[gentoo-embedded] OSWALD

[gentoo-embedded] OSWALD

[wireless]

Hello,


There is a very cool plug for gentoo embedded in the August
2010 issue of the Linux Journal, from the good folks at
Oregon State University:

"Moving to a bigger development community, such as Gentoo,
will minimize risks in the future."

Congratulations to whoever is working this behind the
scenes......


Now, were do we, the rank and file hackers, purchase a
OSWALD embedded dev kit from? In the article they seem
to indicate that larger production runs are in the offerings
to come?

curiously,
James

Re: [gentoo-embedded] OSWALD

[solar]

On Mon, 2010-08-02 at 11:03 -0400, wireless wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> 
> There is a very cool plug for gentoo embedded in the August
> 2010 issue of the Linux Journal, from the good folks at
> Oregon State University:
> 
> "Moving to a bigger development community, such as Gentoo,
> will minimize risks in the future."
> 
> Congratulations to whoever is working this behind the
> scenes......
> 
> 
> Now, were do we, the rank and file hackers, purchase a
> OSWALD embedded dev kit from? In the article they seem
> to indicate that larger production runs are in the offerings
> to come?
> 
> curiously,
> James


James,
When I google for "OSWALD development kit", and click the first link I
get the following.
https://admtn.ucsadm.oregonstate.edu/ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=369

The non devkit looks about $100 cheaper.

Re: [gentoo-embedded] OSWALD

[wireless]

> James,
> When I google for "OSWALD development kit", and click the first link I
> get the following.
> https://admtn.ucsadm.oregonstate.edu/ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=369
> 
> The non devkit looks about $100 cheaper.


Interesting..... The are using a OMAP 3530 (Cortex A8) core
Neon SIMD coprocessor, TMS320C64 DSP and a SGX 530 2d/3d
video chip. with a 3.5 inch resistive touch LCD (QVGA).

Here's a few links... $500 is a bit steep..... but interesting.

It looks as though they are Porting Gentoo as we speak,
in lieu of continuing down the Open Embedded path:

http://beaversource.oregonstate.edu/projects/cspfl/wiki/CSPFL_Gentoo


Hardware
http://beaversource.oregonstate.edu/projects/cspfl


Somebody should approach these folks and do some serious
'birds of a feather' type of sales pitch. It'd sure be
very cool to get a big university hooked on embedded Gentoo,
ARM style, methinks.........


James

Re: [gentoo-embedded] OSWALD

[solar]

On Mon, 2010-08-02 at 23:23 -0400, wireless wrote:
> > James,
> > When I google for "OSWALD development kit", and click the first link I
> > get the following.
> > https://admtn.ucsadm.oregonstate.edu/ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=369
> > 
> > The non devkit looks about $100 cheaper.
> 
> 
> Interesting..... The are using a OMAP 3530 (Cortex A8) core
> Neon SIMD coprocessor, TMS320C64 DSP and a SGX 530 2d/3d
> video chip. with a 3.5 inch resistive touch LCD (QVGA).
> 
> Here's a few links... $500 is a bit steep..... but interesting.
> 
> It looks as though they are Porting Gentoo as we speak,
> in lieu of continuing down the Open Embedded path:
> 
> http://beaversource.oregonstate.edu/projects/cspfl/wiki/CSPFL_Gentoo
> 
> 
> Hardware
> http://beaversource.oregonstate.edu/projects/cspfl
> 
> 
> Somebody should approach these folks and do some serious
> 'birds of a feather' type of sales pitch. It'd sure be
> very cool to get a big university hooked on embedded Gentoo,
> ARM style, methinks.........
> 
> 
> James

Sorry was reading on other things related. I'll check those links in a
bit. I found this as an easy way to get started now
http://beaversource.oregonstate.edu/projects/cspfl/wiki/CSPFL_GentooQemuChroot


-- 
solar <solar@gentoo.org>
Gentoo Linux

Re: [gentoo-embedded] OSWALD

[Tim Harder]

On 2010-08-02 Mon 20:23, wireless wrote:
> Interesting..... The are using a OMAP 3530 (Cortex A8) core
> Neon SIMD coprocessor, TMS320C64 DSP and a SGX 530 2d/3d
> video chip. with a 3.5 inch resistive touch LCD (QVGA).

Yeah, the device is sort of like a Beagleboard with a LCD and several
more input options. However, there are several other hardware
differences such as we don't use the TWL4030 chip that the beagle uses
for power management, I2C, etc.

> Somebody should approach these folks and do some serious 'birds of a
> feather' type of sales pitch. It'd sure be very cool to get a big
> university hooked on embedded Gentoo, ARM style, methinks.........

I agree. However, Intel is also a major player at OSU and so they want
us to stick an Atom in our next major hardware design. We'll have to see
how things turn out for the next hardware rev.

Also, most of the software repos for the OSWALD are available at [1] if
anyone's interested and hasn't found them yet.

Tim

[1] https://code.oregonstate.edu/git

Re: [gentoo-embedded] OSWALD

[wireless]

>> Oregon State University:

> When I google for "OSWALD development kit", and click the first link I
> get the following.
> https://admtn.ucsadm.oregonstate.edu/ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=369



Look what I found:

"
If you're interested in helping out, check out the current
tickets and let us know what you want to work on. If you
have a new idea you want to explore or work on, add a ticket
describing it so we can help you out!
"


bsc-help@engr.orst.edu

Dr. Carlos Jensen, is the phD mentioned in the article....

good_hunting.....


James

Re: [gentoo-embedded] OSWALD

[Tim Harder]

On 2010-08-02 Mon 08:03, wireless wrote:
> Congratulations to whoever is working this behind the scenes......

Thanks, I've been the main software dev behind the OSWALD and have
enjoyed using Gentoo for a number of years now. I thought the OSWALD
would be a great way to help forward the embedded side of Gentoo.  

I'm hoping to soon start contributing back some of the ebuilds and other
software I've developed along the way for the OSWALD since I'm only a
week or two away from becoming an official Gentoo dev.

Currently the project looks a little dead since we are between funding
cycles and are looking to produce more devices so we have more stock on
hand. However, we've secured funds to continue expanding the project
this next school year and I'll continue working on the software side of
things.

> Now, were do we, the rank and file hackers, purchase a OSWALD embedded
> dev kit from? In the article they seem to indicate that larger
> production runs are in the offerings to come?

If you're interested, I could probably hook a couple more Gentoo
embedded devs with OSWALDs at reduced prices. We currently have a
limited supply on hand due to previous manufacturing and funding issues,
but there are probably enough to hand a few out, especially if you
contribute back to the OSWALD project.

Also, we are currently looking into the next hardware platform that the
device will be based on in future years. I'm all for continuing with the
upcoming OMAP4 platform, but we'll see where things go.

If you have any more questions let me know.

Tim

Re: [gentoo-embedded] OSWALD

[wireless]

Previously you wrote:
> On 2010-08-02 Mon 08:03, wireless wrote:
>> Congratulations to whoever is working this behind the scenes......
> 
> Thanks, I've been the main software dev behind the OSWALD and have
> enjoyed using Gentoo for a number of years now. I thought the OSWALD
> would be a great way to help forward the embedded side of Gentoo.  
> 
> I'm hoping to soon start contributing back some of the ebuilds and other
> software I've developed along the way for the OSWALD since I'm only a
> week or two away from becoming an official Gentoo dev.
> 
> Currently the project looks a little dead since we are between funding
> cycles and are looking to produce more devices so we have more stock on
> hand. However, we've secured funds to continue expanding the project
> this next school year and I'll continue working on the software side of
> things.

This is good to know. Have you categorized your current
(ARM) device to be similar to other boards, maybe the beagle?



>> Now, were do we, the rank and file hackers, purchase a OSWALD embedded
>> dev kit from? In the article they seem to indicate that larger
>> production runs are in the offerings to come?
> 
> If you're interested, I could probably hook a couple more Gentoo
> embedded devs with OSWALDs at reduced prices. We currently have a
> limited supply on hand due to previous manufacturing and funding issues,
> but there are probably enough to hand a few out, especially if you
> contribute back to the OSWALD project.

Thanks for the generosity, but, I need to finish a few
things that have been lagging for me, before I jump into
anything else. That said, I'm interested in the next board,
if it is ARM based.


> Also, we are currently looking into the next hardware platform that the
> device will be based on in future years. I'm all for continuing with the
> upcoming OMAP4 platform, but we'll see where things go.

OMAP-4 looks very cool:
http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?contentId=53243&navigationId=12843&templateId=6123


Keep us posted on the new board's processor direction.
Thanks for all of the information.


James