New Project: The Open2x Project.


Alpha2 posted on Oct 12 2005 at 04:03 AM said:
Do you think maybe their resistance has been mostly because they were still tweaking the version inside the GP2X? If the version they released to you is a bear bones model that might be the case that they didn’t want to release an unfinished version too early.

The final release kernel (and disk image) for the GP2X is NOT ready and GPH have not released that code yet. It is worth noting that as GPH does not have a shipping product currently so they are not under a huge pressure to release the source code yet for the GPL elements of the products operating system this will change the moment they ship.

This kernel and boot code came from MagicEyes directly and is the kernel GPH have patched to add or remove (in the case of USB host etc.) one or two features to the GP2X.

As I said before I would expect GPH to release a patch to these kernel sources soon after they start shipping units or as soon as there final ‘version 1’ kernel is signed off.
 
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Vimacs posted on Oct 12 2005 at 06:21 AM said:
Did you see that? http://www.gpx2.com/support/support_sugest...=01&chk=&direc= http://www.gpx2.com/support/support_sugest...=01&chk=&direc=
Will you be releasing the source to the kernel once the software has been released?
under the GPL agreement you are legally required to release it if requested.
<snip>

http://www.gpx2.com/pds/pds_view.asp?index...nho=2∂=01

Hmmmm, thats odd. I can't quite think of a good reason GPH would do this. The Korean God of misunderstanding strikes again ;).

This is not the kernel source at all but rather a fully compiled beta kernel image that can be installed onto the dev-kits and pre-production GP2X's, it is the same as the latest kernel provided by GPH to people working on pre-release hardware. The kernel source is just a little bit bigger then 1MB by the way.
 
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yeah, noticed that its a kernal image, but didnt edit the post :-/
but its nice how they are acting with direcktly uplaoding "something" isnt it? :)
Maybe we get the real source with some more decent pokeing.
 
I'm really looking forward to this, especially because I'd like to see USB master mode for HID devices, so one can plug in (via an adapter) one of those small USB keyboards (like this one). That would make the GP2X into a very nice cheap linux "laptop" (if you use the joypad as a mouse replacement). 320x240 is not a lot, but it sure reminds me of my old C64...

There are just so many possibilities. This is just too cool :D
 
Yeah this is great news. Well done for both the technical stuff, and for successfully dealing with Magic Eyes.
 
skeezix posted on Oct 12 2005 at 03:19 AM said:
Most importantly.. absolutely most importantly.. it means they're following the license and laws. If they didn't release source, they'd be violating the rights of thousands (all of the devs who ever participated in the kernel), and it'd cause some proper hell. By releasing the code, they're stepping up and saying 'we want to be part of the community' (instead of being crapheads) and it'll bring a _lot_ of pluses -- the Linux community will embrace the device and the word will spread like mad.

I think you've read the post slightly wrong Jeff. GPH have no yet released any source code, and say that they will not release any source code for the Kernel. The code that DJWillis has is from the people that make the MagicEye's DevKit - it's the kernel that GPH took and altered to match there device.

So really, they are still "crapheads" as your call them :)

Maybe they'll release the code sometime closer to retail release date... If not, we can either bitch at them, or just make our own from the original MagicEye's codes, just like GPH did. Or do both...
 
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codesmith posted on Oct 12 2005 at 03:50 AM said:
I'm really looking forward to this, especially because I'd like to see USB master mode for HID devices, so one can plug in (via an adapter) one of those small USB keyboards (like this one). That would make the GP2X into a very nice cheap linux "laptop" (if you use the joypad as a mouse replacement). 320x240 is not a lot, but it sure reminds me of my old C64...

There are just so many possibilities. This is just too cool :D

Course, a second-hand Zaurus or iPaq will have a touchscreen, be linux installed or ready, and have countless apps ready to go :) (ie: I've seen earlier Zaurus go for $50 or $100 sometimes, and they've already got Opie et al.) Course, no joystick and are end of life :)

jeff
 
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sounds good.. cant wait to see a gp2xlinux project.
nice things would be:
updating the kernel to 2.6
USB Host mode
Opie or GPE ;)

are with the source of magiceye, the device drivers for sound,tvout and costum second arm cpu included?
 
The first version of the gph kernel didn't support sound or tv out, so I'm guessing the magiceyes kernel (which it's based on) won't support it either. The ME kernel doesn't support the framebuffer present on the GP2X either, but I think DJW said it was pretty easy to get the FB going, but it tried to run it at 640x480 (the resolution of the ME LCD).

So, some work to do, but it shouldn't take that long. Most of it is just telling the code where everything is and where to put buffers/etc I suspect.
 
Thats it my mind is made up ! im a linux user at home and the posibilities for this device is well astounding i have to get one for Christmas,How is SDIO driver coming along?anyone heard anything?
Why not do an internal mod to the GP2X for power to usb,saves modding all your usb hardware and ok it might drain batteries quicker but hay how many bateries could you put in your pocket.
I think(pocketdebian) pocketworkstation would run ok on this from a 256Mb sd card(Full Linux Desktop)
http://www.pocketworkstation.org/ says Other comparable handhelds running Linux might also work with some porting, let me know if you have one you want supported.
SO LET HIM KNOW FOLKS !
 
This is great news, although just a few hairs shy of the fantastic news that would be GPH releasing their version of the kernel. The sooner GPH shows that they want to be part of the OSS community the sooner we can expect to get the attention of more developers. If an anonymous coward happened to submit the story to Slashdot… well I know nothing about it…
 
hagisbasheruk posted on Oct 12 2005 at 09:00 AM said:
Why not do an internal mod to the GP2X for power to usb,saves modding all your usb hardware

Because the GP2X runs off two AA batteries - each at 1.5v and 1.5v * 2 = 3v, while USB requires 5v.
 
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Good news but there's one thing...

It's nice to see the kernel and bootloader are seperate but I'm not too keen on the idea of regulary flashing the bootloader as new versions are released. Would it be possible to protect one section and leave that untouched with every flash so there's no potential for bricking the gp2x with a failed flash or buggy update?
 
I knew stuff like that was out there, but the external mod seems much easier/safer/better (because of battery life) although not nearly as pretty. (well it wouldn't be bad if done correctly) Here's my plan for the USB power problem:
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showt...ndpost&p=279392

Once we all actually get the hardware in our hands thou, it might turn out that there's plenty of room to cram a DC-DC converter in there.
 
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abigsmurf posted on Oct 12 2005 at 10:30 AM said:
Good news but there's one thing...

It's nice to see the kernel and bootloader are seperate but I'm not too keen on the idea of regulary flashing the bootloader as new versions are released. Would it be possible to protect one section and leave that untouched with every flash so there's no potential for bricking the gp2x with a failed flash or buggy update?

Booting from the SD card seems like a real possibility- I'd just do that and leave the firmware untouched.
 
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abigsmurf posted on Oct 12 2005 at 03:30 PM said:
It's nice to see the kernel and bootloader are seperate but I'm not too keen on the idea of regulary flashing the bootloader as new versions are released. Would it be possible to protect one section and leave that untouched with every flash so there's no potential for bricking the gp2x with a failed flash or buggy update?

you mean like we've had to do with the GP32? provided your batteries aren't flat and you dont switch it off its highly unlikely you'll trash your GP2X... and if you do you better pray someone gets a JTAG cable going for it so we can still fix them :lol:
 
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abigsmurf posted on Oct 12 2005 at 04:30 PM said:
It's nice to see the kernel and bootloader are separate but I'm not too keen on the idea of regularly flashing the bootloader as new versions are released. Would it be possible to protect one section and leave that untouched with every flash so there's no potential for bricking the gp2x with a failed flash or buggy update?

Looking at ways to update the bootloader, kernel and disk image without touching any (or as little as possible) of the GPH stuff is already high on the TODO list ;). Nothing has been looked at in enough detail for me to really comment but I will anyway.

The current thinking is that you may need to install an Open2x aware version of U-Boot (or some other bootloader) on the device (risky) to then enable things like SD boot, dual kernels in NAND etc. etc. but that really needs some detailed thinking about. The current U-Boot that is flashed to the GP2X’s (well dev-kits) only supports booting from NAND or a fixed memory location if you load your app onto the GP2X via serial ;). No SD/MMC booting.
 
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Do I understand it right that you'll change the bootloader like that you can choose games that doesn't use Linux directly in the bootloader?

On some Linux-distribution there is the option to restart to windows. That means that the distribution is changing the configuration for the bootloader just for one start, so it'll load Windows directly. Couldn't you implement something like this in the game-launching-menu in Linux? It would be possible to start Linux- and no-os-games in one menu then.
 
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