Subject:
A new project: Xbox-Linux HOW-TO
From:
"Jukka Aho" ####@####.####
Date:
29 Jan 2003 10:27:16 -0000
Message-Id: <000b01c2c780$9d7cac50$c7c38e3e@ronsu>
Hi!
I have been asked to write a HOW-TO for the Xbox-Linux project
at <http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/>. I am now looking for
some advice to get started on it.
* * *
As you may or may not know, Xbox is a game console designed
and manufactured by Microsoft. "Xbox-Linux" is a collaborative
open source effort that has ported Linux to it.
In short, we have Debian and Mandrake distributions available
for the Xbox. The installation images can be downloaded from
the above-mentioned SourceForge page. Although the core system
is still a bit rough on the edges and not all hardware features
are yet completely supported, everything is already in a fully
usable state, and further development is actively going on.
Possible uses range from a single-purpose network-enabled
multimedia appliance (for example, a streaming/DVD media
player, a living-room network terminal, a headless server,
firewall, nat or router) all the way to a full-blown desktop
computer setup, with all the usual X11 or framebuffer
applications running - complete with a standard keyboard,
mouse and other USB peripherals, such as printers.
The user can freely choose whether he only wants to casually
boot in Linux - on and off between gaming sessions - or to
dedicate the system solely for Linux. In either case, Linux
can be installed directly on the hard disk or booted from
a CD or a DVD-R.
* * *
Installing Linux on Xbox is not particularly hard but requires
some initial knowledge about the inner workings of the Xbox
hardware, hard disk partitioning (which differs quite much
from a regular PC), special filesystem issues, USB adapters,
using the Xbox gamepad controller on Linux, boot ROM related
cosiderations, video mode issues and other such things.
This kind of detailed technical information is definitely
not available in the official Xbox user manual.
I am now envisioning a relatively largish "Xbox-Linux HOW-TO"
that would have four main sections:
1) The initial introductory section with an explanation of
what Xbox hardware is all about, what you can use Xbox-Linux
for, and what needs to be taken into account before even
considering installing anything.
2) The actual step-by-step installation guides for both
current distributions and possible future ones.
3) Post-install configuring guide and special considerations.
For example, how to build an Xbox-compatible kernel all by
yourself, how to make use of Xbox controllers and memory
cards, how to tweak the video modes...
4) Appendices. This would amount to the missing technical
manual for a new Xbox user, and have some reference-style
subsections about the essential Xbox hardware components,
default Xbox hard drive partitioning scheme, building an
USB adapter, building a VGA cable, AV connector pinouts
etc.
* * *
There are already some readily available documents on the
subject which could be easily edited and integrated to the
HOW-TO (with the authors' permission, of course), but the
main bulk still needs to be written from scratch. By no
means am I going to do this all by myself, or be able to
deliver all of it at once. It would have to be a collective
effort. Fortunately, other people working on the project have
already contacted me and expressed their desire to help with
the "official" HOW-TO.
The plan would now be to form a basic structure of the document
for myself and others to build upon - then write and deliver
some rudimentary version of the above, and extend it over the
time with additional details and information.
There is a special twist in the Xbox-Linux user base: many
who would like to try it out have turned out to be first-time
Linux users, with no previous experience on Linux systems
whatsoever. This peculiarity would have to be somehow addressed
in the document. I have been thinking about heavy linking to
other HOW-TO documents (especially the ones intended for new
users) and distribution-specific documentation, and explaining
the basic installation and configuration steps in a way that
does not require previous knowledge about UNIX/Linux systems.
* * *
If all this sounds reasonable, I would like to register the
project with the name "Xbox-Linux HOW-TO".
Besides refining the structure, the primary concern is now having
the right tools available for actually writing the documentation.
I have previous experience on writing validated HTML/CSS documents
with decent structural markup and accessibility issues in mind,
but DocBook SGML/XML is a strange new world for me. I have skimmed
through the Author Guide, and apparently diving in to this really
needs some time.
For various practical reasons, I would primarily want to work on
the Windows platform (boo! hiss!) for now. I understand that the
common UNIX tools for producing DocBook SGML could be used under
the Cygwin environment, although I would really like more of a
WYSIWYG style approach where you can pick up predefined styles
from menus and keyboard shortcuts and see the formatted result
while editing - instead of having to look at the actual markup
all the time. Any ideas? Is there any software on either platform
that would allow doing this, while still using the DocBook DTD?
In any case, I would very much like to use the predefined markup
elements in DocBook - such as notification and warning boxes,
different styles for captured screen output or sample keyboard
input etc. - to their fullest extent, where applicable.
The Author Guide had a mention about a new author being able
to submit the work in "any format" and someone voluntarily
converting it to DocBook for starters. Is there such a service?
Would I be better off using it or starting out in DocBook?
I would appreciate any comments you might have. Thanks in
advance.
--
Jukka Aho +358 6 317 4282
Konepajakatu 9 Q 48 +358 50 349 8812 IRCNet:znark
FIN-65100 Vaasa ####@####.#### http://www.iki.fi/znark/
