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Linux boots on MIPS palm-sized computers
SheldonYoung writes "Brad LaRonde and friends have Linux up and running on NEC MIPS Vr41xx palm-sized machines, such as the Casio E-100 and Vandem Clio. Those interested can grab the source and documentation from his Linux-MIPS Pages.
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andrewgaul wrote:
Newton hardware, as great as it was for its time, is poorly documented in Apple tradition.
Poor documentation may be a Macintosh tradition, its not an Apple tradition. I remember when the Apple ][ came with not only more documentation than any PC's today come with, but included in the documentation were tidbits like the complete and commented assembly code of what's in each of the ROMs. I miss the Woz.
Even with the Macintosh, you can get more complete and accurate documentation than some systems I can think of (you just gotta pay for it).
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Open mind, insert foot.
I've been working with these devices for 2 years now, both on a consulting and personal level. I own a Compaq C-140 and a Philips Nino 210.
There is an IBM Microdrive out which has 340MB space and a Flash ATA interface. If there is a way to compile PCMCIA and Flash ATA support into the kernel for this HPC Linux, and use this as a file system, this will be good.
IBM will be releasing these Microdrives in increasing capacity over the next few years.
This means that an HPC device will be able to run Linux well with good storage capacities, and possibly the ability to run extended desktops and the open source databases like mySQL without the nasty overhead of WinCE. Plus, it means I can carry a lot more with me in a smaller package.
It also means that some of the vertical markets such as Data Collection that use HPC's can now use Linux instead of the three Windows variants (9x, CE, NT/NTE), and do well. It will be possible to create more reliable data collection devices that use already existing hardware, without worrying about the development issues currently in place, such as keeping three variant codebases. It also makes development and implementation much simpler, since you don't need the nasty amount of kit you need for CE to develop.
Combined with a good PIM and a web browser, these devices will more than likely work better than straight CE. That, and the apps would be a LOT smaller.
However, one issue that needs to be addressed is modems. Most of these devices, in particular the Mobilon/Clio, Compaq C-Series, Mobilon 4600 and 5000, Nino, and Casio, implement software modems. That issue needs to be cleared up, since most HPC's come with one PCMCIA/Flash slot.
I am looking forward to putting Linux on the C-140 (SH-3) and prolonging its useful life. CE just runs too slow on it. A decent shell and the ability to run apps is all I really need.
Given that the machines in question have keyboards, reasonable CPUs and decent amounts of storage, they may actually make quite respectable portable UNIX boxes once the port is usable. It'd save one from having to lug around a laptop to have something that speaks UNIX and holds one's files.
At least this makes more sense than the PalmPilot port; unless someone makes a handwriting recognition engine for Linux (and a shell that's not hideously painful to use in this manner), a Linux-based PalmPilot is useless unless you carry around a terminal to plug into it.
The Vadem Clio is a really terrific looking piece of hardware. I have no need for a Windows CE machine, but if they can get X running on it and a wireless LAN card I'll definitely buy one.
By itself the Clio's CPU is nothing to write home about, but with the full power and connectivity of a desktop machine presented over a lightly loaded wireless LAN to something with the Clio's form factor it will definitely be a great machine.
Palmtops are the wave of the future. All the analysts say this. Personally, I believe they will be important, but I tend to scoff at phrases like "the wave of the future". Regardless, palmtops provide the bulk of computing needs in a simple, portable form.
Right now, you have two choices in palmtops. The Palm Pilot and WinCE. I like the Palm Pilot, but it's too restricted. WinCE machines offer a little more, but who wants to run WinCE?
Linux on a palmtop offers, IMNSHO, the best option. You get the extra power for a WinCE machine (including keyboards), but you get a decent OS.
Why hasn't this been done before? Because it's HARD! WincE machines don't have a lot of the goodies desktops have. Stuff like MMUs, open specifications, large hard drives, etc. Brad LaRonde, et al, should be given a number of coolness points here.
They did something technically difficult
They did something sexy
They did something new
They did it without a bunch of corporate sponsorship or hope of money and fame
They did it OpenSource
And just because They did it.
Citizens Against Plate Tectonics
WinCE devices are not selling very well right now, dispite having hardware that is arguably better than that of a Palm Pilot. Manufacturers are having to drop the prices on these just to move them out the door.
If Linux and BSD can get running well on these, and someone can develop a good, simple GUI (X doesn't count for this, I don't want to see Enlightenment an a screen that size) we may see this hardware come out faster with lower prices than before (no WinCE licensing fees to increase the price)
These could be killer machines, running a Linux kernel and a GUI that is as simple as the Palm Pilot. Enough hobbyists will pick these up that there will be no shortage of free applications. Hell, even the compiler is free, so people wont need to shell out fot CodeWarrior as for the Palm Pilot.
All in all, this could be very good news, and I am not usually one to evangelize Linux.
Andrew
Remember?
rooooar
since BSD is dying
This is the stupidest thing I've seen in a long time. *BSD has been growing for years and continues to grow today. There might not be as many seats installed as Linux, but that doesn't make it dying.
The iBook has a feature called "Save and shut down," or something to that effect, where the ram is saved as a file at the time of shutdown and thus can be started instantly in the exact state it was shut down. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. Since the iBook isn't shipping yet, who knows.
rooooar
You might want to check out my pdamips page for a complete list of MIPS based pdas. Please send me updates if I'm wrong about that :-)
Re: Linux on the Aero, you may have problems getting enough technical data from Compaq to actually do this. It uses the slower 70MHz R3900 based MIPS processors (although I'm not sure if it uses the Phillips one, or the Toshiba one).
Finally, this is booting Linux to a standalone shell. Much more work is needed before this will be useful. NetBSD/hpcmips allows one to login to the machine over the network! However, to the best of my knowledge, it doesn't have an X server or similar beast running on it at this time.
Enjoy!
I, like most other readers of Slashdot, love cool shit. I love keeping up with the latest Linux port to ungodly small devices. This kinda stuff takes ingenuity, lotsa smarts, and is a testament to the flexability of Linux. But, please, this Beowulf fixation MUST go. Beowulf clusters are number crunchers for high intensity processing apps, not for retiring a crop of 386's, not for small devices, etc. Now if I had 500 Alphas gathering dust in my closet and was a little backlogged in my atomic research Beowulf would intrest me, but thats not happening. Please, somebody agree with me?
As for those who are wondering, MIPS isn't our only target platform. There are efforts currently in the works to get Linux ported to SH3 Handhelds, as well as StrongArm. (Nobody knows the progress here.)
If you feel you can contribute, by all means, join in on the mailing list at linuxce.org.
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Why not the Apple Newton 2100? That beast has a 162 MHz StrongARM CPU (optimized for "MIPS per milli-ampere" to begin with), 8MB of RAM, and a 4-bit greyscale touch screen, plus optional keyboard, and two PCMCIA slots.
Sure, it's orphaned, but it'd be a kick-ass system...