Re: coding 88W8388 firmware
Excerpts from John Watlington's message of 2012-03-22 03:27:14 +0100: > We did pay to get a version of firmware developed for both the 8388 and > the 8686 which offloads the packet processing to the main processor > (normally much of this is done by the WLAN's processor). This "thin > firmware", while consuming more power does allow open source support > for 802.11s and AP mode as well as open experimentation with mesh > routing and protocols. See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Thinfirm_1.5 and > http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Libertas_Thinfirmware_HOWTO It's worth noting that while libertas_tf exists, it has never been upstreamed and isn't maintained in any way. Fixes to libertas that apply to libertas_tf as well don't get ported. I'm afraid that except maybe for a few special cases it isn't very useful in this state. It's sad to see this useful code rot away. It still requires proprietary firmware, but at least you can use it for AP mode and 802.11s (not to be confused with the OLPC mesh protocol that was based on an early draft of 802.11s and isn't interoperable with anything else). And maybe it's easier to port Thinform to a different operating system (on the libertas chip) than to port the full-MAC firmware. I had forward-ported the libertas_tf patch set to Linux 3.1 some time ago and even ported a few libertas fixes to libertas_tf, but there are still some issues and I don't have any time left to work on it. If anyone is interested in picking this up, I can publish the patches. Sascha -- http://sascha.silbe.org/ http://www.infra-silbe.de/ signature.asc Description: PGP signature ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
Re: coding 88W8388 firmware
On Mar 21, 2012, at 5:47 AM, lluvia_li...@lavabit.com wrote: > Hi list, > > I'd like starting learning the skills for helping to write a firmware > replace for the 88WW8388 chip. I was reading on the wiki, specially this > entry > > http://wiki.laptop.org/go/88W8388 > > However, I don't know which is the current state or if some code is > already available. I couldn't find any yet. The firmware for the 88W8388 was developed by Marvell, and source code has never been released. I don't believe efforts to develop an open source alternative went anywhere. > I found this link on the Libertas wiki page: > > "Discussions about how to open libertas firmware" > http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/devel/2007-January/003720.html There was no success in getting the software ported or released. (In searching to see if we publicly recorded any of regular internal arguments about this, I instead found OpenMoko's statement which summarizes the situation nicely, even linking to the thin firmware compromise we adopted.) Starting with the XO-1.5 (and continuing with the XO-1.75), the WLAN module is based on a Marvell 88W8686. This chip uses the same libertas driver as the 88W8388, but has simpler firmware which is incapable of performing the mesh routing on the WLAN's processor. We did pay to get a version of firmware developed for both the 8388 and the 8686 which offloads the packet processing to the main processor (normally much of this is done by the WLAN's processor). This "thin firmware", while consuming more power does allow open source support for 802.11s and AP mode as well as open experimentation with mesh routing and protocols. See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Thinfirm_1.5 and http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Libertas_Thinfirmware_HOWTO > PD: I'd like to report also that the following material is not working: It's a wiki --- go ahead and fix it! Cheers, wad ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
coding 88W8388 firmware
Hi list, I'd like starting learning the skills for helping to write a firmware replace for the 88WW8388 chip. I was reading on the wiki, specially this entry http://wiki.laptop.org/go/88W8388 However, I don't know which is the current state or if some code is already available. I couldn't find any yet. I found this link on the Libertas wiki page: "Discussions about how to open libertas firmware" http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/devel/2007-January/003720.html I ask you for information and colaboration. Cheers, lluvia PD: I'd like to report also that the following material is not working: The adiss link: http://projects.linuxtogo.org/plugins/scmsvn/viewcvs.php/trunk/adiss/?root=marvell8385 Also, from the Libertas page: "There is a project to take the driver developed for the OLPC and utilized it for all of the libertas family including 88w8385 cf cards": http://projects.linuxtogo.org/projects/marvell8385/ ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
