King's Bush [[Was Cox's Bush..] Was the Stradlings Bush.]

[Chris Sawer]

In message <20011224194759.53279.qmail@web21002.mail.yahoo.com> you wrote:

> > From
> > http://www.armlinux.org/pipermail/armlinux-newbie/2001-December/000746.html
> 
> > -- Bush CL7500FE -based internet set top boxes and ARM/Linux 
> >
> > Do these boxes share much common hardware with any 
> > other systems for which ARM/Linux has already been ported? 
> > Simtec Ltd make a box that seems very similar.. 
> > would a working kernel be openly available for that? :
> >
> > http://www.simtec.co.uk/products/r7500/specs.shtml
> 
> >From the Manchester Acorn Users Group website:
> http://www.acorn.manchester.ac.uk/fut.html
> 
> > meeting of the Manchester Acorn User Group this 
> > Wednesday evening, 19th December.
> > This meeting will be entirely informal, with a 
> > wide variety of things to see and talk about:
> [...]
> >	Arm Linux on Bush STB
> >
> > Simtec are hoping to be present with ARM Linux 
> > running on a Bush set top box, and possibly on a 
> > CATS board and a RiscStation as well. (Perhaps 
> > there will also be an opportunity to see the USB
> > hardware for RISC OS that is under development.
> > And of course Simtec are involved in various 
> > other RISC OS projects that should be of interest).
> 
> Did anyone on this list attend the Manchester meet?

Yes, I did. (Sorry about the delay in replying, but I've been away for
Christmas and only just got this message).

The people from Simtec did indeed demonstrate ArmLinux running on a Bush
IBX-100 STB, but only in text mode with a very few basic programs present.

As far as I understood it, to get Linux going on the Bush STB they had made
their own ROMs (which they'd blown onto flash ROM and installed in place of
RISC OS) which contained a very basic Linux kernel and filesystem. I'm no
expert in Linux, so I may have misunderstood or misremembered exactly how
they'd done it. They'd definitely made their own ROMs rather than using a zip
drive, though.

If you want to know the details, the best thing to do would be to get in
contact with them: http://www.simtec.co.uk/ - they may even offer to sell you
a set of the relevant flash roms at cost (I think they offered to do this at
the meeting)

Thanks,

Chris