magnetite on the freerunner

[Mychaela Falconia]

David wrote:

> Modem Revision:GTA02BV4/FreeCalypso

Aha, good - the above means that the AP software that talks to the
modem (at least in your distro - QtMoko, right?) is OK with the change
in the format of AT+CGxx responses from Openmoko's wrapped form to the
GSM 07.07 standard one.  This was one of the issues I wanted testing
feedback on.

> As far as I can tell, from extremely cursory testing, magnetite does indeed
> work the same as leo2moko. I was able to receive sms and also calls without
> audio issues.

Good to hear.

> Not really clear what further testing (if any) you wanted

At this point, not much more.  This is the l1reconst configuration in
which only L1 is deblobbed, and the changes introduced by this
deblobbing are so minute that any difference in user-observable
behaviour should be *very* unlikely.

Much more thorough testing will be needed when we switch to the hybrid
configuration - see below.

> Am I correct to think this is now a truly free, no blobs device?

Not quite.  Remember that FC Magnetite can be built in several
different configurations, and the 3 currently available modem configs
(classic, l1reconst and hybrid) correspond to different degrees of
deblobbing.  As I said above, the build you have just tested is the
l1reconst configuration: L1 mostly deblobbed (except the l1audio, l1tm
and GPRS parts), but the G23M protocol stack is still the blob version.

The TCS2/TCS3 hybrid configuration is much more thoroughly deblobbed,
leaving only some minor housekeeping pieces in blob form (those will
be easy to deblob a little further down the road) - but this config is
not yet ready to be unleashed on non-developer Freerunner users.  The
TCS3 version of ACI still needs some work before it can replace the
currently used TCS2 version, and to do this work I need the FCDEV3B.
Thus before we can have fully blob-free modem fw for the Freerunner
that has the full functionality of the original, we need to raise the
remaining half of the FCDEV3B crowdfunding goal.

> If so maybe I'll bite the bullet and use it as main phone for a spell.

It would be nice to have at least one user who makes regular use of a
Freerunner with the current stable fw in order to provide a baseline
for comparison.  The timeline looks like this:

Step 1: we need the remaining half of the money that hasn't been
raised yet.  The timeframe for this step is obviously not up to me at
all, but up to the people whose money we seek, hence it is quite
unpredictable.  It could happen tomorrow, or it could take another
year.

Step 2: once the money comes in, whenever it happens, it will probably
be a couple of months from that point to the point of having working
FCDEV3B boards.

Step 3: from the point of having the FCDEV3B built and working, probably
another couple of months to get the TCS2/TCS3 hybrid config into a shape
where it could be unleashed unto adventurous Freerunner users/testers.

When we do reach Step 3 (a timeframe made indefinite by the prerequisite
funding Step 1), it would be nice if the first testers were folks who
are already using their Freerunners somewhat regularly, so that any
regressions due to the firmware change would be obvious.  If the first
testers of the TCS2/TCS3 hybrid config are folks who weren't using the
FR previously, and things don't work, I probably won't have the
resources to tell if the problem is due to the fw change or something
else in the very complex FR AP environment.

But at the same time, that point seems so far away currently (I have
no idea when we'll be able to find more donors to bring our funding
campaign to where it needs to be) that it is probably not fair to ask
you or anyone else to start using the FR as your main phone if you
don't want to.  Maybe you could do that step when we have the money
for the FCDEV3B, as that is when we'll have a real timeline toward the
deblobbed fw goal.

> incidentally, I assume you realize that the f******@i***.h******.org
> address does not seem to work?

Of course I realize it, having to use Gmail instead of my own beloved
pure UNIX command line email system is INCREDIBLY painful for me.

It is down and I don't know if I will ever be able to bring it back up
because of the bastards who took away my SDSL.  I used to have my own
servers here at home connected to the Internet by way of an SDSL modem
which I designed and built myself, but it was all brought to naught in
May of this year when the new corporate owners of USA's last remaining
SDSL network (Covad, now owned by Global Capacity) shut down their
presence and services in my local town.  Apparently I was their last
customer here, and the revenue from just one low-end SDSL customer
wasn't enough to support an entire SDSL Central Office setup.  I now
need to get some other kind of connection, but it just won't be the
same without being able to use a physical layer modem designed and
built by me...

I will also need to get a new x86 server to run my new personal email
system (to replace the downed one), and I would really like to get one
that can run coreboot or libreboot, with Intel ME or its AMD equivalent
disabled.  Any help will be appreciated.  It needs to be a server
which I can physically install in my own server room at my personal
headquarters, *not* some hosted solution.

M~