Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

Hehe, I'll be trying this out when I know what options to enable and recompile kernel and when fanoush updates bootmenu :)

Initfs is great! I damaged my mmc boot though :(

From da rimhouse :p

Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

It will take few days to update bootmenu. As for kernel - search for framebuffer console. Different people have different taste :-) IMO kernel modules are more flexible (you can insert them only when you need them and you can use almost any kernel, not just self-built custom one). You can put them (softcursor.ko bitblit.ko font.ko fbcon.ko) to lib/modules/current when creating initfs and then just add them to
MENU_X_MODULES like this
MENU_X_MODULES="mbcache ext2 softcursor bitblit font fbcon" to let bootmenu insert them for you

My current testing bootmenu.conf has item like this

MENU_X_MODULES="mbcache ext2 softcursor bitblit font fbcon"
MENU_X_FBMODE="auto"

and in bootmenu.sh I added

above existing line
of course you need to copy fb_update_mode to /usr/sbin in initfs (and modules too as said above) best done in different shell when initfs_flasher has basic initfs prepared and is asking about dropbear or bootmenu.conf.

when maemo system boots and starts x server it is better to turn back to manual mode if you don't plan to use the console. You can also switch consoles via chvt command, x server runs on console 2, to test framebuffer console when system is booted set mode to auto and switch back to first console via 'chvt 1' (better over ssh), you can also try to run getty on it '/sbin/getty 38400 tty1' if you have keyboard and non-locked account with password set.

Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

Mr Dufka, you have made me extremely happy ^-^ :), thank you very much!

I have a question though if you do not mind? How do I get a usb keyboard to be recognised at boot time? My ssh is broken on computer side as usbnet module has "disappeared" and stupid ubuntu is giving me kernel src for another version.

To anyone, i'm that happy, i made a crap utube :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlG7jnXUCTI

Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

Awesome sweet!
Do you think a bluetooth keyboard would work (in runlevel 2) on the text console? I had assumed that the X server would run on console 1, thus making it only useful as a non-X recovery mode. But having multiple fb consoles, with a getty (or just a respawning shell) on console 1, would be quite nice for some things, and I don't (yet) have a portable USB keyboard. Hmmm... I'm obviously gonna have to compile gpm once I've got this, should be able to work with my BT mouse.

In case the utility of a text console over xterm is not obvious to some, there's a thread around where ArnimS is trying to get some rogue-like going (AndBang, or some such. :p) and was desperately trying to get a toolbarless, scrollbarless xterm. If you've got a keyboard, it's going to generally save real estate, which is good. And it's always up, which means no waiting for an xterm to launch. It may have a speed advantage for textmode stuff in dosbox, or it may not.

Oh, and every bit of screen real estate is needed for playing videos with aa & mplayer, not to mention BB. If osso-xterm is actually xterm derived, I think fbcon will be faster. At least it is on x86, though rxvt beats them both.

Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

So, in order to use this to get to the CLI on Debian, I would add calling the manual refresh to my init scripts?

Sorry for potentially being thick.

Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

You have several options:

- compile and flash custom kernel with framebuffer console enabled and automatic refresh (=no modifications of your rootfs)

- use stock kernel, set fb update mode to auto and insert framebuffer modules in your own debian rootfs boot script

- hack bootmenu as mentioned above to do it for you for specific menu boot item (=no modifications of your rootfs)

- wait until I add it to bootmenu (sunday or monday evening is optimistic guess)

Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

usb keyboard with tablet turned to host mode should be fine, bluetooth should work exactly the same way until the connection drops :-) Hopefully power button long press should do clean shutdown at least.

As for speed - well, the automatic refresh mode means that there is periodic timer in kernel (hardcoded to 20 Hz) that forces full screen update. That means it won't be fluent, and you will see tearing since full screen update is slow (more for N8x0). The update is not very CPU intensive but it still may have impact on performance and battery life (as it keeps OMAP DMA engine and video chip busy). For 770 it is possible to try to enable tearsync flag in auto update mode and maybe raise the frequency of updates to have tear-free and quicker response time, for N8x0 there is not much room for improvement.

As for usability - with usb keyboard it should be pretty good, bluetooth is not reliable. N810 keyboard will be perfect but it needs custom mapping, fn key doesn't work so you can't write numbers. Feel free to contribute such mapping :-)

Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

Thanks! Now I have to see about Scratchbox...

Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

Well, I'm using powerlaunch; as I understand it, that runs outside X just like the mce, so I can just have it chvt 2 when it deploys the menu in X. (I think)
But with it in runlevel 2, with X and all associated things started, it seems like the keyboard should automatically connect and generally behave with the same reliability it normally does? (Which in my case, isn't nearly as bad as many others report.) Or will this cause added unreliability or difficulty reconnecting, for some reason I'm missing?

Re: Removing the bootsplash?
 

Any progress on this front?