Announcing Moblin V2 Core Alpha Release

Submitted by Tariq Shureih, updated on 21 May 2009 - 21 comments

Moblin v2 Core Alpha Release Notes

The Moblin Project is happy to make the Moblin Core Alpha for netbooks available for testing and taking the bits out for a ride.

Moblin is a community open source project, initially targeting Intel(r) Atom(tm) based netbooks.

This Alpha release is the first chance for the larger community to start multiple-level testing of:

  • The core Linux O/S, boot process, inter-process, and package interactions.
  • The new "Fastboot" feature of Moblin, which fundamentally improves boot time and allows for unprecedented speed for a general purpose Linux.
  • Connectivity and networking, using the new ConnMan connectivity manager.
  • Kernel 2.6.29-rc2.
  • The Moblin Core Components (first look at this), including Clutter and all other UI development tools.
  • Xserver 1.6 (with DRI2).
  • New Moblin Image Creator (MIC2) and installation tool.

System Requirements:

  • CPU: Intel Atom or Intel(r) Core(tm) 2 CPU (support for SSSE3)
       (Note: Moblin will not work on non-SSSE3 CPUs)
  • Graphics: Integrated Intel graphics (915/945/965)
  • Network Adaptors:
  • LAN/Wired:
    • Intel e100/e1000/e1000e/iXGB
    • PCNet32 (Vmware)
    • RealTek 8139/8169
    • SIS 900/190
    • Broadcom ATL1/ATL2
  • Wireless/Wifi:
    • Intel 3945/4965/5000
    • Atheros 5K/9K
    • Broadcom 4300
    • RealTek 8180/8187
    • Ralink 2400/2500/61/73

Moblin also supports various external, USB-based Wifi devices.

Tested Platforms:

  • Acer Aspire*One
  • Asus eeePC* 901
  • Dell Mini 9
  • MSI Wind

Image and Build Instructions:

The Alpha release is available at:
http://repo.moblin.org/moblin/releases/test/alpha2

To use the pre-built images for Alpha, go to:
http://moblin.org/documentation/test-drive-moblin

To create images using the repositories provided with the Alpha release, look for instructions at:
http://moblin.org/projects/moblin-image-creator-2

The Moblin Tools are available at:
http://repo.moblin.org/moblin/tools/

Known Issues:

  • The user interface is under heavy development. The final user interface will look very different than the current user interface and will not be based on XFCE.
  • 3D performance is known to be slow.
  • Currently, Wifi is not supported on Asus eeePC 901.
  • Platforms with GMA-500 Graphics chipset are not supported.

Reporting Issues:

We welcome you to report issues at: http://bugzilla.moblin.org

You can also send direct feedback to the Moblin development team at: dev@lists.moblin.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2009, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
Atom and Core are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
This document contains information on products in the design phase of development.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Comments (21 total)

Weekly builds..

Submitted by cpg716 on 8 September 2009 - 3:05pm.

I am just wondering what happend to weekly builds... Its been 3 weeks since the last build... I would think if Moblin is going to be shipping on some netbooks as rumours suggest in October, that being Sept 8th, we should be having more working builds coming out often. Things seem to have stalled the last month or more...just an observation.....

The mobliin core alpha is

Submitted by alexsmith on 13 June 2009 - 10:14am.

The mobliin core alpha is working well in Acer Aspire*One, I’m happy that it’s taking less time to boot than before. But wifi is not working perfectly and as I can see this is the common problem for many users of netbook. Without wifi netbook loses its appeal. So this problem must be cured as soon as possible. I also incurred some problem while I going to change my display settings. If I increase resolution the screen become blank and I have to restart the machine. I’m not sure whether it’s happening because of using mobliin core alpha. Otherwise it’s working well. Thanks a lot to mobliin.

Installing flash player

Submitted by n00bz0rz on 28 May 2009 - 3:48pm.

To install flash player, go into terminal and type "firefox" without quotes and press enter.

When it loads, go onto youtube and watch any video, and there will be an oragey/yellow bar underneath the warning about flash player/javascript being turned off. Click the first link in the orange bar (can't remember what it says).

When in the Adobe flash player download page, it should automatically detect that you're using linux. In the drop down menu, select the RPM file format and download it.

Once it's finished downloading, navigate to the "desktop" folder through file browser in applications and double click on the flash RPM file.

You'll need to authenticate, the password is "moblin" again without quotes. It will pop up with a message about unauthenticated security certificates or something, just click "force install" and authenticate again.

Once it's fiinished doing its stuff, close off firefox and terminal, and open up the Moblin web browser, it should now be working.

Enjoy : )

PS, this was done on an Acer Aspire A110, with Moblin v2 beta, i can't guarantee success with this method.

Final release date?

Submitted by Odin on 12 April 2009 - 11:58am.

Hello, can anyone from Intel tell us when will the final release date be? Also what is the road map for this version and any possible future versions?

Thanks.
Odin.

can I upgrade to new 2.6.29 release

Submitted by jamespo on 26 March 2009 - 1:47pm.

Or is a fresh install required?

eeeBox 202

Submitted by bwb on 9 March 2009 - 2:46pm.

mic2 image runs well. Adding to installed packages is easy (if they're in the repo)! No wifi and rtcwake doesn't work. Prebuilt image has video problems.

I'll have to dig deeper!

Illegible on Sony 40" TV and D945GCLF Intel Board (XP works)

Submitted by gvnmcknz on 9 March 2009 - 2:22am.

D945GCLF (Atom) board in Media PC hooked up to Sony Bravia 40" TV via VGA connector.

Boots up fine, Wallpaper (Ladybirds) clear at 1024 x 768, Icons clear, but Fonts illegible due to extreme smallness. Normally it's very legible with W****ws XP.
Also works very well with an Asus EEEPC 4G driving the TV

I know this isn't the normal kind of setup you are aiming at, but I suppose folks may want to use an external monitor on occasion.

I will try and find a smaller monitor to borrow to test, and feedback.

I'd like to see moblin work with something like the Toradex Robin board

http://www.toradex.com/En

Versatility is a virtue, right?

Will the Moblin Netbook beta version support GMA500

Submitted by mzsy on 25 February 2009 - 4:23pm.

Now I can't find any messages about moblin netbook beta version(2009.04) at this website, I don't know what happened....
However,I find kernel-menlow-2.6.29.rc5-28.1.moblin2.i586.rpm in the development directory of repo.moblin.org, does it mean moblin will support GMA500 soon?
THX!

MSI Wind U100

Submitted by teiresias on 19 February 2009 - 1:53am.

Very fast startup!
LAN working fine.
WLAN not found.
Touchpad and webcam dont work.
I see no way to change the keyboard layout. But I am a beginner.

HP Mini 1000 Mi Edition no WiFi

Submitted by Daniel Bartholomew on 11 February 2009 - 7:32am.

Other than missing WiFi, it's working fine and booting in about 15 seconds.

Very nice!

Missing WiFi

Submitted by DirtySanchez on 24 June 2009 - 10:04am.

I see that there is a Comm mgr built into the new version but cant seem to find or launch it. Also im running this from a USB drive & not the SSD built into the unit so im not sure if this is causing it not to work.

Much respect to the group effort to develop this OS.

Fastboot in Pre-Alpha1 vs. Alpha

Submitted by Tonny on 9 February 2009 - 1:26am.

In the feature list highlighted above, what is "new Fastboot feature of Moblin" mean exactly? In the pre-alpha release, some of kernel options are gone and never found in this awesome release, are they including in the upstream kernel? Thanks.

Display Settings should delete un-supported modes

Submitted by Jingke on 2 February 2009 - 10:59pm.

I open the "Settings" --> "Display Settings" applet. And found many items for me to choose:

Default
800x600@85
640x480@60
720x400@85
...

But when I try to click one, the system becomes black screen soon. After about 10 seconds, it return to original mode --- Setting change failed. There should be only one mode supported for display. It needs to delete the unsupported items.

Wireless interface not appearing on Lenovo s10e

Submitted by jamespo on 1 February 2009 - 2:24pm.

Apart from that I'm very impressed with it, considering the alpha state

Lenovo S10

Submitted by Derick on 24 May 2009 - 12:15am.

Same on my S10, the rest is VERY good

wifi working ???

Submitted by kooloala on 31 May 2009 - 1:59pm.

hi , does the wifi works on your lenovo s10 with moblin v2 or are you using another version of moblin ?

working on Samsung NC10

Submitted by Qbik on 1 February 2009 - 7:28am.

Hi
working ok on my samsung nc10, Wifi work ok too

Waiting for next release

Mini 9

Submitted by Puzder on 30 January 2009 - 8:01pm.

Install ran flawless WiFi not working. A Netbook is worthless without WiFi.

Aspire One ZG5 wifi not workin

Submitted by Will on 30 January 2009 - 12:20pm.

Hi,

WiFi on Aspire One not working properly - connection manager can see my Access Point, but can't seem to connect. Using WEP (cause of some old kit in elsewhere in house) - could that be the problem?

Also - the keyboard mapping is wrong for a UK keyboard.

Aspire One / WiFi Manager

Submitted by bachus (Aspire One) on 30 January 2009 - 6:09am.

Hi,
I'm Acer Aspire One user. It is not possible to enter a WiFi passphrase longer than 17 characters.

wifi should work on Eee 901 GO

Submitted by Jussi Kukkonen on 30 January 2009 - 4:02am.

Currently, Wifi is not supported on Asus eeePC 901

I haven't tested this exact build but the Eee 901 Go should be fine as it has Atheros AR242x wireless (unlike plain 901s which have the Ralink chip).