Release SuperZaxxon - Beta 1.1 released

[slaeshjag]

Do I smell a kernel hack in progress, or will I have to investigate it myself?


EDIT: Doh, more like script hack, I feel. Right?

 

[ivanovic]

When testing the brand new kernel I'd recommend to also test setting up a zram (previously known as "compcache") in your ram. This leads to a swap area using compressed "discspace" in the RAM and effectively increases the available ram using some light compression on the data. It can only cause a slight impact on speed if you actually need more than the available space but when that is the case programs (like Wesnoth and Firefox) that otherwise crash might work more stable due to more memory being available.


Here are the commands to setup the zram (keep in mind that this only works when using the experimental kernel!):

sudo modprobe zram

sudo mkswap /dev/zram0

sudo swapon -p 5 /dev/zram0

When not using an extra command after inserting the module a 61,665,280 byte large zram will be created. In case you want more or less zram area, run the following command right after the modprobe (and before creating the swap area using mkswap!) to get a 80,000,000 byte large zram:

sudo echo 80000000 > /sys/block/zram0/disksize

Using zram on my system significantly improves stability of firefox since it does not run out of ram this easily anymore. Please keep in mind that this can not be used with the old and stable kernel since the required module ain't available there.

 

[Binky]

No idea if the experimental 3.2.1 kernel works with suspend while installed on an sdcard...

I suppose it will break pretty badly, since you'll lose rootfs.

Could it be persuaded to keep one of the SD cards mounted?

 

[notaz]

No idea if the experimental 3.2.1 kernel works with suspend while installed on an sdcard...

I suppose it will break pretty badly, since you'll lose rootfs.

Could it be persuaded to keep one of the SD cards mounted?

There is a kernel config option for that, but it also says if you swap cards while it's suspended, data corruption is guaranteed, so I'm leaving it off.

 

[McLovin]

shouldn't a simple sync() before suspending solve that problem?

 

[skeezix]

Ivanovic -- nice tip on the zram Reminds me of all the ghastly tricks we did in the DOS days with doublemem and all that


Should make a script for that in the boot-settings ED-scripts, for lulz.


jeff

 

[ivanovic]

Should make a script for that in the boot-settings ED-scripts, for lulz.

Jepp. Already talked to ED about possibly having something like this added in a startup script. Somehow I'd say that a plain check for the existence of the zram module followed by the listed commands should be nice and good.

 

[Bosbeetle]

Oeh hearing this more stable wesnoth talk will pull me towards upgrading to a 512 machine. Wesnoth is great but tends to hang on bigger multiplayer maps. If this is solved it will make multiplayer wesnoth games even more enjoyable.

 

[sukhi2011]

I'm try to find the lid close settings and screen blanking,i can't find them at all.


Other problem is my 3g stick doesn't show up in the network manager.

 

[Nickie]

just tried the experimental firmware,


wow so many PNDs don't even run! and those who do (like picodrive) are slow like hell i couldn't run snes9x (not the latest) firefox10, gngeo and some more...


and also there is a weird parasite noise coming from time to time


how can things get so broken?


oh and for some reason, with the old kernel, the charging status or remaining time doesn't show?

 

[sukhi2011]

just tried the experimental firmware,


wow so many PNDs don't even run! and those who do (like picodrive) are slow like hell i couldn't run snes9x (not the latest) firefox10, gngeo and some more...


and also there is a weird parasite noise coming from time to time


how can things get so broken?


oh and for some reason, with the old kernel, the charging status or remaining time doesn't show?

Are you sure does it really do all this that's rally bad.


The quality has improved on the screen looks brighter and really clear but if it causing so many problems then this really bad.

 

[skeezix]

really bad? I think the better term is 'found some bugs', so as we dont' disparage anyones hard work


This is a very preliminary test with significant progress (very large changes), with most of it working pretty well.


I mean, this is pretty good stuff so far; you've jumped into the testing arena (thanks!), but you have to expect to step on some mines in the process; we need people to try these things out to help itemize all the issues, so they can be tracked down and fixed up. Really, 99% of this is notaz effort alone, and the fact it works at all (and pretty well overall) is quite something


If you expect our normal pretty solid releases, then you may want to stick to the normal release track; but if you climb into the beta or alpha tracks, then please know you'll find worts.. and that we need you to find them, so that the actual full release will be as tested and fixed up as possible.


Just normally we do all the testing ourselves or in a limited fashion, but this is a very big change set (the new kernel and some other bumps), so we need all the help we can get


jeff

 

[Nickie]

really bad? I think the better term is 'found some bugs', so as we dont' disparage anyones hard work

nah it must be known already ?


i guess that's the reason why it's not running by default


but when i read "compatibility issues" i thought that some PNDs would not work..... i didn't think that only a few PNDs would run


it's a bit frustrating that it's not advanced enough to test the progresses, yet too advanced to remain useable, kind of an awkward beta state


so i guess i'll have to wait some of the compatibility issues to be sort out before i start to list the non-working ones


@Lylat: it's a beta, so not to be tried without being aware that anything can possibly go totally wrong

 

[Bosbeetle]

hehe thats why I dont use beta's if you cant stand the heat stay out of the kitchen, it pretty comfy in the playing room so Ill stay there.

 

[EvilDragon]

but when i read "compatibility issues" i thought that some PNDs would not work..... i didn't think that only a few PNDs would run

A list of these PNDs would be great.


Should mostly be those that use notaz accelerated SDL ones, we already found out there's some issue here


Most of the other ones should work fine.

it's a bit frustrating that it's not advanced enough to test the progresses, yet too advanced to remain useable, kind of an awkward beta state


so i guess i'll have to wait some of the compatibility issues to be sort out before i start to list the non-working ones

Just try PNDs without accelerated notaz SDL and report any bugs


That would help a lot

hehe thats why I dont use beta's if you cant stand the heat stay out of the kitchen, it pretty comfy in the playing room so Ill stay there.

The kernel is not even beta, it's currently experimental


The OS itself is beta and boots with the stable kernel right now. The beta does work fine for me, best firmware currently out there in my opinion.


Booting with experimental kernel makes things unstable, but help with testing

 

[dsleaf67]

Is there any reason why thunar is missing in minimenu since HF7 (maybe others only noticed this one - since I reported bug in previous HF of slow exit). Also, whats up with documentation. Pressing Y no longer gives readme (if it exists) they are still there is XFC (desktop) Gui, but not minimenu.

 

[EvilDragon]

Is there any reason why thunar is missing in minimenu since HF7 (maybe others only noticed this one - since I reported bug in previous HF of slow exit). Also, whats up with documentation. Pressing Y no longer gives readme (if it exists) they are still there is XFC (desktop) Gui, but not minimenu.

Nobody has reported that yet, so it looks like skeezix should take a look at that

 

[skeezix]

heh, okay, I'll take a look


As soon as you notice things, bring it up; don't assume we already know


jeff

 

[NoeleyC]

I've noticed something relating to some PND's on this newest firmware, namely UAE4ALL. I'm running the normal kernal, and the latest version of UAE4All from the repo. I'm finding that the PND seems to crash a lot more than before, mostly if I load up an adf, then have to go back into the emulator menu. When I try go back into the game from there, it throughs me straight back into the desktop (sometimes the screen fades quickly to white first). As such, playing any game involving a disk change isn't currently possible for me. If I use the older UAL4ALL nubs version, that seems to behave better(more stable, but it runs slower for some reason), but I lose out on the nicer aspects of the updated version!. I've tried both PND's on the experimental kernal, UAE4ALL won't load at all, and the nubs version hangs on the main emulato menu.


Anyone else getting anything like this?

 

[bismuthdrummer]

I haven't felt the 'experimental' in the new kernel yet. I have run Pidgin, Audacious, picodrive, PCSX, Midori, and Firefox all of which had no issues.


People need to try the new kernel, Super Zaxxon doesn't even begin to describe it. It's like the Open Pandora got a massive battery upgrade, at no extra cost or weight. Before I used it for music and chatting daily, 100% to 20% battery left by day's end. The past two days I started at a little over 80% and with the same music/chat all day usage end up with almost 50% still left over. The battery life that once was amazing now borders on obscene. And I think I've fallen in love again.


Thanks notaz!!


EDIT: Picodrive does have issues, I must have used it in the old kernel. Also, after leaving my unit to charge for several hours, I opened it up and found it at 85%. Unplugged and replugged in the mains, and now I am 88% battery, headed up to full. So I'm feeling the experimental now, but it's still very stable with the apps I use.