Linux NetBook Pro rumours confirmed

[Ed_Ca22]

Not sure if the community already new - there have certainly been rumours about Linux on the Pro being used in the NHS posted here - well, they are confirmed. In this months Linux Format there was a news feature on this years LinuxWorld Expo 2004 which stated the following:

"However, the "dark horse" show stealer was the Psion's prototype sub-notebook that combines a 800x600 screen, eight hours battery life, and a CompactFlash slot with a Linux back-end, replete with Firefox and Evolution. Check upcoming issues for more details on this little cracker."

So unless Psion are releasing another sub-notebook, it sounds like this refers to Linux on a Netbook Pro. He obviously hasn't heard of the Pro as he said it was a prototype (I think they just havent finished the software) and he missed an awful lot of specs.

Ed.

[Gebbly]

It might mean that the Linux port is a prototype because work has been going on to port linux to the old netbook for some time now. See :
http://linux-7110.sourceforge.net/

Maybe they've finally cracked it :)

[Ed_Ca22]

Its great to see some people have been looking at the OpenPsion (Psilinux) stuff. However, Linux on the netBook is done by the PsiLinux project, all voluteers (I am a part of the project) who just help with testing, coding etc, while for the netBook Pro the project is entirely worked on by Psion - we have no connection to the project. The netBook is now very well supported in Linux, and I have a few things that are work in progress for it-just waiting for my netBook to be repaired.

Does anyone know how much Psion charge if I send it in to be repaired and get a new mainboard? Had been planning on getting a new mainboard from Sita, but they havent been replying to emails.

[Gebbly]

Hi Ed_Ca22, standard response but have you tried http://www.pulster.de/ ? There is a mainboard there for EUR139. Dont know if this is a good or bad price.

With regards to "netBook is now very well supported in Linux" do you mean that there is a large community now? or that there is a lot of supporting software?

I have been toying with the ideas of trying linux on my netbook for quite a while now but being a linux newbie I have been somewhat lost in amongst all the jargon, just what is in a distro, what is an "rpm", what is in the kernel etc. I'm getting there finding this stuff out and having been a unix admin for a while helps somewhat but not enough to risk my baby in an experiment :) .

what I could really do with but cant find is an "Idiots guide to putting linux on your netbook" accompanied with (and i can never find it) an "Idiots guide to putting EPOC back again" for when I want to go back.

Just how far along is the project? From what I can understand on the OpenPsion site a kernel has been succesfully installed on a netbook but as yet it is a relatively small kernel and there is no GUI support of any kind and certainly no apps. Have I misunderstood? If so it would be good to play with a full linux installation.

And lastly [for now anyway, honest :) ] there are many different "distributions" of standard linux around. How compatible are they? could I take a standard linux app off the internet and install it on a netbook running this linux from OpenPsion?

[victormarchand]

Gebbly, I've been fiddling with Linux on my 7book in the past weeks. I've gotten as far as running the system, and getting xwindows up. (having the same background, done UNIX maintenance ages ago)
I've done 'all' this based on several websites, here they are.
http://staff.washington.edu/dushaw/psion/openpsion/
http://www.openpsion.org/
http://linux-7110.sourceforge.net/howtos/netbook_new/index.htm
(http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/At68500006047.html not sure how relevant this one is..)

Anyway, we are getting off topic here aren't we...:(

I'm still not at my goal, getting an email program going doing IMAP through a wireless card.

It's worth trying out. It does not deliver EPOC functionality and takes quite some time to get going first time.

[donkeyontheedge]

Originally posted by Gebbly
what I could really do with but cant find is an "Idiots guide to putting linux on your netbook" accompanied with (and i can never find it) an "Idiots guide to putting EPOC back again" for when I want to go back.

In the simplest possible terms, you need two CF cards - a linux one and your usual EPOC one with your data on it.

Starting Linux
1. Using EPOC, backup the Psion (FastBackup is a good choice)
2. Take out all the batteries
3. Swap the EPOC CF for the Linux CF
4. Insert the batteries, enjoy messing with Linux.

Reverting to EPOC.
1. Backup your Linux environment if you need to (up to you how you do it)
2. Take out all the batteries.
3. Swap the Linux CF for your EPOC CF (or one with EPOC's OS.IMG on it if not on your usual card)
4. Insert the batteries and enjoy EPOC once more.

The hardest part is getting the Linux CF card set up - you really need a Linux PC with a CF card reader and a few hours to spare to mess with partitions and tarballs (a bit like ZIP files).

With this set up I can switch between Linux and EPOC in under 2 minutes...

John

[Gebbly]

ah I see, instructions I had read in the past had talked about swapping out the actual bootloader which I didnt like the sound of. But if its a case of just switching a cf card thats great.

So now I just have to figure out the linux cf card thing.

Just had a re-read of openpsion, x-windows is working, which is great!

and something else interesting ""bookboot" can be used to create "OS.img""

Maybe I'll have a play this weekend. How does battery life compare to epoc?