Release Pre-configure/install OS + needed software on SD card.

[kin]

Hi!
While we are waiting for the shipment of the pandora, I want to know if we can do a headstart
with installing and configuring our SD card with OS and needed software.

I need a shortlist of what I need to install:

- Which version/distribution of OS (Ubuntu?).
- Am I limited to a number of applications that possibly run in pandora? (library files support?)


I'm not all that technical.

thnx,

Kin

 

[mali]

Hi!
While we are waiting for the shipment of the pandora, I want to know if we can do a headstart
with installing and configuring our SD card with OS and needed software.

I need a shortlist of what I need to install:

- Which version/distribution of OS (Ubuntu?).
- Am I limited to a number of applications that possibly run in pandora? (library files support?)


I'm not all that technical.

thnx,

Kin

I think, the only preperatory work that can be done at this point, is organizing game data like pak-files for quake, or images for emulators (that are likely to be supported not far from launch) and collecting media like mp3s or videos you plan to use on Pandora. Anything more Pandora-specific isn't useful right now, because of the lack of detailed info.

 

[Capn_Fish]

I thought that the Pandora was going to run Angstrom, or was that just an option? If it does, you could download OE and build a full image ahead of time, not to mention numerous optimized packages.

 

[bakawhite]

Pandora does run Angstrom, armel flavor. You can launch an outside OS, if you choose, from an SD card or a flash drive. This may be necceary at first to hold out until more apps become available.

 

[kin]

So there's not much we can do?

 

[bakawhite]

Yeah. I'm gomma wait on it. You may want to try xubuntu, which loaded in one of the more recent videos. or check out unetbootin for creating the SD card. Go ahead and get what you think you want ready, just don't go through with it just yet.

 

[viridior]

Some of us in the Gentoo community are getting a development and eventually stable gentoo build targetting the pandora.
Located here http://www.gentoo-wiki.com/OpenPandora
Feel free to contribute.

 

[Capn_Fish]

As much as I like Gentoo, aren't many of the benefits removed? I mean, you'd get the same speed benefits with a custom-built Debian/Arch/Ubuntu/yourfavoritedistrohere, and the packages would be easier to install. I suppose you still get to specify what options are used and don't have to wait for new packages to get built to use them...

You might also have the issue of flash wear with all of the compiling (I suspect it's worse than regular package installation, but I guess I don't know that for sure).

All the same, best of luck to you! I'll likely still try it at the very least (and maybe stick with it...just not update as often as on my laptop. I've already got a box set up for dev work that I could put distcc on... ).

 

[Vorporeal]

As much as I like Gentoo, aren't many of the benefits removed? I mean, you'd get the same speed benefits with a custom-built Debian/Arch/Ubuntu/yourfavoritedistrohere, and the packages would be easier to install. I suppose you still get to specify what options are used and don't have to wait for new packages to get built to use them...

You might also have the issue of flash wear with all of the compiling (I suspect it's worse than regular package installation, but I guess I don't know that for sure).

All the same, best of luck to you! I'll likely still try it at the very least (and maybe stick with it...just not update as often as on my laptop. I've already got a box set up for dev work that I could put distcc on... ).

There would be a great deal of distcc used, and I'm thinking of attempting to move all frequently written (or written at all) files to the SD, and mounting the NAND as read-only. This might be taking things a bit too far, but we can at least start by moving /usr, /home, and /var to the SD to preserve the NAND.

 

[mali]

There would be a great deal of distcc used, and I'm thinking of attempting to move all frequently written (or written at all) files to the SD, and mounting the NAND as read-only. This might be taking things a bit too far, but we can at least start by moving /usr, /home, and /var to the SD to preserve the NAND.

off topic

Regarding the NAND in general, I wouldn't be surprised, if booting from SD would be faster at the end. I don't know which kind of NAND TI used this time, but my sandisk cheapo 4GB (I don't know which class, there is a small 2 in a circle printed on the card, maybe that means class 2) is about 10 percent faster than build in NAND on my N800(OMAP2) in boot time. If it is the same on the OMAP3, I will use SD to boot and maybe the NAND for backing up the system in case the SD breakes. That would have the side-effect, that the NAND would be preserved.
/off topic

 

[Capn_Fish]

EDIT: Moved to Gentoo thread to be more OT.