I thought Openmoko died in early 2009. -Chris
On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 9:41 AM, Chris Penn <[email protected]> wrote: > I have looked at the openmoko since it was released and it has always > seemed both too expensive and lacking in hardware. > > Chris... > > On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 10:16 AM, Ann <[email protected]> wrote: > > very interesting. Keep us posted on your progress. > > thanks > > Ann Richmond > > > > Michael Sokolov wrote: > >> Hello fellow LUGers, > >> > >> This is a follow-up to the conversation I've had with David, Trevor and > >> Jeff at the last RCLUG meeting. At that meeting I had expressed an > >> interest in getting a totally open source phone that runs bare Linux, > >> not Android, and David said that he was interested in that too. Well, > >> I've done some research on this topic, and I've got some findings which > >> might be of interest to others. > >> > >> First, some background info. The first noteworthy point is that I am > >> looking for a *cellphone*, not a PDA, not a mobile Web terminal and not > >> a WiFi VoIP thingie. I need a phone that does two things first and > >> foremost: > >> > >> * Make and receive plain old-fashioned voice calls on a cell network; > >> * Send and receive SMS aka text messages on the phone's cell number. > >> > >> In other words, a plain old-fashioned cellphone, what you call a dumb > >> phone. But I want it to be open source so that I can make it do its > >> "dumb phone" function in my own unique Michael-Sokolovian manner. > >> > >> There are plenty of "smartphones" out there which claim to be open > >> source, but no open source dumb phones that I knew of (well, read on). > >> Hence my thought of taking an open source "smartphone", ripping out all > >> the useless battery-eating "smart" features and reducing it to an open > >> source dumb phone. > >> > >> So I had been looking into the claims of open-source-ness on the part of > >> various generally available "smartphones", reading people's stories > >> about replacing their phone's official OS (be it Android or Weendoze > >> Mobile or whatever) with something more hacky and unofficial, more along > >> the lines of what I want, and evaluating whether or not that approach > >> would be likely to work for me. > >> > >> The central issue for me is that the only part of the phone I really > >> care about is the cell radio interface, the one that makes and receives > >> plain old-fashioned voice calls, not VoIP, not WiFi, none of that other > >> cheesy stuff. And that is of course the most closed and proprietary > >> part of any phone... > >> > >> Enter the Openmoko project: www.openmoko.com and www.openmoko.org. > What > >> these guys have made is a real phone (a real physical product) which > >> they categorize as a "smartphone" (although its hardware capabilities > >> lag behind a bit compared to what most of you would probably call a > >> smartphone) and which I see as being considerably more open-source than > >> anything that's available in the realm of "mainstream" phones: > >> > >> * Rather than impose one standard distro like Android and say "you are > >> on your own if you want something else", they actively encourage the > >> buyers of their phone hardware to experiment with different distros > >> or create their own. > >> > >> * The bootloader on the phone (U-Boot) is specifically designed to allow > >> easy loading of arbitrary kernel and root file system builds in a > >> fully blessed manner: you are NOT a "bad boy" if you do this. They've > >> even added extra hardware to the phone just to facilitate easy > >> "unbricking" if you've "bricked" your phone by replacing its U-Boot > >> image with something that doesn't work. > >> > >> * They have published almost complete hardware schematics for the phone. > >> Unfortunately these schematics are redacted in that the GSM (cell > >> radio interface) block is shown as a black box, but even with this > >> redaction that is still a heck of a lot more than what's available for > >> any of the mainstream phones. Samsung, Nokia etc can claim all they > >> want that they make "open source" Android or other "Linux-based" > >> phones, but I've never seen even partial hardware schematics for any > >> of those phones. (I would love to be proven wrong on this though!) > >> > >> Now on to the thorny part: the cell radio interface, the most secret and > >> proprietary part of any phone - how have the Openmoko folks handled this > >> issue? It looks like the makers of the GSM chipset they've used (TI > >> Calypso) have allowed the Openmoko folks to use their chipset and > >> provided the necessary documentation only on the strict condition that > >> it does NOT become part of the open source work, i.e., stays under NDA. > >> Unfortunately those folks seem to be unlike me in that they aren't > >> willing to f**k and break the NDA immediately upon receiving possession > >> of the ware, so they (the Openmoko.com company) have implemented a > >> compromise solution instead. > >> > >> The compromise solution consists of sequestering the non-free part (the > >> GSM cell interface block) behind a well-defined interface. > Specifically, > >> the interface between the Calypso GSM chipset and the rest of the phone > >> (the open source part) is a serial port that carries data traffic (SMS > >> and GPRS) and control commands/status in a standardized format defined > >> by GSM docs 07.05 and 07.07 (which are public documents), plus a voice > >> codec interface. > >> > >> That brings us to the actual cell capabilities of this phone. First of > >> all, it's GSM, not CDMA: that means that users in the USA-occupied > >> territories will need a SIM card from T-Mobile or maybe AT&T, but not > >> Verizon or Sprint. That's no problem for me personally because I like > >> T-Mobile. However, those who like fancy data services will be > >> disappointed to learn that the Calypso chipset is *just* plain GSM, no > >> UMTS/3G, and not even EDGE. In other words, just classic cellular voice > >> calls (9600 bps codec), SMS (text messages) and GPRS. > >> > >> I'm hoping that T-Mobile allows basic IP access over GPRS. Sure, it > >> would be slow as molasses (slower than land line dial-up), but remember, > >> I'm looking for a *phone*, not a Web surfing device. The only reason I > >> want any IP-over-cellular capabilities in my phone at all is so that my > >> phone can pull the contact list from my own UNIX server, as well as send > >> archival copies of all sent and received SMS messages back to the same > >> server. This is such a miniscule amount of data (well below one KiB) > >> that it should be OK even over something as slow as GPRS. > >> > >> The Openmoko phone hardware (Neo FreeRunner) exists in two different > >> versions: one with 850/1800/1900 MHz GSM bands ("USA" version) and the > >> other with 900/1800/1900 MHz bands ("European" version). Unfortunately > >> the 850/1800/1900 MHz version appears to be unobtainium: all > distributors > >> who actually carry orderable Neo phone hardware are located in Europe, > >> and they only have the 900/1800/1900 MHz version. > >> > >> At first that was rather disappointing, but then I remembered my old > >> Motorola V66 phone. My significant other and I have just switched from > >> Verizon to T-Mobile a few days ago; she had been with Verizon for ages > >> but I used to have a T-Mobile phone before switching to Verizon to be on > >> the same plan with my S.O. My old T-Mobile phone was a Motorola V66, a > >> classic "dumb" phone. Despite being dumb and having no EDGE or 3G > >> capabilities, it had a basic "mobile web" browser feature, which is what > >> gives me hope that I should be able to get onto an IP network over GPRS > >> with T-Mobile. > >> > >> And guess what, according to the available documentation V66's GSM bands > >> are 900/1800/1900 MHz, just like the "European" version of the Openmoko > >> phone. Unfortunately I don't have a way to test the V66 right now even > >> though I'm back on T-Mobile and have a SIM card: I still have the V66, > >> but it's dead (won't turn on and won't take charge). I've ordered > >> another hopefully-good V66 from Ebay, when it arrives I'll give it a > >> spin. But I had been using that V66 up until some time around May 2009, > >> i.e., only 2 y ago, I frequented the same geographic areas which I > >> frequent now, and I never had any problems with coverage: it must have > >> been working fine on the 1900 MHz band. Let's just hope that T-Mobile > >> hasn't dismantled that 1900 MHz GSM coverage in the course of last 2 y. > >> > >> Assuming that 1900 MHz GSM coverage is still available in the areas I > >> care about, it seems that this Neo FreeRunner from Openmoko would be my > >> ideal phone. It's basically like that good old Motorola V66 with an > >> added Linux front-end. That Calypso GSM chipset they are using for the > >> cell bank-end is actually capable of fully controlling a simple "dumb" > >> phone all on its own, and it was the Openmoko folks who have configured > >> it to serve as a back-end to something else (Linux in their case) rather > >> than stand-alone. I don't know what chipset is inside the V66, but even > >> if it isn't the same Calypso, it must be something very similar in terms > >> of capabilities, which is why I can view Openmoko's solution of Calypso > >> back-end + Linux front-end as being effectively equivalent to putting a > >> Linux front-end on the V66 which I'm very familiar and comfortable with. > >> I'll be writing my own software stack for the Linux part of it. > >> > >> Oh, and for those of you who like this new-fangled 3G/4G stuff, they are > >> working on a new similarly open phone with an OMAP processor and a UMTS > >> back-end - but that's still under development. > >> > >> MS > >> _______________________________________________ > >> LinuxUsers mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers > >> > >> > >> > > > > -- > > Ann Richmond > > ---------------- > > Randr Inc > > 951-369-3427 > > 951-787-8683 Fax > > www.randrinc.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > > LinuxUsers mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers > > > > > > -- > "As we open our newspapers or watch our television screens, we seem to > be continually assaulted by the fruits of Mankind's stupidity." > -Roger Penrose > _______________________________________________ > LinuxUsers mailing list > [email protected] > http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers >
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