Linux on a J720

Hi there

I am considering to 'revive' my J 720, is the Linux installation a good option. What are the pro's and the con's?

Thx Arnold

Pros: Up to date operating system thats still and always will be supported, MUCH better web browsers, multiple IM and IRC clients, more onboard developments options, built in drivers for most wifi and ethernet cards etc etc.

Cons: There really arent many except for lack of true suspend. Linux suspend doesnt last as long as winCE suspend currently. Also the newer 2.6 kernel doesnt have sound support yet. However the older 2.4 kernel does.

Cheers.

Edited by RTFM 2007-12-10 11:12 AM

thx, so the 2.4 is the way to go? Is this the one I find on the Lime site?

Is it true I need a Linux PC to set this all up and a CF card (which ones are compatible with J720)

Yeah you will need a linux pc to do this, or as many people do, just use a linux livecd, like puppy linux or dsl linux.

Well if you prefer to have sound, then no. Jlime doesnt have sound support in the 2.6 kernel yet. You could either use my prebuilt jornada linux images linked from these forums, or if you prefer to set your entire system up yourself there is also 720degrees. Both of which use the 2.4 kernel with sound.

Cheers.

I've managed to partition and install a CF card using OSX and the (rather dodgy and experimental!) ext2 filesystem driver. However it's tricker than doing it with linux, as pdisk is almost as evil as vi, and there's no fsck, so if you balls the installation somehow you have to make the filesystem again

It's a good excuse to try desktop linux out, and as RTFM points out you can use a live CD. You WILL need a CF writer supported by linux (any old cheap USB multi card reader will do).

You cannot install linux "on device" like a CE program, all the memory will be flushed and used as RAM by linux when the kernel starts so BACK UP if you want to keep your CE setup (HP Backup is probably the best HPC backup util i've used).

I've used 4GB Transcend and Dane-Elec cards (and a 512mb Kingston) for this with no problems, YMMV.

Personally, i'm waiting for sound and suspend support, till then i limp on with Netfront/ftx, PocketPuTTY and TCPMP under CE.

rbsfou: Why limp along? Unless you require many days of suspend like CE has. Not sure if you've tried my latest prebuilt image, but it sure beats surfing with the dog slow netfront ( and even worse ie4), even with firefox, no need for putty, and mplayer is included. Sure the 2.4 kernel is older, but it has sound and fills the void until a driver is written for kernel 2.6. I usually get a good day in suspend, which for me is plenty as my J goes back on the charger when i get home at night.

http://freeshells.ch/~wicked74/j720/icewm720/

Cheers.

Is suspending working now ? a quick hibernate or whatever solutions as in windows ?
thx for the tipp

hello i am trying to complete installing the linux image above. however system stops running install and give the following error:
can't access tty; job control turned off
and then gos to prompt.
can someone help?