Anyone using NetBSD hpcarm?

MWS

Hi everyone, first-time poster here. I am a long-time Linux user with a background in Ultrix and VMS so I don't mind getting my hands dirty.

I've decided that trying to rehabilitate my HP Jornada 720 (a Windows CE handheld from 2000) might be a fun project but it looks like there are no pkgsrc built 9.0 packages for the hpcarm platform.

https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/hpcarm/

Is this an oversight considering that hpcarm is supposed to be Tier 1? Thanks.

MWS I would ask in the mailing lists.
Sure such a project can be fun but, I don't know if anyone in this forum owns such hardware.

JuvenalUrbino

MWS Hi everyone, first-time poster here. I am a long-time Linux user with a background in Ultrix and VMS so I don't mind getting my hands dirty.

Nice to meet you; I have a weak spot for DEC, especially for whatever implies DECnet . In Italy we have the Retro DECnet. If you're interested in this stuff, check out also the HECnet and Supratim Sanyal who does a lot of cool stuff with VMS/VAX and NetBSD, like here. I also have a remote DCL shell account on a VAX 7000-640 running VMS 7.3 at Living Computers Museum: if you're ever caught by nostalgia, you know where to be headed.

MWS I've decided that trying to rehabilitate my HP Jornada 720 (a Windows CE handheld from 2000) might be a fun project but it looks like there are no pkgsrc built 9.0 packages for the hpcarm platform.

Looks like so, and I wonder why. Sometimes it seems they just forget about building for packages for this or that platform (It's not so infrequent to come across people complaining about SPARC64 packages). 8.2 packages are in place however, and this makes me wonder whether there's some problem with 9.0 on ARMv5.

Anyway, do you have any reason not for opt for 8.x instead of 9.0? I understand that's not a solution, but a it would be a quick workaround if you don't want to waste time.

pin I don't know if anyone in this forum owns such hardware.

I do, same model, but haven't updated it since 7.2, sorry 😅 . I also need a battery replacement.

@MWS If I remember correctly Izumi Tsutsui is the one in charge the hpcarm port, you may want to get in touch with him, although from what I've seen he doesn't appear to be a noticeably 'social' kind of person . I'd ask on the mailing list (on the hpcarm one, cc to pkgsrc-users) either way, as @pin suggested

MWS

JuvenalUrbino Anyway, do you have any reason not for opt for 8.x instead of 9.0? I understand that's not a solution, but a it would be a quick workaround if you don't want to waste time.

I just wanted the latest and greatest and was kind of shocked that a Tier 1 platform would not have package builds. I was going to go for a desktop NetBSD install first but in retrospect will probably go with the 8.x and use that for my Jornada.

JuvenalUrbino I do, same model, but haven't updated it since 7.2, sorry 😅 . I also need a battery replacement.

How useable is NetBSD on a Jornada? I had JLime Linux on it for a bit but it was mostly pretty useless since the software was badly out of date and insecure.

Are you able to use X or VNC? I love the Jornada keyboards but obviously the hardware is underpowered.

nia

I think it should be possible to use these packages: https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/earm/9.0/All/

Slightly confusing because there's so many variations of ARM.

You also should be able to use 8.0 packages on 9.0 if you build compat80 first.

JuvenalUrbino

nia I think it should be possible to use these packages: https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/earm/9.0/All/

what does earm stand for?

nia You also should be able to use 8.0 packages on 9.0 if you build compat80 first.

wow, I didn't know about those compatXX packages, that's great; they will certainly come in handy. I was about to ask: 'what if the packages is linked against some outdated X11 lib'? Then found this https://pkgsrc.se/wip/compat80-x11, and I suppose it will get the job done.

MWS

nia Thank you for that link. I will try it when I get a chance.

nia

earm = ARM EABI = ARM Extended Application Binary Interface

Running file on one of those executables yields "ELF 32-bit LSB executable, ARM, EABI5 version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked, interpreter /usr/libexec/ld.elf_so, for NetBSD 9.0, compiled for: earm, stripped". Shrug.

freon

Hey there,

I also have a Jornada 720 and have managed to get NetBSD 8.1 hpcarm going on it in the past. The bootstrap process requires a total wipe of the 32MB of RAM (64MB on Jornada 728) that Windows CE uses for storage, so you won't be able to dual-boot. There is no true suspend, rather the LCD just turns off when you press the power button. This is because the ARM CPU jumps to an address in ROM on normal suspend/wake-up, and of course it's read-only.

I had a 3com Etherlink III PCMCIA card working, and something like an Orinoco Gold (or any 16-bit 802.11b card) wouldn't be a stretch either.

I ran into a bug where neither tmux nor screen would start (something to do with psuedo TTYs, happens on 7.2 as well, need to get around to filing a bug report and/or posting on the mailing list) but from the limited time I spent with it, all else seemed to function normally.

As for the binary package situation, my plan was to just use pkgsrc's cross-compilation functionality to build a local mini-repo and set PKG_PATH to that.

MWS

Hi freon, so do you use your Jornada at all? I mean it's kind of a fun project but I am sure the StrongARM inside the machine is very limited.

All I would be interested in doing is if it can run VNC, mosh, and SSH. If so, it could be used for some actual work and be more than a plaything.