Kurt Stephens

I got a Chumby as a holiday gift; it’s really cool and really hackable.

The good:

• Hardware and software is open-source.
• Runs Linux.
• Very easy to hack: SSH, BusyBox, lighttpd, Ruby, etc.
• Two USB ports.
• Audio out (internal speakers sound amazingly good for their size).
• Built-in microphone (haven’t figured out how to use it).

• Can play FLAC files from USB drive.

The bad:

• It’s very difficult to get it to show pictures off a USB drive. The only way apparently is to install a local HTTP server and use a widget: http://www.discarded-ideas.org/chumby/photoframeusb
• Flash widgets/apps only — Flash is not open-source.
• Switching between widgets and channels is fiddly.
• One button is not enough considering widgets take up the whole screen modally.

• It needs more RAM. 64MB is just barely enough.

Hardware Review

This is a really cool keyboard, except that the ESC and function keys do not light up and are strangely located and difficult to press. I also don’t understand why the spacebar does not light up; seems like it’s the most important key. The construction is not very good and the feel is a bit mushy. However, this keyboard is fun for hacking and could be really great for user training.

Device Driver and Source Code

After much troubleshooting, I have created a simple C driver library for the Luxeed deTA 100/200 keyboard using libusb. This driver allows the LEDs under each key to be set from C from most Unix-like operating systems. This is my first attempt at reverse-engineering the protocol of a USB device.

My least favorite thing about computers is setting them up: installing hardware and operating systems. NeXT’s NeXTSTEP was probably my favorite operating system to work on. I’ve been running Linux since 1996. Linux has been a mixed blessing for me due to how quickly the environment and compatibilities change.

My first computer was a second-hand Apple ][ revision 1 motherboard w/ 16kb of ram (later expanded to 48kb with a 16kb language card). I learned 6502 assembler and had a lot of fun writing graphics and sound routines for silly demos and video games.

I currently have a Toshiba Libretto U105. It is the coolest!

I have a T22 running Linux. For the most part, I’m pleased with performance, but the hardware reliablity and customer service has been absmal.