The Gumstix Portable PC Thread That Won't Die

xriverfalconx · Post by **xriverfalconx** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 8:59 pm

I am showing you the money =P Just keep me posted ben on what's happening here and if JS still wants it done. If not, I'll continue putting the $$$ down until it's complete.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 9:18 pm

JoeStrout's idea of a linux tablet is fairly simular to my original idea for my uPC (PCp on here) project, except the touch-screen was optional in my thoughts. Dizzam! It's already sunk down to page 8: http://benheck.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=3024

Time to bump that thread.

Altoids tin based computer sounds very interesting. Have you thought of using a Hip Gear LCD by itself, being driven directly by the Gumstix?

You can get a tracpoint with serial and PS/2 output, it's what I'm going to be using in my uPC for mouse input. I'll see if I find the website back for it later.

Shopeio.com's displays are usually mono, STN, both, or have no datasheet/pinout availible, which is why they are so cheap. Though, every now and then you find a diamond in the rough.

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 9:20 pm

Funny; just about every LCD screen I saw there was color, active matrix, and capable of directly accepting RGB and composite input.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 10:26 pm

teraflop122 wrote:Funny; just about every LCD screen I saw there was color, active matrix, and capable of directly accepting RGB and composite input.

Odd. The first few I looked at were all the ones they've never managed to sell. With the exception of 6-bit color, they typically don't have any. Though, they have more displays listed than usual. I'll have to visit the site a bit longer and see if I can find a new screen for my uPC.

KANDYMAN-IAC · Post by **KANDYMAN-IAC** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 10:26 pm

tom61: I'm told the 6bit LCD is actually 6bit per colour (ie R+G+B).

The better looking LCD i've seen thus far is this one...
http://lcd-panels-lcds.shopeio.com/inve ... d%20Panels
http://lcd-panels-lcds.shopeio.com/inve ... Q64SP1.pdf

I'm still looking for the pinouts for it, they are also available from earth LCD so it may be possible that they could provide pinout information. And I've just emailed them, to try and find out. It would be great

And then there is this LCD,
http://lcd-panels-lcds.shopeio.com/inve ... d%20Panels
A little more expensive, the resolution is lower only 640x480, but I've already found the necessary pin out information.

My preferance is on the larger resolution LCD.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 10:42 pm

I'm not very familiar with Linux, what all could you run on it? Emulators? (no jokes?

)

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 10:49 pm

G-force wrote:I'm not very familiar with Linux, what all could you run on it? Emulators? (no jokes? )

Pretty much anything you want, emulators, games, video players, sound players, and anything else you do with your Windows PC or on your Macintosh.

KANDYMAN-IAC · Post by **KANDYMAN-IAC** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 11:05 pm

The GPX2 is linux based running an ARM based processor and is capable of playing doom, hexen, running scummVM and playing monkey island, Day of the tentacle etc all with voice packs. And they are only running a 200mhz processor (upside for them is that they have a secondary processor purely for video).

But then again I hear that the GPX32 (the original with only 8mb of ram), was also capable of doing the same thing, and it only had a 166mhz processor. The two decives are good, but are limited now. The GPX2 is marcketed as a PMP that can play games, but is very buggy, and the recomendation is to wait till its been sorted out before purchasing it. Also neither have a USB host so there is no way to attach peripherals off of the device. And the screen size is 3.5inches and only 320x240. Upsides are that there is tv out on the GPX2.

I would love a something also that could have an internal harddrive, I realise the weight would go up, for the drive and the necessary battery pack to run something like that for a reasonable space of time. Attachable keyboard (and i'm debateing the idea of a touchscreen to my self). I'm not sketching out some artist renderings of possible designs. And I will upload in a few days. (I'm a little bit of an ametuer cartoonist)

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 11:25 pm

Yes, by 6-bit color they mean 262,000 colors.

(hefts and aims shotgun) whoever seriously needs more color than that, raise your hand!

KANDYMAN-IAC · Post by **KANDYMAN-IAC** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 11:38 pm

sex me up baby.... *ahem*, I mean, that would be lovely as is

You may not even need to go linux (though it might be easier to), as there is someone porting the gumstix hardware to windows ce. The windows xp base. Which would be interesting.

If you want audio and video, you would need to make an adapter from the audio board to be able to get to the pins necessary for running an LCD.

I'm trying to read up on the rest of the board, to see if you can attach USB devices as well. Something I was reading was enquiring if the USB on the device was actually for a USB host, I think the answer is no. But there is this.

Q: is it possible to attach a hdd to the gumstix board? either directly or plugging an external usb hdd to it?
A: Our USB port is a usb client port, not a usb host port. As such, an hdd cannot be hung off the usb port of any gumstix board.

With Linux 2.6.12 or later, a usb drive can be attached to a USB Host compact flash card (optional) installed in either a cfstix or netCF expansion board slot.

http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/pro ... cfu1u.html

I've just been reading aparently the next generation gumstix PC, with a tentative release of the 1st half of next year, will have USB host support and should feature the PXA270

look for usb host to come native on our next gen product in 1H, 2006 - likely based on the PXA270 Xscale processor from Intel

All current quotes have come from this website:- http://www.gumstix.org/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php

KANDYMAN-IAC · Post by **KANDYMAN-IAC** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 8:19 am

I just emailed the gumstix wiki website enquiring of some up to date information. Was there anything else I should have asked about?

Hello,

I've been reading through your archives and FAQ, and I have a few questions. I am currently one of a number of people considereing using this particular board as the basis for a handheld gaming/multimedia device. We are involved in this particular online comunity http://www.benheck.com , and the founder of which is even considering offering help in the units construction and design. But to make it perfect right out of the box there are a couple things missing. Those being usb host capability and mass storage options preferably through an IDE connection, as well as enquiring if a higher level of ram would be available.

I am aware of current work arounds involving a CF usb host card, for both storage and the attachment of peripherals. While this is an option, the resultant read and write time from the usb harddrive would greatly impact the media playback, and the inclusion of usb control and pointing devices woulld again slow down this port. One of the pages stated that there are posible plans to include an updated processor structure for the next model, and that usb 2.0 host support may well be a possibility.

The stated release date was sometime within the first half of 2006. Is this likely to be a reality? And what sort of specification updates are likely to take place? Will there be a USB host, increased processor speed, more available ram, and possible ide support? We would love to start production as soon as possible and would love to know what our full options are. I would greatky apreciate any information you can give me.

TIA John Frankland.

Post by **bicostp** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 8:27 am

G-force wrote:I'm not very familiar with Linux, what all could you run on it? Emulators? (no jokes? )

Anything you want! As long as you have the source code and the proper supporting libraries, you can do anything with Linux. (Even run DOS and Windows programs with DOSbox and Wine, respectively.)

I've installed Windows 3.1 on DOSbox before.

KANDYMAN-IAC · Post by **KANDYMAN-IAC** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:44 am

ok... I think everyone needs to give me a cuddle, A BIG CUDDLE. I've been looking around the internet and I have managed to find a complete design manual for the Sharp LQ64SP1 LCD panel complete with pinout information.

http://bonsaijogi.kunden.paidspace4you. ... Q64SP1.pdf

This LCD is 6.4inches, has a resolution of 800 x 600 and is 6 x 3 bit color, and is only $50 at www.eio.com . This is a HUGE boost to the PCp crowd.

here is something else i also found on my way which explains a way to use an LCD for purely desktop based purposes. http://translate.google.com/translate?u ... uage_tools

So where is my frigging cuddle?

abbibi · Post by **abbibi** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 9:29 am

Another Way to Do It...

I have read JoeStrout's description of what he wants and I think I know the best way to do it, while including an established user base. The key is to find a system currently available that fits most of his needs, and can easily be modified to his fill his entire specification list. After a long consideration, I am pretty sure I've got the answer:

A GP2X modified with a touchscreen.

His only sacrifice is aspect ratio in the screen, as the GP2X only supports QVGA resolution expanded to VGA.

How to Do It...

Use a stand alone touchscreen with a USB interface for tactile support.
Connect the video out from the GP2X to the touchscreen, and the touchscreen's USB to the GPX2's USB. This might take some adapters to achieve.
Write controller software for the touchscreen interface, and get it to work. (This step is vague to me, as I am not a software guy.)
Once everything is working properly, put it all together in one case for the superior handheld you always wanted.
With wifi SD cards available it is only a matter of time before another programmer adds driver support and thus web browsing...

The Advantages...

* Minor hardware modification *
* Only one piece of software to write *
* A growing user base (thus, more software) *
* Inexpensive (GP2X + touchscreen + wiring & casing) *
* I'm tempted to do it myself *

What Do You Think?

loup · Post by **loup** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 10:28 am

do you know if the gp2x has USB host capabilities or if it's client only? I've looked around a bit and havn't found anything other than refering to it as usb 2.0