Freifunk mit Ubiquiti UniFi AP

Freifunk.net

Inhalt

Was ist Freifunk.net?

Die Initiative Freifunk.net ist ein nicht-komerzielles, gemeinschaftliches Projekt vieler Freiwilliger, die sich zum Ziel gesetzt haben ein unabhängiges und dezentrales WLAN-Netzwerk aufzubauen, welches von Jederman frei zugänglich, unzensiert und anonym verwendet werden kann und außerdem die Netzneutralität wahrt. Die Initiative ist dabei in lokalen Freifunk-Communities organisiert, welche in jeder größeren und kleineren Stadt anzutreffen sind.

Das Freifunk-Netz erstreckt sich bereits über ganz Deutschland und wächst mit jedem Unterstützer ein Stückchen weiter. Ob auch in deiner Nähe schon ein Freifunk-Zugangspunkt ist, über den du ohne Anmeldung einen freien Internet-Zugang bekommen kannst, erfährst du auf der Freifunk-Karte!

Mitmachen darf jeder! Zum Unterstützen der Idee tritt man am besten mit seiner lokalen Freifunk-Community in Kontakt. Dort kann man sich informieren und austauschen und im Regelfall auch einen eigenen, vorkonfigurierten Freifunk-Router ab 20€ beziehen. Schau also einfach vorbei, z.B. bei Freifunk-München!

Freifunk verbindet!

Freifunk Technik

Freifunk ist als Mesh-Netzwerk konzipiert. Das bedeutet, dass sich benachbarte Freifunk-Router (Knoten) automatisch miteinander verbinden. Netzwerk-Pakete werden dann auf ihrem Weg vom Benutzer (z.B. Smartphone) von Knoten zu Knoten weitergeleitet bis sie ihr Ziel (z.B. Wikipedia) erreichen. Um auch in Situationen in denen keine benachbarten Freifunk-Knoten in Reichweite sind einen Zugang zum Freifunk-Netz zu bekommen, betreiben die Freifunk Communities VPN-Gateways. Isolierte Knoten können so über den privaten Internetzugang des Knoten-Betreibers eine verschlüsselte VPN-Verbindung zum restlichen Freifunk-Netz herstellen. Vom VPN-Gateway aus kann – über eine Verbindung ins Ausland – auch das Internet erreicht werden. Auf diese Weise wird geschickt das rechtliche Problem der deutschen Störerhaftung umgangen.

Auf Freifunk-Routern läuft eine speziell angepasste Version der freien OpenWrt Firmware, namens Gluon. Gluon stellt dabei eine stark vereinfachte Web-Oberfläche bereit, welche zum Einrichten und Konfigurieren eines Freifunk-Knotens verwendet werden kann. Außerdem enthält Gluon einen Autoupdater, welcher den eigenen Freifunk-Knoten immer automatisch auf den aktuellen Softwarestand updatet. Für erfahrene Benutzer gibt es zusätzlich die Möglichkeit sich per SSH auf dem Router einzuloggen, um den vollen Funktionsumfang von OpenWrt auszunutzen.

Unterstützte Hardware

Durch die OpenWrt Basis der Freifunk Firmware “Gluon” gibt es eine breite Auswahl an unterstützen Routern. Zu den geläufigsten Modellen zählen Router der Firmen TP-Link und Ubiquiti Networks. Welche Router im einzelnen unterstützt werden erfährt man auf der Website der lokalen Freifunk-Community. Wegen eines sehr guten Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnisses (Preis < 20€) erfreut sich der Router “TP-Link TL-WR841N” zur Zeit sehr großer Beliebtheit.

Ubnt UniFi APIch habe mich für meinen ersten Freifunk-Knoten für das Modell “Ubiquiti UniFi AP Long Range” (Ubnt UAP-LR) entschieden. Dieser bietet eine sehr gute Reichweite von bis zu 180m, eine leichte Verkabelung dank Stromversorgung über das Netzwerkkabel und wird offiziell von meiner Freifunk-Community (Freifunk-München) unterstützt. Die Freifunk Installation und Konfiguration dieses Routers möchte ich im folgenden exemplarisch für “Freifunk-München” erläutern.

UniFi Router flashen

Nach dem Auspacken und Anschließen des UniFi AP ans lokale Heim-Netzwerk bekommt dieser per DHCP automatisch eine IP-Adresse zugewiesen (<UAP-IP>), welche in der Web-Oberfläche des privaten Internet-Routers (z.B. FritzBox) nachgeschaut werden kann. Mit einem Linux-Computer erfolgt die Installation der Freifunk Firmware (Gluon) auf dem UniFi AP danach in 3 einfachen Schritten:

  1. Via SSH in die original Software des UAP einloggen:
    ssh ubnt@<UAP-IP> #(Passwort: ubnt)
  2. UniFi Factory-Firmware der lokalen Freifunk-Community ins /tmp Verzeichnis des Routers downloaden, z.B.:
    cd /tmp
    wget http://firmware.ffmuc.net/stable/factory/gluon-ffmuc-v2015.2-ubiquiti-unifi.bin
  3. Freifunk-Firmware auf den Router flashen:
    fwupdate.real -m gluon-ffmuc-v2015.2-ubiquiti-unifi.bin -d

Nachdem das Kommando ‘fwupdate.real’ erfolgreich ausgeführt wurde, gibt es das Wort “Done” aus und der Router kann vom Strom-/Netzwerkkabel und vom Heim-Netzwerk (am PoE-Adapter) getrennt werden. (Quelle)

UniFi Router konfigurieren

Anstelle vom Heim-Netzwerk (z.B. FritzBox) sollte der Router jetzt direkt mit dem eigenen Computer verbunden werden. Nachdem das Strom-/Netzwerkkabel wieder angesteckt wurde startet der UniFi AP die neu installierte Freifunk-Firmware im Setup/Config-Mode. Alternativ erreicht man den Config-Mode durch drücken der Reset-Taste für ca. 3 Sekunden. Den Config-Mode kann man daran erkennen, dass die grüne LED des Routers blinkt (ca. 1x pro Sekunde).

Gluon Web UIIm Config-Mode hat der UAP die IP-Adresse 192.168.1.1 und betreibt einen DHCP-Server, so dass der eigene Computer automatisch eine IP-Adresse aus dem Bereich 192.168.1.x/24 zugewiesen bekommen sollte. Alternativ kann dem eigenen Computer auch manuell eine IP-Adresse aus diesem Bereich gegeben werden (z.B. 192.168.1.100). Steht die Verbindung zwischen Computer und Router, kann die Gluon Web-Oberfläche auf http://192.168.1.1 erreicht werden.

Die Gluon Web-Oberfläche stellt verschiedene Felder zum Konfigurieren des Knoten bereit (Name, Kontakt, Geo-Koordinaten, Bandbreitenlimitierung, …) und ist weitgehend selbsterklärend. Nach abschließen der Konfiguration muss der Router nochmals neu gestartet werden. Auch kann er nun wieder mit dem lokalen Heim-Netzwerk verbunden werden, so dass er ggf. übers Internet eine Verbindung zum Freifunk-VPN-Gateway herstellen kann. Der Router startet nun in den Normal-Mode: Die grüne LED leuchtet dauerhaft.

Für erfahrene Benutzer gibt es zusätzlich zum Normal-Mode und Config-Mode auch noch den Failsafe-Mode. Dieser kann erreicht werden wenn im Bootvorgang des Routers mehrfach die Reset-Taste gedrückt wird. Im Failsafe-Mode blinkt die grüne LED sehr schnell (schneller als 1x pro Sekunde). In diesem Modus sind alle Services deaktiviert und der Router ist nur per Telnet/SSH auf 192.168.1.1 zu erreichen.
(Quelle 1, Quelle 2, Quelle 3)

Viel Spaß mit eurem eigenen Freifunk-Knoten!

OpenPhoenux LinuxTag 2013 Impressions

LinuxTag-Logo
The LinuxTag 2013 is over, and I want to share some brief impressions I got during our stay in Berlin.

The LinuxTag is a nice and well organized FOSS exhibition in Germany, attracting more than 10.000 visitors during 4 days.

We gave a talk about the OpenPhoenux project at the 2nd evening and had about 60 listeners. Some of them got very interested and followed us to the booth afterwards. For everyone who couldn’t participate, the slides are available online: Slides.pdf

We shared a booth with some other “Linux & Embedded” projects, namely: OpenEmbedded, Ethernut, Nut/OS, Oswald/Metawatch. Our Booth was professionally looking and I think we got quite some people interested in the project. Basically we had a constant flow of people at the booth during our 3 days stay and the overall feedback was rather positive!

OpenPhoenux LinuxTag 2013 (1) OpenPhoenux LinuxTag 2013 (2) OpenPhoenux LinuxTag 2013 (3)

We got interviewed by the “GNU funzt!” team, as well. The (german) video is now available on Youtube (OpenPhoenux interview is starting at 5:00):


All in all it was a very nice stay in Berlin. I especially enjoyed meeting and chatting with guys who already owned a GTA04. It looks like the community is growing again!

Links:

Openmoko/OpenPhoenux GTA04 jumps off

Table of Contents

gta04+pcblayout

The Story

All started off after Openmoko Inc. began to ship the Openmoko Neo 1973 (GTA01) and Neo Freerunner (GTA02) in 2007, which are fully open source smartphones. A dream became true for many open source lovers and technology enthusiasts at that time.

Sadly, Openmoko Inc. canceled their efforts for an open smartphone in 2009. But due to their openness (schematics, hardware specifications, software) it was possible for enthusiasts from the Openmoko community, with great support from Golden Delicious Computers (one of the german Openmoko distributors), to develop a new and modern open smartphone – the OpenPhoenux GTA04.

Technical Specifications

DSC00972

  • 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor (DM3730)
  • PowerVR integrated graphics (SGX530)
  • 2.8” resistive VGA touchscreen
  • HSDPA 3G modem (Option GTM601)
  • 512MB RAM
  • 1GB internal memory & SDHC card slot (up to 32GB)
  • WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Transceiver
  • Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Barometric Altimeter
  • USB 2.0 OTG port, 2.5mm headset port, GPS antenna port, video out

Prototypes & First production run (2012)

om_beagle_hybrid
Golden Delicious Computers and the enthusiasts from the Openmoko community started off with the idea of stuffing a BeagleBoard into a Neo Freerunner case and connecting an USB UMTS dongle to it – this was the first prototype GTA04A1, announced in late 2010 and presented at OHSW 2010 and FOSDEM 2011.

Next, they started to integrate all of this onto a single PCB of the same size as the Neo 1973/Freerunner boards, so it could fit into their cases, use their batterys, antennas, speakers, buttons and touchscreens. This board was then called GTA04A2 – the second prototype, which had quite some problems. A redesign of that prototype resulted to the GTA04A3 “Early-Adpoter” boards, which were shipped to about 20 develpoers, enabling them to start with software development for the platform.
LinuxTag12The next step was to reach out to the people by presenting the project on other conventions like the FOSDEM 2012, Openmobility 2012, Linuxwochen 2012 and the LinuxTag 2012, to produce bigger batches of GTA04s. To finance the first production run of the GTA04A4 (which includes some more fixes over the GTA04A3) Goldelico collected pre-orders from interested people from the Openmoko community. They were able to collect about 250 pre-orders and were thus able to start the first big OpenPhoenux production run.

GTA04 Boards in vapour phase soldering machine
GTA04 Boards in vapour phase soldering machine
Unfortunately, “mass”-production turned out not to be an easy task. Goldelico had to find, analyse and solve a lot of problems within the production line and especially in the soldering process, which took a lot of time. Because of all the troubles the people who pre-ordered in the beginning had to wait about 1 year to finally get their devices. At the end of 2012 all problems were solved and the “Group-Tour” had successfully finished. The GTA04 team is very happy to have reached that big milestone. Now that there are about 300 GTA04s (A3+A4) out in the wild, the interest in the Linux/FOSS community seems to be growing for our project. To satisfy that growing demand Goldelico will happily produce more GTA04s of revision A5 (which will include some minor fixes over the A4).

“Now as we have finally learned everything about mass production […], it is time to kick-start the next [production run].” (Dr. Schaller, Golden Delicious Computers)

Next production run (2013) – Out now!

DSC01512To finance the 2nd production run of about 200 more GTA04 boards Goldelico started to collect pre-orders just recently. The production should run smoothly that time, as there were no big changes and the process is known. Production will start in march 2013 and the boards should ship shortly after that.

If you’re interested in pre-ordering one of those new A5 boards, check out the Handheld-Linux store. If you’re interested in getting a complete “Letux 2804” unit (GTA04 board build into an Openmoko Freerunner case) now you can get it from the first OpenPhoenux reseller Pulster.eu (stock is limited!).

OpenPhoenux ecosystem

openphoenux
While preparing the next revision of the GTA04 and solving production problems, the guys at Goldelico started to experiment with other GTA04 powered devices. So it is no secret, that there is already an open GTA04 tablet prototype (Letux 7004) and the ready to use GTA04 professional PDA (Letux 3704), which can be used e.g. in logistics (RFID), measurement (GPS) or guiding tasks (big sunlight readable screen & long lasting battery).
The software for the GTA04 is already in a good shape as well. Besides the Debian (squeeze) hardware-validation image, there is the Debian based QtMoko distribution and the FSO based SHR distribution, which makes the GTA04 useable as a daily phone. Furthermore, a port of Replicant (fully open source Android) is in the works. All in all the GTA04 owners in the OpenPhoenux community seem to be satisfied with their devices, so is Nikolaus Schaller from Goldelico:

“[…] I enjoy every day to be member of this OpenPhoenux community. Let’s make the OpenPhoenux fly to new levels next year!” (Dr. Schaller, Golden Delicious Computers)

I really appreciate to see our community grow again and can just second Nikolaus’ sentence. I wish the community a successful year 2013, in which we can satisfy a lot of free software enthusiasts and freedom lovers needs. OpenPhoenux – Free your phone!

Some more Goodies

There are still some more goodies in the pipeline… So stay tuned!


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GTA04 production is processing

The OpenPhoenux GTA04 production is finally making nice process. All the GTA04A4 (Group Tour 1) preorders should be ready and shipped soon!

This is the lastest batch of devices, which has sucessfully passed Golden Delicious Computers’ QA process and fulfilled the high quality claims.

After a lot of production issues had to be solved in the last months, we’ve now found a method which provides us with a good production yield. After switching to vapour phase soldering [0], we got rid of most the soldering problems.

GTA04 boards in the vapour phase soldering machine (1/2)
GTA04 boards in the vapour phase soldering machine (2/2)

Happy hacking to all new GTA04 owners!

[0] http://lists.goldelico.com/pipermail/gta04-owner/2012-October/003241.html

OpenPhoenux: Letux Smartphone and Tablet

OpenPhoenux project

The OpenPhoenux project by the german company “Golden Delicious Computers” (goldelico) is creating a fully free software compatible mobile handheld plattform, based upon an open hardware design. The first step was to design a motherboard fitting the Openmoko Neo Freerunner, so owners of Openmoko phones could “upgrade” their devices to state of the art hardware.

To finance the production of the first big batch of GTA04 boards, goldelico collected preorders of interested people [0]. This “Group Tour” enabled them to start production of about 200 boards, which started to ship to it’s new owners in May 2012 and the last ones are going to be shipped in the coming weeks. Now – about one year and a lot of production complications later – the first batch of GTA04A4 boards is finished [1] and the next one is being prepared [2]. It will include the new GTA04A5 board design, providing some minor bug fixes, and a now working production process.

If you’re interested in one of the new GTA04A5 boards, please subscribe to the OpenPhoenux-Community mailinglist, to get notified about the next production batch and the next round of preorder collection.
It is also possible to register your non-binding interest in one of the new GTA04a5 boards, by using the “Wishlist” functionality, this enables goldelico to estimate the demand and thus the next batch’s size.

Register non-binding interest: http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04
Visit the project’s website at: www.OpenPhoenux.org

Letux 2804 – Smartphone

The Letux 2804 is a smartphone providing a 2.8” touchscreen and a GTA04 core. It’s case can be produced by a 3D printer.
Technical Specifications:

  • 800 MHz / 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor
  • PowerVR SGX integrated graphics
  • 2.84” (43mm x 58mm) VGA touchscreen
  • HSDPA 3G modem
  • 512MB RAM
  • 512MB internal memory + micro SDHC up to 32GB
  • WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Transceiver
  • Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Barometric Altimeter, Camera
  • USB 2.0 port, 2.5mm headset port, GPS antenna port, video out
  • QtMoko, SHR, Android (Replicant), Debian, …

Letux 7004 – Tablet

The Letux 7004 is a free software centric tablet, powered by a 7.0” touchscreen and the same GTA04 core, as it’s small brother Letux 2804. This tablet was developed while solving the GTA04 production problems and is in the prototyping phase at the moment. So it’s not yet ready to order, unfortunately.
Technical Specifications:

  • 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor
  • PowerVR SGX integrated graphics
  • 7” (140mm × 110mm) VGA touchscreen
  • HSDPA 3G modem
  • 1GB RAM
  • 512MB internal memory + micro SDHC up to 32GB
  • WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Transceiver
  • Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Barometric Altimeter
  • USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm headset port, Ethernet port, GPS antenna port, video out
  • QtMoko, SHR, Android (Replicant), Debian, …

If you’re interested in high quality open hardware, “Made in Germany”, which is fully compatible with you favorite free and open source software, you should definitely track the projects mentioned above and jump in to get one of those great devices once you’re ready. I’m absolutely satisfied with my GTA04A3 early adopter board, which I’m happily using since over one year!

[0] http://lists.goldelico.com/pipermail/gta04-owner/2011-November/000679.html
[1] http://lists.goldelico.com/pipermail/community/2012-September/000091.html
[2] http://lists.goldelico.com/pipermail/community/2012-October/000103.html

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GTA04 booting SHR in 17 seconds

Video

This video shows the Openmoko/Goldelico GTA04 booting SHR Linux in 17 seconds.
Note: SHR is not yet optimized for a fast bootup on the GTA04.

Got interrested?

If you’re interrested to participate in this open hardware and free and open source software effort, please jump in:
Get your GTA04 now by participating in the GTA04 Group Buy Tour.

Get more information at: www.gta04.org

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OpenPhoenux – Independent Mobile Handheld

Goldelico GTA04 – OpenPhoenux

Here is a nice video featuring the Goldelico OpenPhoenux (GTA04), which is the successor of the Openmoko Freerunner (GTA02).

The video shows the GTA04 board booting and running the QtMoko GNU/Linux distribution which is based upon Debian GNU/Linux and optimized for smartphone usage. Furthermore it shows an early version of the 3D printed GTA04 case, which can easily be modified to everyones needs and ordered at Shapeways.

If you’re interresed in this awesome project, please have a look at its project page www.gta04.org and take part in the GTA04 Group Buy Tour.

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[update] GTA04 Installation Guide for SHR

GTA04 Installation Guide for SHR

This is a step-by-step guide, which should get you from zero to a working SHR on your GTA04 in just a few minutes.

Update Nov. 2012: Updated the instructions to the new default U-Boot enviroment.

Getting the files

Preparing the U-Boot enviroment

uboot multiboot menuThe new U-Boot system (as of November 2012) provides a graphical multi-boot solution.
If your device is shipped after November 2012 you’ll probably already have this system pre-installed.

Otherwise you’ll have to get the latest hw-validation image from  http://download.goldelico.com/gta04 and put it on a specially formated microSD card (using the makesd script). Then boot this special hw-validation microSD card having the AUX button pressed, to flash the new boot system (the screen will trun red while falshing).

After switching back (or reformating) to your normal microSD card you can always access the boot menu by booting the device, having AUX pressed.

Preparing the SHR microSD card

Your microSD card can have several partitions, e.g.:

  • 1st partition: ext3, “rootfs” (e.g. for SHR)
  • 2nd partition: ext3, “system” (e.g. for Debian)
  • 3rd partition: FAT32, “data” (e.g. for music, documents, …)

Installing SHR

To install the SHR image, you have to untar the image you downloaded to the “rootfs”-partition. Then you have to copy the bootargs.scr file to /boot (on the microSD card).

tar xzvpf shr-image.tar.gz --numeric-owner -C /media/rootfs
cp bootargs.scr /media/rootfs/boot/

First boot

shr wizard screen
After you cleanly unmounted the partitions and put the microSD card back into the GTA04 you can boot your device, having the AUX button pressed (to access the boot menu). You’ll be greeted by the graphical U-Boot multiboot selection. Select the partition to boot from (e.g. SD:1 for SHR).

Next, a first start wizard will pop up, which let’s you choose between some options.

Be aware to choose a scale factor of 2.0 when asked. Other than this you could just keep the defaults.

You can now login via USB networking at: 192.168.7.2

Installing Firmware

If you want to use the WiFi/Bluetooth chip, you have to use a non-free firmware from Marvell.
To get it you have to install linux-firmware-sd8686.

opkg install linux-firmware

Congratulations

shr home screenYou successfully installed SHR on your GTA04.

For further information or if you have any issues, please consult the SHR wiki.

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Updated: Openmoko Community Survey 2011

Update 9.1.2012: results are updated.

As the year 2011 nears it’s end, we – the Openmoko Community – did a poll [0] about which is the most popular hardware and which is the most popular software in our community. The poll was open for one week now and we got votes from 73 people.

I decided to close the poll now and release the results to the public. To create a ranking I gave 1 point to a “YES” vote and 0.5 points to a “(YES)” vote. The maximum (100%) is 73 points.

Rankings

Software Side:

1. SHR                  112.5 points    (61%)
2. QtMoko                99.5 points    (54%)
3. Debian                75.5 points    (41%)
4. Other Distro          40.0 points    (22%)


Hardware Side:

1. Om GTA02             158.5 points    (86%)
2. Goldelico GTA04       71.0 points    (38%)
3. Nokia N900            34.0 points    (18%)
4. Other Device          26.0 points    (14%)
5. Palm Pre (+variants)  14.5 points    ( 8%)
6. Om GTA01               9.5 points    ( 5%)
7. Google Nexus S         7.0 points    ( 4%)

Conclusion

On the software side SHR is still the most popular distro, directly followed by QtMoko. Quiet a few people commented, that they intend to code their own software/GUI mostly to educated themselves.

On the hardware side the Om GTA02 is the clear winner (which was expected). Surprisingly the Goldelico GTA04 is the 2nd most interesting device in this community, even though very few people have one, yet. Still, most of the developers already own one and you should get yours soon [1], as it seems to become a common target of this community. The Palm Pre, Om GTA01 and Google Nexus S got very few points and thus are probably not worth to support…

Happy New Year

Now, i’d like to wish all you Open Hard- and Software-Enthusiasts out there a good start into the year 2012. I hope the GTA04 project will flourish in 2012 and will help our community to grow and free the phone again!

Links

[0] http://www.doodle.com/sh6insnivnvqyz7h
[1] http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04 Group Tour

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Openmoko/Goldelico GTA04 is available for the masses!

Goldelico GTA04 – free your phone!

The Goldelico GTA04 >OpenPhoenux< finally made it! Order your GTA04 replacement board for your Openmoko Freerunner (GTA02) and/or 1973 (GTA01) now! (www.handheld-linux.com)

Technical Specifications

  • 800 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor
  • PowerVR SGX integrated graphics
  • 2.84” (43mm x 58mm) VGA touchscreen
  • HSDPA 3G modem
  • 512MB RAM
  • 512MB internal memory + SDHC card slot
  • WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Transceiver
  • Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Barometric Altimeter
  • USB 2.0 port, 2.5mm headset port, GPS antenna port, video out

Info: The GTA04 project only provides a mainboard, which can be used to upgrade a Neo 1973/Freerunner, while still using their case, touchscreen, antennas, speakers and buttons/leds.

The release announcement

Dear all,
I take for granted that you all are eagerly waiting for an annoucement
that another batch of GTA04 boards becomes available. We did wait
with an announcement until we can really answer all questions.

Now, we think we can.

Components have all been ordered for another (small) batch so that we
can get them from production in December. If everything goes well, we
can even ship out some boards before Christmas.

The boards are named GTA04A4 (meaning the PCB revision). They
are fully featured from hardware side:

* DM3730@800 MHz
* UMTS module with 3.75G (up to 14.4 MBit/s)
* Sensors (Barometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Accelerometer)
* GPS
* connector for optional camera module
* well documented building blocks so that you can write your own
boot loaders and kernels. Nobody stops your creativity and
nobody is pretending to protect you from yourself!

So you get something that is unique. A motherboard upgrade for
a handheld device. With open documentation to develop free and
open software. And, a community dedicated to continue the pioneering
work of the first Openmoko team. Last but not least, a team that listens
to your wishes for future upgrades and trying to fulfill them.

How much will it cost?

We know that most of you do expect that it is not too expensive, something
in the range of the GTA02. Unfortunately, we can't fulfill this specific wish.
There are two main reasons (besides we are not financial magicians):

1. the device has some very expensive components (CPU + Memory +
UMTS module)

2. we have really small production batches and therefore, have to pay
much more for the components than e.g. Apple or HTC (factor 2-3
compared to reports from iSuppli).

And, we can't subsidize devices because this is not a feasible long-term
strategy from an economical point of view.

But since raising the size of the batches ("bulk purchasing") has a
big effect ("economies of scale"), we have developed a strategy that should
make everyone happy:

A) there will be units available from (limited) stock shortly before Christmas,
at a high price. We try to produce more of these units to fulfill orders
within days. This offer is also good for getting samples for projects.

B) you can participate in a group-buy at a lower price. This requires
that we reach a certain number of units before we can start production.

So the price and availablility are:

a) 666,66 EUR; available for shipment from stock; planned to start
on 19th December

b) 499.99 EUR; requires 300 ordered units before 10th February 2012
(week after FOSDEM); production start expected for April 2012. There
is also a rebate for the first 100 early bookings.

There are rebates for quantites: 5% for orders of 5 units, 10% for 10 units,
12% for 50 units. So if you build buying groups (like for the Freerunners),
you can save some more money.

Both offers are ready for preorder/subscription through this link:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04

There is a third type of offer - a customized GTA04 board. This means you
can order a board variant where not all components are installed. And the
display connector can be replaced by a Board2Board connector. This allows
to plug the GTA04 like a module on a master board and develop different
handhelds and tablets based on the GTA04 design.

An example of such a device can be seen here:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04%20Custom

Finally, I have compiled some FAQ we have received in the past. If your
question is not amongst them, please ask.

So let's prove that the Openmoko community can not only design and
build samples of a GTA04 but also go into perpetual mass production.

Nikolaus Schaller

FAQ:

Q: Do I need a GTA01 or GTA02?
A: Yes. The GTA04 is a motherboard that fits into a GTA01 or GTA02
case. It does not have all electromechanic compontents. Missing are:
GSM antenna, internal GPS receiver, Earpiece speaker, Handsfree
speakers, Vibracall motor, Battery holder, Battery, USB power supply,
and very important: it does not include a display module. So you have
to take all missing parts from an existing GTA01 or GTA02.

The only exception is the LCD module where we can provide spare
parts.

But you can operate the board without these components - but then
it is not a handheld portable computer with phone functionality.

Or you can try to build your own case. Some inspiring proposals
and samples have been shown recently (e.g. wooden case).

Q: Does the device support the US frequencies?
A: Yes, it is Quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA (3.75G), but not
CDMA2000 1x nor EV-DO

Q: Does it have FCC and CE approvals?
A: At the moment partially. The UMTS module and the WLAN chipsets
are fully precertified. And the GTA04 system has successfully passed
the CE emmission tests, that it does not produce harmful interferences.
We are just missing the CE ESD and safety tests.

Q: Why do I have to wait so long if I participate in the group buy?
A: The reason is that our project has no external funding and needs
to collect enough money before we can order chips and components.
This introduces two types of delay: the preorder-window and then
the delivery time of components. E.g. PCBs are built to our specific
request and that needs between 20 and 30 working days. And
producing and testing several 100 units needs quite a while

Q: Will there be variants?
A: We have decided to run only a single variant with all components
installed. It turned out to be cheaper in total than to have a low-end
variant (e.g. without sensors) and a high-end variant.

We have one variant that we can provide on demand: the module
version. You can use it as the basis for connecting larger displays
and experiment with alternate cases. Details how to mount mechanically
and the pin layout can be found in the System Manual

Q: Does it work with a GTA01 case?
A: Yes. You will even get stereo speakers since the speaker box of the
GTA02 has two. One was sacrificed in the GTA02 to provide WLAN.

Q: Do you have complete phones?
A: We have a handful of complete phones built from returned GTA02
units. They are also available in the shop:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04%20Complete

Q: Do I get the money back if the group buy does not reach the minimum
quantity within the preorder window?
A: Yes. 100% (less money transfer cost).

Q: What is the status of the software?
A: We (Goldelico) do offer a hardware validation kernel and a
Debian/LXDE rootfs, but this does not comprise a phone software.
Projekts like SHR, QtMoko and others are in the middle of porting
their distros to the GTA04 platform. So the software is not completely
ripe but on good progress.

But we already can do phone calls by a simple shell script and
apt-get install through UMTS.

Q: Is there driver support for every bit and piece of the hardware?
A: We do not yet have drivers for Camera, IrDA, Audio IN, Torch/Flash,
FM radio. If you can support the development, please help!

Please also note that these hardware parts have not been tested in
detail. So they may not work at all.

Q: Where are the schematics?
A: The System Manual includes the schematics:

http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-main/downloads/37/

They will be updated soon to reflect the changes from the GTA04A3 (Early
Adopter) to the GTA04A4 board.

Q: Do you have spare components like case, antenna etc.?
A: We can't buy or produce these parts and have no steady supply.
We will try to get some replacements, but can't promise.

Q: Is it possible to downgrade from the GTA04 to GTA02?
A: If you swap the display again, yes. You can also get a second
display module so that you can simply swap the GTA02 and GTA04
boards+display units within minutes:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=LCD%20Module

Q: Do I need a debug board?
A: No. The TI OMAP is "unbrickable" and you just may need a
RS232 cable to boot and reconfigure NAND flash parameters.

Q: I want to use it in a project and need 50, 100, 500, 1000 units.
A: For samples or small quantities, please order them from our
shop. For larger batches, please contact us and we will find out
how fast we can produce and at which volume rebate. Depending
on quantities, we can develop and produce variants.

Q: What can I do to increase the likelihood that the group buy
reaches the minimum quantity?
A: Convince your fellow GTA01/02 owners to think about buying
a GTA04 board. Talk, Mail, Blog about the GTA04 to make it
known that the Openmoko project did lift off again.

Q: I don't feel comfortable to replace the motherboard myself.
A: The most critical part is to remove the LCD module from the
GTA01/GTA02 board. Either find someone to do it for you. Or
get a spare part. Or send the device to us and we will do it for
you at a small fee.

Please follow the instructions like for a buzz rework:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04%20Installation%20Service

Q: I am a reseller. How can I get devices?
A: You are welcome to support the Openmoko movement. But
we can't give any big dealer margins because the components
and production are already very expensive. Please contact us
for details.

Q: My country is not listed in your shop.
A: Running export into all countries on this world needs a
lot of paperwork and knowledge to follow all the customs
regulations. And worse, we have some US-Technology
inside the GTA04 that is classified by EAR. So we need
a re-export permission. This is all beyond our capabilites.
Therefore we have to regret that we can't serve all countries
on this world. But you may find friends who live in a country
we can directly serve and you manage the export yourself.