Hello Openmoko community, As many of you know, Openmoko GTA01 and GTA02 phones are/were the only two smartphone models in all of history on which it is possible - albeit unofficially - to run free firmware on the baseband processor. In the case of this elderly TI Calypso baseband there is not just one, but two free software projects working toward running fully free and fully functional firmware on the baseband: OsmocomBB and my own FreeCalypso. But this total liberation of the phone including the baseband is only possible with the elderly baseband chipsets from TI: while the Calypso can make phone calls and send/receive SMS *today* using only free software (either OsmocomBB or FreeCalypso), to the best of my knowledge no one has been able to do anything comparable using any of the newer modem chipsets or modules.
But we all know that Openmoko GTA01/02 phones are no longer made, and the remaining surplus has been fully exhausted. THAT is the problem we need to solve, and I have just launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo seeking to solve this very problem: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/free-software-cellular-baseband As you can read on the campaign page, I seek to build several different kinds of cellular-interfaced devices using exactly the same Calypso core modem design as found in the Neo Freerunner by Openmoko. Or closer to the immediate short term, produce a quadband Calypso reference design and put it out free to the world so that anyone else in the world can reuse it freely as they see fit - for example, the Neo900 team will be able to offer a free-firmware modem option if they so choose. The vast majority of the work in the project does not need any money, only my own labor - but there is one exception. Before I can start the PCB layout of my own quadband Calypso modem module, I need to see Openmoko's original layout to use as a reference. I have exchanged a few emails with Sean Moss-Pultz and others, and the impression I got is that the original layout files appear to have been irretrievably lost - just like the case moulds, apparently. One of the people I have corresponded with told me that the files exist on a defect HDD - unreadable, I assume. With the original layout files not being obtainable, the only remaining option is to recover the layout through reverse engineering. There is a company in Colorado who can do a superb job of imaging all 8 copper layers (2 outer and 6 inner) of a sacrificial GTA02 PCB, but the estimate I got is that it will cost about $6000. That is a cost beyond my immediately available personal budget, and I don't have a projection as to when I might be able to afford it on my own - it may be a year or two. Therefore, I have started the crowdfunding campaign above specifically to address this one particular need of the project. It is now up to you, the community at large, to decide whether or not an actively- produced (as opposed to discontinued) GSM modem module that can run fully free firmware is something worth building - and if you do agree with me that such a gadget is worth building, now is the time to make it happen through monetary contributions to the campaign. Thanks for reading, SF _______________________________________________ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community