Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

**sleeky24** · December 28th, 2009

Hi all,

As this seems to be a good discussion topic regarding these mini netbooks I thought I would sign up to register my interest.

Some bored Christmas holiday browsing on ebay brought up these laptops and after a bit of bidding I have managed to get myself one delivered for just under $100. Hopefully it will arrive in the next few weeks.

dwinston91 -

With regards to the flash playback, what version of flastlite have you managed to install, is it 3.0 or 3.1, as you have stated flash 8 compatability I would suspect it is flashlite 3.0?

I found the following topic on another forum regarding .cab files for flashlite 3.1, which I beleive has flash 9 support which may be more compatible with youtube, etc...

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=423860

There are links on the thread to download the .cab files however if you do need these please let me know as I have downloaded them in case I need them.

The thread itself is regarding windows mobile, however I beleive this should also work ok on CE.

As you seem a lot more clued up regarding these things than I would it be possible for you to advise if it would be possible to install flastlite 3.1 on CE using these files?

I will be keeping my eye on this thread for all updates regarding these little laptops.

Thanks,
Lee.

**PerChristensen** · December 29th, 2009

Very interesting site with ARM related applications your reply point to,dwinston91.

As celem say the "silver" CmBook seems identical to his,and also to mine, with the armVT8500 processor.

Has anybody heard/seen MSWindows ask for the drivers after following the CmBook recipie?
Is it after install of the drivers possible to access (parts of) the flash rom from a file manager - copy MP4 files directly to ./my documents or similar?

As we get more experienced ( and after having learned chinese

),dreams are we all can have a windowsCE system image/ backup + a linux system (+ a android?) image on a MSWindows PC,and then burn whatever we want to the book.

I belive we in reaching such a goal must be consistent and stick to the hardware specified by celem - our book use Ralink RT 2070 / RT 3070 wireles drivers etc..
As celem say,our book will soon be replaced with something faster and cheaper.I cannot join exploring the hardware before I`m back at my hanged netbook early next year.

**dwinston91** · December 29th, 2009

The version of Flash Lite that I copied from was Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 As stated on Adobe's website, Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 supports Flash 8 fully. Flash 9 support is limited a little. Check here for more information: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/...guidelines.pdf

Adobe Flash 9 support
Flash Lite 3.1 can broadcast itself as Flash Player 9 compatible to play back any ActionScript 2.0 SWF content, even if the content was authored using Flash 9 technology. However, it is based on Flash Player 8, so it does not support ActionScript 3.0, which was introduced with Flash Player 9.
Flash Lite 3.1 runtime can be embedded into OEM devices. Most phone and consumer electronic devices do not offer automatic browser upgrades of plug-ins. Many developers incorporate mechanisms (JavaScript functions) in their websites that can detect FLV and SWF content to ensure that visitors are either routed to viewable content—based on the configuration of the browser that they are using—or provided with clear instructions on how to correctly install the Flash Player necessary to view the site’s content.

The basic concept regarding detecting FLV or SWF content is:
1. Check the browser to see if the required plug-in is available. For instance, if content created with Flash 9 technology is present, Flash Player 9 is required for viewing.
2. If the appropriate plug-in is available, the browser is directed to load the web page and the content is displayed.
3. If the required plug-in is not available, the browser is redirected to an alternate website with different content or to a page containing instructions to download the latest Flash Player from Adobe.com.
This “redirection and subsequent upgrade” approach works only on desktop systems where such upgradeable players exist. Mobile and device users visiting sites with Flash Player 9 compatible content would be confused by these upgrade instructions. As a result, Flash Lite 3.1 broadcasts as Flash Player 9. This means that a website with embedded SWF content is passed to the Flash Lite 3.1 plug-in. Flash Lite 3.1 evaluates the SWF content and either plays it back or displays a user-friendly icon along with a message indicating that the website
content is not supported by the plug-in embedded in the browser.

This means that it says to the websites, "Hey I'm Flash 9 compatible" But if it uses Action Script 3.0, as was introduced in Flash 9, you get a little symbol that shows the Flash 9 symbol..and not the actual content.

**dwinston91** · December 29th, 2009

I opened up my machine last night and this is my exact board right here: It is made by this company. http://www.benigntech.com.cn/en/product.asp?clb=141&slb=192.

I just wish this company had information like the CnM Book did.

**sleeky24** · December 29th, 2009

Dwinston91 - thanks for clearing that up for me, once mine arrives I will follow what you did and also try and install flastlite on my unit.

I will also probally open it up at some time to see which board my one has, perhaps we could get a list going of vendors and what board, etc.. the notebooks have?

Mine is listed as the same with the via VT8500 however comparing the picture of your board with those of perchristians suggests that there are some differences between vendors chipsets.

Thanks,
Lee.

**Dr_Narvi** · December 29th, 2009

Hello Friends

I have also a Smartbook similar that yours. I also was researching how was possible get flash player and i got my computer got hanged...

But now I have the solution!!! To restore the system with the factory settings only follow these steps:

- 1.Copy the file “script” to your SD card. (Very important, please don’t copy the whole file “ VT8500 Software” to your SD card. Just copy the file of “ script” will be OK)
2.Turn off your netbook,
3.Insert the SD card to your netbook.
4.Turn on your netbook. Then the software will setup to your netbook Automatically. Usually it will take several minutes completed setup.
5.After completed setup. It will show a windows call your turn off the netbook. Then turn off it.
6.Put the SD card out off the netbook.
7.Then turn on the netbook will be OK.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=12PDHAYJ

I hope with this files you can to find out any solution in order to improve the operative system. I had my computer hanged and now works fine!!
Merry christmas!

**dwinston91** · December 29th, 2009

Also one thing that I found out on my machine, was a neat little program called SerialView.exe It is located in the C:\Windows folder. It shows a lot of information about your machine. That is how I found out that Benign was the maker of the board that is in my machine...without opening it up.

Mine is the BV07_A_8500. Here is a picture of my board that I took last night.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwinston91/4225487073/

Here is a close-up of the NAND Chip by Samsung: K9GAG08U0M
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwinston91/4225525761/

Also, here is the text that I saved from my SerialView.exe program. I am trying to decipher some of the information in here.

Windows CE Kernel for ARM (Thumb Enabled) Built on Sep 30 2007 at 22:37:06
+OEMInit
+VT8500OEMInit
VT8500DBGMSG: VT8500OALIntrInit
[VIASOC VT8500] BSP version: 0.91-VT8500OEMInit
-OEMInit
VT8500DBGMSG: yuzhiwang OSTimer Interrupt 0
okey to crc verified, Go...
FMD_Init for board: VT8500_Benign
OALIoCtlShowBootProgress: HWPropList: NoBootProgressBar
FMD!DumpRegKey> Drivers\BuiltIn\NFlash
Profile = MSFlash
IClass :
{A4E7EDDA-E575-4252-9D6B-4195D48BB865}
Order = 00000000
FriendlyName = VIA NAND FLASH Driver (System Disk)
Dll = flashmdd.dll
FlashPddDll = via_flashpdd_600.dll
Prefix = DSK
BoundaryLeftMB = 00000000
BoundaryRightMB = 00000180
Flags = 00001000
OALIoCtlShowBootInformation: HWPropList: NoBootInformation
FMD_Init: g_hNandMutex = 0x01020003, 0
FMD:NAND_WAIT_READY: B2R Status not ready!!
FMD_Init: nand_reset chip 0 OK!
ReadFlashID
FMD_Init: Flash ID is ec d5 14 b6 74
initChipInfo Product ID=SAMSUNG_NF_K9GAG08U0M
Clock=00000000 r/w cycle=12122424
IsBadBlockTBLExisted(block 0x00000fff):Linux Main BBT found: Bbt0
FMD:Scan_NandFlash: Found Wince TBL pattern=42627430
IsBadBlockTBLExisted(block 0x00000ffe):Linux Mirror BBT found: 1tbB
FMD:Scan_NandFlash: Found Wince TBL pattern=31746242
LoadNandFlashTBL: Use TBL0
GetBadBlockNum: block 0x43c in chip 0 is bad block
GetBadBlockNum: block 0x43d in chip 0 is bad block
LoadNandFlashTBL: Bad Block Num=2
FMD_Init: BoundaryLeft auto set to 128MB
FMD_Init: (Left ~ Right) / Total = (128MB ~ 384MB) / 2048MB !
FMD_Init done: System Disk.
FMD_GetInfo
FMD_GetInfo
BCH_ReadSector: Data ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x00009830 (sector offset in chip is 0x00009830), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000401, ERR_POS_REG1 0x000000a2,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
BCH_ReadSector: Data ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x00009849 (sector offset in chip is 0x00009849), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000301, ERR_POS_REG1 0x00000847,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
BCH_ReadSector: Data ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x0001629d (sector offset in chip is 0x0001629d), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000001, ERR_POS_REG1 0x00000732,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
BCH_ReadSector: Data ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x000162d4 (sector offset in chip is 0x000162d4), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000601, ERR_POS_REG1 0x0000045a,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
BCH_ReadSector: Data ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x000166f9 (sector offset in chip is 0x000166f9), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000001, ERR_POS_REG1 0x00000180,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
BCH_ReadSector: Data ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x0001308c (sector offset in chip is 0x0001308c), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000601, ERR_POS_REG1 0x00000ba1,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
BCH_ReadSector: Data ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x00011668 (sector offset in chip is 0x0001166) , NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000401, ERR_POS_REG1 0x00000ec3,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
BCH_ReadSector: Data ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x00010dbd (sector offset in chip is 0x00010dbd), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000401, ERR_POS_REG1 0x00000714,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
VT8500DBGMSG: yuzhiwang OSTimer Interrupt 1
BCH_ReadSector:Spare ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x00013fe5 (sector offset in chip is 0x00013fe5), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000801, ERR_POS_REG1 0x00000006, ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
FMD_GetInfo
FMD_GetIVT8500DBGMSG: yuzhiwang OSTimer Interrupt 2
nfo
[VT8500] Driver for FEV version: 0.1, Aug 22 2009, 13:29:01[FEV] Driver for VT8500 version: 0.9, Aug 22 2009, 13:29:01[AC97] GpioMask = 0x00000010
***********m_usInputSource = 404
[PWB] Driver for VT8500 version: 0.9, Sep 8 2009, 10:21:59
Wait for Power Button down....
Backlight Driver Init... Version: 1.04 Board Name: VT8500_Benign
backlight.bltparam.BLTRange.Max = 116
backlight.bltparam.BLTRange.Min = 32
backlight.bltparam.StepLength = 7
backlight.bltparam.period = 127
backlight.bltparam.scalar = 399
backlight.hall = 0
hall.interrupt = 27
No event option set. Will start loading after delay
NDIS.ethernet.ic = 1
VT8500DBGMSG: yuzhiwang OSTimer Interrupt 3
ERROR: OALIoCtlHalGetDeviceInfo: Device doesn't support IOCTL_HAL_GET_DEVICE_INFO::SPI_GETUUID
OALIoCtlShowBootInformation: HWPropList: NoBootInformation
BCH_ReadSector8ata ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x0000a625 (sector offset in chip is 0x0000a625), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000601, ERR_POS_REG1 0x000005f4,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
LayMgr.cpp: Layout Manager successfully initialized to 1
ERROR: OALIntrReleaseSysIntr: Invalid sysIntr value 0
ERROR: OALIntrReleaseSysIntr: Invalid sysIntr value 0
[VT8500] Touch Panel No Exist!
Maximum Allowed Error 5:
Time to load the driver
FMD_Init for board: VT8500_Benign
OALIoCtlShowBootProgress: HWPropList: NoBootProgressBar
FMD!DumpRegKey> Drivers\BuiltIn\AsyncBus\NFlash2
Order = 000000FF
Profile = MSFlash2
IClass :
{A4E7EDDA-E575-4252-9D6B-4195D48BB865}
FriendlyName = VIA NAND FLASH Driver (Flash Disk)
Dll = flashmdd.dll
FlashPddDll = via_flashpdd_600_2.dll
Prefix = DSK
BoundaryLeftMB = 00000180
BoundaryRightMB = FFFFFFFF
OALIoCtlShowBootInformation: HWPropList: NoBootInformation
FMD_Init: g_hNandMutex = 0x059d000f, 183
FMD:NAND_WAIT_READY: B2R Status not ready!!
FMD_Init: nand_reset chip 0 OK!
ReadFlashID
FMD_Init: Flash ID is ec d5 14 b6 74
initChipInfo Product ID=SAMSUNG_NF_K9GAG08U0M
Clock=00000000 r/w cycle=12122424
IsBadBlockTBLExisted(block 0x00000fff):Linux Main BBT found: Bbt0
FMD:Scan_NandFlash: Found Wince TBL pattern=42627430
IsBadBlockTBLExisted(block 0x00000ffe):Linux Mirror BBT found: 1tbB
FMD:Scan_NandFlash: Found Wince TBL pattern=31746242
LoadNandFlashTBL: Use TBL0
GetBadBlockNum: block 0x43c in chip 0 is bad block
GetBadBlockNum: block 0x43d in chip 0 is bad block
LoadNandFlashTBL: Bad Block Num=2
FMD_Init: BoundaryRight auto set to 2044MB
FMD_Init: (Left ~ Right) / Total = (384MB ~ 2044MB) / 2048MB !
FMD_Init done: Flash Disk.
FMD_GetInfo
FMD_GetInfo
BCH_ReadSector: Data ECC error: startSectorAddr=0x00018429 (sector offset in chip is 0x00018429), NFECC_STATUS2_REG value 0x00000401, ERR_POS_REG1 0x00000ef4,ERR_POS_REG2 0x00000000
FMD_GetInfo
FMD_GetInfo
VT8500DBGMSG: yuzhiwang OSTimer Interrupt 4
Explorer(V2.0) taskbar thread started.
NDISPWR:: Found adapter [FETCE6B1]
MID Assistant. Version 0.6.
LoadSetting: g_dBrightness is 0x5aMID Assistant. Version 0.6.
Before OnInitBacklightDialog: g_dBrightness 0x5a
After OnInitBacklightDialog: g_dBrightness 0x5a
OALIoCtlGetKernelVersion
Kernel Version: 1.33
VT8500DBGMSG: yuzhiwang OSTimer Interrupt 5
VT8500DBGMSG: yuzhiwang OSTimer Interrupt 6

**celem** · December 30th, 2009

dwinston91, How did you open it. I tried last night and the screen prevented me from fully removing the keyboard plate and it looked like it needed to be removed before I could release the screen (catch 22). I have attached photos of my partial disassembly.

**dwinston91** · December 30th, 2009

Celem, you see those thin paper like connectors(It is made of plastic, but feels really thin)? You have to carefully remove those from their connections. There are two of them. One in the front that is right above your pinky finger on the left. (I removed it from the top..just slide it out and you'll see a blue tab connector..the wire is about 1/4 inch wide). And then there is the one in the back..I slid this one out from the bottom. Once you get it out..mine had a green plastic connector on it. This should allow you to open the top up freely.

**dwinston91** · December 30th, 2009

Also, you have to remove the white and black wiring connected in the back, near the screen. Once you do that, you'll have to remove 4 screws, that connect the screen to the bottom half. In your picture, two of the screws are just to the right of your thumb, connected to a metal plate. There are also two more screws like that on the other side. I found that I didn't need to disconnect the wire on the other side. I just left it connected.