fc-host-tools-r8 release

[Mychaela Falconia]

Hello FreeCalypso community,

I've got a new release of FC host tools out:

ftp://ftp.freecalypso.org/pub/GSM/FreeCalypso/fc-host-tools-r8.tar.bz2

The complete list of changes from the previous release can be found in
the CHANGES file inside the tarball, but here are the most significant
ones:

* The new c1xx-calextr utility (not present in previous versions) is
  needed for the current version of the xenotransplantation procedure
  for running FreeCalypso on C1xx phones.

* The new version of fc-fsio with the new write-charging-config
  command and its associated compile-fc-chg back-end is needed in
  order to write the charging configuration structure into FFS and
  thus enable FreeCalypso fw to charge the battery on C1xx phones.

* There is a new suite of tools for talking to the AT command interface
  provided by FreeCalypso phones and modems, primarily for sending and
  retrieving SMS.  The full functionality is only available with our
  FCDEV3B modem and with the future FreeCalypso Libre Dumbphone, but a
  limited subset of functions can also be used with the FC-on-C1xx
  hack.

Now that this FC host tools release is out, my next action item is to
update the documentation in the FC Magnetite repository to reflect the
recent developments over the last two months or so: incomplete but
still significant support for the D-Sample target (no radio because of
the lack of tpudrv10.c for Clara RF, but one can still play a fair bit
with the 176x220 pixel color UI), a new mechanism for displaying this
same big color UI on an external host and feeding simulated keypresses
from the same, and migration of the UI development work from the old
TCS2 stack with blobs to the new blob-free hybrid configuration, which
involves UI code components BMI and MFW being replaced with the new
versions from TCS3/LoCosto as well.

After I update the documentation, I am going to make a new binary fw
release for C1xx phones with 3 images: hybrid-vpm (voice pseudo-modem,
no UI) for C11x, hybrid-vpm for C139 and hybrid-ui-vo (UI-enabled
hybrid config) for C139.  The purpose of this binary fw release will
be to allow people to see the current state of support for C1xx
targets without doing their own build from source, which people are
seemingly too afraid to do.  The last binary fw I put out was back in
the fall of 2016, and we've got two major changes since then: the old
TCS2 version of the UI layers has been replaced wholesale with the new
version from TCS3/LoCosto (simultaneously transitioning the underlying
G23M PS layers from blobs to source), and battery charging is now
supported by way of an entirely new FreeCalypso-developed charging
implementation.

After the documentation update and the binary fw release for C1xx
capturing the current state of support for those targets, my plan is
to refocus more toward the development of the first prototype of our
own FreeCalypso Libre Dumbphone with a 176x220 pixel color LCD, a
loudspeaker for both hands-free calls and polyphonic ringtone melodies,
and a USB port that combines charging with serial like on the Pirelli,
but unlike the Pirelli, provides a proper AT command interface for our
new fcup-* tools to talk to - IOW, hardware features which are
absolutely missing on the crippled Mot C1xx phones.  But I will write
more later on this subject after I am done with the preceding action
items listed above.

Hasta la Victoria, Siempre,
Mychaela aka The Mother