Subject: Re: HP H5550 handheld support
To: None <brook@biology.nmsu.edu>
From: Robert Swindells <rjs@fdy2.demon.co.uk>
List: port-arm
Date: 10/22/2003 17:03:21
brook@biology.nmsu.edu wrote:
>Robert Swindells writes:
> > brook@biology.nmsu.edu wrote:
> > >Has anyone successfully used NetBSD on the HP iPAQ pocket PC h5550?
> > 
> > The short answer is likely to be no.

>That's unfortunate.

You can always be the first.

> > There is support for the PXA255 processor in the tree, but there are
> > no drivers for the H5xxx ASIC.

>Is there any work on supporting this?

No, but there is documentation for the ASIC as well as all the rest of
the hardware on the handhelds.org site.

> > The HP/Compaq/DEC bootldr for iPAQs does support booting NetBSD, but
> > there isn't any one of the NetBSD ports that collects together all the
> > bits that you would need.

>Do you know what those bits might be and how difficult it would be do
>collect them?

The processor support is all there.

You would need a startup routine that expects the parameters that the
bootloader will pass to it. I have one for the SA11x0 that would only
need a couple of lines changing to work with the PXA255.

Drivers to talk to the ASIC.

Driver for MQ1100 graphics controller.

> > Do you want to keep WinCE on it or replace it ?

>As a long-time NetBSD user, I'd just as soon replace it.

Ok. The reason for asking was to know whether you wanted to boot out
of flash or to mount a filesystem from CF.

We don't have a driver for flash chips in the tree right now.

>If the H5550 is not yet supported, what suggestions do you have about
>similar handhelds that are supported?

The only handhelds that are supported are the H36xx and the J72x by
hpcarm.

I don't know of anyone except HP that provides enough documentation
to be able to do a port.

If I could choose any handheld at the moment it would be the H5550,
it has plenty of SDRAM and flash, the fastest speed grade PXA255
and a graphics accelerator.

Robert Swindells