Linux on 7" mini netbook ARM-VT8500 ?

[mcmasterp]

this sounds awesome. Thank you to everyone who is working on this.

I just found these devices on ebay and was debating buying 1-2, but if I may ask some questions.


I've lost track, you guys have been able to get debian with a GUI? lxde I heard one guy say. Can we see some screenshots? please. How is software compatibility? I know it is early but how is the speed compared to the regular winCE?

Again screenshots would be awesome. Thank you in advance if you do

[mmanu]

this sounds awesome. Thank you to everyone who is working on this.

I just found these devices on ebay and was debating buying 1-2, but if I may ask some questions.


I've lost track, you guys have been able to get debian with a GUI? lxde I heard one guy say. Can we see some screenshots? please. How is software compatibility? I know it is early but how is the speed compared to the regular winCE?

Again screenshots would be awesome. Thank you in advance if you do

lxde looked great, indeed, but it has some problem during installation with hal & pcmanfm (not properly installed the 2 times i tried, in the spirit of http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-718910.html) which led to a big mess up when i tried epiphany...

already with X11/lxde the system was a bit slow, 128M for the RAM that's not so much... i'm going to see what can be done with the damn small linux which is developped for that kind of config.

[mmanu]

@abrasive (or someone else) could you tell me if you think something can be done with de dsl stuff here ftp://ftp.is.co.za/linux/distributions/damnsmall/current/ ?

it seems to run on arm as explain in their 1-readme_first.txt. also, the /kernel/linux-2.4.31.tar.gz contains an /arch/arm

i hoped that it would be as simple as putting linux-2.4.31.tar.gz instead of yours extpart.tgz but of course it wasn't, it never goes further than the boot logo (maybe i haven't wait enough)... maybe the /extra_modules are usefull...

they seem to have fine tuned apps adapted to a 128M RAM system (http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/applications.html) as their firefox for exemple...

i really want to try that!!

[Knightwalker]

Hi~~ I installed Debian linux according to the 'abrasive's instruction'. Installation process seem to be fine. No error or hang up. At the end of whole installation, asked me to remove the SD card. Well.. I did... Then after the reboot, 'Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 william tty' and 'william login:' showed up. Am I did something wrong? Is there any password to activate Debian linux? or Did I missed somthing?

[abrasive]

Hi~~ I installed Debian linux according to the 'abrasive's instruction'. Installation process seem to be fine. No error or hang up. At the end of whole installation, asked me to remove the SD card. Well.. I did... Then after the reboot, 'Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 william tty' and 'william login:' showed up. Am I did something wrong? Is there any password to activate Debian linux? or Did I missed somthing?

Default Debian install: root user has blank password.

[abrasive]

@abrasive (or someone else) could you tell me if you think something can be done with de dsl stuff here ftp://ftp.is.co.za/linux/distributions/damnsmall/current/ ?

it seems to run on arm as explain in their 1-readme_first.txt. also, the /kernel/linux-2.4.31.tar.gz contains an /arch/arm

i hoped that it would be as simple as putting linux-2.4.31.tar.gz instead of yours extpart.tgz but of course it wasn't, it never goes further than the boot logo (maybe i haven't wait enough)... maybe the /extra_modules are usefull...

they seem to have fine tuned apps adapted to a 128M RAM system (http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/applications.html) as their firefox for exemple...

i really want to try that!!

The extpart.tgz contains the root filesystem, not the kernel (the kernel is flashed directly to the device).
You need a userland that supports the ARM EABI; that's why I chose Debian/armel.

[mmanu]

Hi~~ I installed Debian linux according to the 'abrasive's instruction'. Installation process seem to be fine. No error or hang up. At the end of whole installation, asked me to remove the SD card. Well.. I did... Then after the reboot, 'Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 william tty' and 'william login:' showed up. Am I did something wrong? Is there any password to activate Debian linux? or Did I missed somthing?

i always have the mount pb on install (even with 1.0), it seems that you don't and it's really unfair. anyway, the final point is the same: a running debian. you're at the right place : the root login is password free!

[mmanu]

The extpart.tgz contains the root filesystem, not the kernel (the kernel is flashed directly to the device).
You need a userland that supports the ARM EABI; that's why I chose Debian/armel.

so, you're saying that nothing can be done with dsl?

[Knightwalker]

Default Debian install: root user has blank password.

After typed in 'root' I got root menu and text prompt showed up. Is it normal? This is my first time to use debian linux and it makes me pretty confusing.

I'm feel like really dumb *** for linux.

[mmanu]

After typed in 'root' I got root menu and text prompt showed up. Is it normal? This is my first time to use debian linux and it makes me pretty confusing.

I'm feel like really dumb *** for linux.

you're okay. i've had the same feeling yesterday. i feel a bit more comfortable now. you can find utilities to enable wifi, apt-get a X server on abrasive's page. after that ... try a windows manager...