[Gta04-owner] Status GTA04 Hardware & Software

[H. Nikolaus Schaller]

Hi Thierry,

> Am 14.04.2017 um 19:47 schrieb Thierry GRAUSS <tgrauss at f-gp.eu>:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I will try to make qtmoko working on the gta04a5

Oh great!

> as I don't like
> android.

No problem. I like to have multiple choices :)

> QTMoko has quite a nice interface compared to other.

Yes, it was always seen as the best system of all.

> I am currently trying to find documentation as starting point to build
> it but this link is not very current :
> http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/QtMoko/CrossBuildingOnDebian

This one seems to be the most recent:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/radekp/qtmoko/master/doc/txt/debian_rootfs_howto_gta04.txt

Please note that it seems to assume a Debian Wheezy build host and
creates a Wheezy debootstrap and image.

Basically it *should* be possible to do the steps on the qemu wheezy image.
Here I had created some scripts which tries to automate the steps described in the howto_gta04:

http://git.goldelico.com/?p=gta04-qtmoko.git;a=tree;f=goldelico;h=37ae2fce6bc2f788f0e6f47dd9560fdcd6624658;hb=refs/heads/master

I think that last time I tried it did run 30 hours before it finally failed...

> 
> So if someone has a good up to date documentation to build qtmoko, it
> would help me a lot. After this, if there is problem, I will try
> overcome one problem after the other.
> 
> I have some ideas for additional programs for QTMoko

there is already a small collection and your ideas are very welcome:

http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-qtmoko/issues/

> , but first we need
> to have a stable plateform.

Indeed. I hope others who have worked on QtMoko can jump into this discussion.

> 
> Thank you
> 
> Regards
> 
> On Fri, 14 Apr 2017 19:18:13 +0200
> "H. Nikolaus Schaller" <hns at goldelico.com> wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> let me give a short status update:
>> 
>> 1. GTA04 Hardware
>> 
>> * shipment of GTA04A5 and Letux 2804
>> the first GTA04A5 boards have been shipped this
>> week as well as some Letux 2804 (complete devices).
>> I hope they arrive(d) well and new users will appear
>> here soon.
>> 
>> * repairs of other GTA04A5: I have picked up the
>> unused components yesterday and now I have more than
>> enough material to try repairs. I can't tell yet
>> how fast and successful it will become but will keep
>> you updated.
>> 
>> 2. Software for GTA04
>> 
>> * Kernel: Finally I have managed to fix two issues in
>> the Letux-4.11-rc6 kernel so that it now boots successful.
>> This makes it possible for the first time to test 4.11
>> kernels.
>> 
>> There are more known issues and we will try to fix them.
>> Maybe not before 4.11.0 is published in 2 weeks, but soon.
>> 
>> Also, we have a Letux-4.10.10 kernel which should be
>> robust and stable for your projects.
>> 
>> * NAND image: is Debian 8.7 (Jessie) + LXDE. This is
>> more a demo and hardware test than a useable device
>> GUI. It is neither finger compatible nor does it have
>> many functions. Running GPS-Demo, Camera-Demo and
>> SimpleGSM-HUI seems to be not reliable and after
>> booting a nasty "PID not found" message pops up.
>> The last one is related to LXDE. I even tried with
>> an experimental Stretch system but the error remains.
>> Maybe, some LXDE component is misconfigured.
>> 
>> * Replicant/Android 4.2: has got a -v2 which includes the
>> letux-4.10 kernel. This is required to be able to
>> run Replicant on the GTA04A5 (which has different
>> device tree and drivers). Unfortunately, Lukas
>> recently did not have as much time as before so
>> we lack some modification to test and make it useable
>> for daily operation. Especially accelerometers,
>> and modem power/AT commands may need improvements
>> for the GTA04A5.
>> 
>> * Replicant 6.0: AFAIK currently nobody is really
>> working on it. I tried to setup a build system
>> on my non-Debian host but failed so far. Even for
>> Replicant-4.2 (seems to be some 32/64 bit issues
>> and C++0x vs. C++11 and JDK version mismatch).
>> But the build instructions should work:
>> http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-replicant/page/Replicant-4/
>> if you run a compatible host.
>> 
>> * QtMoko: unfortunately nobody was able to get
>> it compiled on a more modern Debian foundation.
>> Therefore we only have the old 3.7-kernel based
>> binary images. Those can not be booted on GTA04A5
>> devices because the kernel is too old.
>> 
>> It is possible to substitute the latest kernel,
>> but like with Replicant, the modem and peripheral
>> interfaces have changed and therefore it is not
>> useable.
>> 
>> If anyone wants to help with these issues, please
>> raise your fingers and roll up your sleeves. It is
>> a very good opportunity to learn and contribute to
>> our community (both are the factors why I am not
>> giving up, although I have had enough reasons to
>> do so :).
>> 
>> BR,
>> Nikolaus
>> 
>> Kernel: http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-kernel/
>> LXDE: http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-rootfs/
>> Replicant: http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-replicant/
>> QtMoko: http://www.qtmoko.net
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