Compaq Presario PC rescued from road verge

I have been away for a few days, minding my sister's dog and house while they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Took the dog for a walk every morning, and noticed rubbish being put out on the verge. This is the annual rubbish pickup run by the local Shire Council, and this being a somewhat posh neighbourhood, there is some nice stuff amongst the "rubbish".

Anyway, walking the dog, Myf is her name, 12 years old, takes her time. As we meandered past the rubbish, I spotted three computers -- then someone else pulled up in a car, and grabbed two of them, and a monitor. I managed to pick up one computer, and two USB keyboards.

When I lived at Perenjori, several years ago, I had accumulated about a dozen computers and as many peripherals. Don't want to do that again, however, a couple extra for testing EasyOS would be nice. I was hoping for a PC with nVidia graphics, but this one has Intel on-motherboard graphics.

Got home this afternoon, and highest priority was to fire it up. Works real nice. Here is a photo, setup on my desk:

Remarkably dust-free inside, just a bit of debris on the bottom, and the top, as you can see in photo, was dusty -- and sticky. vacuumed the inside, used Jif on the top, now looks almost like new. The Dell keyboard was one of those rescued, nice old-fashioned long-press keys.

Here are the specs:

Compaq Presario SR5840AN
Intel Core2 Duo CPU, E7300 @ 2.66GHz
1.99GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVD drive
Intel GMA 3100 graphics
Windows XP Professional 2002, Service Pack 3

It is so sad that people think a computer like this is only fit to throw out. Those specs are excellent, and I booted EasyOS off a USB stick, runs really nice. Actually, Windows XP runs quite snappy too.

It has four USB2 sockets, but I could buy a card if I want USB3 -- though, as I learnt with my main midi-tower workhorse (on right-side of above photo), cannot boot off a Flash drive plugged into a USB3 adaptor card (mPCIe).

The next day, walking Myf, I spotted a Epson XP-400 scanner, and Canon MX310 scanner/copier/printer, and lugged them back. Haven't tested them yet. Actually, I wanted another printer for testing, as someone recently reported a printer failing to print from EasyOS. I think the Canon is an inkjet, don't want to buy ink cartridges, but should be able to test printing without actually printing anything! 

How old is this computer? I didn't check the BIOS date, but the Core2 Duo CPU was introduced by Intel mid-2006. This is a 64-bit CPU. I compiled EasyOS for a Nocona CPU, which is the first 64-bit CPU from Intel, so no problem with running EasyOS on the Core2 Duo. There is a sticker on the side of the chassis stating that it has Windows Vista Home Premium -- which is interesting, as Vista was released in 2007, after XP. Interesting that the owner decided to install XP. Windows 7 came out mid-2009. So, the computer was probably manufactured in 2007 or 2008, so it is at least 10 years old.  I reckon it will be good for another 10 years, running Linux! 

Tags: tech

Rock64 rocks

There was a blog post about ordering the Rock64 64-bit ARM 4GB RAM board:

http://bkhome.org/news/201807/rock64-aarch64-development-board.html

It arrived yesterday, and quickly got it running. Downloaded an image for SD-card, replaced the files with my aarch64 Quirky Pyro files, and it runs great.

used 'memtester', tested 3600MB of RAM, all OK. That's good, as there was some customer reports of bad RAM.

Compiled SeaMonkey, Inkscape, Scribus, all OK. Subjectively, no faster than my RPi3B, however, the 4GB RAM makes the Rock64 suitable for big compiles, such as SeaMonkey.

...the photo shows everything plugged in and running. Tiny stick-on heatsink purchased with the board -- heavy-duty compiling, just warm to touch -- the tray temperature applet wasn't working during the compiling, but have now fixed it.

The "64" is a 64GB eMMC module, taken out of my Odroid XU4 board. It is recognised, but not yet used.

A 1TB USB hard drive is plugged into the USB3 socket, where all the compiling action took place. No problems there, the 5V 3A universal power supply purchased with the board works fine.

Tags: tech

Rock64 aarch64 development board

I posted yesterday about creating an aarch64 (64-bit ARM) Quirky Linux for the Raspberry Pi3 Model B. Works great, and I compiled some packages. Then I made the mistake of trying to compile SeaMonkey...

The setup is the Pi3 with usb 1TB hard drive (works on usb2, no external power adaptor), with the SM source on the hard drive. The hard drive also has a 9GB swap partition.

Note, I used to get the low-voltage warning with my Pi, so I now use a 5V 6A regulated supply, purchased from Hard Kernel -- frustrating, I still sometimes get the low-voltage warning!

Started the compile, about 20 hours later it was still going. I would jiggle the mouse occasionally to wake up the screen and view progress, however, at the 21 hour mark, jiggling did not wake the screen, nor any key presses.

However, the hard drive activity light was flashing, so I waited. At the 36 hour point, no change, hard drive light still flashing, so gave up, unplugged the power.

I need an aarch64 dev board with a bit more grunt, and cheap. Hunted around, and chose the Rock64, with 4GB RAM:

https://www.pine64.org/?page_id=7147

It has a eMMC socket, which apparently is compatible with those from Hard Kernel (the Odroid boards). I have a 64GB eMMC for my Odroid XU4, so save an extra expense. Note, the Odroid XU4 is, unfortunately, only 32-bit.

The Rock64 is reviewed here:

https://www.cnx-software.com/2017/07/16/rock64-board-review-part-1-emmc-flash-module-android-7-1-firmware-benchmarks-and-kodi/

The board made its first appearance mid-2017. There is an update scheduled for manufacture sometime around June/July 2018, with various improvements, including a RTC (Real Time Clock) with terminals to attach a battery -- have no info whether I will be getting the new one or not.

There is also a RockPro64, which is very impressive, however, I decided the Rock64 will do what I want.

Reading customer feedback from here and there, some reports of bad RAM. We shall see. Just putting my "toe in the water" with this manufacturer, and will report back after some hands-on.

I paid US$74.42, including the Rock64 4GB-variant, clear acrylic case, international power supply, stick-on heatsink, and postage to Australia.

Note, there is a metal case, not yet available, that looks like cast alloy from the photos, and it will act as heatsink for the CPU and RAM chips.

Tags: tech

Librem 5 phone progress report 15

I haven't backed the phone (yet) but have ordered the development-kit. Posted about the project recently:

http://bkhome.org/news/201806/librem-5-an-open-source-linux-phone.html

This is an exciting project, and I frequently visit the News page to see if there is any update posted. Today there is, Progress Report #15:

https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-progress-report-15/

One thing that impresses me is that they are working with developers of other projects, engaging them and submitting patches. This is the way to go, an ambitious project like this needs lots of participants.

The dev-kit is promised for August 2018. I will be pleasantly surprised if it does meet that deadline, as they have only just designed the board and ordered the components. I think that they are using a CPU SOM module, which does make things easier. Hopefully the components will arrive, but even so, they are optimistic. Usually there are iterations, some boards made, tested, changes, then more made. 

Tags: tech

Still waiting for my Andromium Superbook

This was a Kickstarter project, that I backed on August 3, 2016, for US$134 plus US$35 shipping:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andromium/the-superbook-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-laptop-f

...yep, 2016, and I am still waiting.

Get regular emails explaining various reasons for more delays. For awhile now, there have been photos shown of palettes of them, ready to ship. A shipment have arrived in the USA apparently. Further manufacture has been delayed by one of the component suppliers failing to supply paid-for components.

Whatever. Things have moved on, I am not so certain anymore that the concept is useful. Don't want to judge yet, got to play with it first. Anyway, here is their website (Andromium is now Sentio):

https://www.sentio.com/ 

Tags: tech

Librem 5, an open-source Linux phone

We all recall the failed attempt by Canonical to crowd-fund a phone that would run Ubuntu Touch. More recently, another group had a go, a company named Purism. Their crowd-funding proposal was for the Librem 5, a phone that would run PureOS, their security-focused flavour of Linux.

Purism aimed for at least US$1,500,000, but reached US$2,479,000, so a success, and the project was underway. Crowd-funding page here:

https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/

I was initially interested, but then it seemed that they were going to use the NXP i.mx6 CPU, which is 32-bit and very long-in-the-tooth. So, I lost interest, but it got piqued a few times, when there were some interesting announcements that came to my favourite Linux news site, lxer.com

A couple of those news items were that UBPorts, the team who are continuing to develop Ubuntu Touch after Canonical dumped it, signaled their intention to port to the Librem 5 phone. Also, the developers of Plasma Mobile, another Linux-based phone OS, will be doing the same.

So, there will be a choice of three OSs, most interesting.

I found out just a couple of days ago, all the latest happenings, at their blog:

https://puri.sm/posts/tag/phones/

They delayed the project a bit and decided to go for the i.MX8M CPU, a somewhat more modern and power-efficient 64-bit chip. That got me interested again. However, this chip is not really designed for phones, and does not have a modem (to provide the 2G/3G/4G connectivity). The modem has to be a separate chip, and I looked up the specs on the modem chip that will be shipping with the developer-kit, and it lacks 4G 700MHz (B28), a frequency extensively used by Telstra here in Australia.

So, interest waned again. However, I then read something most interesting, that the modem will plug into an m.2 socket in the phone, so they will be able to provide the right one for different regions of the world. I don't know if it is quite that simple though, as the antennas have to be tuned.

I was also pleased that they decided to go for a bigger screen. Originally, it was going to be 5 inches, but they have now upped it to 5.5 or 5.7, with 18:9 ratio.

I don't know if this phone will ever become more than a toy for developer-nerds like myself, but I decided I'm in. I contacted them after the deadline had expired for ordering the dev-kit, but they reckoned that they could find one extra for me, and accepted my late order.

Note for anyone else who wants to get involved as a developer: you will have to wait until the phone arrives in January (or more likely later, based on my previous experience with crowd-funded projects). The dev-kit is just a one-off production-run, and it is intended that development can be on the phone itself after it arrives.

So, a i.MX8M-based board, costing US$399, which came to AU$527, due in August/September ...so, I guess that I will have to pay GST when it arrives here. Specs are here:

https://puri.sm/posts/june-1st-last-call-for-librem5-devkit/

Here is a recent render of what the phone will look like:

This is the layout of the dev-kit:

I am intrigued that the dev-kit is pretty much what will be in the final phone, and that everything is going to be open-source, with all hardware specs published, and lots of guys working on getting the hardware to play nice with Linux.
I wonder how many of those interfaces will end up in the phone ...notice the smartcard socket.

My plan, after the dev-kit arrives, is pretty wide-open at this stage. Lots of learning to do of course. 

Tags: tech

Telstra mobile now works well

Well, well, this is interesting. I posted about issues with my Telstra mobile connection, domain-name-resolving and downloads hanging:

http://bkhome.org/news/201805/trouble-with-telstra-mobile.html

So, I bypassed the wifi-router, plugged a wifi usb dongle into the desktop PC, so it talks directly to my phone. My phone is my only means of Internet access, using the new Telstra "unlimited data" plan. This is a simplistic sketch:

As soon as I did that, removed the router, the problems disappeared. For several hours afterward, have been very happily surfing and downloading.

The router is my local network, and bridge to the Internet via wifi to the phone. Why is it causing problems?

Actually, I have two wifi-ethernet-routers, and I am currently using the old one, TotoLink model N1000R+:

http://bkhome.org/news/201712/toto-link-wifiethernet-routerrepeater.html

It worked OK with Optus. I might try my newer one:

http://bkhome.org/news/201712/totolink-a2004ns-fast-wirelessethernet-router.html

Anyway, it is good to know that there is a fix.

Tags: tech

Trouble with Telstra mobile

I recently signed up for Telstra's new "endless data" mobile plan:

http://bkhome.org/news/201805/telstra-69-byo-endless-data-mobile-plan.html

At first I was pleased, however, I have been experiencing a couple of problems...

Firstly, my browser often reports "temporary failure in name resolution". Hit the button to retry, and it is usually OK. But, this is happening often enough to be very annoying. It also happens when I use 'wget'.

The second problem is the worst. When I attempt to download large files, the download just stops partway through. That's it, stopped, have to try and download again.

I reported this yesterday when trying to download a file from ibiblio.org. I resorted to using "wget -c <file>" and when it stopped (several times), hit ctrl-c then reran it.

Today, had to do the same with mozilla.org, to download firefox. Was getting both of the above problems. The first problem, wget reported:

wget: unable to resolve host address ‘ftp.mozilla.org’

Then had to do that ctrl-c and rerun 4-5 times.

A quick google shows that I am not alone. For example:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2532107

...however, that is not a mobile data connection.

I turned on QoS on my router, thought maybe slowing it down might help. Nup. Also tried rate-limiting with wget. Nup.

Well, I'm stuck with Telstra for 12 months, will just have to "get by". One thing I might try, is go somewhere else, see if it is just an issue at this location. I checked, Telstra have no issues reported for this area.

EDIT 28 May 2018:
Found the cause of the problems, see this later post:

http://bkhome.org/news/201805/telstra-mobile-now-works-well.html

Tags: tech