Familiar/GPE distro. I can't seem to find any other precompiled binaries for an X server tailored to the J720. The most stable from the Ipkg repository is rather old, from Familiar 0.7.2, and anything newer is from CVS, which probably isn't the best mix for a system based on stable Sarge code. I tried to find stable code to do a fresh compile and make a good deb package, but openembedded.org and freedesktop.org are mazes, and both code and documentation are scant. The next place I'll be checking will be the NetBook guys, and I'll report back here. If I find a solid X server for the distro, I'll prepare it and put it up on the 720 degrees website as well.

Another thing to look at is easy install. Since the image that I made has never been booted once on its own (you'll notice there are no extraneous log files or added user entries) this is as close as it gets to having the average users run debootstrap themselves. I'd like to pre-configure inittab to autologin as root, then immediately run a first boot script which detects your network, runs base-config, and then remove itself and the autologin as soon as it's done. You know, adding a little more user friendliness to the install. That is the current focus of the JLime project and it's an important thing to consider.

Edited by snickersmd 2006-02-23 5:47 PM

instead of learning the linux kernel i bought a zaurus and put cacko on it

LOL.

snickersmd, I will have to reread this and help you out when I get the microdrive. Until then, I am useless.

Yeah, I will be emailing the guy. The longest I have ever had was about a month, and other times, it simply did not come. Only problem is, I don't have any more money. So, if it doesn't come...

Snickersmd,

I have installed your image using your kernel that booted OK.

My only problem is that after configuration of the base system, I installed X-windows, but cannot manage to have it working. If I try startx get the infamous error 104, if try x nothing happens, xinit same as startx, if try xterm get no DISPLAY( or somthing like that).
As I do not know the card, refresh rate, LCD, Display and keyboard, ( mouse) and so on necessary for configuring X I think that making guesses I made mistakes in the Configuration.
Have you the correct settings to configure X in j720 and this Debian environment?

Thanks

oski

Hi oski, I'm working on the problem:



As I have found out, the X server from Debian will not work with the Jornada, it is not compiled with the low memory options and touchscreen support that we need, as far as I can tell (I could be wrong). The X server for NetBook Linux is actually TinyX for the Ipaq H3600, which is probably the oldest working server and is from Handhelds.org anyway. So right now, I'm trying to come up with a working config from the latest X servers available from Handhelds.org/ipkgfind, and I hope to have a working solution by tomorrow.

you file a claim