Is their a Linux OS for Pocket PC's? (Dell Axim X5 PocketPC)

by MrKassner Oct 30, 2009 8:15AM PDT

I have a Dell Axim X5 ( http://reviews.cnet.com/pdas/axim-x5-400-mhz/4505-3127_7-20702372.html ) and hate the Windows Mobile that is installed on it. So I figured since Linux can do everything... Is their a flavor of Linux that could be installed on my Pocket PC? I figure installing it won't be too hard, simply plug it into my computer and erase the internal memory card (where the Windows Mobile OS is) and replace it with some Linux OS. Only hard part is finding the Linux OS that can do it.

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Yes there is Linux for Pocket PC

by GODhack Oct 30, 2009 9:29AM PDT

http://familiar.handhelds.org/
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Also my favorite Gentoo has unofficial PDA support:
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/pda-guide.xml
But Gentoo is more for experienced Linux user, but if you do not fear to read handbook so no real problem then.
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Possibly others.

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I looked at both,

by MrKassner Oct 30, 2009 10:03AM PDT

the Familiar OS says for my Pocket PC it's still a "Work in progress", after looking a bit more it said that it runs it's just not fully stable so I went to the link to get the files and it said the server couldn't be found, so I guess the info there is a bit outdated, and when I looked at the page for Gentoo most of that stuff was over my head. I've been using Linux for awhile now but am still nowhere away from "noob" yet.

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Do you want a Dell Axim?

by R_Head Oct 30, 2009 2:08PM PDT

Ditch the darn thing and get a smart phone. It can do the same and more for less.

That is the time when Technology gets behind. PDAs are like Beepers old technology.

Not to be blunt but that is the fact my friend

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This is also the time when people have no money :P

by MrKassner Oct 30, 2009 2:21PM PDT

One I'm 16 with no job or allowance, two my mom has no job and my dad just got fired while we still have to pay to move almost 2000miles all the way to Arizona in a couple days (will cost almost, if not more than, $2k).

And on another note, this is a project of boredom not a project of productivity. I found the PDA laying in the bottom of my dresser while I was packing and wanted to mess with it.

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Sorry to heard....

by R_Head Oct 30, 2009 2:51PM PDT

Google PDAs and Linux. You will come across some project but not many and cumbersome to do since PDAs fell out popularity people lost interest on them.

Check here and good luck....

http://www.handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/DellAximX50

You have to Google deep for it.

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I've been Googling for awhile,

by MrKassner Oct 30, 2009 4:36PM PDT

seems I'm becoming unlucky as now both my printer (Lexmark Z1300) and PDA aren't compatible with Linux. Someone did make a "demo" Linux OS for my PDA but the link to it doesn't work and the page hasn't been updated in four years so I don't think anyones trying anymore. Also I have the X5, the X50 is the newer version; http://www.handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/DellAximX5

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Use according to processor type

by Porch-a-Geese Oct 30, 2009 10:11PM PDT

Xscale has been ported by Debian and NetBSD. Yopu may need to cross compile or build in a sandboxed virtual environment. Oyonix had released a version of Debian along with the XScale based system. You could also try Freescale for their systems.

http://www.netbsd.org/docs/ see if the board or the processor fits into any of these categories.

http://docs.tinyos.net/index.php/Xscale-elf_Debian

Look at the emdebian project.

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on kernel support

by Porch-a-Geese Oct 30, 2009 10:18PM PDT

SD and MMC are loadable modules in the FreeBSD kernel and should be something similar for NetBSD, seeing that FreeBSD has no real port for Xscale.

Is their a Linux OS for Pocket PC's? (Dell Axim X5 PocketPC)

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