Posts Tagged ‘archos7’

Debugging Archos devices just got a lot easier.

Monday, July 12th, 2010

UPDATE:

This guide is outdated, please do not use it anymore! There is a new and updated procedure that is easy to follow and integrates g_serial debugging. The files linked to in this guide will be no longer available.

I’ve been talking about this idea for a while now, but today I finally had the right mood to work on it and I think I’ve found a sufficiently flexible solution for now.

I’m loading the kernel modules (musb_hdrc and g_serial) in the initramfs. Fortunately there was enough space left for that.

I’ve created 3 separate serial interfaces using g_serial.

/dev/ttyGS0 – unused (root shell on Archos Android firmware)
/dev/ttyGS1 – unused
/dev/ttyGS2 – kernel messages. this is simply ‘cat /proc/kmsg’

You can now attach terminals or logs to this in your images. Usually by editing /etc/inittab and adding a line like:

s2:235:respawn:/sbin/mingetty --autologin root ttyGS0

If you need to disable this you can just kill the ‘cat’ process and if running stop the getty’s. After doing that you can remove the g_serial and then the musb_hdrc module. You can then e.g. reload musb_hdrc to have it act as a host controller again.

The important changes are in the initramfs. The zImage is only needed if you want the root shell for Android. Get the files here.

Enjoy your easy debugging! No need for serial dongles anymore!

Cheers

Thomas, your friendly neighborhood ArchDruid
PS: As a bonus this zImage will boot Archos 2.0.x firmwares. There will be some problems with transparencies though. We’re going to fix that in the long run though.

PPS: If there is demand I can generate a set for gen6 too.

Tags: android, Ångström, archos5it, archos7, boot-loader, boot-menu, build, console, gadget, gen6, gen7, gpl, hack, Linux kernel, menu, multiboot, musb, RS-232, RS232, sde, serial
Posted in Ångström, ArchDruid, gen6, gen7 | 5 Comments »

Yet another ‘just for fun’ P.o.C. – Windows 95 on Gen6.

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Where/when will this madness end? — right here, right now… ;p

This was my final proof of concept attempt at a windows OS on the Archos 5.

I successfully managed to boot Windows 95 using dosbox, and an image file of win95.

Dosbox is a really hefty program on the A5imt (taking up over 70% cpu usage and over 40% ram), so this was a crawling process. Im sure it would work better with other emulators, but none have yet to be successfully compiled for the A5IMT. With that said, and keeping in spirit of the original hardware this was meant to run on — the load time is like watching paint dry.

Video: (8 minute long vid, so grab some coffee)

Process:

–Make directories “/dos/95″ on root of unit (mnt_data || rootfs_source)

–Copy image of win95 (in this case W95.IMG) to /dos/95

–Start up dosbox

Run the following commands in dosbox:

ver set 8.0 (must trick win95 into thinking ms-dos version is >=7.x.x)
mount c /rootfs_source/dos (setting up env.)
c:
imgmount e c:\95\W95.IMG -t hdd -fs fat (mounting boot image to fs – setting up parameters)
boot -l c (booting image off c:)

Then wait….

It will perform scandisk upon booting, let this run.

wait some more….

Ahh… Success!

Touchscreen is nerfed, and the start menu doesn’t show, so good luck with that. I haven’t tested out a mouse with it (nor will I) – only a keyboard, and that seems to have basic functionality (asides from the cursor keys not doing what they’re suppose to do), albeit extremely slow.

Have fun, and remember, this is for educational purposes only!! >=]

~Spz0

Tags: Ångström, archos5, archos7, dosbox, multiboot, sde, win95, windows 95
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Follow-up: New kbd layout for e17 wm (beta2 release)

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

As a follow-up post to the Demo build of Enlightenment 17, I have made a new keyboard layout specifically designed for the Archos 5/7’s screen resolution. I have also addressed a few troubling issues in regards to the illume kbd itself.

List of improvements:

The dimensions are now 800×220 so there is more viewing area above the keyboard.
Decreased the size of the keys a touch (not a problem since the interpretive skills of illumes kbd are amazing), and increased the font size on the keys themselves
Moved the placement/size of the “popup” keys (when a key is initially pressed –the popup display that grows from the current key pressed) to compensate for the new container size.
Moved some bottom row buttons around to center the space-bar for easier use with both thumbs.
Removed the “Terminal” kbd layout, since it is no longer compatible with the new 800×220 container.
Added a keyboard icon to the top shelf (replacing the “qwerty” text).

Some Screenshots:

custom e17 kbd container (800×220)

e17 topshelf keyboard icon

Since I had to recode the illume bits to make changes to the top shelf and the letter sizing/placement, it is necessary to download the new beta version, as opposed to just releasing a .kbd file. Props go out to raster from #e for some advice on edje

You can download the image >>>HERE<<<

**note: I’ll be updating the parent post with the new beta2 build as well.

Note::

[ If you wish to run this along side your current build, rename image to "illume.img" and make the appropriate entry in "menu.lst" Otherwise just overwrite your "rootfs.img" and your good to go.]

As always, input and suggestions are welcome.

~Cheers

Spz0

Tags: Ångström, aos, archos5, archos7, demo, e, e17, enlightenment, multiroot, sde
Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments »

A demo Image using the Enlightenment WM

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Hello all.

I’ve been wanting to make angstrom more user friendly for some time, so I decided to start working on an e17 Illume build. There were a bunch things I didn’t like about the current gpe build — the xkbd being too small, midori web browser being too chunky, the lack of overall user friendliness of the UI, amongst other small issues mostly revolving around functionality of Angstrom.

This image that I’ve compiled addresses these issues as well as others such as:

A more user friendly interface (Illume)
Increased size of buttons and fonts (Scaling)
Removal of misc. programs (broken programs and programs incompatible with e17)
An increased file system of 1Gb
Selection of 3 web browsers – Fennec, Woosh and Dillo (warning: fennec is still a WIP and will crash when loading larger pages due to RAM restrictions on Gen6 devices)
OptimSMS2 keyboard layout
Quasar Media Player (Mplayer frontend)
ePDFviewer
Abiword Word Processor
Numpty Physics (Neat little physics game)

This image is base on Kevin’s build of the revision 199 of openAOS Ångström overlay. All additional packages have been installed from the regular Ångström package feeds with the exception of Dillo, Woosh, NumptyPhysics and Quasar (which I modified together with some help from Thomas, dm8tbr [thanks m8!!]) and for which sources and bitbake recipe are available here.

Some screenshots (desktop will look different on the downloaded image due to additional software installation):

Main Desktop

Archos gen6 running e17 - main view

Illumes “Top-Shelf” (note: Vkeyboard button is located in the top-right corner “qwerty“)

OptimSMS2 Keyboard (Switch between kbd layouts by hitting “ABC” [above letter"P"])

Archos gen6 running e17 - screen keyboard

Archos gen6 running e17 - OptimSMS2 on-screen keyboard

Quasar UI

: Archos gen6 running e17 – running Quasar

OptimSMS keyboard still needs a bit more work, it’s a bit too large right now, but still very usable. I may get around to finding a way to reduce the size of the container. Look for that update. I also kept the “transparent keyboard” active for use, and I have my custom xkbd layout defaulted (mimics OptimSMS2 layout).

There is also a known issue with the Battery Meter being broken. Hopefully we can fix that soon. If anyone wants to try, go right ahead.

This image should need minimal adjusting, as we have worked to import all my custom e17′s settings into your home.img, so you should not have to go through the initialization process. However, if you with to do so, goto “Settings->Settings->Profiles” and select the “Default” profile to run through the initialization process. I would also suggest increasing the Terminal font size (click the “Look and Feel” icon, goto the “Terminal” tab and increase to the desired font size). You will have to restart in order for those changes to take effect.

Grab your copy of the E17 Image HERE.**

**updated to beta2 build as described HERE

~Cheers

Spz0.

Tags: Ångström, archos5, archos7, demo, e, e17, enlightenment, gen6, sde
Posted in Ångström, gen6 | 11 Comments »

Just for fun: openAOS boots Maemo/Mer oh and Meego too, ’cause we can!

Friday, May 7th, 2010

This is more of an “oh-look-shiny” thing right now.

I’d like to EMPHASIZE this: Currently we do not support Mer on Archos hardware! This is just an proof of concept!

Gaap asked me on IRC today how to try Maemo/Mer on his A5IT. – Turns out it was very easy.

You take: Mer build for SmartQ5 (Touchbook might work even better I guess)
Throw that into an 500M+ ext3 image.
For good measure throw in some parts of the original Archos SDE images.
Modify menu.lst (the image needs /sbin/init)
…
profit!

Here are two short videos by Ian58 and spz0:

To get this far you need to go through the first boot assistant. Notice that the screen calibration will be totally off and you need to aim a bit to the side. When you manage to hit an input field the virtual keyboard will show up.

Update: If you like watching paint dry you’ll also like this one: Meego code drop 20100331 repackaged for Archos

Please note, that this is just an proof of concept and nowhere near seriously usable. It just happens to work (a bit). But if someone wants to step up and properly port that or later Meego to Archos hardware. We’re very much open to it. Just contact us for hints and some help!

Tags: archos5, archos5it, archos7, boot-menu, gen6, gen7, maemo, mer, multiboot, sde
Posted in gen6, gen7 | 4 Comments »

openAOS

Open Source Archos Operating Systems