Firmware Wishlist


rahulgarg

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There was a huge discussion on whether apps or GUI should be improved but very little info on the status of the firmware. So I have the following wishlist for the firmware.

1. Kernel should work :)

2. Working OpenGL ES 2.0 drivers.

3. Working Wifi drivers. Connectivity to WPA2 and also PEAP.

4. Working bluetooth drivers. Bluetooth keyboards and stereo bluetooth headsets and mic support. this should be tested before release. Nokia n800 had some serious trouble with this despite working bluetooth drivers. there is more to bluetooth drivers than just being able to pair. you actually have to use the device :p


5. Downloadable compiler toolchain for cortex-a8 as well as a SDL port.

6. Apps should run off SD cards.

7. Terminal should be builtin with all the standard utilities. SSH support should be builtin. Or at least downloadable. Preferably USB networking should work.

8. Working X.

9. Working USB host port.

10. Package management system. How will ppl distribute/install apps?

11. Flashing the firmware should be supported.

If all the above works, then I would be reasonably happy and can develop for the device in peace.
 
Most of these are kind of given. Working X is more iffy. It might be something left up to the community. In terms of drivers, I believe most of what will be available is what they are given. Things like PEAP depend on the wifi chip itself having the functionality, does it not? Or is that completely implemented in the driver?
 
I just hope they don't strip down the kernel too much, or at least include commonly used modules. That, and give me X (no heavy wm needed, just X even would be fine) a terminal and my build tools on the device. At least that way it wont feel crippled no matter what else they leave out.
 
AireTamStorm said:
I just hope they don't strip down the kernel too much, or at least include commonly used modules. That, and give me X (no heavy wm needed, just X even would be fine) a terminal and my build tools on the device. At least that way it wont feel crippled no matter what else they leave out.
Precisely.
 
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Megamixman said:
Most of these are kind of given. Working X is more iffy. It might be something left up to the community. In terms of drivers, I believe most of what will be available is what they are given. Things like PEAP depend on the wifi chip itself having the functionality, does it not? Or is that completely implemented in the driver?
Not sure about PEAP but I do think they depend on the chip. I mentioned PEAP because my univ network uses that :)
I also mentioned all these things just so that people dont get too carried away with the GUI and apps etc. Those things can be fixed later. But stuff like drivers is not something easily doable by the community and is squarely the responsibility of the firmware provider.

X is kind of borderline .. nice to have working X out of the box since that will mean we can compile many many apps ourselves.
The point is .. the easier the device is to work with and develop for .. the better.

I dont want to do any kernel level hacking and I dont want to do any X level hacking either. I would prefer to work on developing applications and not spend my time struggling with compiling/porting X of which I have no experience. Similarly putting hours of work just to setup a compiler isnt fun either. And i think thats the case with many people. People who do enjoy low level hacking can always find ways to do so anyway.

This is intended to be a open and programmable device so I think making things easier for development, particularly application developers, is most important. And that means providing all the low level stuff so that we dont have to waste time on wrestling with the system.
 
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A Tool Chain is basically a given, considering the nature of the device. The kernel is also a given, especially since the wifi drivers are not open source, but Mweston mentioned that the devs that have signed the NDA do have access to it. The SGX drivers are blob drivers AFAIK.

So there are limitations on what they HAVE to provide for the device to even work, and what is optional. I would say X is optional merely because, it builds off standard interfaces. T
 
in-built processer scaling to help conserve battery life or maybe if we ask REAL nicely, overclock depending on current load. Dunno how feasable that would be, but that's something I'd really like byond the bare bones 'hey, it works yo!'.
 
Megamixman said:
A Tool Chain is basically a given, considering the nature of the device. The kernel is also a given, especially since the wifi drivers are not open source, but Mweston mentioned that the devs that have signed the NDA do have access to it. The SGX drivers are blob drivers AFAIK.

So there are limitations on what they HAVE to provide for the device to even work, and what is optional. I would say X is optional merely because, it builds off standard interfaces. T
They didn't include the tool chain on the GP2X, at least enough to build a binary from what I saw.

Just give me working drivers, ./configure && make && I'll be fine. B)
 
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