The OpenSIMpad team is proud to announce the immediate availability of our alternative Operating System for the SIEMENS SIMpad webpad family.
Release notes:
######################################### # # OpenSIMpad 0.8.1 # Based on OpenEmbedded 3.3.4 and # Opie 1.0.1.1-snapshot (=1.0.2-pre1) # #########################################
Why should I use OpenSIMpad? OpenSIMpad has a number of different advantages and even some disadvantages compared to the original WindowsCE. Hopefully this will help you make an informed decision about which is right for you and give you a good idea of some of the features OpenSIMpad offers.
Why shouldn't I use OpenSIMpad? OpenSIMpad is a work in progress!
This is the second official release of OpenSIMpad based on OpenEmbedded. Since the Opie implementation on the SIMpad is not quite as far as Opie on other devices (e.g. Zaurus and iPAQ), we settled with a version number of 0.8.1. Opie on those other devices is at version 1. Only a few applications have been adapted to work with the SIMpad and the rest are still mainly aimed at other devices, so don't expect everything to work at the moment.
What's Opie? Opie is a fork of the Qtopia windowing environment normally used by the Sharp Zaurus rom. Opie takes advantage of more recent updates to Qt than the static version included with the Sharp Zaurus rom, and is developed by a community of volunteer developers.
What's OpenSIMpad/OpenEmbedded? OpenEmbedded is all about freedom of choice. You should choose which operating system and software you want installed on your SIMpad! While Opie is right now the default interface to OpenEmbedded, PicoGui and X windowing environments are under development for inclusion as their own versions of the standard OpenEmbedded image. OpenEmbedded also has better Hardware support out of the box than Windows CE offers. Some Wireless LAN cards, for example, that are not supported by CE are known to function under OpenEmbedded. It is also possible to install additional software from remote sites (aka feeds). This is a powerful feature that's not available under CE.
OpenSIMpad contains the Linux kernel 2.4.19-rmk7-jpm2. In addition, it contains the following patches and upgrades:
- Latest HostAP Prism2 wireless drivers.
- Latest socket/symbol spectrum drivers and orinoco drivers.
- Compile fix in af_irda to build irda as modules.
- Support for wireless extensions. Many modules are also compiled with the most recent patches, so things like wireless sniffing is possible ;-).
About the files: #################
All the *.bin files are flashable files. Those beginning with "zImage" are kernel-only images to allow for different RAM-to-storage configurations. You must install an appropriate initrd* image first. The initrd* image includes a kernel without a RAMdisk allocation. So with the initrd* image you have all RAM available as RAM.
The zImage* images allocate part of RAM to a RAMdisk so you can install software packages to it. As long as you only "suspend" your device these software packages are available. The RAMdisk does not survive a hard reset or a reboot. So after a reset your data on the RAMdisk is lost.
Installing: ############
NOTE: You must have a bootloader >=2.5.3 in order to successfully work with these images.
So install the newest version of the bootloader. If you don't know which one to install consult the FAQs at
To keep things short the serload installation method will only be described
here. Please download the appropriate version of serload from the downloads section of our homepage.
- Connect your device to AC Power and to the serial port of your PC.
- Open a terminal session on the serial port your device is connected to. Use 38400 8N1 as terminal settings in your program (Hyperterminal, minicom)
- Reset the device while pressing the bottom most button on the SIMpad (The one with the rectangle on it)
- You should see this in your terminal: ===================== Monitor: ===================== Boot from Flash 'f' Boot from Net 'n' Power Off 'o' Erase PSM+Registry'r' Erase Flash 'y' Soft Reset 's' Print Fab-String 'w'
Press 'y' to erase the flash.
- After that finishes exit the terminal session.
- Start serload with the initrd*.bin serload initrd-SL4.bin 0 (for linux connected to ttyS0) or serload initrd-SL4.bin (for windows on COM1)
- Reset the device without pressing the bottom button this time. serload detects a file upload request and starts uploading the image.
- After the flashing process is finished, reset the device again and let it boot.
The first boot takes a while, but you are greeted with a status message. So be patient.
If you decide you want on of the zImage*.bin files uploaded for a RAM-to-storage configuration, follow steps 1, 6-8. You should not erase flash when installing kernel-only images!
Highlights of this release: ######################
- Opie 1.0.2-pre1 featuring - lots of bugfixes in core and non-core applications - a new launcher with drastically reduced application startup time - lots of new applications in the feed, e.g. Opie-RDesktop, Opie-Yatzee and Opie-ZSafe.
- Screen refreshes after resume
- Splash Screen with integrated Linux kernel Console output
- Use of virtual terminals. This has several benefits: - A serial login is now always available - You can switch between Opie and the Console from serial login. - There are two scripts included in the image for this: console2fb and opie2fb - Attaching a serial keyboard and have a Console login will eventually be possible
Bugs'n'Issues: ##############
- Suspending via Button doesn't work
- This is a known bug which will be fixed in 0.9 - At the time you must use the O-menu->Suspend manually
- Some Devices don't wake up after suspend
- This is due to our incomplete apm implementation and will be fixed in 1.0 - As for now, be sure to 'cardctl eject' before suspending to be on the safe side
- Opie audio handling is corrupt - This is a known bug which will be fixed in 1.0
- The touchscreen emits noises on press - This is a known bug which will be fixed in 1.0 - After suspend and resume the noise in the speaker is gone
- Application layout is sometimes not optimal - This is due to Opie's origin in the PDA field. The Opie team is aware of this problem and works on the BigScreen-Extension which will lead to the better use of screen estate in the next release.
Enjoy anyway! snipped-for-privacy@opensimpad.org snipped-for-privacy@opensimpad.org