Download Pyra Debian OS (WIP)

[comradekingu]

Is it possible to fully encrypt the Pyra? I'm completly new to Linux/Ubuntu so I dont know.

Do I have to completly format and reinstall the OS to do so?

The debian installer, and ubuntu has an option to do that when you install.

The most common way is to only encrypt the /home folder, on its own partition, and leave the rest of the system as per default. That way you get better speed, than for whole-drive encryption. Ubuntu had a bug where only home-folder was slower than whole-drive a little while ago, but thats probably fixed.

 

[HelenF]

On the Pandora, is there a way to check the battery level? And is battery charging safe?

 

[aTc]

Pandora needs a patched battery applet to show the level properly, you can check the battery status by poking around in /sys/class/power_supply/bq27500-0

The script that shuts down charging isn't on there either, so don't leave it connected to the charger for weeks.

It's not like it'll instantly explode without the scripts, so charging is still pretty safe.

 

[shadow.8]

Just tried this on my CC Pandora and it works well, I'm impressed. I'm going to play around with it and see if I can get the nubs working as mouse input. I was surprised to find that the wifi seems to work faster here than in the default OS. Also, Iceweasel seems to be at the speeds of Pale Moon which is really nice. 

Repositories (to Debian and our own ones) should be properly setup (incl. Pyra-Keyring)

So it seems like you've set up a repository for the Pyra and the rest of the software comes directly from Debian. This may be a bit off topic, but any chance we'll see a Pandora specific repository as well?

 

[aTc]

Wifi is just as bad on mine as it is in the normal OS.. in fact, it's worse if i don't run "iwconfig wlan0 power off" first.

It also doesn't set the cpu speed, so it's left at the default speed, which is probably slower than what's normally used.

No nubs in there either, so you'll have to set them up manually : http://pandorawiki.org/Nubs#section_2

A pandora specific repo (or pandora specific packages) is an option, but not really a high priority for me at the moment.

 

[shadow.8]

Wifi is just as bad on mine as it is in the normal OS.. in fact, it's worse if i don't run "iwconfig wlan0 power off" first.

It also doesn't set the cpu speed, so it's left at the default speed, which is probably slower than what's normally used.

No nubs in there either, so you'll have to set them up manually : http://pandorawiki.org/Nubs#section_2

A pandora specific repo (or pandora specific packages) is an option, but not really a high priority for me at the moment.

Interesting, I don't have any empirical data on the wifi, just a general feeling as I used my Pandora with Debian. I didn't download anything to test the speeds, so maybe it is still as slow and I'm just noticing the snappiness of Debian itself.

Thanks for the link for the setting up the mouse. I figured there was something out there I could try.

No worries, Pyra development obviously supersedes the Pandora. I was more curious if this was planned or thought about. Thanks for the input. 

 

[eric]

On the Pandora, is there a way to check the battery level?

Battery level can be checked easily using upower (which needs to be installed). With -enumerate, you can see all the devices; with --show-info and the specific device, you get the details. With --dump, you see everything.

 

[eric]

I have one pressing question regarding using this distribution of Debian on the Pandora: how can I go into low power mode, if at all?

Thanks.

 

[levi]

It should be possible to get the equivalent of the original low-power-mode by writing a sufficiently low value into the CPU speed governor in /sys/class and turning off wifi/BT/the screen. IIRC a lot of work was done later to improve battery usage, so that might not quite get you the same as modern low-power-mode.


Note also that the Pandora doesn't go to low power when you push the power switch right unless you're on the charger - it will go to a suspend mode, I believe. I don't know how you'd achieve that on Debian to be honest though.

 

[eric]

It should be possible to get the equivalent of the original low-power-mode by writing a sufficiently low value into the CPU speed governor in /sys/class and turning off wifi/BT/the screen.

Well, playing around with the Pandora and checking various files, I see that the (default) ondemand cpu frequency changing works quite well. What I don't know is how to turn off the WiFi which is possibly what is now taking the most power.

 

[eric]

Answering my own question, I guess loading and unloading the wl1251 related modules do the job of turning on or off the WiFi!

 

[eric]

Two weeks on, using this Debian distribution on my Pandora every day: works like a charm. Battery life is excellent and the WiFi works reliably. I'm very happy with this.

The nubs don't work but I haven't actually tried to get them working as I don't tend to use the mouse much anyway. I use ratpoison as my window manager...

Thanks for an excellent system. This bodes well for the Pyra which I will most definitely be buying as soon as it's available!

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

So the Pyra OS is compatible with Pandora? Cool!

http://z0r.de/L/z0r-de_7022.swf

 

[TrashyMG]

So the Pyra OS is compatible with Pandora? Cool!

Yeah if you don't mind some limitations like the lack of 3D acceleration, nubs not working and lack of battery indicator.

 

[Wally]

So the Pyra OS is compatible with Pandora? Cool!

Yeah if you don't mind some limitations like the lack of 3D acceleration, nubs not working and lack of battery indicator.

There is a battery indicator in the system settings so it's not too bad

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

So the Pyra OS is compatible with Pandora? Cool!

Yeah if you don't mind some limitations like the lack of 3D acceleration, nubs not working and lack of battery indicator.

Nah, for me it is limited to "curiosity" level. Read about the nubs and the 3D lack but anyway, is there any plan to make this like a "default" OS for both Pyra and Pandora? And where is my dancing Arch Linux?

 

[TrashyMG]

None of those solution would fit on the Pandora's small NAND space. There are no hardfloat SGX drivers for the pandora either. There are reasons we stuck to Angstrom for the Pandora, otherwise we would have switched to something better long ago.

 

[eric]

None of those solution would fit on the Pandora's small NAND space.

What solutions are you referring to? I continue to use Debian on my Pandora, on an SD card obviously. Although, as I mentioned above, I don't need the hubs etc., I wouldn't mind being able to use them. 3D acceleration would also not go amiss...


Or are you simply referring to alternative systems?


Thanks.

 

[TrashyMG]

It was a direct response to the prior post. Especially when using my phone i don't feel the need to quote everything.

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

Thank you for the information @TrashyMG .