Wishlist For Hf5

[zapman]

As Hotfix4 is out and improved things nicely, we can talk and dream about hotfix5 and beyond..

This is a whishlist for things that would be nice to get fixed.

How about you? Have you got any wishes that seem plausible and realistic, too?

• Screenrotation: Possibility to rotate screen using the display manager found in 'settings->display' (xfce). Reading ebooks or using the Pandora as a e-map is much nicer if you rotate it 90° right.
• Screensaver: possibility to disable or configure the screensaver; watching movies is quite annying atm.
• re-enable 'USB-network on startup' as default setting; seems to be necessary to use USB devices on the small USB port. (see http://www.gp32x.de...post__p__913543 and following posts)
• Some way to alter categories in the start-menu would really be nice; Quite a lot of pnd creators used false or have missing categories for their programs in the start menu. Some simple editor to allow users to influence the categorization would be nice (categories in desktop mode are different from simple GUI mode: cats can be fine in simple mode while showing up under 'other' in desktop mode.
• Screensaver/powersave switch should popup an optional password request on resume.
• Be able to change the default documentation (readme) viewer from Arora to Mousepad or similar simple solution (simple HTML/plain text renderer that loads lightening fast; http://www.uzbl.org/ ?).
• Fix the time date timezone bugs (saving locations rather than GMT +-values) [done]
• Fix Thunar so that it allows to navigate through folders in 'detailed list view' with touch and nub inputs (dpad+keyboard works fine already)
• Look into Unmounting issue with right-click on drives/ SD-cards [included in HF5]
• Low-power mode needs to be improved
• Tweak Settings: Let the user disable or change cache directory (i.e. put cache on SD Card) [suggested by ED]
• Tweak Settings: Change max OPP mode, change max overclock and downclock limit, disable the CPU-Speed warning dialogue, set default speed on boot (and implement some way to find out if it crashed before boot is complete so that on next boot, default speed is restored) [suggested by ED and probably done]
• pnd_run: Use some key you can hold while starting an app to show the clockspeed dialogue [suggested by ED]
• Tweak Settings: Automatically add some command line parameters to iwconfig on WiFi startup [suggested by ED]
• Startup Settings: Enable TV Out on startup [suggested by ED]
• UTF-8 character code
• add DUN Bluetooth support in NetworkManager (Nokia owners have to go to terminal and rfcomm/wvdial)
• enable VIM as default ENV editor (sudo crontab -e returns ... "vim" exited with status 127)
• chromium browser as default (basiclly anything that crashes less often than Midori)
• sound recorder GUI (talk to Urja, he's got something in mind)
• ODT support in Abiword [can be added via pluging; see http://www.gp32x.de...ost__p__917159]
• from angstrom repo: dosfstools, gcalctool
• it'd be nice to see gigolo fixed or some other easy way to get at the SMB shares on my NAS
• update pidgin from version 2.6.6 (very crashy) to version 2.7.3 (hopefully more stable) [included in HF5]
• update claws mail from version 3.6.1 to version 3.7.6 [no recent Claws Mail in the OE tree at the moment]
• move the angström repo database to a ram location, or optimally move it to ram, and erase it after some time to free up some precious ram
• Bluetooth DUN support would be greatly appreciated. You should get it with Blueman and the latest NetworkManager
• Receive files via bluetooth (not only send them)
• Working bluetooth tethering for the iPhone would be nice....
• 24/32 bit color for Xwindow [will be possible with new kernel & video driver]
• A method for setting/entering an unlock password via the analog nubs and shoulder buttons.
• include a nice easy way of remapping the function of the Pandora buttons as per this thread.
• ext4 support [will be possible with new kernel & video driver]
• it'd be nice if the screen brightness were restored to its previous value (as opposed to the maximum brightness) when coming back from the display being turned off (due to idling)
• pls include this patch to make tablets work on the Pandora
• implement hack to remove window decorations on apps launched from MiniMenu and force them all to run full screen. See this post.
• working ad-hoc wifi
• fix/ improve touch screen issues. See this post.
• implement a pure charging mode for Pandora battery.

*Will update from time to time to collect ideas here; Mods are welcome to do the same and cross things out that are already taken care of. *

 

[Aninhumer]

# Screenrotation: Possibility to rotate screen using the display manager found in 'settings->display' (xfce). Reading ebooks or using the Pandora as a e-map is much nicer if you rotate it 90° right.

I think this should be done at the application level, rather than changing the display config for one app.
Most ebook readers I've used let you rotate the view freely.

 

[PokeParadox]

Screensaver setting should respect movie playback and games, I agree.
Also the screensaver/powersave switch should popup an optional password request on resume.

 

[gruso]

We should have a thread like this between every hotfix. Not that I want to lump more work on the team, but it's nice to have a place to dump random thoughts and ideas before I forget them.

One that I currently remember: I'd love to be able to change the default documentation (readme) viewer from Arora to Mousepad. I know Arora allows for HTML content but I'd rather have instant loading.

 

[zapman]

# Screenrotation: Possibility to rotate screen using the display manager found in 'settings->display' (xfce). Reading ebooks or using the Pandora as a e-map is much nicer if you rotate it 90° right.

I think this should be done at the application level, rather than changing the display config for one app.
Most ebook readers I've used let you rotate the view freely.

well, the OS already has a GUI to set the display, but there is only one option in the 'rotation' drop-down menu: 'Normal'. (see 'Settings->Display'). Some web-pages and programs are better viewed rotated 90° and are unlikely to ever have an option to rotate. Also, your nub-controls also have to be rotated..

 

[PokeParadox]

We should have a thread like this between every hotfix. Not that I want to lump more work on the team, but it's nice to have a place to dump random thoughts and ideas before I forget them.

One that I currently remember: I'd love to be able to change the default documentation (readme) viewer from Arora to Mousepad. I know Arora allows for HTML content but I'd rather have instant loading.

What we really need is a bog-standard simple HTML/plain text renderer that loads lightening fast...

 

[zapman]

We should have a thread like this between every hotfix. Not that I want to lump more work on the team, but it's nice to have a place to dump random thoughts and ideas before I forget them.

One that I currently remember: I'd love to be able to change the default documentation (readme) viewer from Arora to Mousepad. I know Arora allows for HTML content but I'd rather have instant loading.

True. I will collect all reasonable wishes in my first post of this thread. This way it keeps clearly arranged for people who actually have the ability to convert wishes into reality

 

[Aninhumer]

What we really need is a bog-standard simple HTML/plain text renderer that loads lightening fast...

How about uzbl?
It's basically webkit in a window and nothing else. (Unless you add it)

 

[Bosbeetle]

- Gigolo fixed It doesnt seem to work without installing some packages.
- Fix the time date timezone bugs

 

[PokeParadox]

Oh... just remembered one that occurred to me the other day:
Clock synchronisation with time server when you first connect via wifi.
(don't think it should keep polling frequently but the Pand clock tends to drift so this could help counter that.)

EDIT:

What we really need is a bog-standard simple HTML/plain text renderer that loads lightening fast...

How about uzbl?
It's basically webkit in a window and nothing else. (Unless you add it)

I don't care what is used... but if it can render our nice HTML PandoraPanic! manual and launch quickly as well as support standard text readmes it's fine by me... The current solution is so so so so sloooow.

 

[Karel Jansens]

1. A-effin´-2DP! Please let me use my headphones without the wirez.
2. Working umount on the desktop!
3. Debug the whole cards thing properly. I still have occasional weird glitches with my SD cards (new entries in ~/media was the latest).
4. Low-power mode needs to be seriously improved. As I said earlier: The Nokia N800, with an earlier processor and a 1500 mAh battery, manages 9 to 10 days on standby. We should not be content until the Panda manages one month!
5. I´ll stop now; presumably this is enough stuff for six hotfixes (that´s four regular ones and two to clean up the bugs).


As to screen rotation: Many programs already implement this in-house (fbreader, Comix, I´m not sure about Evince - haven´t really tried it yet). I see that as a more sensible approach for a clamshell computer, which has a "natural" landscape orientation.

 

[WizardStan]

- Fix the time date timezone bugs

What date timezone bug? My date is working just fine.

Oh... just remembered one that occurred to me the other day:
Clock synchronisation with time server when you first connect via wifi.
(don't think it should keep polling frequently but the Pand clock tends to drift so this could help counter that.)

I suggested pulling the time from the hardware clock to counter the drift which occurs during low power mode. ED countered by saying he'll just change it so it only goes to 125Mhz instead of 14Mhz. Such low speed was causing all kinds of problems anyway, and it's not like it actually saved any additional power. That should fix the clock drift.
Not everybody wants to have clock synchronization. Some people synchronize their devices with clocks at work or home (or both) which may not be the same as any of the NTP servers.

Anywho, isn't a list of feature improvements and bug fixes exactly what bugs.openpandora.org is for?
On the other hand, maybe it is a good idea to discuss some features that would change fundamental behavior, like the screen rotation. This does sound like something that should be handled at the software level rather than system wide. If you rotate the screen and a program starts expecting to get an 800x480 window, things will get very confused when it starts writing to a 480x800 window

 

[EvilDragon]

• Screenrotation: Possibility to rotate screen using the display manager found in 'settings->display' (xfce). Reading ebooks or using the Pandora as a e-map is much nicer if you rotate it 90° right.

Hm, as mentioned by others, the question is whether this should be done by the app or XFCE4. It seems the OMAP driver doesn't support this, but I'll check.

• Screensaver: possibility to disable or configure the screensaver; watching movies is quite annying atm.

Definately something to look into, yes.

• re-enable 'USB-network on startup' as default setting; seems to be necessary to use USB devices on the small USB port. (see http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/56265-usb-issues/page__view__findpost__p__913543 and following posts)

Hmm. Most users won't probably use that port except for SD Mass Storage... so it's kinda pointless having this in default startup if you can easily enable it.
It should be renamed in the Settings dialogue though that you know it enables the USB port
What do the others think?

• Some way to alter categories in the start-menu would really be nice; Quite a lot of pnd creators used false or have missing categories for their programs in the start menu. Some simple editor to allow users to influence the categorization would be nice (categories in desktop mode are different from simple GUI mode: cats can be fine in simple mode while showing up under 'other' in desktop mode.

Sadly, there is no such editor in XFCE4 yet, HOWEVER, skeezix wanted to add .ovr support in MiniMenu, which allows overriding PND-Settings (icons, categories, clockspeed, etc.)
I want him to do this as standalone tool, too, if possible. That would basically have the same effect

• Screensaver/powersave switch should popup an optional password request on resume.

Will look into that...

• Be able to change the default documentation (readme) viewer from Arora to Mousepad or similar simple solution (simple HTML/plain text renderer that loads lightening fast; http://www.uzbl.org/ ?).

Yes, that's part of the tweak settings I introduce with the next hotfix

 

[EvilDragon]

• Fix the time date timezone bugs (saving locations rather than GMT +-values)

This might not be easy, but I'll try. GMT+xx doesn't work? Isn't that how Gentoo does it, too?

• Fix Thunar so that it allows to navigate through folders in 'detailed list view' with touch and nub inputs (dpad+keyboard works fine already)

This is something that needs a GTK+ upgrade. DJWillis plans to update our complete OE tree when he finds some time, that would fix it.
Could take a few weeks though.

• Look into Unmounting issue with right-click on drives/ SD-cards

That's a hard one. Thunar has been coded to use HAL, but we don't use HAL.
This needs some evil hacking...
If anyone has any ideas: Let me know

1. A-effin´-2DP! Please let me use my headphones without the wirez.

Once we have Blueman running, this should work out of the box.
At the moment, we have some DBus errors when trying to run Blueman.
If anyone has experience with all that DBus stuff, we're happy for any help

3. Debug the whole cards thing properly. I still have occasional weird glitches with my SD cards (new entries in ~/media was the latest).

Any more info about that?
I never have had any problems with my SD Cards since HF2, and I constantly remove, reinsert, change, etc. them while testing things (like Chromium, etc.).
Never had a faulty mount or lost data, etc.

4. Low-power mode needs to be seriously improved. As I said earlier: The Nokia N800, with an earlier processor and a 1500 mAh battery, manages 9 to 10 days on standby. We should not be content until the Panda manages one month!

This is a LOT of work. Basically, each driver has to be checked and coded to work with Resume on RAM. Could probably take weeks or months to do that.

Some other things I have planned for HF5:

* Tweak Settings: Let the user disable or change cache directory (i.e. put cache on SD Card)
* Tweak Settings: Change max OPP mode, change max overclock and downclock limit, disable the CPU-Speed warning dialogue, set default speed on boot (and implement some way to find out if it crashed before boot is complete so that on next boot, default speed is restored)
* pnd_run: Use some key you can hold while starting an app to show the clockspeed dialogue
* Tweak Settings: Automatically add some command line parameters to iwconfig on WiFi startup
* Startup Settings: Enable TV Out on startup

Well, I'm sure I forgot some things I have in my mind, but that's all I could remember right now

 

[neko]

2.6.35

 

[Alibobar]

So .. how far is work on the DSP-driver?

Pulseaudio is a good idea?

Please no!

 

[zapman]

[*]Fix the time date timezone bugs (saving locations rather than GMT +-values)

This might not be easy, but I'll try. GMT+xx doesn't work? Isn't that how Gentoo does it, too?

Well, I know that Anki had problems with the time and date settings, have a look at 'sync problems' solution in this thread: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/56293-anki-friendly-intelligent-flashcards/

• Fix Thunar so that it allows to navigate through folders in 'detailed list view' with touch and nub inputs (dpad+keyboard works fine already)

This is something that needs a GTK+ upgrade. DJWillis plans to update our complete OE tree when he finds some time, that would fix it.
Could take a few weeks though.

This bug together with the mounting issue: don't you think there is an alternative to Thunar? Maybe someone knows another light weight file browser prog..

3. Debug the whole cards thing properly. I still have occasional weird glitches with my SD cards (new entries in ~/media was the latest).

Any more info about that?
I never have had any problems with my SD Cards since HF2, and I constantly remove, reinsert, change, etc. them while testing things (like Chromium, etc.).
Never had a faulty mount or lost data, etc.

yes, you can't properly copy files > 15mb from SD1 to SD2: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/56265-usb-issues/page__view__findpost__p__913543

 

[mosschops]

- Gigolo fixed It doesnt seem to work without installing some packages.

it'd be nice to see gigolo fixed or some other easy way to get at the SMB shares on my NAS

 

[zapman]

• re-enable 'USB-network on startup' as default setting; seems to be necessary to use USB devices on the small USB port. (see http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/56265-usb-issues/page__view__findpost__p__913543 and following posts)

Hmm. Most users won't probably use that port except for SD Mass Storage... so it's kinda pointless having this in default startup if you can easily enable it.
It should be renamed in the Settings dialogue though that you know it enables the USB port
What do the others think?

With my winXP machine, I can't use the SD mass storage mode anyways: I always get an error message, windows complaining about an unknow device connected. Unmounting SD card on Pandora first doesn't work, tried that already: than the sd-card can't be selected with the sd-mass-storage script anymore.

• Some way to alter categories in the start-menu would really be nice; Quite a lot of pnd creators used false or have missing categories for their programs in the start menu. Some simple editor to allow users to influence the categorization would be nice (categories in desktop mode are different from simple GUI mode: cats can be fine in simple mode while showing up under 'other' in desktop mode.

Sadly, there is no such editor in XFCE4 yet, HOWEVER, skeezix wanted to add .ovr support in MiniMenu, which allows overriding PND-Settings (icons, categories, clockspeed, etc.)
I want him to do this as standalone tool, too, if possible. That would basically have the same effect

well. I meant a simple editor that allows anyone to alter the origianl pnd files. like messing with mp3 id3 tags.. would that be possible?

 

[Bosbeetle]

What date timezone bug? My date is working just fine.

There are difference between the time in system (date in terminal) and in XCFE (clock) and the time sent to audioscrobbler by scrobbler plugins remains the wrong one.

(first (HF3) it sent the one in system, now in HF4 it sents the one in the clock) however when you set the time in settings it still seems to be wrong.

Hard to explain however I havent got my audioscrobbler to work correctly with any of the HF's (I did have it correct when I opkg'd timezones and symlinked the date manually, however I do think it should just work with settings)

This is all done with timezone set to amsterdam