[maemo-developers] OMAP 2420 / lower level hardware docs?

[From: Jon Smirl]

On 3/11/07, Klaus Rotter <klaus at rotters.de> wrote:
> Jeff Sauer wrote:
> > Anyone have any links to specifics on the ARM CPU and other "blocks" of
> > the OMAP 2420?
>
> AFAIK you get this information (at least the interesting stuff: e.g.
> 3D-hardware) only if
> a)you sign a NDA and
> b)if your company will order a significant number of devices.
>
> So, I think, Nokia has that information but can not release it to the
> public. I hope someone there will decide that a hardware supported
> OpenGL driver would be a big benefit for the N800.

Using a closed CPU like the TI  OMAP in an open device like the N800
wasn't the best pairing. Maybe next time Nokia will use a similar but
open processor like the Freescale MX31.

They also could have picked open wifi like Ralink, Realtek or Zydas
instead of the closed Conexant chip. Hopefully companies like Nokia
will become more sensitive to open vs closed hardware as they build
more Linux enabled devices.

> Another solution would be that the open source community can convince TI
> to release those technical documents to the public.

This tactic has been successful in the past. A large customer
convinced ATI to release the hardware documentation for the R200
series, but ATI closed their doc back up after the customer switched
to another graphics chips. Nokia could simply inform TI/Conexant that
the next generation devices will only use open hardware and see what
their response is.

-- 
Jon Smirl
jonsmirl at gmail.com