[OpenWrt-Devel] [RFC] stop accepting 4/32M board patches

[Alberto Bursi]

On 20/12/18 14:37, Tom Psyborg wrote:
> This is true. 32mb is misinterpretted as a limitation among several
> forum/wiki articles while storage space is being the only serious
> limitation. I have ar71xx running on 32M RAM device, basic
> configuration with luci-ssl and secondary wifi interface (ath9k_htc),
> most of the time when i log into device to check there's >11000KB
> memory available (this still using squashfs image, switching to jffs2
> can free up additional 2000-3000KBs of RAM)  so 8/32 devices should
> not be affected and 4/32 warnings should be renamed to something like
> 4M flash warning or low flash warning to prevent confusion.
> As for 4/32 devices the best practice in my opinion would be to
> disable luci building by default which could ensure enough space for
> target builds, and those who need custom builds with luci can
> experiment with space optimizations on their own.
>
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> openwrt-devel at lists.openwrt.org
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The 32M limit usually comes down to the fact that many devices with 32MB 
can't use opkg due to low ram,

and that some devices use drivers that leave them less than 1000 kb of 
ram available.

My TL-WR1043ND v1.9 (still a ar71xx) is in this category, 8/32 but can't 
run opkg due to low ram unless I kill luci first.

It's not a "all devices have problems", but "many do and we don't know 
every device that does", and

"many people expect openwrt devices to have expanded functionality and 
that's too low for that".

So no, the 4/32 warning should stay and remain loud and clear so newbies 
won't be frustrated by low end devices.


The discussion about accepting or not patches for 4/32 devices is 
another matter entirely.


-Alberto


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