How is Archlinux ARM on the pandora?

[asdfffdsa]

Hello,


I am considering the 1Ghz Pandora model. Archlinux is my favorite linux distro and I like to stay on the bleeding edge of software releases, so Archlinux ARM is a must for me.


However, I have some concerns with this:


1) how well supported is the Pandora's hardware on Archlinux ARM?


2) should one expect to see a significant difference in performance between the Pandora's primary OS and archlinux ARM?


3) battery life is a significant concern of mine. Is there anyone who has tested the battery life of the Pandora under archlinux ARM? (i.e. (a) during general usage, ( B) with screen/wifi/bluetooth/etc off and in powersave state while listening to music, and © in suspend-to-ram mode)


Thanks!

 

[ShleeDragon]

The Archarm port is based on one of the plugpod releases, the packages are all compiled with fastFP and don't include any of the 3D SGX or DSP code. It'll work as a device, but you won't be able to run any of the PNDs.


It's stable enough and nice..

 

[asdfffdsa]

So are you saying that there is a set of archlinux ARM packages specifically compiled for the Pandora and separate from the official repos? Would this mean that I couldn't update to the latest Archlinux ARM packages and expect things to work reasonably well? Or would I be able to update to the latest without much of an issue? (aside from issues that normally arise during updates) Archlinux package management is, often enough, picky about a certain set of key packages being simultaneously up to date.


In either case, what consequences would this have for the battery life? One thing I plan to do with this device is use it as an MP3 player. Therefore, if not having the DSP code will result in significantly lower battery life while playing an MP3, that may be an issue for me (but if I can still get 20-30 hours out of it, then no problem).

 

[asdfffdsa]

Does anyone have an answer for my prior questions? I'm quite close to purchasing a 1Ghz, but knowing the above is critical.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

You can run Arch and update from them.


But you won't be able to run any .pnd (Pandora's packages) nor run the proprietary 3D driver, as they are not compiled in the same way.


Actually, the DSP is not fully supported so no worry about having a lower battery life. Also, as the OP kernel is pretty recent, all the good power saving stuff is included, so you'll have more than 20-30 hours with screen closed, no wifi, etc...


Also consider taking a look at this if you want a fully-featured distro, which is fully OP compatible:


http://pandorawiki.org/Software_projects/OS/Slackware

 

[comradekingu]

dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/pandora.cgi?0,0,0,0,42,483 

http://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1360&sid=dfde0ed7d3b58eb9b4d5f43361231689

If anyone wants to pick this up again.