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Thread: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

  1. #131
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    2

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    Quote Originally Posted by PrFaas View Post
    Since mr 'cyknife' managed to disassemble his machine to board level: would you be willing to give a hint as to how you got past the snag with the display hinges that got me 'stuck'?

    I'm seriously considering to get me a 2-nd one of those machines 'Mine' comes from the local 'pots and pans' (cooking utensils, not less) shop, no less..
    I disassembled mine as follows:

    1 Removed all screws from bottom, batt. cover first (note two longer screws for batt cover and two machine screws mating to keyboard from bottom.)

    2 Unplug batt.

    3 Pull the keyboard. It has 4 pressure tabs forward of the row of function keys. Set each tab with a tooth pick etc. lift board and decouple the ribbon cable.

    4 Decouple remaining ribbon cable(s)

    5 Separate top cover perimeter from bottom half then gently lift cover. It will pivot about the panel hinges but will snap away harmlessly @45 degree or so.

    6 After that remove one screw in the main board and four screws at the hinge points. Decouple the video and lamp connectors.

    7 Lift board from side with two usb ports. Its free.

    reassemble reverse

    NOTE the two longer screws for the the batt. cover will penetrate the other side if installed without the batt. cover.

  2. #132
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    44

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    Here is another U-boot Reference guide: http://www.freescale.com/files/32bit...BPG.pdf?fpsp=1

  3. #133
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Amsterdam, Netherlands
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    93

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    There was an 'unanswered question' about what has to be set to make u-boot perform a netboot. I've dug into the 'doc' i had at work, and -for the toradex/colibri module- we've used the following u-boot commands to get a netboot:

    setenv bootargs "root=/dev/nfs ip=:::::eth0: console=ttyS0,9600n8"
    dhcp
    bootm

    The 1-st command is to prepare the kernel for net-booting, and tell the kernel to use a root-filesystem 'on nfs'. The contents of 'bootargs' is a set of parameters that will be passed to the kernel.

    The 2-nd command is to let u-boot request an IP address and a boot-file (the kernel) from the dhcp/tftp server

    The 3-rd command is to actually boot the kernel

    Note that this is *only* the 'small brother' part of net-booting. The server ('big brother') needs some information to make the entire story work:

    - a configured dhcp server
    - a kernel file
    - a nfs-exported root-filesystem

    But: the good news is that -when these commands are 'passed' to u-boot- it will *attempt* to netboot. As you will have seen, there is not a word about over-writing any flash-filesystem, nor is there a 'saveenv' command used on the 'small brother's u-boot, just some instructions to use the network. When you'd monitor the network -with tcpdump for instance- you should 'see' the 'small brother' attempting to get an IP address and boot-info. Without the services installed and configured, that *will* fail, but -if 'small brother' does try to netboot- that shows that the u-boot in the 'small brother' is compiled with support for this operation, and for networking. U-boot is a way more potent bootloader than any BIOS i've ever found on any 'normal' computer. To set up the actual services to perform a successfull netboot is not quite trivial, but only a matter of 'work'

    I'm going to see if i can 'open' the small machine and connect an oscilloscope to the TX 'pad', to see if u-boot is attempting to 'talk' to the serial port, and -if so- to see what voltage it generates there. I'm assuming that the RX pin will accept the same voltages that it generates on the TX pin. All assuming that these nice 'pins' are indeed the connection to the serial console and that u-boot is actually 'talking' there of course
    Last edited by PrFaas; January 12th, 2010 at 08:04 PM.

  4. #134
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Beans
    44

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    Quote Originally Posted by PrFaas View Post
    There was an 'unanswered question' about what has to be set to make u-boot perform a netboot. I've dug into the 'doc' i had at work, and -for the toradex/colibri module- we've used the following u-boot commands to get a netboot:

    setenv bootargs "root=/dev/nfs ip=:::::eth0: console=ttyS0,9600n8"
    dhcp
    bootm

    The 1-st command is to prepare the kernel for net-booting, and tell the kernel to use a root-filesystem 'on nfs'. The contents of 'bootargs' is a set of parameters that will be passed to the kernel.

    The 2-nd command is to let u-boot request an IP address and a boot-file (the kernel) from the dhcp/tftp server

    The 3-rd command is to actually boot the kernel

    Note that this is *only* the 'small brother' part of net-booting. The server ('big brother') needs some information to make the entire story work:

    - a configured dhcp server
    - a kernel file
    - a nfs-exported root-filesystem

    But: the good news is that -when these commands are 'passed' to u-boot- it will *attempt* to netboot. As you will have seen, there is not a word about over-writing any flash-filesystem, nor is there a 'saveenv' command used on the 'small brother's u-boot, just some instructions to use the network. When you'd monitor the network -with tcpdump for instance- you should 'see' the 'small brother' attempting to get an IP address and boot-info. Without the services installed and configured, that *will* fail, but -if 'small brother' does try to netboot- that shows that the u-boot in the 'small brother' is compiled with support for this operation, and for networking. U-boot is a way more potent bootloader than any BIOS i've ever found on any 'normal' computer. To set up the actual services to perform a successfull netboot is not quite trivial, but only a matter of 'work'

    I'm going to see if i can 'open' the small machine and connect an oscilloscope to the TX 'pad', to see if u-boot is attempting to 'talk' to the serial port, and -if so- to see what voltage it generates there. I'm assuming that the RX pin will accept the same voltages that it generates on the TX pin. All assuming that these nice 'pins' are indeed the connection to the serial console and that u-boot is actually 'talking' there of course
    So the entire u-boot script file consists of just these three lines? Also can you provide some details of how to setup the "big brother machine"? Like where to put the kernel file and the exported nfs filesystem. which kernel and nfs filesystem did you use? And are there any additional settings on the dhcp server that need to be setup? or how should I setup tftp? I know I have lots of questions.
    Last edited by dwinston91; January 12th, 2010 at 10:53 PM.

  5. #135
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    16

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    Another lurker here, just thought you guys should know that haleron is offering hte same netbook with a choice of win ce or linux for an extra $15....dunno if the source code is included or not...weird.

    here is the link, you might need to register to view it:

    http://haleron.com/index.php?page=sh...hk=1&Itemid=27

  6. #136
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    16

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    I forgot, I found 2 more devices that seem to be using the same chipset

    1) framechannel - digital picture frame - seems to be runnign linux using openembedded but im not sure
    http://www.thinkingscreen.com/

    2) MicroClient TC - by NorhTec a thin client runs Quick RDP embedded linux
    http://www.norhtec.com/products/mctc/index.html

    hopefully everyone together can figure out a solution!

  7. #137
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    16

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    MontaVista Linux Professional Edition 4.0/5.0 supports our processor, but does not appear to be free or open source ...?

  8. #138
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Italy
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    40

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    It's probably derived from Monta Vista Linux, indeed. If you open up uzImage.bin in an hex editor you can see the string "Montavista Linux" in it.

  9. #139
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Haugesund,Norway
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    35

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    corruptbinary,great with a helping hand,but unfortuneately the mini netbook I own does not support booting from USB drive.
    I made a "Ubuntu rescue remix" bootable USB stick boot my windows laptop,but it did not impress the mini netbook in any way.Also a bootable SD card with the remix did not work.

    Another subject:
    According to the Web the Nokia 770 internet tablet has a 250 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 1710 ARM compatible CPU (arm926tej core) with 64 megs of available internal flash memory.OS is Linux based Maemo 2006.

    The source for the Linux Maemo distrbution 2006 used on these Nokias is available from the Maemo site.A brief look at the source of the Maemo 2006 kernel (2.6.16) does not indicate modification of the original kernel source from kernel.org as far as I can see.

    Source for some Maemo specific apps. exist in the distro (browser,calculator),but otherwise it looks like a full but small Linux distribution.So perhaps an ARM kernel compiled from unmodified kernel.org source (with all modules set to "on" in config) will work,and the "via_ata_interrupt" issue experienced by nextvolume is caused by some WLAN driver problems in the kernel from the KASER YT-700 (supporting USB dongle WiFi)??.

    A .jffs2 root filesystem is availabel at Maemo,also some Maemo ARM compiled non Linux-standard binaries can be downloaded.Nokia has its own bootloader.

    nextvolumes SD card boot is elegant,and perhaps a script can prepare "littlebrother" for netboot,as suggested by PrFaas / dwinston91.

    A lot of non available hardwarespesific information has to be given to u-boot as I see it.Coming week-end I will try setup crosscompiler http://www.codesourcery.com/gnu_toolchains/arm and compile kernel 2.6.16,if my Linux system not is outdated.
    Last edited by PerChristensen; January 13th, 2010 at 02:17 PM.

  10. #140
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    North Yorkshire
    Beans
    3
    Distro
    Ubuntu

    Re: Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

    Registered, just so I can de-lurk.

    I wouldn't bother with Maemo. It's VERY tailored to Nokia devices (currently using a Nokia N900 here) and there are some closed source components. A more suitable version might be Mer (http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer). This is a fully open source distribution.

    I have one of the CE5 CnM Books from Maplin. These seem to be using eboot. However, I have a plan. I will report back soon. <booting up ARM toolchain as we speak>

    BTW - People need to be aware that these are ARM devices and standard Linux distros WILL NOT ever work as they for x86 devices.

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