How to create a handheld Linux terminal • Hacker News Board

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#21

Post by networked » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 2:51 PM UTC

blueintegral wrote: post #20

Reminds me of the Zipit Z2, which was a handheld messenger toy that could be hacked to run linux: https://mozzwald.com/zipitz2 Not as much power as an RPi though.

>Reminds me of the Zipit Z2

Yep. That, and Ben NanoNote (http://en.qi-hardware.com/wiki/Ben_NanoNote), which is another Linux device in the same size category as the Z2 and with similar specs. The notable differences between the NanoNote and the Z2 is that the NanoNote has a USB 2 host port and no Wi-Fi.

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#22

Post by ekianjo » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 2:56 PM UTC

Or you can get an Open Pandora :)

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#23

Post by erikb » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:03 PM UTC

I think the key point to efficient mobile linuxing is neither the hardware nor the basic software but the language input. I feel touchpads and mobile keyboards are both not handy to communicate with bash/vim in the subway. We need a better mobile keyboard for that. Does anybody know who's working on something in that direction?

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#24

Post by asd » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:03 PM UTC

Bandwidth limit exceeded on the images.:(

Edit: He switched over to imgur and the images are now loading fine.

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#25

Post by freehunter » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:08 PM UTC

erikb wrote: post #23

I think the key point to efficient mobile linuxing is neither the hardware nor the basic software but the language input. I feel touchpads and mobile keyboards are both not handy to communicate with bash/vim in the subway. We need a better mobile keyboard for that. Does anybody know who's working on something in that direction?

I was trying to find a small Blackberry-like keyboard for a side project I was working on about a year ago. Doesn't exist, at least not in a form-factor that is easy to integrate (USB, Bluetooth, etc). The best I could find is a USB wireless keyboard that they sell on Adafruit that really, really, really sucked and was still way too big.

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#26

Post by TimGremalm » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:11 PM UTC

jsherer wrote: post #6

Very cool and inspiring. I'm doing something similar [1] by replacing the guts of a Toshiba Libretto 50C (a tiny laptop from 1996) with a Raspberry Pi and upgrading its screen to a 7" widescreen. It's slightly larger than your terminal, but in my opinion, will be much more usable as a PC with the larger keyboard. But, to each his own :) What kind of battery life do you get with your machine? [1]: http://restoringmyli…

Estimated 8.6h with idle CPU, based on my calculations. Raspberry Pi A+ 0.52W usage at 100ma 5.2V on CPU idle (http://raspi.tv/2014/raspberry-pi-a-how-much-power-does-it-n...)

Adafruit PiTFT - 2.8" Raspberry Pi Touchscreen with full-on backlight the current draw is ~100mA. (http://www.adafruit.com/product/1601) 0.15=0.5W

Powerconsumption of Rpi and TFT should be 1.02W at idle.

PowerBoost 500 Charger - Rechargeable 5V Lipo USB Boost @ 500mA+ (http://www.adafruit.com/product/1944) 2.500Ah 3.7V LiPo 3.7V2.5Ah=9.25Wh Boosted to 5V at 95% efficiency 8.79Wh

8.79Wh/1.02W = 8.6h

*Edit: I did a mistake when I calculated the Watt-hour. The Watt-hours of the battery can't increase just because the voltage increases, changed it.

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#27

Post by pjc50 » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:20 PM UTC

erikb wrote: post #23

I think the key point to efficient mobile linuxing is neither the hardware nor the basic software but the language input. I feel touchpads and mobile keyboards are both not handy to communicate with bash/vim in the subway. We need a better mobile keyboard for that. Does anybody know who's working on something in that direction?

Could you elaborate on what "better" would mean here?

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#28

Post by Mynameismark » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:26 PM UTC

erikb wrote: post #23

I think the key point to efficient mobile linuxing is neither the hardware nor the basic software but the language input. I feel touchpads and mobile keyboards are both not handy to communicate with bash/vim in the subway. We need a better mobile keyboard for that. Does anybody know who's working on something in that direction?

How about The Other Half Keyboard for Jolla smartphone? (Which incidentally is the continuation of the N900/N9 from Nokia)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2028347278/tohkbd-the-o...

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#29

Post by gcb0 » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:39 PM UTC

erikb wrote: post #23

I think the key point to efficient mobile linuxing is neither the hardware nor the basic software but the language input. I feel touchpads and mobile keyboards are both not handy to communicate with bash/vim in the subway. We need a better mobile keyboard for that. Does anybody know who's working on something in that direction?

true. that's why the way to go with portable is to put a beagle bone or a Chinese arm soc in a mechanical keyboard. add some small screen (though you will always use the bb video out or a makeshift gglass) and you got yourself a cyber punk deck, minus the neural interface :-(

Re: How to create a handheld Linux terminal

#30

Post by zokier » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:44 PM UTC

mkesper wrote: post #13

Powering this with something slightly more powerful than a Raspberry and it should completely be usable. http://socialcompare.com/fr/comparison/low-cost-arm-boards (from 2013, does anyone have an up to date comparison list?)

http://linuxgizmos.com/ringing-in-2015-with-40-linux-friendl... is one list, but frankly there are ridiculous number of these boards/modules available.