Modular Linux kernel for the Gemini PDA with lid close fix

February 2nd 2019

Sometimes, well, quite often, maybe one out of twenty times when closing the lid, the Gemini PDA running Debian did not turn off the screen and go to sleep, because of keys being pressed by the closing screen before the keyboard gets turned off. When one recognized the Gemini getting hot in the pocket already a quarter to a half of the battery juice was lost.

Recently Adam Boardman has fixed this annoying issue within the Gemini’s Linux kernel. His fix disables the keyboard directly upon lid close, rather than waiting for screen blanking via userspace control. Within a few days after the fix I have not noticed the issue anymore. This fix is more than worth another kernel build. Again, I want to share my kernel build below:

The kernel configuration is unchanged (with respect to the previous article), but included for completeness: gemini-3.18.41+-config.gz (3316 downloads )

For the build, again the updated kernel source the from https://github.com/gemian/gemini-linux-kernel-3.18 has been used.

Again the kernel modules for the iptables MIRROR target (will not be usable with the default iptables version on the Gemini) and frandom are included.

Those who do not want to go through the build themselves can download my prebuild kernel from here:

Kernel Image: linux_boot-gemini-3.18.41+.img (381 downloads )
Modules: modules_firmware-gemini-3.18.41+.tar.gz (1123 downloads )
(the kernel modules in the previous article should still work, however, the new build is included for completeness)

Instructions for flashing the image can be found on: support.planetcom.co.uk. Make sure to use a proper scatter file, in example the one that has been used for the initial flashing. Using the Download only mode of the flash tool is sufficient. Uncheck all partitions but boot (or boot1 or boot2, depending on your boot order). For the boot partition respectively the boot1 or boot2 partition select the downloaded kernel image.

Alternatively you can flash the kernel using dd:

dd if=linux_boot-gemini-3.18.41+.img of=/dev/block/disk/by-partlabel/boot

If Linux is not your primary operating system on the Gemini use boot1 or boot2 instead, depending on your partition layout.

After flashing, copy the modules archive onto your Gemini and extract it in your root directory:

cd /
tar -xzf /path_to/modules_firmware-gemini-3.18.41+.tar.gz

After rebooting the device, it should go to sleep reliably after closing the lid.


Jürgen

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Posted in gadgets, kernel, linux | 9 Comments »

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