Category Archives: mobile

Debian-eeepc now has atl2 ethernet

With Kel Modderman’s help, we now have a working atl2 driver for the Eee PC. This brings the Debian-eeepc project one step closer to providing a pure Debian replacement for the Xandros OS that ships with the unit. Now that Asus has released the GPLed source that was missing before, we now just have to ensure both the atl2 and asus_acpi modules get merged upstream.

The driver for the wifi in the Eee isn’t under the GPL, however, and therefore only works on the Xandros kernel provided with the default OS. Since I really can’t live without wifi and it is not my first choice to buy replacement hardware, in the interim, I’m living with using the Xandros kernel and modules on Debian. I can learn from studying the Xandros components in action, but it’s not a solution I’m happy with in the long term. The Debian-eeepc project’s goal is to produce a pure Debian solution, at least as far as that is possible given the hardware present in an unmodified system. On that front, I think the best bet is for ath5k to support the particular Atheros chip in the Eee. (Yes, I know about ndiswrapper, but for both technical and philosophical reasons I won’t use it.)

Debian-eeepc: the ideal mobile text editing device realized

The search for the ideal mobile text editing device is over. While the price was well over my original budget, we’ve since gone ahead and splurged on two new Eee PCs: one for me, one for my wife. In the end, I think it will be worth it because these systems are capable of far more than just editing text.

Now comes the challenging part. Xandros is the default OS and we want Debian on it instead. I have started supplementing the system with packages from Etch and Etch-backports using apt pinning, but already I have noticed some cracks beginning to develop: with pure Xandros, an SD card was automounted when it was inserted. Now it fails. Also, the Network utility no longer launches. I can work around these glitches for now, but it is plain that in the long term this Xandros/Etch hybrid is going to be more grief than it is worth.

To that end, enter Debian-eeepc. Building on the work started by timbobsteve and drawing from the collective experience of the Eeeuser.com community we will make a debian-live cd + debian-installer to install Debian (as pure as possible—obviously the kernel is going to be our most contentious issue) on the device. So stay tuned for more articles on that work-in-progress.

And how does my new toy shape up for mobile text editing so far? I’m delighted! For starters, this article was drafted on the bus home from work. The keyboard, while small, is still quite usable for touch-typing, the display is crisp and bright, and the size is just perfect for the cramped quarters of a public transit bus seat.

But beyond just editing text, I have loaded up the system with all of the tools that go around it: subversion, git, ruby, gcc, meld, etc. I’ll be able to manage a fair amount of development on the bus, with the exception being really large builds that will continue to be done on remote build systems.

Adequate mobile text editing device

Ideal mobile text editing device redux

As I read the responses1 to my search for the ideal mobile text editing device, reality began to set in. The heating season is now upon us, and even used technology meeting my criteria would likely exceed my stated budget. Furthermore, I’d risk replacing my current issues with a whole new set of issues and end up with a less-than-ideal mobile text editing device.

So I have rethought the problem and have decided it would be best to work on with what I have now while I wait for this ideal device to arrive on the market.

Keyboard

While I can’t change the keyboard of the ZR-5000, with a practiced lighter touch on the keys I can, in fact, touch-type passably well. It has served me well enough to draft several blog articles so far.

Software

Although not up to the high standard set by Vim, for quick note-taking, I don’t really need a fancy editor. My thoughts flow directly through my fingers into the device with only light editing. Cut-and-paste, motion keys and delete are the bare essentials. Anything more is a frill.

Synchronization

I do have an ACTiSYS IR-200L infrared dongle for my PC. The trouble is, although this is supported in Linux using IrDA, the ZR-5000 insists on speaking ASK-IR which is not supported.

There is a Windows-only program, ZRLink, which might work. I’ll try it either on an XP system at work, (… mixed reviews out there as to whether it will work on recent Windows,) or under Wine. I can get the dialogs to display properly on Wine, but I have my doubts about whether serial emulation works. My initial tests at home under Wine indicate it doesn’t. (Could #277618 have something to do with this?)

There is a 15-pin serial connector on the device, but I have no cable for it. And there’s a PCMCIA slot, but compatible devices are likely limited to older, harder-to-find components: either a 2M CF card or a modem card. While I have the latter, it exceeds the power available from batteries and I have no DC adaptor for the unit.

Perhaps I overrate synchronization anyway. My best articles are rewritten from scratch more than once.

Summary

Living in an embarrassingly technology-rich country, it is too easy for a geek like me to convince himself that his gadget cravings are needs whereas, in fact, there is still plenty of life left in the devices he already has. After all, my venerable ZR-5000 was given to me by a fellow who figured if any one of his friends would still be able to use it for something, it would be me. Well, I won’t let him down. I’ll stick with it and make it work.

There is one virtue of this device I doubt if any modern device of the same form factor can match. After a week of daily use, I still haven’t had to change the 2 ordinary AA NiMH batteries. Top that.

1 Thanks, everyone, for your responses. Although there were the inevitable few that mentioned modern devices way over my budget, and I’ve decided now to stick with the ZR-5000, your suggestions did help me bring the real issues into focus.

Ideal mobile text-editing device

Dear Lazyweb,

I’m looking for a small, (easily fits on my lap on the cramped seat of a bus,) inexpensive, (around $100 CAD,) mobile text-editing device with a 90%-sized keyboard and decent battery life that runs an open source OS and Vim, and that I can sync to my desktop system.

My first mobile device was a NEC PC-8201A, circa 1984. It ran on 4 AA NiCad batteries which I hardly needed to change more than once a week. At the time, it was my ideal mobile notetaking device. Its near-full-sized keyboard, Wordstar-compatible text editor, terminal program and serial interface allowed me to take notes which I would sync to my father’s Mac at home or to the VAX at the university.

Today, my mobile computing needs have hardly changed: text editing is almost all I do. I don’t ask for much of a display, but as an 80 to 90 wpm touch-typist, I won’t settle for anything less than a near-full-sized keyboard. I’d prefer a system that runs Debian, and Vim is a must. Some means of easily synchronizing the device with my home system is necessary: PCMCIA wireless-B would be ideal, but is not a must-have.

At the moment, I’m using an old Zaurus (not Linux-compatible) ZR-5000 which has good battery life but a very cramped keyboard, poor software, and no functional means of synchronizing the device to my PC. OK for jotting down quick notes, but frankly, I’d rather have my PC-8201A back again. I could at least type on it and sync it across the serial cable.

I took a brief look at various Psion models, but they appear to be near-impossible to find. The HP Jornada 720 looks intriguing. And the NEC Mobilepro 780
appears to be another possibility. Have I overlooked anything?

So, suggestions please.