Hello Everyone;
Been reading posts here for a while, was a strong factor in deciding to buy one of these things- i'm an avid programmer and have some experience with linux programming and embedded systems.
Why am I saying this?
Because i'm very interested in the iLiad as a hardware platform. And want to help Adam B/whomever in the development of new software/customisation for the iLiad.
My main concern is of course, bricking the thing- partly because I don't like spending that much money on a new one, secondly living in Australia means the round-trip mail time is rather long. (This becomes irrelevant as soon as an unbrickable variant is produced.)
But, I had some questions; so if you know something i'd be glad to hear it!
1) Other than the 'obvious' rm -f in inappropriate places, renaming/moving critical files, HOW can you brick an iLiad? For those of you that have done so, and it wasn't by something 'silly', how'd you manage it?
2) Does e-ink displays, specifically that in the iLiad have some form of wear? I,e. constantly refreshing applications are a no-no (ignoring the speed they'd work at)
3) Why does the entire screen refresh at times when only small icons in the bottom change, I forget exactly when I saw this - but is it a requirement? How fine-grained is the display control at the software level?
4) How long should I be waiting to get the shell script enabling thingy on iDS? It's been a week since I filled in the form and hit go - not an illiad question i know but it just occurred to me.
5) What is the status of porting interpreted languages such as Python/Java?
6) The bottom display (buttons for searching files/etc whilst exploring folders), at what level is this implemented in the software? I.e. is there an iLiad 'window manager' or are these buttons at a kernel level.
7) What is known about the boot procedure of the iLiad? One of the most useful features i'd have imagined is to eliminate the boot splash screen and instead have the console output - or alternatively pipe it across the network. Should be useful in diagnosing bricked iliads.
8) I remember some threads concerned with supporting booting off the CF card, was either that or SD/MMC or USB booting ever successful? I'd always imagined the 'easy' way to reflash an illiad would be a USB image we would plug in, boot up and click 'yes' to restore the memory.
9) Can a bricked iLiad still act as a USB storage device when plugged into the computer? This is somewhat related to #8
10) Final thing I can think of today; is there any strong reason file management such as folder creation and moving files (esp. from USB/CF to main memory) has not been implemented? Or is it simply not yet high enough on the todo list.