Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

[Knightwalker]

I'm thinking of buying one of these just so that I can use it for surfing the web and what not. Is it possible to use yahoo on it? Also has anyone had any confirms with getting Ubuntu to work on these things yet? Are they really worth paying $80-98 for one?

Hmmm. You can use yahoo and youtube. Also you can check your email and chat with other people online. WM8505 nebtook has everything you need. But it is little tricky to install application on to windows CE 6.0 based WM8505. You cannot use hotsync nor cab installer. In order to use windows CE 6.0 based WM8505, you have to extract cab by using MSCEInfEn unless you will impossible to install programs. Also most window mobile applications do not compatible to windows CE 6.0. Overall, if you want web surfing, some document works and watch video, it's not to bad. Except speed of windows explorer is pretty bad.
You can also install 1.6 android (Donut). I tried opera mini 5 beta and dolphin brower and they are kick ***. But android OS itself, it is still little buggy to use.

[kaputnik]

I sucessfully installed android on a 8505 netbook but i cannot get the wifi to work i finds the network but wont connect.

well im continuing to work on the debian install based on the android port so it probably has the same issues. im on a 8505 smart book too, so i opened it up to have a look at the wifi usb stick thats glued to the side of the lcd, its labeled as BT-RT3070-5D and the chip onboard is a ralink RT2070L. i reckon theres a driver issue here. will try and get this resolved but dont know how much time ive got as uni is bit busy at the moment.

[sius071]

I dont mean to intrude but i did install android and i also got the wifi to work but my question is can i install any other ROM using the method you described.

[kaputnik]

I dont mean to intrude but i did install android and i also got the wifi to work but my question is can i install any other ROM using the method you described.

depending on the chipset you have on your netbook you can follow the guide and work done by abrasive for a debian install thats based on android. think that part starts about page 66 of this thread. with debian you can then install a window manager amongst many other things via the apt-get install method. i think the fluxbox manager is the best as its light and doesnt slow the little netbook down too much. it kinda depends on what you want your netbook to do, me i want pdf and doc viewing, basic compliants browser and a wifi with wpa - ttls/pap for uni, so thats where im headed.

[ch4rlii]

@kaputnik:
Could you give an overview what you've achieved so far?
The wi-on and wi-off scripts prepared by abrasive do not work for you?
What about sound?
Did you find a lightweight PDF-viewer?
Thank you in advance!
Regards,
Charly

[kaputnik]

@kaputnik:
Could you give an overview what you've achieved so far?
The wi-on and wi-off scripts prepared by abrasive do not work for you?
What about sound?
Did you find a lightweight PDF-viewer?
Thank you in advance!
Regards,
Charly

aight, i got an 8505 smartbook off ebay that had win CE6.0 which i booted as a debian as per abrasive's work. then i tried a few window managers and settled on fluxbox as being best, as per a previous post. the browser i use is midori which is via the sid branch of debian and it works quite well too. the pdf viewer is ePDFView and it works but it can be a little slow rendering the pdf to screen. i also have abiword for word docs.

the wifi on and off scripts work fine for me but the wifi connection drops out after minute or so of inactivity so i need to solve this somehow. at the moment, after boot i enter modprobe rt3070sta and then execute the wifi script. i have the /etc/network/interface file edited to my home wlan ap but eventually i want to get a wifi manager to run it all cos i need to access several different wifi aps. for this i been looking at kismet which doesnt recognise the wifi chip as valid so am about to look into wicd. another thing is that if i have a usb memory stick in the rear usb port then the wifi card drops out, maybe something to do with the usb bus. theres two - one a usb1 and the other a usb2 so im assuming the rear port and wifi run off the usb1 and dont have enough power for two things at once if they draw too much current, wifi sucks amps huh.

i havent even bothered with the sound yet as it isnt vital to what i need this netbook to do. i may end up pulling it apart again to see if theres anything else i can glean from the motherboard. one thing i did notice after the debian install is the the sd card will not serve as a boot device. not concerned yet cos i just mount the sd to a directory after boot up.

[ch4rlii]

Thank you!

one thing i did notice after the debian install is the the sd card will not serve as a boot device.

Does this mean there is no coming back to Android or another OS?
If something goes wrong with the Debian install, the device is bricked?

[ericanilaru]

the wifi on and off scripts work fine for me but the wifi connection drops out after minute or so of inactivity so i need to solve this somehow.

@kaputnik

I know some of the MUD clients eg TT++ can be set up to do something every so often, to stop you being droped by the server whilst reading long descriptions / instructions etc. - you could prob use this or similar script to get around your inactivity problem.

Hope this useful

E

[kaputnik]

Thank you!

Does this mean there is no coming back to Android or another OS?
If something goes wrong with the Debian install, the device is bricked?

not too sure on the details but the debian installer over writes the bootloader and the rom so apparently theres no going back via the method that has you just putting an sd card in with whatever OS you fancy. there would be a way to flash it again i suppose but im not interested in that aspect so im not looking into it. Abrasive is the one to ask about this. and theres also the version of debian posted that allows you to just boot to console, not to install but i think thats a moot point if you have already gone for android as that also rewrites the bootloader.

corrected - as abrasive points out later, its still possible to boot from sd card after debian install

[anjers]

Has anyone been successful with Ubuntu to work on these things yet? Are these mini netbooks really worth paying $80-98 for one?