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List: openmoko-community
Subject: Re: ASU software - pre-pre-release impressions
From: "Ivo Anjo" <knuckles () gmail ! com>
Date: 2008-05-19 19:13:59
Message-ID: 557ea2710805191213k46981133wbc4c168b587dd97b () mail ! gmail ! com
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I second that. Is there a way to test the new software on qemu?
Looking forward to start hacking stuff on my OM...
Ivo
On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 3:51 PM, Mo Abrahams <moabrahams@dashavoo.com>
wrote:
> How does one go about getting the new software version as a qemu image?
> I am intrigued... and since I have (in the last week or so) started
> having doubts about getting a freerunner I would very much like
> something to inspire me again. It is not the freerunners fault, by the
> way, that I am having doubts. Just that I have just got myself a new
> contract and I quite like the phone I am getting with it... while on the
> topic... can freerunner be used without a simcard (obviously not the gsm
> parts, but everything else?)?
>
> Mo.
>
> On Mon, 2008-05-19 at 10:27 -0400, Ian Darwin wrote:
> > I have been using a FreeRunner for a few days with a pre-pre-alpha
> > snapshot of the ASU software. For those who have been off-list for a
> > while, or who have not been looking at the Wiki much, the April
> > Software Update switches the Window Manager from matchbox to
> > Enlightenment (E17) and the main applications from the GTK-based apps
> > (developed by OpenMoko and OpenedHand) to QTopia (but using X11, of
> course).
> >
> > The new phone is in the same case, so it looks and feels a lot like a
> > GTA01. I think the partition numbers for dfu-util have changed; newer
> > versions of dfu-util allow you to use the partition names instead of the
> > numbers. Beware.
> >
> > The Home Page (aka Launcher) can now be displayed either in an Icon Grid
> > (conventional cell phone style, e.g., Blackberry, and the traditional
> > QTopia format) or a "slider" style (the latter demonstrated by MokoNinja
> > here: http://people.openmoko.org/ninjutsu/freerunner1.4.swf (flash
> > required).
> >
> > The small home/current-apps menu has been replaced by a larger
> > slide-down top panel, listing the current apps, and containing the time,
> > battery panel, GSM on/off, qwerty keyboard on/off, Configuration, and
> > the Enlightenment menu.
> >
> > Neither of the above is, AFAIK, cast in stone.
> >
> > I must admit I have mixed feelings about the switch from OM/GTK apps to
> > QTopia. However, I recognize the need to get something "finished" in a
> > reasonable time and I infer Sean et al felt the need to go this way;
> > in hindsight, building the whole thing from scratch is a daunting task,
> > and something that QTopia has been honing for several years.
> >
> > The QTopia apps do have a somewhat more conventional "cell phone"
> > feel to them (see my screenshot of the Contacts "Overview" page here:
> > http://www.darwinsys.com/tmp/contacts1.png).
> >
> > So, I think we're in good hands here. On to the "experience".
> >
> > Short form: functionally, it works. Among other things, the phone wakes
> > up reliably on incoming rings (assuming it's booted and suspended, of
> > course), and GSM voice works after a resume.
> >
> > There are still some minor glitches. I hope I'm not out of line
> > reporting these here, given how pre-pre my software is, but Steve has
> > been asking me to report on this list since my FreeRunner arrived. I
> > remind everybody reading this to remember that this is PRE-PRE-RELEASE
> > software. None of this intended as criticism of those who worked under
> > time deadline to make this early release ready for the show I was
> > presenting OM at! Nonetheless these are things that I would not like to
> > have fall through the cracks.
> >
> > 1) Incoming calls do wake up the phone, but by the time the dialer
> > appears on screen, several rings have gone by, and, by the time you
> > press Answer and get it recognized, the screen hasn't responded, the
> > Answer button changes to Hangup, so if you double-clicked it, you can
> > easily hang up on your caller without intending to.
> >
> > 2) The ASU software features a qwerty-keyboard. It is switchable between
> > alphabetics and numerics; unfortunately the gesture needed to do this
> > (a triangle drawn counter-clockwise from lower left) is a bit hard to
> > get right; hopefully there will be a button to switch this. As well,
> > the current version of ASU uses QTopia's input manager, offering what
> > looks like a predictive style but is actually doing a dictionary
> > lookup; I find this very distracting compared to a plain do-what-I-type
> > keyboard, and would welcome an easy way to turn this off (I thought
> > Lorne Potter posted this once, but I couldn't find it).
> >
> > 3) It's easy to accidentally start an application (thus slowing down
> > what you're trying to really do) while scrolling the home screen in icon
> > grid mode.
> >
> > 4) The Preferences that are in the top slide-down panel's Wrench icon
> > should presumably be merged with the Preferences App.
> >
> > 5) The shutdown dialog does not have a cancel or Back button.
> > And, it often doesn't actually shutdown.
> >
> > All for now. Again, please remember that this is very early access.
> > And don't let my nit-picking distract you from the fact that it's
> > looking good for something that was merged only a few weeks ago!
> >
> > Ian Darwin
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Openmoko community mailing list
> > community@lists.openmoko.org
> > http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Openmoko community mailing list
> community@lists.openmoko.org
> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
>
[Attachment #5 (text/html)]
I second that. Is there a way to test the new software on \
qemu?<br><br>Looking forward to start hacking stuff on my \
OM...<br><br>Ivo<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, May 19, 2008 at \
3:51 PM, Mo Abrahams <<a \
href="mailto:moabrahams@dashavoo.com">moabrahams@dashavoo.com</a>> \
wrote:<br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid \
rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">How does \
one go about getting the new software version as a qemu image?<br> I am \
intrigued... and since I have (in the last week or so) started<br> having \
doubts about getting a freerunner I would very much like<br> something to \
inspire me again. It is not the freerunners fault, by the<br> way, that I \
am having doubts. Just that I have just got myself a new<br> contract and I \
quite like the phone I am getting with it... while on the<br> topic... can \
freerunner be used without a simcard (obviously not the gsm<br> parts, \
but everything else?)?<br> <font color="#888888"><br>
Mo.<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br>
On Mon, 2008-05-19 at 10:27 -0400, Ian Darwin wrote:<br>
> I have been using a FreeRunner for a few days with a pre-pre-alpha<br>
> snapshot of the ASU software. For those who have been off-list for \
a<br> > while, or who have not been looking at the Wiki much, the \
April<br> > Software Update switches the Window Manager from matchbox \
to<br> > Enlightenment (E17) and the main applications from the \
GTK-based apps<br> > (developed by OpenMoko and OpenedHand) to QTopia \
(but using X11, of course).<br> ><br>
> The new phone is in the same case, so it looks and feels a lot like \
a<br> > GTA01. I think the partition numbers for dfu-util have changed; \
newer<br> > versions of dfu-util allow you to use the partition names \
instead of the<br> > numbers. Beware.<br>
><br>
> The Home Page (aka Launcher) can now be displayed either in an Icon \
Grid<br> > (conventional cell phone style, e.g., Blackberry, and the \
traditional<br> > QTopia format) or a "slider" style (the \
latter demonstrated by MokoNinja<br> > here: <a \
href="http://people.openmoko.org/ninjutsu/freerunner1.4.swf" \
target="_blank">http://people.openmoko.org/ninjutsu/freerunner1.4.swf</a> \
(flash<br> > required).<br>
><br>
> The small home/current-apps menu has been replaced by a larger<br>
> slide-down top panel, listing the current apps, and containing the \
time,<br> > battery panel, GSM on/off, qwerty keyboard on/off, \
Configuration, and<br> > the Enlightenment menu.<br>
><br>
> Neither of the above is, AFAIK, cast in stone.<br>
><br>
> I must admit I have mixed feelings about the switch from OM/GTK apps \
to<br> > QTopia. However, I recognize the need to get something \
"finished" in a<br> > reasonable time and I infer Sean et al \
felt the need to go this way;<br> > in hindsight, building the whole \
thing from scratch is a daunting task,<br> > and something that QTopia \
has been honing for several years.<br> ><br>
> The QTopia apps do have a somewhat more conventional "cell \
phone"<br> > feel to them (see my screenshot of the Contacts \
"Overview" page here:<br> > <a \
href="http://www.darwinsys.com/tmp/contacts1.png" \
target="_blank">http://www.darwinsys.com/tmp/contacts1.png</a>).<br> \
><br> > So, I think we're in good hands here. On to the \
"experience".<br> ><br>
> Short form: functionally, it works. Among other things, the \
phone wakes<br> > up reliably on incoming rings (assuming it's \
booted and suspended, of<br> > course), and GSM voice works after a \
resume.<br> ><br>
> There are still some minor glitches. I hope I'm not out of \
line<br> > reporting these here, given how pre-pre my software is, but \
Steve has<br> > been asking me to report on this list since my \
FreeRunner arrived. I<br> > remind everybody reading this to remember \
that this is PRE-PRE-RELEASE<br> > software. None of this intended as \
criticism of those who worked under<br> > time deadline to make this \
early release ready for the show I was<br> > presenting OM at! \
Nonetheless these are things that I would not like to<br> > have \
fall through the cracks.<br> ><br>
> 1) Incoming calls do wake up the phone, but by the time the dialer<br>
> appears on screen, several rings have gone by, and, by the time \
you<br> > press Answer and get it recognized, the screen hasn't \
responded, the<br> > Answer button changes to Hangup, so if you \
double-clicked it, you can<br> > easily hang up on your caller without \
intending to.<br> ><br>
> 2) The ASU software features a qwerty-keyboard. It is switchable \
between<br> > alphabetics and numerics; unfortunately the gesture \
needed to do this<br> > (a triangle drawn counter-clockwise from \
lower left) is a bit hard to<br> > get right; hopefully there will be a \
button to switch this. As well,<br> > the current version of ASU \
uses QTopia's input manager, offering what<br> > looks like a \
predictive style but is actually doing a dictionary<br> > lookup; \
I find this very distracting compared to a plain do-what-I-type<br> > \
keyboard, and would welcome an easy way to turn this off (I thought<br> \
> Lorne Potter posted this once, but I couldn't find it).<br> \
><br> > 3) It's easy to accidentally start an application (thus \
slowing down<br> > what you're trying to really do) while scrolling \
the home screen in icon<br> > grid mode.<br>
><br>
> 4) The Preferences that are in the top slide-down panel's Wrench \
icon<br> > should presumably be merged with the Preferences App.<br>
><br>
> 5) The shutdown dialog does not have a cancel or Back button.<br>
> And, it often doesn't actually shutdown.<br>
><br>
> All for now. Again, please remember that this is very early \
access.<br> > And don't let my nit-picking distract you from the \
fact that it's<br> > looking good for something that was merged only \
a few weeks ago!<br> ><br>
> Ian Darwin<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> Openmoko community mailing list<br>
> <a href="mailto:community@lists.openmoko.org">community@lists.openmoko.org</a><br>
> <a href="http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community" \
target="_blank">http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community</a><br>
<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Openmoko community mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:community@lists.openmoko.org">community@lists.openmoko.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community" \
target="_blank">http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>
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