PlugApps Pandora kernel update

2011-05-03 12:50
As all of you who have tried the PlugApps image for the Pandora have probably noticed, the kernel shipping with that image has a bug causing the keyboard to behave strangely.

I was able to track down the bug to the gpio_keys driver and more precisely to a patch, which introduced that bug. I have reverted that patch and built a new kernel. With the new kernel the keyboard works much better. So I highly recommend to install the new kernel package.

kernel26-pandora-2.6.37.2-1-arm.pkg.tar.xz
(4.8 MB, md5sum: 478eeab8be42a9edefb830f71dbbd6cd)


To install the new kernel, download the package and then run as root:
# pacman -Uf /path/to/kernel26-pandora-2.6.37.2-1-arm.pkg.tar.xz
The 'f' option is necessary because the old kernel did not come in an Arch package, so its files do not belong to any package, which is why pacman would refuse to replace those files.
 
CPUnltd (web) says:
2011-05-05 06:41:07
This did not work for me... I installed it, rebooted (no other instructions beyond installation), and keys are still not working... I can't create quote marks with the keyboard at present and connecting a USB keyboard does nothing... lack of quotation marks keeps me from connecting to the net because I need to use them around the essid. What am I missing here?
wej (web) says:
2011-05-05 08:27:39
CPUnltd: Hard to tell what you are missing exactly. It is most likely an entirely different problem, than the kernel bug.
Others have already reported, that the updated kernel works fine for them.
First you should check, if the package installation really was successfull. Check the kernel name (with "uname -a") and verify that it ends with "dirty". If it doesn't, you are still using the old kernel.
As for the USB keyboard. Any USB keyboard should work just fine. So it could be a hardware problem, or maybe you forgot to attach a USB 2.0 hub between keyboard and Pandora? Remember the Pandora's USB port supports USB 2.0 devices only and pretty much all input devices are low speed USB 1.1 devices.

BTW, I will release a new Pandora Arch image in the near future, with packages compiled for AMRv7 (the PlugApps developers are currently building another tree of packages for ARMv7). In that image I will include the new kernel among some other improvements, like a preconfigured touchscreen.
So if you do not manage to fix the problem with your installation, as a last resort you could wait and try the new image.
Delar (web) says:
2011-05-10 21:22:15
Woa, nice :D
I try now for days to compile a new kernel for the pandora.. from where did you get the pandora specific patches?
wejp (web) says:
2011-05-11 08:59:16
Delar: At git.openpandora.org there is a git repository where you find the kernel sources with Pandora patches (among some other things). I have also linked to that repository in the article.
Most pandora-specific things are in the mainline kernel already, but there are a few things that are not (and probably never will be).
Delar (web) says:
2011-05-11 18:21:26
Joa, well, i try now about two weeks to compile the kernel ( i think im dreaming now from kernel-compiling ) Last time i try to compile the last 2.6.37. Pandora boots but xfce4 dont start, so i will try your arch-linux version ;)
Freds Shadow (web) says:
2011-05-13 03:22:18
I'm glad to hear a new image will be released. There's something more satisfying about starting in a terminal (not to mention Arch is my favorite distro and I don't like having to use XFCE.

More importantly the kernel doesn't load after I rebooted. I used the kernel suggested by pacman, which might have been my mistake, but I did download it first before using the pacman -Uf method.

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