DSP

Since that wicked N810 arrived, I've had to neglect the other devices a bit. The reason is mainly that the OMAP2420 CPU has an integrated TMS320C55x DSP. And thanks to the DSP Gateway it is possible to actually run our own code on it (see the DSPProgramming wiki page). Before, I could only dream about playing with those inaccessible DSPs on the OMAP850 and Calypso chipsets.

So I set out to learn C55x assembly and at the same time figure out how to play sound directly from the DSP. I somehow got the idea that this could be done by disassembling the pcm2 dsptask module (that is the backend for the dsppcm GStreamer sink, which unfortunately can't be built because the latest version of the DSP header files is nowhere to be found).
I think I have understood the bigger part of the pcm2 code by now, although trying to grasp indirect adressing using ARn registers gives me headaches. The stream setup and the command interface to the ARM processor is already recreated, but the most important part is still missing: the actual data transfer of PCM data from ARM to DSP via mmap and from DSP to EAC via SIO issue/reclaim.
Once that is done, I hope to make use of the knowledge gained by helping the DSP OGG Vorbis decoder project.

In the meanwhile, bricks keep falling into place in kernel land, so I have to do some catching up and submitting patches for at least Magician soon.

OpenMoko came a long way since my last post. But still, a current ångström 2008.1 openmoko-devel-image (+zImage) has quite some issues on the magician (and other QVGA devices). First impressions:

• some panel icons (bt, usb) are still too big for qvga, others (gsm, battery) look washed out due to rescaling
• keypad control doesn't work properly in many places, there is no support for shortcut buttons yet (except for the power button and the camera button, which is used as AUX on neo)
  
• openmoko-dialer spews empty notification messages if there is no SIM inserted.
• the media player does not start
• bluetooth control doesn't work
• and probably many more

And I could verify that the pxa27x mmc controller supports SDHC :-)

openmoko-dialer + ångström + magician = ?

This was a good week for the quest to a fully functional Ångström image on the HTC Magician. OpenEmbedded now has X11R7.2, gsmd works out of the box and with some patches it is even possible to run openmoko-dialer on top of that:



I uploaded the test image. The openmoko-dialer patches are not really ready yet. The button to hang up a call is still off-screen...

around the world in two days

Today I received my neo1973!



First impressions:

• The display is awesome.
• The bezel is a bit thick, making it hard to hit the touchscreen near the edges.
• Although the rounded edges seem to waste a lot of space, they make the neo comfortable to hold.
• It is slightly bigger in every dimension than the Magician and doesn't feel as solid due to the plastic/rubber case.
• I like the buzz when turning on the device.
• There is some pressure on the back of the LCD. I can see some discolouration in the middle of the screen when pressing against it with the stylus.
  
• The case design is nice. It's really as easy to open as I came to expect from the wiki. The fact that I broke my guitar pick is only due to my own inaptitude.
  
• Did I mention the awesome display?
  

good morning

I made some more or less tango style device icons for these gadgets:

- HP iPAQ hx4700,

- HTC Magician a.k.a. O2 Xda mini,

- FIC neo1973

- Sony Ericsson J100i