[3MX Ultra2] Suggestions for Ultra3

[wicknix]

Not giving a time frame on ultra3 yet, but here is what's been fixed or added to it so far:

xarchiver replaced with xiptar.
adblock plus removed and replaced by noscript in firefox.
mediaplayer connectivity removed from firefox. (starts up quicker now)
pipelining tweak not added to firefox as i find it slows page rendering wayyy down on my edge/3g connection. (users can do that tweak themselves if need be)
xap-install script added (3mx-install is not because 4.0 and ultra have different file system layouts and libraries and apps packaged for 4.0 should not be used on ultra)
esd sound daemon delay fixed (you wont have to close and reopen xine or flashplayer to get sound anymore)
gpe-contacts missing library fixed
scummvm added and included flight of the amazon queen game. (sound issue *should* be fixed. tested and seems to be ok now. no more "popping" noise)
removed shareware doom.wad and replaced with the full version of freedoom.
updated help file.
fixed console keymapping so all keys should work fine in console mode now.
spell check now works in abiword (use f7 key to activate)

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Possible to-do list:
samba/smbclient still in the works, but no promises.
ipradio. streamtuner is more flexible, but i'll take a vote. would it be better to include both? or let the user install ipradio if he/she wants it?
keypassx or a similar application.
cron. might make a separate package for users who may want it. (not needed for the average user)

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flash is probably next to impossible. i built gnash. very very slow. lucky to get 1-5fps and it slows web browsing to a halt. i've given up on it. i did get flash8 working on my 3k razorbook 400 w/winCE and got the same results. i'm thinking our 335mhz cpu's along with the framebuffer display driver just cant handle it. not a big deal to me as downloading youtube videos with download helper plugin for firefox works just fine.

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This will probably be my last release sadly. 3MX has come leaps and bounds in the last year since i started it, however i find my LLL does everything i expected and more with Ultra on it. It is after all a low budget, low spec netbook, that now is a fairly useful 'laptop'. The reason i'm stopping development after ultra3 is that i'm quite happy with it now, i've dedicated a little over year to it, and i picked up a few ARM devices with WinCE to hack away on and try to get linux running on them. I will still rebuild/package certain apps for the LLL, like pidgin to keep it functional as protocol's get outdated/updated, but this will be my final LLL userland.

I was hoping the 2.6 kernl port would have become a reality so i could've went ahead and started fresh with debian sid, or created something nice out of Open Embedded. However just like when i was working on Jlime (jlime.com), my time on the LLL also needs to come to an end. I have a pile of new devices calling my name to hack away on.

I hope you all will enjoy ultra3 when it's done (couple more weeks i'd think), and i'm hoping some members will continue on with it. Whether it be making more packages, expanding on 3MX, or even creating something totally different. I've had my fun, but now i'm off to have 'fun' with other devices.

Cheers.

[jakfish]

I can well understand your conclusions.  Given the limitations of the hardware at hand, it would appear--even to an amateur llike me--that 3mx-Ultra has maxed out its opportunities.  I use this machine every day, and find it serves all my netbook needs.  At this point, I don't feel the software lacks anything--any current problems have to do with CPU speed and the inherently tricky wifi card, and that has nothing to do with the OS.

Because of 3mx Ultra's effectiveness, I've put aside both my Jornada 720s and my Psions.

I will always hope for good news regarding your experiments that turn an ARM CE machine into a Linux device--if only because it's much easier to find the ARM models than the MIPS.

Your support has been endless, and each OS release better than the last.

Thank you, thank you,
Jake

[JD1971]

Dear Wicknix,

First my suggestion: a simple/fast fullscreen image/slideshow viewer (better than the one integrated in Ultra 2 right now)!

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But now the most important message: Thanks for your excellent work on creating and sharing your distro's (both 3MX and Debian Etch versions) which i tried and like all.

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I have bought a EPC700 a few weeks ago since i found your alternative images and because of the soldering challenge (Wifi dongle).
Overall i think the EPC700 is a bit to slow/light to browse the web nicely, show photo's from sd card quickly enough, view fullscreen youtube movies on the fly, work for several hours, etc..

Since I like gadgets, software, Windows or linux, soldering and less energy comsumption I am pleased to read that you have your eye on CE devices which are capable of runing linux. I guess you mean tiny laptops and not thin clients based on a x86 chipset? Can you mention your new project (read chosen Win CE/arm hardware) so I can take a quick look too ?

Dear Wicknix, many many thanks for your work (so far )!!

JD1971

[higgybees]

Thanks for you work on 3MX Wicknix. I too have a workable mini laptop now. New challenges are what keeps things from going stale. I have learned a lot from the short time I have been using your OS. Thanks for that as well.
As for ipradio and stream tuner I use both and find ipradio good for a quick connection to a few selected stations. Pity samba is still not quite there but that was always extra iceing on the cake.
Cheers and good luck with your new projects. Fred

[Mado]

Sorry to hear that version 3 will be the last (and the best I bet :-). I can understand that you want something else.
Thanks a lot for all your effort. Because of your work I love my little machine. Its so easy to use, and has so may possibilities that I still haven't tried everything. I wish you much fun with your new "toys" and hope to see you sometimes on this (or perhaps some other) Forum.

[nigelmercier]

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Possible to-do list:
samba/smbclient still in the works, but no promises.

Forget all the other stuff, this would make it perfect!

Happy to make a donation if it helps. Come on guys, hands in pockets for the man!

[FezzFest]

Ooh. The LLL will never be the same without you. I promise I will continue working on it. Creating packages, trying all kinds of operating systems, and being a Linux-freak (I run Ubuntu on about 22 machines in here) I think it should be possible to fix some things if users ask for it. It will take time however.

A few questions:

- What are your next projects?
- Is the 2.6 kernel development stopped?
- Can you reveal a giant changelog with differences and techniques between e.g. RC3.1 and RC4, or RC4 and Ultra?

Especially the last thing would be great. I can do a lot, but there are things that I still don't get how it's done.

First my suggestion: a simple/fast fullscreen image/slideshow viewer (better than the one integrated in Ultra 2 right now)!

If you have a suggestion, I can make a package for it if you like.
I can create a package for Feh at the moment, I need it for a project.

ipradio. streamtuner is more flexible, but i'll take a vote. would it be better to include both? or let the user install ipradio if he/she wants it?

I'd include both.

[khos]

I would love to see a skype or voip type of App on 3MX

All the best folks

[FezzFest]

I would love to see a skype or voip type of App on 3MX

All the best folks

If you want Skype compatibility, we can possibly create a package for Skype support in Pidgin but if that's not necessary, it's easier to make Ekiga working.

[burnoq]

Hello !
Wicknix, I agree with you : with ultra (1&2) my LLL works great and I can do (almost) everything I could hope to do with a netbook.
But this topic is about our "suggestions for ultra3", so here are the few things I would like to see in ultra 3 :
- a login window with a password at boot (like the one on the skytone website).
- ralink wifi drivers already installed, for linux newbies who could give up without working wifi.
- french translations for all the softwares (ok I go out !  )

Wicknix, you deserve all our respect and gratitude for all your work and diponibility.
Merci pour tout. A bientôt.
burnoq.

[jakfish]

Ugh--While ralink wifi capability and French translations may serve some users' purposes, I disagree completely with any kind of login.  Given the slow hardware, we want to increase boot speed, not slow it down.

Jake

[wicknix]

Thanks for the kind words. Let's see. Where to begin....

Login window/password locked at boot. I did that with i think 3MX-rc3 last year and found most users hated the fact it didn't boot right to the desktop. Sure it isn't secure if someone steals it, but it's not the end of the world. There is a gpe-login.xap floating around somewhere one could install if need be.

Ekiga has loads of deps and is probably too heavy, however linphone is small and simple and shouldn't be too hard to get working. I just haven't had much time to look into it.

I'm not sure if the 2.6 kernel development stopped. There is a http://www.mail-archive.com/mipsbook-devel@linuxtogo.org/mailing list that still seems active though. I just grew tired of waiting. I'm sure it will see the light of day eventually.

When i'm done with ultra3 i will upload some of my unfinished projects, stuff i stumbled across on the net, and write up a brief changelog/how-to for people to look through and experiment with.

The devices i'm going to tinker with are the Zipit Z2 (arm 316mhz, 32mb ram, 320x240 screen) and it has a few distros out there already, but i havent had time to play with it (owned it for 4 months now) and i'd like to make a nice userland and package feed for it using open embedded. I also have a 3k razorbook 400 with wince 5.0 on it with an arm9 cpu (200mhz, 128mb ram, 4gb nand, 800x480 screen). And just recently i picked up an O-Digital TinyBook with wince 6.0 and an arm11 cpu (667mhz, 256mb ram, 1gb nand, 800x480 screen). So yeah, i'll be busy for quite awhile.

Cheers

[jakfish]

wicknix,

I've looked at the Zipit Z2 (I had never heard of this device before), and it looks like great fun.  The distros, however, don't mention any word processing.  Is there abiword or anything equivalent?

Jake

[wicknix]

Right now i'm running debian sid on mine so i suppose you could install abiword. However i don't think it'd be all that much fun using it on a 320x240 screen. I'm basically using mine as a web server, im client, irc client and a portable gaming unit (nes/gameboy/doom/quake).

Cheers.

[FL410]

I'm still discovering 3MX Ultra2. I came across 2 small issues that probably can be easily fixed in Ultra3:
-gpe-contacts won't start because it can't find gpe-contacts.png in /usr/share/pixmaps. This is because it is located in /share/pixmaps. Edit: I see this has already been taken care of.
-xine doesn't play .ogg files. (This also prevents some of the preselected streams in Streamtuner from playing.)
-No run action for .doc files preset.

About Streamplayer: Would it be possible to include some plugins (SHOUTcast, Live365)?

Happy Easter!