[IMAGE] A13(-WIFI) Debian (now Ubuntu) + xfce flashable (Updated: 08 Mar: R18)

[jwischka]

Thanks, Jeff.

I have a kernel built (as in, the make ran quite a long time and went OK) but diverted to U-Boot to get md5sum in.  Kernel and testing "soon" but I'd be pleased if you can do one as my first may well not work LOL

John

PM sent. Mali support removed, and a lot of other things modularized. Hopefully will work.

[Ekkehard]

Did not mean to create a wrong impression... 

I was using the VGA and USB keyboard/mouse only for the first time bring-up - kind of as a safety net while I was getting familiar with the board (and for the first time around the Ethernet adapter didn't work).  Ultimately, this board will not be connected to my KVNM switch anymore and will simply be sitting on its merry IP address for me to ssh into - for the occasional maintenance.  In fact, most applications I can think of for this board would be headless...

So that's a "me too", I'd much prefer the additional memory over the ability to hook it up to the KVM switch.

[jwischka]

I'll try to put up a headless image tomorrow - also looking to see if we can move to 3.4 without too many problems.

[JohnS]

>>> IT BOOTS!! <<<

Fantastic.  Thanks so much.

So... I wonder what was stopping it?  Any ideas how I home in on it?

Please post/email your kernel config so I can build it myself.

John

[Eos]

hi jwischka;

Touchscreen working in R7 image?

[jwischka]

>>> IT BOOTS!! <<<

Fantastic.  Thanks so much.

So... I wonder what was stopping it?  Any ideas how I home in on it?

Please post/email your kernel config so I can build it myself.

John

Prayer? You can get the kernel config (I think) here. I'd start by trying to add the mali support back in. That would be one of the biggest drains on the power, obviously, but it's internal to the a13, so seems kind of weird. It could also be a memory issue, as the mali is taking 32-64mb of your ram. Have you done a full memtest?

hi jwischka;

Touchscreen working in R7 image?

No idea, since I don't have one. If you test and report back, I'll try to fix it if it isn't.

I have a headless 3.4 kernel working well, but having trouble getting VGA output to work - will probably try to get both working today, if I have time, and then see about posting some updates.

[drspastic]

v7 working great, you have been very busy with this. if you do stop vga support i will be dissapointed as i am looking forward to more updates. i think i sorted my dd problem out; involves seting the card back to single fat32 partition first, remove then reinsert.

all my usb devices are now listed by name correctly, and you seem to have got rid of a problem with the commandline where going through previous commends with up and down keys corrupted the line.
maybe this was to do with the mali?

do you think this will every get as far as being a live installer? i mean a bigger image with everything lurking, and a menu driven first boot in vga console to select/deselect packages and modules. would be a nice universal distro.

[drspastic]

ok i have a few problems, as i say v7 is booting well and x works great on vga, usb devices recognised and identified.
however my network usb devices dont load their modules, even after installing manually via dpkg their respective deb firmware packages. i checked the files had appeared and they were all correct in /lib/firmware.

any ideas? i just need to get network!

[JohnS]

Have you done a full memtest?

Not full, as I think uboot lives somewhere in it, but other than that, yes.  With its extended test.

Also, Linux stayed up all night.

[jwischka]

ok i have a few problems, as i say v7 is booting well and x works great on vga, usb devices recognised and identified.
however my network usb devices dont load their modules, even after installing manually via dpkg their respective deb firmware packages. i checked the files had appeared and they were all correct in /lib/firmware.

any ideas? i just need to get network!

Have you tried to modprobe them? Which specific device are you using and I can make sure there is kernel support compiled.

[jwischka]

R8 posted.

A few things to note:

1) We have moved to 3.4 from 3.0. This means that things may not work. More to the point, it means your things may not work. I will not know if your things do not work unless you tell me.

2) I have split development into two paths: video and headless. Headless does not have video output on the VGA port, or on the LCD. Don't ask why your video is not working if you downloaded the headless installation. My application is primarily headless, so if the video stops working, I may not know (though I'll try to check). Headless also may be updated more frequently.

3) I'll try to optimize the 3.4 kernel over the next few releases - I basically just took the 3.0 configs and built them. Actually, I tried to start with a fresh 3.4 config, but quickly realized I couldn't find the settings that gave more optimized memory, so I went back to the old configs. Please report any stability issues.

Links:

Get current video version (R8) here.
Get current headless version (R8) here.

Note: I'm having a hard time telling whether wireless is working in R8 or not. I think it is, but can't quite be sure. Please test. Also, I decided to delete everything that I've done. Not the smartest move, I'll agree, but accidents happen. Blah. Hopefully will be back up to speed soonish.

[jwischka]

Great news! I deleted all my source files on accident :/

Hey, it was time to make my own github repo, right?

Bleh. Hopefully will be back up to speed soonish.

[JohnS]

Must have been deleted part way through my download

I still have your r7 (3.0.57) headless config if you'd like it back...

John

[drspastic]

ok i have a few problems, as i say v7 is booting well and x works great on vga, usb devices recognised and identified.
however my network usb devices dont load their modules, even after installing manually via dpkg their respective deb firmware packages. i checked the files had appeared and they were all correct in /lib/firmware.

any ideas? i just need to get network!

Have you tried to modprobe them? Which specific device are you using and I can make sure there is kernel support compiled.

modprobe shows nothing, the mods i was expecting in the kernel was rt2800 wich as far as i know supports the rt3070 usb wifi chipset i use, and is included in kernels 3 and up. i guess you stripped them to save space.
rt73 should work too. as for my other devices, i need the zd1201 wich was included in your earlier images, i just had to add the firmware. finally the pegasus driver that should kick my smc 2206 usb-eth into life.

bad luck about your deleting, but you have been putting out images like a race car! time to sit down and have a cold beer maybe. i never got a chance to try your latest.

stirling work you have done, thanks a million and best wishes.

[jwischka]

I think I should b able to recover most things by the end of the day. I'll check into the networking issues.

ok i have a few problems, as i say v7 is booting well and x works great on vga, usb devices recognised and identified.
however my network usb devices dont load their modules, even after installing manually via dpkg their respective deb firmware packages. i checked the files had appeared and they were all correct in /lib/firmware.

any ideas? i just need to get network!

Have you tried to modprobe them? Which specific device are you using and I can make sure there is kernel support compiled.

modprobe shows nothing, the mods i was expecting in the kernel was rt2800 wich as far as i know supports the rt3070 usb wifi chipset i use, and is included in kernels 3 and up. i guess you stripped them to save space.
rt73 should work too. as for my other devices, i need the zd1201 wich was included in your earlier images, i just had to add the firmware. finally the pegasus driver that should kick my smc 2206 usb-eth into life.

bad luck about your deleting, but you have been putting out images like a race car! time to sit down and have a cold beer maybe. i never got a chance to try your latest.

stirling work you have done, thanks a million and best wishes.