Hi everyone,
I've returned from Taiwan with a whole lot of notes, ideas, questions,
comments, and especially suggestions and ideas for more community
involvement.
More on this later as I digest my notes.
First, though, two quick updates:
1. GSM firmware and the problem with some 3G SIM cards in the USA
Background:
A bug in the GSM firmware prevents some USA 3G SIM cards from working
properly. The bug has been fixed, but since the GSM module is under
extremely tight legal protection, it is not clear whether or how we can
allow customers to perform this upgrade themselves.
Update:
We have heard that TI has figured out a way to let you upgrade the
firmware, but we have not been able to get hold of the person at TI who
can tell us how we should do this. Sean has placed numerous calls to the
TI office, and each time has been told that the person he needs to speak
to is unavailable.
I know this is incredibly frustrating to you. I hope you realize that
this is incredibly frustrating to us as well. I also hope you realize
that unless you personally know this person at TI (and no, I will not
post his name on this list :-), no amount of ranting and yelling will
make this go any faster.
However, I do have permission to perform a Very Hacky Workaround:
I have been authorized to perform the GSM firmware upgrade on your phone.
You get the phone to me in California, I'll update the GSM firmware and
perform a quick test, and I'll send it back to you.
Currently, you have to pay for shipping, but if one of you can find out
what the least expensive insured shipping method is, I'll see about
getting some help here. (Of course, if you're in the San Francisco Bay
Area, we can do this in person.)
Interested parties should contact me off-list.
2. GPS driver.
Background:
Global Locate has authorized the release of the driver for the GPS chip
in binary-only form, but the legal teams of Global Locate and OpenMoko
have not been able to agree on a method for doing so.
Update:
We have heard that Global Locate is willing to simply let us release the
binary, without requiring any further legal steps. However, we have not
been able to confirm this with anyone of authority. Somewhat like the
situation with TI, we make the calls, aren't able to reach the right
person, leave a message, and then nothing happens until we make another
call.
Unfortunately I have no workaround for this yet. Sean just has to keep
making those calls, and unfortunately he has other items on his todo
list as well...
That's all I have for now. I'm going through my notes and will come up
with more updates and questions for you shortly.
As always,
Michael
_______________________________________________
OpenMoko community mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
