O2 Joggler

The latest version of Xubuntu – 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) – is now available from the Ubuntu page. This release has the same Joggler specific features as the 12.04 release. Notable new features in 12.10 for Xubuntu are:

• Xfce 4.10
• Completely rewritten offline documentation
• In the application menu, all settings-related launchers are now grouped under the Settings Manager
• Updated artwork, including new wallpaper, documentation looks and updates to LightDM, Greybird and Ubiquity slideshow
• New versions of Catfish and Parole

For information on what’s new in this version of Xubuntu, please see the release information page at the Xubuntu website.

Ubuntu/Xubuntu 12.04, Linux Mint 13, and Joli OS 1.2 have been updated with the following changes:

• Kernel 3.2.32 with fh kernel module for reading/writing efi flash.
• Latest XBMC ‘re-touched’ skin from Jezz X.
• Distribution Package updates.

Linux Mint 13 is now available for download. Due to the on disk size of Linux Mint, the install is cut down somewhat with removal of some packages including banshee, mono and libreoffice.

Ubuntu/Xubuntu 12.04 and JoliOS 1.2 images have also been updated, with kernel v3.2.20 and a config fix for florence, that fixes the “stuck keys” issue. The new images also include any distribution package updates.

Images for Ubuntu/Xubuntu 12.04 LTS, are now available. Also included is a Base/Server image that boots to console that can be used to build your own customised desktop, or used as a base for other tasks. The Joli OS and Linux Mint releases are also updated.

Changes include:

• Kernel 3.2.16
• EMGD 1.14
• Updated XBMC, and new packaged mplayer with VAAPI support
• Various other package updates.

See the distribution specific page for more details.

Linux Mint 12 is now available. It includes the latest development version of MATE Desktop Environment and boots to MATE by default. Gnome 3 is included, but the Gnome 3 shell does not currently work on EMGD. Libreoffice, GIMP and VLC were removed to save some space.

Updates for other distributions are also available. New features include kernel 3.2.4, and on screen keyboard support for lightdm on Xubuntu. Also includes general package updates. The new kernel should hopefully fix some free space issues with btrfs that were present on 3.1.6.

Updates for all distributions are available. New features include kernel 3.1.6, updated Xserver 1.10 for natty/oneiric based distros and new EMGD driver. Note the new EMGD driver and some other updates are already available for older images via the launchpad PPA – installable via apt-get. The new EMGD driver can cause screen corruption on shutdown, but it seems to be slightly quicker for 2d operations than the older driver, and hopefully more stable.

Should there be no major issues with the updates, this will be the last set of updates for Ubuntu Natty, and Linux Mint 11. I still do intend to package up a Linux Mint 12.

In the last news posting I had said a LXDE ubuntu image would be made (Lubuntu). However, it turned out, that there were a few issues with LXDE, including a stability issue with chrome and Xserver, that I hadn’t seen before. Instead I went for XFCE desktop (Xubuntu), which is a good replacement for the old gnome2 desktop that Ubuntu used to have (and what I currently run on my desktop machine). I have also provided a standard Ubuntu image, with the Unity 2d desktop. Unfortunately the Unity desktop doesn’t really work well on the Joggler (At least for me), but it is provided here anyway.

Ubuntu 11.04, Linux Mint 11, and Joli OS 1.2 were all updated with new features and usability improvements. Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric is in the pipeline, but due to the new “Unity” interface not being very usable on the Joggler touchscreen, a Lubuntu release will also be made that will use the lighter LXDE desktop. A Bodhi linux image is also in progress, which uses the Enlightenment window manager and has a touchscreen mode that may work well on the Joggler.

The following outlines the improvements with the latest images:

• Linux Kernel 3.1
• New Xorg evdev, with excellent right mouse click emulation.
• In kernel ethernet driver replaced with vendor driver to avoid some lockups.
• Distro package updates, and updated XBMC.

New images released with Linux Mint 11. Linux Mint 11 is still heavier on the Joggler than Ubuntu, but may have a more familiar interface for some. It can also be slimmed down easily.

Joli OS and Ubuntu Natty are also updated. Updates include:

• New EMGD v1.8 – xbmc now works without having to build against gl-es
• Don’t ship squeezeplay by default, but add install script to install squeezeplay from birdlikewires (Thanks Roobarb!)
• Updated packages to current versions – including latest xbmc with excellent Xeebo skin (Thanks Hitcher)
• Ditch uncompressed btrfs version – the compressed works better and there seems little use case for the uncompressed currently compared to ext4.
• Use 256MB swap by default. On a smaller memory stick, it makes more sense.

Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty) for the Joggler has been released (Joggler image v1.0). Since the last beta release, all packages have been updated to the Natty release versions, as well as re-adding XBMC, Squeezeplay and a VAAPI enabled mplayer as with the other images.