Why don't you see a linux for Arm cpu's?

[MASONTX]

I know there is Meego, which only works on the Nokia N900 phone, not with any other Arm device. A lot of internet tablets and some new netbooks are coming on line with arm chips and Android OS of one kind or another. These dvices may have linux at the core, but you sure wouldn't know it from the interface. No cli, no linux aps, Android aps only, etc. Even getting info on the Arm chips and Android versions is difficult. They will tell you which chips and android versions are available, but little practical info on what works with what or its feature set.

[elija]

Well, there's this but it only seems to support a few types so I guess it's mainly because if you want it on a device then you'll have to port it.

[MASONTX]

Does that mean that since Arm cpu's are used in embedded devices, the OS is custom for each device. Unlike i386 chips which are in all kinds of devices, but the OS plays on them all? Meego, for example, is listed as arm support, but only works on the Nokia N900 phone. Is there some reason why Meego couldn't be made to have applicability to all devices running a given Arm chip?

[elija]

I have no real idea, my guess was based on the few variants that Debian supports.

[MASONTX]

I found this from 2004.

Media Alert: ARMv6 Architecture Support Now Available With 2.6 Linux Kernel
29 March 2004

What: ARM announces the release of open source support for the ARMv6 Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) in the recent 2.6 Linux kernel. Optimizations have been added to the 2.6 Linux kernel to fully utilize new ARMv6 ISA features such as physical cache, application space identifiers (ASIDS) and use of atomic operations. This support enables significant performance improvements that are needed for the execution of applications in time-constrained environments such as consumer devices, networking and wireless platforms.

Does the current kernal still support armv6 architecture? Would a current linux then run on armv6 chips?

[rokytnji]

since Arm cpu's are used in embedded devices, the OS is custom for each device.

My understanding is that there are so many types of arm chips, proprietary firmware, proprietary hardware, etc....

That building a linux operating system that can jump all these hard ware hurdles and run on everything is next to impossible.

[Freston]

It's much more difficult to find a general purpose machine running on the ARM architecture than it is on x86

That said, you could very well compile a kernel for ARM and run it on such a device. For example, the SheevaPlug or GuruPlug (among others). But these are hardly mainstream consumer electronics. You'd need some knowledge on uBoot and JTAG to get them to work at all. Nothing a Linux hobbyist couldn't manage though

There are some Linux distro's that bring out a version for ARM. Debian comes to mind, Slackware has its own port called ARMedslack and Gentoo I believe has a version. There will be others, also.

Does the current kernal still support armv6 architecture? Would a current linux then run on armv6 chips?

Well, almost everything needs to be compiled specially for the ARM architecture. And tested. That's why most distro's are not all to eager to add support for ARM. But, as above, there are some that do. So yes, it's possible

______


I'm wondering though, doesn't Android have a terminal emulator of some sort? Perhaps a jailbroken version or so? I know WebOS doesn't need to be jailbroken, and it's quite easy to get a terminal and ssh on a WebOS device.

[elija]

My Droid has a terminal emulator and I can ssh into my network from it. I've no idea if you can go the other way and given what I'm paying for the thing, I have no intention of trying to find out ^_^

[sgosnell]

Debian has some ARM support:

As of our latest release, Debian GNU/Linux 6.0.1, the following ARM sub-architectures are fully supported:

iop32x: we support some IOP32x based Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, such as the Thecus N2100, Intel SS4000 and GLAN Tank.
ixp4xx: we support the popular Linksys NSLU2 device.
kirkwood: we support Marvell's Kirkwood platform and we have specific support for a number of devices, including the SheevaPlug, QNAP Turbo NAS (TS-11x, TS-21x and TS-41x) and OpenRD.
orion5x: we support Marvell's Orion platform and we have specific support for a number of devices, including the QNAP Turbo Station (TS-109, TS-209, TS-409) and HP mv2120.

And then there is Linux-arm.org

[MASONTX]

From what I have been able to find out, Arm doesn't use any standard hardware profiles (maybe calling that by the wrong name), so each piece of hardware has to have a custom interface with kernal, using low level language. The recommendation from Arm gurus is that unless you have knowledge of these low level programming languages, lots of time, and a strong desire to see the project to completion, you are better off using a different device or whatever the device came with. Not a newbie type project. I have made some progress, and am now able to download apps via an ethernet cable, including a terminal ap. Now I just have to find the time to see what is wrong with the wireless connection and fix it. If I can do that, then I will consider the $85 for the 10" netbook worth it.