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#apertus IRC Channel Logs

2013/07/25

Timezone: UTC


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jucar1
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13:39
Bertl
the PMOD Debug PCB arrived today!
13:39
Bertl
(I didn't expect them to arrive so soon :)
13:48
dmj_nova
morning
13:57
Bertl
http://vserver.13thfloor.at/Stuff/AXIOM/pmod_debug_pcb.jpg
13:57
Bertl
IMHO they look great!
14:00
dmj_nova
Bertl: sweet!
14:00
dmj_nova
my article on the Novacut blog is getting lots of attention
14:02
Bertl
url?
14:04
dmj_nova
http://blog.novacut.com/2013/07/what-ubuntu-edge-is-really-about.html
14:05
Bertl
ah, and I thought about axiom :)
14:06
dmj_nova
sorry, a different time!
14:06
Bertl
while I agree that something like the edge is a really cool thing (especially after being annoied by smart phones all the time)
14:07
Bertl
I'm not sure that I really want ubuntu on a phone :) and more important, I know what restrictions come from using most of the wireless technologies (from the hardware manufacturers)
14:07
Bertl
so I do expect something like the edge to contain lots and lots of proprietary firmware blobs to make it even remotely useful
14:08
Bertl
I've seen this on the OLPC platform, which was quite militant about open source and open hardware
14:09
dmj_nova
Yeah, I expect binary blob hardware drivers
14:10
dmj_nova
though I'd rather have binary blobs than no device or wait 10 years for open hardware to take over mobile GPUs
14:10
dmj_nova
So as long as the binary blobs can be utilized with other linuxes, whatever
14:11
Bertl
true, but the binary blobs are somewhat similar to the 'freeware' programs
14:11
dmj_nova
I use nvidia binary blobs when I technically have the option to use the nouveau drivers on my desktop
14:11
Bertl
you get them 'for free' but you don't get any support and you don't know what they are actually doing, so if something goes wrong, you're screwed
14:12
dmj_nova
Bertl: Of course if there were another feasible way, I'd love nothing more than to ditch the blobs
14:12
dmj_nova
they're nasty and horrible
14:12
Bertl
I switched from the ATI/AMD proprietary drivers to the opensource after they locked my desktop every second day, and never had a problem since
14:13
dmj_nova
No nvidia blob means no cycles GPU rendering in blender for me
14:14
dmj_nova
it works, and there's not a better option for said use case right now
14:14
Bertl
the sad thing is, that companies like canonical could make a difference there, i.e. force the hardware suppliers to open up their stuff (at least some more :) but I doubt that mark will do anything in this regard
14:14
dmj_nova
Canonical might be able to do something, but I'm not sure
14:15
dmj_nova
That said, drivers aside, it'll be the most open smartphone out there
14:15
Bertl
yeah at least they could try, let's see, maybe they even do
14:15
dmj_nova
And I include my n900 on that list
14:15
Bertl
sure, agreed
14:16
dmj_nova
And a real desktop linux distro of Ubuntu's caliber on a smartphone is very appealing to me
14:18
dmj_nova
So my focus is more on pushing for as much openness as I can, rather than sticking my nose up at a good thing because it's only 90% of what I want
14:18
Bertl
well, yes and no, first, ubuntu IMHO is bloated (as almost all distros nowadays), so it will not be very performant and quite powerhungry
14:18
dmj_nova
there's been quite a lot of optimization on that in the last year
14:19
Bertl
take for example the raspberry pi, which is really nice especially as it doesn't feature a complete desktop (by default)
14:19
dmj_nova
it's never going to be the most minimal distro possible
14:19
dmj_nova
but it can run fairly decently on tegra3 class hardware
14:19
Bertl
sure, the other thing is, linux is not really suited for tablets or smartphones (yet)
14:19
Bertl
this might actually improve with edge
14:21
dmj_nova
You mean in internals or in interface?
14:21
Bertl
mostly the gui
14:21
dmj_nova
Bertl: Have you seen their touch interface?
14:21
Bertl
not in action
14:22
dmj_nova
I tried it on a tablet back in February
14:22
dmj_nova
Really liked it a lot
14:22
dmj_nova
the basic interface was very slick and easy to use
14:22
dmj_nova
of course not all applications or features were functional yet
14:22
dmj_nova
but what was there was good
14:26
dmj_nova
plus I've been using a debian-based Linux smartphone since 2009
14:26
dmj_nova
you are right that desktop GUIs are horrible on a smartphone though
14:27
dmj_nova
I've got a LXDE debian chroot inside of Maemo on my n900
14:30
dmj_nova
anyway, guess I'm just saying that I like the idea of an Ubuntu phone with a touch-friendly GUI and a full desktop mode
14:31
dmj_nova
The article was mainly about the whole "Why doesn't Mark just fund the phone himself and sell it later?" complaint, which misses perhaps the biggest reason for the campaign
14:44
Bertl
yeah, got that ...
15:05
dmj_nova
hehe, probably did some non-humorous equivalent of explaining the joke there
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jucar1
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16:18
Bertl
dmj_nova: does your zedboard have a heat sink on the FPGA?
16:18
dmj_nova
Bertl: yes
16:18
Bertl
hmm, thought so ... could you try some code for me?
16:19
dmj_nova
Incidentally I just wrote a binary reflected graycode to regular binary converter
16:19
Bertl
(not right now, but in the near future :)
16:19
dmj_nova
you don't have one?
16:19
dmj_nova
a heatsink I mean
16:19
Bertl
yes, I have one too
16:19
Bertl
http://vserver.13thfloor.at/Stuff/XILINX/dna_port/
16:20
Bertl
each zynq is supposed to have a unique DNA (which can be read via jtag and from inside the PL fabric)
16:20
Bertl
the example I did is supposed to scroll that DNA through the LEDs
16:20
Bertl
(starting with a 10101010 test pattern)
16:21
Bertl
now on my board, this only produces zeroes (dark leds)
16:21
Bertl
but in the xilinx forum, the admin suggested to check the errata for my specific chip version, as there might be some chips where the DNA wasn't programmed
16:22
Bertl
the problem is, I have no idea how to get the specific CE/CES version of the chip without removing the heat sink (which I'd rather avoid :)
16:23
dmj_nova
ah
16:23
Bertl
so, please give it a try, and if it shows something, I settle that as 'not programmed'
16:27
dmj_nova
Bertl: so this is nothing to do with needing good cooling to run the code :P
16:27
Bertl
nah, not at all :)
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