Re: [Gumstix-users] Re: gumstix-users digest, Vol 1 #484 - 4 msgs

[Darren G. <ts...@ya...>]

On Apr 15, 2005, at 1:07 AM, Athanasios Anastasiou wrote:
> I am seriously considering bying a waysmallx with a bluetooh adapter  
> but i would like to know more about it. I have searched the wiki and  
> here is the questions i have not find an answer to :-)

I'll try to answer the ones I can...

> 1. From what i can see in the pictures, the waysmall has a slot,  
> presumably for the Flash Card, the two GPIO connects on the flat side,  
> a small usb connector and the power jack...So the question is....Where  
> are the serial ports guys? Where are these small d8 connectors? Do i  
> have to obtain them from the GPIOs or they are there somewhere, but  
> just not visible on the photographs?

Hmmm... I'm not sure I understand your question.  Do you mean where are  
they physically?  Maybe you're confusing the gumstix and the waysmall?   
The gumstix can plug into a variety of different boards of which the  
waysmall (with serial ports) is only one:

http://www.gumstix.com/oscommerce-2.2ms2/catalog/product_info.php? 
products_id=98

> 2. Very Briefly...Is it possible to ssh on a waysmall?

yes

> 3. What happens if i accidentaly erase the bootloader? What means of  
> recovery are there?

I believe if you blow away u-boot, you have to either have JTAG  
hardware or send it back to gumstix inc.

> 4. Is there a seperate cap for the batteries or do i have to open the  
> whole plastic container every time i want to change the batteries?

No room for batteries inside the case.

> 5. What is the average time period that a waysmall can remain on with  
> a standard set of batteries? (please mention both the simple waysmall  
> and the waysmall with the bluetooth adapter.

I've heard on this list reports of 6-8 hours on 3 AAs.

> 6. if i plug the waysmall on a wireless access point, will it be able  
> to work directly or are there any sort of tweaks in any level  
> (hardware and software).

No tweaks beyond what it normally takes to get a linux box on a  
wireless network.

> 7. What is the maximum size of a flash card that i can plug in to the  
> waysmall?

Do you mean MMC or CF?  The basix has an MMC slot, and the connex can  
be connected to the cfstix.

MMC cards known to work are listed here:

http://www.gumstix.org/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=MMC%20Compatibility

> As far as i can understand it, a flash card containing the fs and  
> bootloader should always remain into the waysmall.

No, you don't need to leave the card in.  The fs and bootloader reside  
in the gumstix's onboard flash.  The card is useful for copying a new  
fs (or a new u-boot) into the onboard flash via u-boot.

> So if i want to expand the filesystem is it enough to just copy the  
> "standard" flash card to the bigger one or do i have to do anything  
> more?

You can mount an MMC or CF card for more space, or NFS mount another  
machine over the network.  I think you can also order gumstix with more  
onboard flash as well.

> 8. Briefly....How is the Bluetooth port accessed form the hardware? Is  
> it seen as a sort of a very fast serial or through the use of an API?

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking... Linux does bluetooth via the  
bluez libs/utils.

> 9. Is there any male plug for the 60pin Hirose IO Connector that has  
> the GPIO lines ready in bunches? (Data and control signals)

don't know...

> 10. In the FAQs it is mentioned that the waysmall does not have an  
> FPU. This means that Floating point operations can not be handled in  
> hardware level right? I can still write software with "double"s and  
> "float"s in....is that correct? There will probably be some  
> performance decreament?

Yes.  There was discussion of this recently on the mailing list.

> 11. Is there any emulator for the gumstixx or waysmall platforms?

Not that I know of, but becuse gumstix is running standard linux  
(2.6.11 currently) you can do most of the user code on any linux box  
and just recompile for the gumstix.

> 12. If i download the toolchain for developing applications for  
> waysmall, is my current toolchain overwritten?

no

> Is it possible to leave my current toolchain intact and use the  
> suggested one in parallel?

yes

> 13. What is the provision for multithreaded applications?

whatever is available on linux