Linux on StarTrek: Runs, Needs Work

BHSPitMonkey · 06:11 AM

Linux on StarTrek: Runs, Needs Work

Hi all,

I've learned that the StarTrek is able to boot the current kernel from the Linwizard project without any modifications. I've posted a video of this at http://vimeo.com/2114567. Before you get too excited, however, there's a few things to keep in mind:

The buttons aren't mapped correctly by default.
You need a networked computer to log in and do anything fun, for now.
If you're wondering about Android, the answer is "not yet".

I will do my best to address the important things here; what works, what needs tweaks to work, and (most of all) what needs attention. I will also, over the next day or two, try to post my findings regarding the button GPIOs collected from HaRET, kernel modifications necessary to fix a few things. etc.

Consider this post a call for help. I'm hoping this will encourage others to contribute toward more complete linux support on the phone. I personally am driven by the opportunity to dual-boot Android on the device, but I have much to learn and can't do this alone. So, if you have kernel experience and a StarTrek, here's your motivation to get hacking! (If you'd like to help, but don't have a device to test kernels on, I'm often in #xda-devs.)

Status (Let me know if there's anything missing here.)

Internal LCD - YES - Seems to work great.
External LCD - ? - Shows the device's default image. Not sure how to control this in linux.
Backlight - ? - Unsure. As far as I can tell, Linux will retain the brightness level being used when HaRET finished loading the kernel.
USB Networking - YES - Works like a charm.
Audio - ? - No idea. I don't know how to test this.
Cellular - ? - No idea, but I don't think it will necessarily come easily.
Buttons/Keypad - SOME - By default, the keys and buttons are mapped either incorrectly or not at all. The phone keypad and some of the special buttons type random keystrokes, since we are using the mappings for the Wizard. I have a modified board-htcwizard.c with correct mappings for the StarTrek I'll post really soon, as well as a list of the GPIO readings for many of the buttons. Unfortunately, the Up/Down/Left/Right/Select/End buttons function differently than the other, matrix-based keys. I have yet to discover how to configure them.
Camera - ? - No idea, but they don't even have this working on the Wizard (Linwizard's primary target device).
Light Sensor - ? - I wouldn't know where to begin. It barely works in WM, anyway.

MicroSD - YES - I can mount the MicroSD with no issues, full read/write. Even managed to open my photos in the GPE photo gallery on the device (launched over telnet).

[B]X[\B] - YES - I am able to start X, by calling startx over the telnet connection. However, X will try to run a touch screen calibration before doing anything else, and this is a bit of a problem for us! Fortunately, on newer Linwizard versions, you can disable this by passing tslib=0 to the kernel (in the defaults.txt file you give to HaRET). GPE also seems to be running perfectly after X starts.

Problems - After a few idle minutes in linux, the screen likes to black itself out automatically, as per the design of Linwizard. Unfortunately, on the Star Trek, there seems to be no way to make the screen wake up. Telnet still works in this situation.

I promise to keep this post updated, and get my data together and uploaded soon. Please share your own results and tricks as they come along, and join me (and some talented people) in #xda-xevs and #htc-linux on irc.freenode.net. Happy hacking!

Attached:
arch/arm/mach-omap1/board-htcwizard.c - Contains key matrix mappings modified for StarTrek. Be sure to remove the ".txt" from the file extension before using.
default.txt - Used with HaRET to make Linux boot. The only thing unusual in here is the TSLIB=0 option that's passed to the kernel, telling linux to skip touchscreen-related tasks.

Erofich · 9th November 2008, 03:30 PM

great work! but you need some advanced startrek owners to test linux - that's a big problem

dancer_69 · 9th November 2008, 05:36 PM

Fantastic news! I' would really try it out. Unfortunatly my startrek's connector is damaged. I can charge the device, but I cannot connect with the pc. If I can use the micro sd card to install it(I think is possible) I will try it.
Thanks for the great job.

BHSPitMonkey · 10th November 2008, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dancer_69

Fantastic news! I' would really try it out. Unfortunatly my startrek's connector is damaged. I can charge the device, but I cannot connect with the pc. If I can use the micro sd card to install it(I think is possible) I will try it.
Thanks for the great job.

You can, by dropping Haret+default.txt+zImage+initrd onto the SD card. Unfortunately, without a USB connection, you won't be able to telnet into the device and run commands.

gigawatts · 10th November 2008, 06:04 AM

very interesting! Ive been waiting to hear this kind of news

Unfortunately, I still use my StarTrek as my primary phone, so I can't test it out until it moves along a little further. I'll be sure to keep an eye on this thread, as this is good news!

BHSPitMonkey · 10th November 2008, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gigawatts

very interesting! Ive been waiting to hear this kind of news

Unfortunately, I still use my StarTrek as my primary phone, so I can't test it out until it moves along a little further. I'll be sure to keep an eye on this thread, as this is good news!

Linux actually boots directly from a Windows Mobile program called HaRET; When you're done playing with Linux, you can just reset the phone and you're back to normal. No permanent changes.

dancer_69 · 10th November 2008, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BHSPitMonkey

You can, by dropping Haret+default.txt+zImage+initrd onto the SD card. Unfortunately, without a USB connection, you won't be able to telnet into the device and run commands.

I already did it, and works. Thanks anyway.