Re: [linux-vr-cvsupdate] Current state of linux-vr?

[Shane N. <sh...@ag...>]

On Sunday 21 January 2001 16:28, Nathan Lutchansky wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I apologize for sending this email to the CVS list, but it is the only
> list associated with this project, as far as I can tell.

linuxce-devel list is alive and well, though the site is DOA :).

http://mailman.bok.net/mailman/listinfo/linuxce-devel

> What is the current state of the Linux-VR kernel?  All the documentation
> I've seen is at least a year old, and judging by the number of CVS updates
> since then, quite a few improvements have been made.

Yea, updated fairly frequently, though until compiler issues are smoothed out 
we're stuck where we're at in the linux versioning.

> So, in order to find out the current state of things, here are some
> questions for the developers that only need a sentence or two of answer.
> I (and probably others) will really appreciate this information.
>
>
>  - How stable is Linux-VR?  Can we expect to be able to use it on our
>    H/PCs as a (possibly non-X) work system?

Agenda uses it.

>  - With sufficient memory, will framebuffer X work?  With which display
>    controls and input devices?

8MB on the Agenda and it runs fine..., Workpad should be much smoother, even 
though it has more display space to haggle through.

>  - Does PCMCIA support work?  Hotswapping of cards OK?

When I was playing with my Workpad, PCMCIA did work..., until you took it out 
:-(, then things went hay-wire.  This was over 6 months ago though.  (Before 
my cat full chewed through the keyboard cable... :-(

>  - What network devices work?  Can we NFS-mount a root filesystem using a
>    supported NIC?

Yep..., NE2000 clones work, PPP is functional.

>  - Is there support for power management?  Will devices automatically
>    suspend/resume similarly to Windows CE?

For some processors, VR4181 in specific.  VR4121 I couldn't tell you, it's 
been too long.  (Workpad is based on 4121)

>  - Can Linux-VR be booted and used without a CompactFlash card on devices
>    with sufficient memory?

On a workpad?  Probably.  But you just have to get the images over there :).

>  - Is a (recent) precompiled kernel and base filesystem available, or is
>    it necessary to install a cross-compiler and build from scratch?

Hmm..., I haven't seen anyone posting anything new for a while in this area.  
You might want to check with Hiroshi, or Jay.

> I would really like to load up Linux on my IBM Workpad z50, but I'm
> hesitant to back everything up and wipe the memory for Linux if I can't
> expect to have a usable system.

Yea, it's not there yet.  Anyway, no one has released everything for it to be 
taken to that level.  Everything is _close_..., I mean really really close.  
But no ones gone out and made a generalized distro for mass consumption.  
Debian has considered it.  Once Agenda (me) gets there act together for 
distrobuilding it could make a reasonable start for what you want to do.  I 
actually really dig the Workpad..., wish mine hadn't been broken.

Thanks,
Shane.