OpenInkpot for PRS-505?

[ahi]

Any prospect of OpenInkpot for the Sony PRS-505 in the foreseeable future?

I'm yet to get a definitive answer to this question... though I've been trying to inquire now and then since at least July.

- Ahi

[=X=]

Ahi,
The SONY PRS port has been put on hiatus, the PRS-505 developer is no longer working on the port.

So the reason you don't get a straight answer is because the project is not closed but suspended, so either somebody steps up to the plate or the developer reumes his work.

[Justice Strike]

i thought just received a 505 (except one)... well it's better this way. now they can focus on the more important 600 version instead of the old and outdated 505series

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Justice Strike

i thought just received a 505 (except one)... well it's better this way. now they can focus on the more important 600 version instead of the old and outdated 505series

I would guess that Sony would be a really difficult port in any case, since Sony is a big enough company to use their own custom made chips in their hardware. That reduces the manufacturing cost and also, as a side effect, keeps the hardware documentation out of the hands of anyone trying to do a firmware port to their hardware.
Porting to a device made by a smaller company that needs to use commercial off the shelf chips with public documentation would seem to be a much easier task. The fact that OI has been successfully ported to two such smaller companies' products seems to bear that theory out so far?

[pholy]

well it's better this way. now they can focus on the more important 600 version instead of the old and outdated 505series

Except that the Linux folks have made a tradition of keeping old hardware going with up-to-date software...

I would take up the Sony challenge if I could get a PRS-505 for not too much money. They seem to be going for around $300 on Ebay, that's too rich for me.

I have 30+ years of C programming, real-time and embedded systems, and I'm about ready to stop fighting management-imposed deadlines.

PS - Even if the chips are proprietary, they have to release the GPL code for the drivers and kernel. It shouldn't be impossible.

[Justice Strike]

Originally Posted by pholy

Except that the Linux folks have made a tradition of keeping old hardware going with up-to-date software...

I would take up the Sony challenge if I could get a PRS-505 for not too much money. They seem to be going for around $300 on Ebay, that's too rich for me.

I have 30+ years of C programming, real-time and embedded systems, and I'm about ready to stop fighting management-imposed deadlines.

PS - Even if the chips are proprietary, they have to release the GPL code for the drivers and kernel. It shouldn't be impossible.

Let's not get over our heads now. They keep old hardware running with software that is still avaiable... in most cases that software isn't up-to-date.

i don't think they need to release de code for the drivers if it is custom build. This is what nvidia and ati have done for their vga drivers. Those are proprietary drivers working under linux.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Justice Strike

i don't think they need to release de code for the drivers if it is custom build. This is what nvidia and ati have done for their vga drivers. Those are proprietary drivers working under linux.

I have to admit that I do not understand all the fine points of the GPL, but looking at the PRS-505 issues on the OpenInkpot WIKI, it seems that drivers and lack of documentation are some of the big things holding back the port of OpenInkpot to the PRS-505.

[igorsk]

A PRS-505 has been sent to Jaya Kumar who is slightly famous for doing various Linuxy things with E-Ink. However, he has since disappeared from the face of the Earth.

[Krystian Galaj]

Originally Posted by igorsk

A PRS-505 has been sent to Jaya Kumar who is slightly famous for doing various Linuxy things with E-Ink. However, he has since disappeared from the face of the Earth.

Probably reading ebooks

[dottedmag]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

it seems that drivers and lack of documentation are some of the big things holding back the port of OpenInkpot to the PRS-505.

SD card driver is a loadable module => Sony did not release it in source code. And yes, we did not manage to obtain any documentation from the chip manufacturer or Sony.

Even worse is power management/keys controller chip, which is managed from userspace, using proprietary binary.

[n7tzg]

Where would one go to find out the internal details (firmware, etc) on the 505. I would love to learn more about mine, and pop in some features. I'm embedded wise, but not embedded linux wise.

Rob