Pandora's Box

A new post from EvilDragon on the official blog…

Hi,
I told you, cpasjuste is currently working on a simple and clear launcher, using skeezix libpnd to work with PXML.
cpasjuste just posted a small sneak preview of the menu, you can see how PXML works (showing icons in categories, preview pictures, etc.).
skeezix libpnd is already pretty advanced. Together with vimacs, he made it possible for EVERY dev to easily use PXML and therefore, automatically add games and programs into the right categories as soon as you put an SD card into the slot!
We will show a video with that feature included into the matchbox UI as well soon!
Now onto some news on the case: The company is working on it already, however, a few files got errors while exporting them. We are working together to fix them, should only take a couple of days.

Watch video after the jump.

Viridior and the Gentoo team now have their own news blog. Check it out.

We started our own news/blogs site to help us keep track of Gentoo Pandora development. We are charging forward at full speed to get a nice small and functional image well before the Pandora ships, if your interested check out http://gentoo.openpandora.org, it has a RSS feed.

PXML, the ‘ID Card’ of all Pandora applications, has just been updated.

skeezix together with cpasjuste implemented PXML into his lib_pnd (yep, every dev can use that lib and easily read out all PXML stuff).
PXML has changed slightly to be more easily read by his library, so I updated the specs.
For those who have no idea what PXML is:
It is basically a file which devs include within their games archive. The Pandora menu reads out that file and can automatically sort the game into the correct category, show descriptions or preview pictures and associate filetypes with. So basically, the user puts all his games onto the SD Card, inserts that into the Pandora, and the menu becomes automatically populated.

Download: PXML v1.5

Read more...

Hotcooler Blog, News, Official, Software Blog, OS, Prototype

If EvilDragon’s latest Angstrom video didn’t float your boat, perhaps it’s worth checking that you’re actually in the water. Or, maybe you’re just holding out for some Gentoo news. And Gentoo news we have, courtesy of Viridior and his merry band of distro devs.

Hey, we did a lot of good work to get Gentoo ported to the armv7-a platform. Looks like we will have something to install the day you get your Pandora. No worries, this is the ‘dev’ image, finalized user images are the next goal and can be produced much quicker.
Gentoo-pandora-dev-0.0.2 is released. (And it works great on the BeagleBoard)
You can see the full software inventory here.

Highlights…

[software]
bash
vim
nano
screen

[compiling]
armv7a-softfloat-linux-gnueabi toolchain
gcc-4.3.2
python-2.5
perl-5.8
distcc

[networking] (usb works) (eth not tested but should work)
ssh
nfs
ntp
autofs
rsync
wireless-tools

Installation instructions here

You can find us in our normal stomping grounds in FreeNode#gentoo-pandora

Yes, yes, the dreaded D word. It does sound like it’s only a little blip on the radar, though. And here in the Pandora community, we know blips.

Anyway, the moulding company found an error on one of the parts and need to tweak it, so it’’s going to take a little longer — craigix

It probably won”t be much of a delay (it’’s just a missing join on one part), I do wish we had done an SLA* at the same time though, but never mind. — craigix

Just another day at the office by the sounds of it. There are still plenty of other things going full steam behind the scenes (software development, keypad layout) so it’s not like the pause button has been pressed.

Hotcooler News, Pandora, Rumor, Software OS, Production, Prototype

New blog post from ED, with video:

Hi,

still waiting for the case, however, I got some news: According to the factory, it should be finished by next week, so there was a one week delay because of the chinese new year here. Could be better, but it could also be worse!

So, in the meantime, I injected MDaves theme into my Angstr?m image of my Pandora devboard and can show you a nice video (HD  ).

It shows, how easy it is to change the icon size to suit the menu to your needs.

As a little bonus I also ran some first version of ScummVM. Some seconds are missing though, as the video footage was broken for some reason. Watch video after the Break.

App instalation explained :

We’re building a system to make app installation stupidly easy.

We’re still banging it out, but assuming it all comes together and works (and it should, we’re nearly there) ... you’ll download special apps in a bundle, a .pnd file. Inside that will be a directory structure and so on for the app to live, but users won’t care (unless they unpack it into a directory.)

So an entire app (all its data etc) can be downloaded as one file, dropped onto an SD card. Stick the card into Pandora, and te launcher shows the app in its category. Tap to run and it just works. No unzip, no set up... just download and run. Piece of cake. (You are of course able to unpack it, futz with it, put it in anywhere you want on sD or in NAND, etc.)

We also intend to build the OS in such a way that you can just use Angstron packages if you want to, but thats suboptimal. (I can explain why if you want.)

Anyway, its going to be easier than on the gp2x, which was not really rocket science either

We or I will start writing up some docs on the wiki soon, so folks can get an idea how it wll/does work.

(For devs... it is pretty easy to pack up the files into a .pnd; trivial on linux, a little work on Windows.)

In response to the current timeplans there have been a few comments from EvilDragon and Chip:

EvilDragon

CE shouldn”t take one month — I know the test itself can be done in a couple of days and we”re looking for a company that won”t give us a long wait before they start testing.

Chip

The case manufacturer already has the CAD files, as they are the ones making the CNC prototype as well. That is why we went with CNC (as opposed to other, much faster rapid prototype technologies). Since it is the same factory, we know they have the exact dimensions down. Since it is the same machines in the same facility, there is little chance of (and no excuse for) variations between the prototype and final cases.

These cases are being made in China. As I understand things, the cases will be shipped to TX where everything will be assembled and tested. The completed, tested Pandoras will be shipped to the UK and from there to everybody who ordered one.

EvilDragon

… and to Germany ;\)

Chip

It would be cheaper in some ways (to ship the ones destined for the US to MWeston), much more expensive in others. MWeston has a day job which would preclude him from boxing and labeling hundreds of Pandoras in a reasonable timeframe. I have offered to do it, but Craig declined for what are actually quite good reasons that I”m not sure I can discuss. Rest assured that it is being planned in the most reasonable way possible.

Read more...

Hotcooler Blog, Hardware, News, Software Blog, Video, OS, Production

New blog update from EvilDragon :

While the mould for the keymat is currently being produced, we're concentrating on working more on the keyboard layout.
We mostly scrapped out old layout since we had too many important keys missing — so there are no Umlauts or language specific keys on the layout, it's a plain English keyboard with a compose key to do special characters.
That layout is not final yet, it's our current WIP.
It might look weird and mixed up at first sight, but there's one major difference with a standard PC Keyboard: You only use two thumbs for typing on that one, so it's much more important that the most used characters are convenient to reach (which can be a problem when using the Fn Button).

And a new video demonstration of 3D hardware after the jump.

Read more...

Hotcooler Blog, News, Official, Pandora Blog, Video, Drivers, Keyboard

Pandora team member DJWillis has confirmed through his own tests that mobile broadband works on Pandora hardware, and should be a matter of plug and play on production units. Want all the dirty details? Then it’s a happy day for you; DJ documented his journey in a recent blog post. For those in a hurry, here’s the magic paragraph:

So, what does this all prove. Well Mobile Broadband sticks (at least the Huawei E220) will work on the Pandora, NetworkManager is happy to configure the connection and as soon as I can get the NetworkManager 0.7.0 GUI going this whole process should be ‘plug and play’ just like it is on other major distributions like Ubuntu.

As you may or may not know, the Beagleboard is a OMAP powered micro-computer. Its hardware specifications are almost identical to the Pandora, it is used by many Pandora developers who do not have Pandora development boards, like the Gentoo Pandora developers. This is OGRE (the 3d engine) running a few tests on a Beagleboard using the powerVR SGX core (the exact same one avaliable on the Pandora). It looks like those 3d drivers are finnaly coming into circulation!

Quote from craigix:

Good stuff, we are hoping to show off more 3D on the Pandora in the coming weeks too now that the drivers are working.

Video after the jump.

Read more...

Hotcooler Community, News, Pandora, Rumor Video, Engine, Drivers

A new blog post from EvilDragon :

Hi!
While we're still discussing about the final keyboard layout and font (it's not as easy as you would think), devs are continuing working on the OS.
At the moment, we think that a generic english keyboard layout would be the best, but regional ones can additionally bought for a few bucks. This is not final yet, but it tends to that direction.

Well, back to the OS.
DJWillis got 3G (UMTS) USB-sticks working in his latest image! He's still tweaking a bit, but there should be a video there, soon. Yep, it means you can go outside and surf anywhere with your Pandora if you got a mobile phone surfing flatrate and a compatible stick.
He also included locales support, so upon release you should have a localized version of the OS on your Pandora.
Meanwhile, cpasjuste started coding a nice menu to run apps in minimal mode (as it would've been too complicated to finish gmenu until the release). The menu already supports PXML Format (which has changed a bit, but we'll release the new specs of it soon).
I'll take a video of it once it is running fine, which should be about next week.
I'll also start coding an app which helps every dev creating PXML files by simply filling in all the required and optional field and click on «Create it!».

And last, but not least, cpasjuste released a small Pandora Toolchain installer which automagically downloads needed files and libraries and installs a toolchain on Linux system, which can be used to compile for the Pandora.
This is not the final and official one yet, however, if somebody wants to see if some of his projects compile or want me to test their programs on a real Pandora, here's his (or her) chance :)

Hotcooler Blog, News, Pandora, Software Blog, OS

A decision on the keypad appears to be in sight. Quasi-omnipotent scenester Mali has provided this quote from EvilDragon on the gp32x.de forums:

At the moment it looks like Pandora will get a generic(English) keyboard without special characters. But I will offer a German layout for sale(it’ll be 3-5?). There will be Pandoras with preinstalled German keyboard later on.
We are still discussing, but it’ll go in this direction.

Also from ED on the German boards, confirmation that the analogue nubs can be used as a mouse, with the shoulder buttons for left & right click. This was in response to a question about the possibility of mapping Ctrl/AltGr to said buttons:

L and R won’t be usable, because the analogue nubs will be a mouse replacement and so we would like to have L and R as mouse buttons.

A hardware warranty has always been a part of the deal, as required by law of course. But there’s nothing like a recent quote from the horse’s mouth to allay any fears. Oh look, here’s one:

It is indeed one year, but fear not as we will allow you to buy any spare parts you might need in the future too. — craigix

Here are a few snippets for you. This one from Chip isn’t news, but some are unaware so here goes:

It’s [the logo key]tied directly to a GPIO line (all 3 keys in the middle are) instead of the keypad matrix so that it can be used at any time. It will bring up a system menu with things like a task switching menu, system options and shutdown / suspend commands. The “Pandora” key is off the table for repurposing or remapping.

From ED — translated:

If I offer mats ADDITIONALLY, the production won’t be delayed — they don’t have anything todo with Pandora’s production

The factory optimizes the PCB production at the moment, the parts are all there. Production will be ready to go, soon.

Production of the keymats has already begun, the tool is being made now.

Basically we are waiting for the final prototype-cases [expl. CNC]to do stability, CE and FCC tests.

Then we’ll just have to say “Off we go!” and production will begin

From craigix:

Well [the analogue nubs]are totally custom made and designed for the Pandora, they are unique thus if any flaw should be found after say a year we can work to address the fault and improve them.

Hotcooler Community, News, Pandora, Rumor Keyboard, Production, Prototype

New Blog update fron EvilDragon :

Yeah, I know you gotta be fed up with renderings already... however, this one might be interesting for you:

This time, you can see the Pandora including the stylus.
The keyboard layout is nearly finished, we're still discussing about some keys and the font, however, I don't think much will change.
Fn+ [1 - 0]are the F-Keys, SELECT will be used for CTRL.

Hotcooler Blog, News, Official, Pandora Blog, Prototype, Stylus

New blog update from EvilDragon :

Yup, I found a bit of time... not that much, so there's not that much to see on this picture.
Basically, it shows the back of the Pandora with all the ports (which we haven't finished designing in that render).
From left to right:
Mini USB, EXT Port (where TV Out, etc. will be connected), USB 2.0 and DC in.
Of course, in the finished version those ports will have their names or symbols printed below.

Again, click on the pic for a bigger few. See you next time! :)

Hotcooler Blog, News, Official, Pandora Blog, Prototype

Since it's slow week here is some minor news :

Chip talked about production timeline :

Official guestimate: Four to six weeks from the first to the last of the first batch Pandoras. Give or take a couple weeks for testing and tweaking the assembly process.
Once the manufacturing process is 100% nailed down (2nd batch onwards) the plant can make ~5000 per month, though they can only make them as fast as we can get parts. Second batch will probably start up about two months after the first is finished (again, depending on parts availability).
So at least 3-4 weeks before first batch starts, 4-6 weeks after that it finishes, then ~8 weeks until the 2nd batch starts. If you want a Pandora soon, order from the first batch. Otherwise you'll be waiting a while.

And about microbatches :

It's more to keep a close eye on the manufacturing process and tweak it where necessary than anything else. We already have all the necessary parts, but we can't afford to re-do huge numbers of boards if there is an issue. That's why we're doing them in smaller batches.
We already have a test program that will verify whether a board is «good» or not before it gets flashed and assembled so any boards that do have problems can be fixed. It just costs time and money to fix problem boards, and that is what we're trying to keep to a minimum.

Additionally there is Craigx reporting about sending new wave of devboards :

We are working on getting another round of consoles out to devs (cased in some cases, ah see what i did there? Lame.) so you will still see new stuff before the launch.

Hotcooler News, Official, Pandora Production, Prototype, Developers