Hi David
David Farning wrote:
> Below is a very rough draft of an introductory chapter to the manual. The
> idea is to give the reader a rough overview
> of openwrt before diving into the details.
>
I think the documentation should be "down to the bones", with an
introduction a little more similar to my earlier suggestion, followed by
a few paragraphs on the background/history.
I think we all have to admit the first part of the documentation should
mainly just state: What is this and what brought it into being?
Then followed by (and let's have fun): Installation (or a few good
advices about how not to attempt to proceed with an installtion) and
then initial configuration (which again leads towards the next sections
of the documentation, with the specific details).
I think it is somewhat "going a bit over the top" to do more than just
listing the different platforms supported (or worked on) - those who
wants/needs to know more details about a certain processor
architecture/platform will already, or find, other sources
> \subsection{MIPS}
>
> MIPS, for Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages, is a RISC
> microprocessor architecture developed by MIPS Technologies. By the late 1990s
> it was estimated that one in three RISC chips produced were MIPS-based
> designs.[citation needed]
>
> MIPS designs are currently primarily used in many embedded systems such as
> the Series2 TiVo, Windows CE devices, Cisco routers, and video game consoles
> like the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation
> Portable handheld system. Until late 2006 they were also used in many of
> SGI's computer products.
>
> Supported chips:
>
> PPC
>
> PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple IBM
> Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers,
> PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance
> processors as well. PowerPC was the cornerstone of AIM's PReP and Common
> Hardware Reference Platform initiatives in the 1990s, but the architecture
> found the most success in the personal computer market in Apple's Macintosh
> lines from 1994 to 2006 (before Apple's transition to Intel).
>
> PowerPC is largely based on IBM's earlier POWER architecture, and retains a
> high level of compatibility with it; the architectures have remained close
> enough that the same programs and operating systems will run on both if some
> care is taken in preparation; newer chips in the POWER series implement the
> full PowerPC instruction set.
>
> ARM
>
> The ARM architecture (previously, the Advanced RISC Machine, and prior to
> that Acorn RISC Machine) is a 32-bit RISC processor architecture developed by
> ARM Limited that is widely used in a number of embedded designs. Because of
> their power saving features, ARM CPUs are dominant in the mobile electronics
> market, where low power consumption is a critical design goal.
>
> Today, the ARM family accounts for approximately 75 of all embedded 32-bit
> RISC CPUs,[1] making it one of the most prolific 32-bit architectures in the
> world. ARM CPUs are found in all corners of consumer electronics, from
> portable devices (PDAs, mobile phones, media players, handheld gaming units,
> and calculators) to computer peripherals (hard drives, desktop routers).
> Important branches in this family include Marvell's XScale and the Texas
> Instruments OMAP series.
>
>
> AVR32
>
> The AVR32 is a 32-bit RISC microprocessor architecture designed by Atmel. The
> microprocessor architecture was designed by a handful of people educated at
> the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, %including lead designer
> Øyvind Strøm, PhD and CPU architect Erik Renno, M.Sc in Atmel's Norwegian
> design center.
>
> The AVR32 Architecture consists of several micro-architectures, most notably
> the AVR32A and AVR32B architectures, which describes fixed additions to the
> Instruction Set Architecture, configurations of the register file and the use
> of instruction and data-caches. Further descriptions are found in the AVR32
> Architecture Manual.
>
>
>
> cris
>
> The ETRAX CRIS is a series of CPUs designed and manufactured by Axis
> Communications for use in embedded systems since 1993[1]. The name is an
> acronym of the chip's features: Ethernet, Token Ring, AXis - Code Reduced
> Instruction Set. Token ring support has been taken out from the latest chips
> as it has become obsolete.
>
>
> i386
>
> The Intel386[1] is a microprocessor which was used as the central processing
> unit (CPU) of many personal computers from 1986 until 2007. During its design
> phase the processor was code-named simply "P3", the third-generation
> processor in the x86 line, but is normally referred to as either i386 or just
> 386. The 80386 operated at about 5 million instructions per second (MIPS) to
> 11.4 MIPS for the 33 MHz model. [1] It was the first x86 processor to have a
> 32-bit architecture, with a basic programming model that has remained
> virtually unchanged for over twenty years and remains completely backward
> compatible. Successively newer implementations of this same architecture have
> become literally several hundred times faster than the original i386 chip
> during these years.
>
>
I think it will be just fine with a list of the platforms (as the one below)
> Infineon/ADMtek ADM5120
> Infineon/ADMtek ADM5120
> AMCC PowerPC 440
> Texas Instruments AR7
> Atmel AT91
> Atheros AR231x/5312
> RMI/AMD Alchemy 1500
> Atmel AT32AP7000
> Broadcom BCM47xx/53xx
> Broadcom BCM47xx/53xx
> Broadcom BCM63xx
> Axis Etrax-LX100v2
> Intel IOP32x
> Intel IXP42x
> AMCC PowerPC 405
> Marvell/Intel PXA250
> Mikrotik RouterBoard 532
> RDC3211
> Broadcom SiByte
> User Mode Linux
> x86
>
About the history - there is a whole discussion thread in the forum
which in details goes though the history of the project (I'm looking for
the link and can't find it a the moment).
But again - this section should probably be 'shortish' (history is
always a product of interpretation and sometimes it is better just to
mention a few basic details, and then get on with other things?).
>
> \section{OpenWrt History}
> The project started in January 2004 as a result of discussion caused by
> information posted on a Linksys wrt54g hacking page on seattlewireless.net.
> The
> discussions grew to have their own channel #wrt54g. Shortly thereafter the
> project was moved to openwrt.org.
>
> The first OpenWrt versions were based on Linksys GPL sources for WRT54G. They
> were just the standard Linksys firmware with a stripped down file system and
> some additional applications. In order to allow more flexibility the project
> the project started using a buildroot from the uclibc project. This new
> version
> was known as OpenWrt "stable release" and was widely in use. There are still
> many OpenWrt applications, like the Freifunk-Firmware or [EMAIL PROTECTED],
> which are
> based on this version.
>
> In the beginning of 2005 some new developers joined the team. After some
> months
> of closed development the team decided to publish the first "experimental"
> version of OpenWrt. The experimental versions used a heavily customized build
> system based on buildroot2 from the uclibc project.
>
> At this point OpenWrt began to use official Linux kernel sources and add
> patches for specific processors and network interfaces driver. The developer
> team reimplemented most of the functionality offered by different device
> vendors
> by studying the differences between the GPL code shipped by the vendors and
> stock kernels.
>
> There are free tools for writing new firmware images directly into the flash
> (mtd), for configuring the wireless lan chip (wlcompat/wificonf) and to
> program the VLAN-capable switch via the proc filesystem. The codename of the
> first OpenWrt release is "White Russian", a popular cocktail. Currently, the
> development of the White Russian line has ended with the release of OpenWrt
> 0.9.
>
> The development of the next release is taking place in our subversion
> repository. It will contain support for many more embedded boards. Its
> codename is Kamikaze.
>
I think it would be enough to just point to the download "area" (and
remind that there is a difference between WhiteRussian and Kamikaze)?
> \begin{tabular}{ll}
> Timestamp&Version\\
> 2005.02.02&Before experimental\\
> 2005.06.25&White Russian RC1\\
> 2005.07.18&White Russian RC2\\
> 2005.09.14&White Russian RC3\\
> 2005.11.23&White Russian RC4\\
> 2006.03.27&White Russian RC5\\
> 2006.11.07&White Russian RC6\\
> 2007.01.30&White Russian 0.9\\
> 2007-06-01&Kamikaze 7.06\\
> 2007-07-23&Kamikaze 7.07\\
> \end{tabular}
>
I try to write a more specific suggestion and hopefully post it tomorrow :-)
--
Gregers Petersen, Anthropologist
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.wireless-ownership.org
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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