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#1 2010-07-01 13:51:29

ezzetabi
Member
Registered: 2006-08-27
Posts: 947

Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

I bought an Openmoko Neorunner, since it seems the support for Om2008.8 is fairly dead I was wondering if it was good idea pass to the distro I know and I love.

Unfortunately also the archmobile site is not encouraging: the last update is of about five months ago.
So I was wondering: it is actually usable? Are there the obvious applications to the use the phone (at very least call and get sms).

Does anyone know it?

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#2 2010-07-01 20:25:48

bananaoomarang
Member
Registered: 2009-10-29
Posts: 180

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

Well I don't know it but Now there is a VERY recent post. I have holidays very soon too. Holidays are great.

http://www.archmobile.org/

Posted today. So not 5 months out of date anymore smile

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#3 2010-07-01 21:19:02

ezzetabi
Member
Registered: 2006-08-27
Posts: 947

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

...actually I was talking about the last commit: at time of writing it is dated `3267h37m ago.'

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#4 2010-07-02 18:24:29

bananaoomarang
Member
Registered: 2009-10-29
Posts: 180

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

ah. yeah, sorry. But still if there is an anouncement that means that dev is still alive and is probably going to start developing again soon. However I am of no real help as I have never even heard of this project before.

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#5 2010-07-02 18:34:46

drcouzelis
Member
From: Connecticut, USA
Registered: 2009-11-09
Posts: 4,092
Website

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

I was thinking about buying an Openmoko Neo Freerunner, and I was going to ask you how you like it, and now I can't find a single place to order it in the US, so I guess it doesn't really matter... hmm

Anyway, how do you like it? smile

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#6 2010-07-03 15:09:13

ezzetabi
Member
Registered: 2006-08-27
Posts: 947

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

It is only few days I have it; so those are only my first impressions.

It is a nice phone, but I can understand why it did not have the success Openmoko expected.
Problems first:
- no place where to wedge the pen. It is apparently a small thing, but it is annoying bringing two items (one very small) instead of only one.
- The official distro support seems dead (as noted in the first message). While you can easily change the distro it is somewhat annoying.
- No terminal installed by default; if you mess your network configuration you are pretty much forced to flash.
- Bad screen keyboard: at least the default one. It is a counter-intuitive predictive mess. I tried writing `ls' in the terminal (after installing it) and I got `me'... not sure.
- no UMTS, I do not need it. But it might be a problem.

Good points:
- It is a little bulky, but it is very robust: I am fairly sure it can resist lots of stress.
- Once I found a well done distro (`QtMoko' for me) it is fantastic; you really have a linux computer in the pocket.
- High quality sound output.
- Clear and bright screen with a resolution of 640x480.
- Free: the phone is somewhat expensive, but you get lots of programs freely and you can easily integrate new ones.

So, if you want an high-end phone this is a good choice. But be prepared to change the installed distro; the default one is hardly usable.
Unfortunately the two official us distributors of the Neo Runner have problems. The first distributor does not have any left, the second one sells blocks of ten phones: you jest need 9 friends wink ...
I bought from Goldel delicious and I am very satisfied; you might ask them if the send to the US.

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#7 2010-07-04 18:26:17

rott_at
Member
Registered: 2009-01-24
Posts: 37

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

Hello.

As i wrote in the news, we are working on the autobuilder. So we _are_ alive and we try to get our repo up-to-date again and also keep it like that, what is harder.

We hope to have everything done til september, since some of us have holidays the whole august, it's possible. But can't tell yet if you can use it then as a phone already, since the GSM Framework was the blocker for quite some time, but they re-coded everything, so there is a chance smile


Greetings, naeg

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#8 2010-07-05 02:29:51

sand_man
Member
From: Australia
Registered: 2008-06-10
Posts: 2,164

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

Unfortunately for the NeoRunner, the smartphone industry is going crazy right now and already the NR is becoming obsolete quickly. It's always nice to have something to hack on but I wouldn't have one for everyday use.
I was going to try to install ArchMobile on one of those cheap ARM netbooks but I ended up sending the netbook back because it was a POS.
ArchMobile does interest me though and if I had a device to use it on, then I would. Maybe one of those Seagate Dockstars...


neutral

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#9 2010-07-05 03:06:36

steve___
Member
Registered: 2008-02-24
Posts: 452

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

What about a chroot on a Nokia N900?  Is this possible?

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#10 2010-07-09 07:09:11

rott_at
Member
Registered: 2009-01-24
Posts: 37

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

Installing ArchMobile on any device is actually just configuring the bootloader, and creating a kernel package(in general, mostly there are some problems wink). If this device already runs Linux, there must be a kernel, then you just have to copy that one.

Last edited by rott_at (2010-07-09 07:11:26)

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#11 2010-07-15 14:39:48

Klepto
Member
From: Scotland
Registered: 2007-11-12
Posts: 41

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

I'm running it on a Beagleboard with the intention of creating a normal (ie. desktop), self-hosted Arch Linux distribution for the CortexA8. It runs just fine but it will take a while to go through the packages updating and tweaking. Eventually I hope to have it running on my pre-ordered (still waiting) Pandora. I too am planning an autobuilder script, most likely written in bash because that's what I'm most comfortable with. I have no plans to make my autobuilder script work with the more difficult packages such as the kernel, gcc and glibc, it will mostly just take the PKGBUILD directory from x86 abs, change the arch line to arch=(arm) and email me if building fails. Such an approach should work for 90% or more of packages.


I'm a moderate, it's the mainstream that's extremist.

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#12 2010-07-15 21:38:52

slint
Member
Registered: 2009-05-22
Posts: 31

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

steve___ wrote:

What about a chroot on a Nokia N900?  Is this possible?

should work without problems
it worked on my n800

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#13 2010-07-16 06:40:48

rott_at
Member
Registered: 2009-01-24
Posts: 37

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

Klepto wrote:

I'm running it on a Beagleboard with the intention of creating a normal (ie. desktop), self-hosted Arch Linux distribution for the CortexA8. It runs just fine but it will take a while to go through the packages updating and tweaking. Eventually I hope to have it running on my pre-ordered (still waiting) Pandora. I too am planning an autobuilder script, most likely written in bash because that's what I'm most comfortable with. I have no plans to make my autobuilder script work with the more difficult packages such as the kernel, gcc and glibc, it will mostly just take the PKGBUILD directory from x86 abs, change the arch line to arch=(arm) and email me if building fails. Such an approach should work for 90% or more of packages.

That's what we are doing too. A bit more complicated and more suitable, but in general the same. I am busy with working this and the next week, but then I am having a lot of time for the auotbuilder. You may wanna joing us on IRC.

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#14 2010-07-16 13:22:21

Klepto
Member
From: Scotland
Registered: 2007-11-12
Posts: 41

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

rott_at wrote:

That's what we are doing too. A bit more complicated and more suitable, but in general the same. I am busy with working this and the next week, but then I am having a lot of time for the auotbuilder. You may wanna joing us on IRC.

Thanks for the invite, I'll certainly pop in once I have have played with it a bit more and have something useful to say smile

I was initially under the impression that you were concentrating more on having a cross-compiled version of Arch for use on devices that lacked the horsepower/RAM/storage to build their own packages, but after reading the other relevant thread I see this isn't the case. It would certainly be good to pool our efforts, PlugApps also seem to be doing the same kind of stuff, it would be nice to see all this effort brought together.

How do you plan addressing the different versions of the ARM architecture that exist? While my Beagleboard will happily run Archmobile binaries they don't make use of the extra features of the CortexA8, most notably the vfp and NEON units. It would seem sensible to maintain different repos built from the same ABS tree. I also own a SmartQ V5 internet tablet, it would be nice to run Arch on that too so supporting ARM5 is of interest to me. The differing ways of booting the OS on different devices also seems to be an issue, although I suspect that may best be dealt with by providing guides on installing the OS on each device.


I'm a moderate, it's the mainstream that's extremist.

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#15 2010-07-16 14:44:47

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

[OT]
@ Klepto
That SmartQ V5 link is behind The Great Firewall of China or what? I can't get it to open in neither firefox nor chromium.
[/OT]

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#16 2010-07-16 17:37:27

itman
Member
From: Switzerland
Registered: 2010-05-21
Posts: 124

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

drcouzelis wrote:

I was thinking about buying an Openmoko Neo Freerunner, and I was going to ask you how you like it, and now I can't find a single place to order it in the US, so I guess it doesn't really matter... hmm

Anyway, how do you like it? smile

sorry to chip in...

I'm an neo user and I do love that little machine. But there was a lot of work to get in running. Search for #1024-fix: That's a hw-fix for increasing batterie-life up to three days. Otherwise the battery will drain in one day. I guess newer units (so called A7) where the most up-to-date units, but still do need that #1024-fix.

Having used SHR with mixed results I'm now on qtmoko. Read no lost calls and a reliable way of cell-phoning. Qtmoko got updated fairly often.

Didn't use archmobile since I'd just joinded the arch-way-of-linuxin a couple of month ago tough.

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#17 2010-07-19 07:45:46

rott_at
Member
Registered: 2009-01-24
Posts: 37

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

Klepto wrote:

It would certainly be good to pool our efforts, PlugApps also seem to be doing the same kind of stuff, it would be nice to see all this effort brought together.
...
How do you plan addressing the different versions of the ARM architecture that exist?
...

I once talked to the devs from PlugApps, but they don't want to make one bigger 'Arch Linux ARM Port', instead they prefer doing their own thing.

It shouldn't be that hard to manage several repos(like ArchLinux has i686 and x86_64), it's just a matter of compiling, which will be much easier as soon as our autobuilder is finished wink The differences between those ARM Versions aren't that big, hopefully. And if they are, we will make just a few repos, and so some users might have to use packages compiled for a lower ARM Versions => less optimization, but working.

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#18 2010-07-19 11:05:08

sand_man
Member
From: Australia
Registered: 2008-06-10
Posts: 2,164

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

rott_at wrote:
Klepto wrote:

It would certainly be good to pool our efforts, PlugApps also seem to be doing the same kind of stuff, it would be nice to see all this effort brought together.
...
How do you plan addressing the different versions of the ARM architecture that exist?
...

I once talked to the devs from PlugApps, but they don't want to make one bigger 'Arch Linux ARM Port', instead they prefer doing their own thing.

It shouldn't be that hard to manage several repos(like ArchLinux has i686 and x86_64), it's just a matter of compiling, which will be much easier as soon as our autobuilder is finished wink The differences between those ARM Versions aren't that big, hopefully. And if they are, we will make just a few repos, and so some users might have to use packages compiled for a lower ARM Versions => less optimization, but working.

Is it possible to compile an ARM package as a more generic architecture kind of like FreeBSD does i386 and ArchLinux does i686. I mean, is it possible to have an ARM binary that will run on both say and ARM7 and an ARM9?


neutral

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#19 2010-07-19 11:07:45

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

> as a more generic architecture kind of like FreeBSD does i386 and ArchLinux does i686
FreeBSD may use generic i386 but you won't be able to run i686 Arch binaries on a < i686 cpu.
I think you want to be like FreeBSD, not focused / optimized like Arch.

** unverified **
http://brewforums.qualcomm.com/archive/ … -5195.html
The ARM9 will run ARM7 and Thumb builds but much faster.

Last edited by karol (2010-07-19 11:09:49)

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#20 2010-07-20 06:57:50

rott_at
Member
Registered: 2009-01-24
Posts: 37

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

ARM, in general, is backward compatible. So an ARM5 runs ARM4, ARM9 runs ARM4,...(I guess you know how it's going on wink)

But don't mix up the family(ARM1, ARM2, ...) with the architecture version(ARMv1, ARMv2, ...). We are currently optimized for ARMv4, which starts at the ARM7(TDMI) and ends at ARM9(TDMI).(With some exceptions of course).

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture for more information. We started with ARMv4 because we started that Port with the Openmoko NeoFreerunner.

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#21 2010-08-14 05:50:56

mikestaszel
Member
From: Chicago, USA
Registered: 2009-08-19
Posts: 14
Website

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

Rott_at if I recall correctly, a big community effort would mean PlugApps would have to rename itself ArchMobile. Given the development going on at PlugApps at the time and development stillmgoing on at a fast pace, it made no sense to do so. We update packages daily.

We're basically the "other" Arch to ARMv5te port.

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#22 2010-08-14 12:45:27

naeg
Member
Registered: 2010-07-30
Posts: 10

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

The name was never a matter. The project could also have any ohter name, like "Arch Linux ARM" or whatever.

greetings naeg

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#23 2010-08-15 03:02:09

aragats
Member
From: Broomfield, CO
Registered: 2009-05-26
Posts: 30

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

Hi folks!

Great job! I'm happy to see Arch in my mini2440 board with 3.5" LCD (Samsung S3C2410 CPU). I tried several other distributions (Angstrom, Emdebian etc.) which people regularly use for that ARM device - nothing is even close to Archmobile by practicality.

I have installed Archmobile on an SD card using a snapshot and a kernel I've built especially for mini2440. I've already built several packages in the device itself (without emulation) - everything works fine and configurable easily - exactly as my desktop Arch. Now I'm going to start a commercial project to use that device for real time physical parameters (V, A, T) and movement control. Besides that I'll be glad to help Archmobile by building/maintaining packages etc.

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#24 2010-08-15 04:12:44

nikkelitous
Member
Registered: 2010-08-15
Posts: 1

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

rott_at wrote:
Klepto wrote:

It would certainly be good to pool our efforts, PlugApps also seem to be doing the same kind of stuff, it would be nice to see all this effort brought together.
...
How do you plan addressing the different versions of the ARM architecture that exist?
...

I once talked to the devs from PlugApps, but they don't want to make one bigger 'Arch Linux ARM Port', instead they prefer doing their own thing.

It shouldn't be that hard to manage several repos(like ArchLinux has i686 and x86_64), it's just a matter of compiling, which will be much easier as soon as our autobuilder is finished wink The differences between those ARM Versions aren't that big, hopefully. And if they are, we will make just a few repos, and so some users might have to use packages compiled for a lower ARM Versions => less optimization, but working.

I really don't think they like to "do their own thing" so much because they're running a niche system running on plug computers.  It's really actually a great system and I use it daily on many devices.  I'm even running it on a handheld.  They all run wonderfully and have great in person support.  I really love plugbox linux.  It's great.

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#25 2010-08-18 11:49:50

naeg
Member
Registered: 2010-07-30
Posts: 10

Re: Do anyone actually uses Archmobile?

@nikkelitous: With "their own thing" I just meant that we didn't join together.

@aragats: Happy to hear that. Would be great if you join us on IRC, we need maintainers.

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