So Which Rom Should I Use For 3200? Options

[RLamb]

Hi all,

Have been reading this forum heavily since I have got my Zaurus a month or so ago and finally figured out how to get validated today (thanks again admin for the fast response!) so heres my first post

So university is almost finished, and I'm looking forward to getting properly into using the Z now my work/revision will be done. Anyways I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the ROMs available; I have read lots of posts on this forum and gone to the ROM sites but still don't know which ROM to install and what will suit me best.

I would really appreciate if anyone could give me a quick rundown or summary of what each ROM is in a nutshell, what it is good/bad for, and ideally peoples experiences with them as well?

To put my needs into context I am starting a web development company with my friend after university so reliability is important, as is the ability to sync data between machines and ideally use a fully fledged browser like firefox if possible. I'm not very linux savvy but I have been using Fedora a bit in university, and have ubuntu feisty fawn as my primary OS now but I'm still right at the beginning of my linux adventure. The linux side of the Zaurus was partly why I bought it though so I am willing to learn!

Sorry for the length of the post but I really would appreciate any and all suggestions for how I can make the most out of my Zaurus with a new ROM. The default is OK but I don't like the contact manager issues with English alphabet, as well as the missing text in some menus/configuration that should be in Japanese it gets very confusing. Also just excited about trying something new!

Thanks in advance to any and all who contribute.

Richard.

[Cresho]

Hi!

Since you are use to using fedora and ubuntu, I recommend Meanie's pdaxii3(not sure if i spelled it right). please make a sig for people to better help you. it is still in development and not too stable for a newcomer but the solutions to the various problems are in the forums.

[RLamb]

Hi!

Since you are use to using fedora and ubuntu, I recommend Meanie's pdaxii3(not sure if i spelled it right).  please make a sig for people to better help you.  it is still in development and not too stable for a newcomer but the solutions to the various problems are in the forums.

Hi there thanks for the reply. I hadn't heard of that one before, do you have a link for it? at all? Is it similiar to pdaXrom?

[tanjian2]

Hi!

Since you are use to using fedora and ubuntu, I recommend Meanie's pdaxii3(not sure if i spelled it right).  please make a sig for people to better help you.  it is still in development and not too stable for a newcomer but the solutions to the various problems are in the forums.

Hi there thanks for the reply. I hadn't heard of that one before, do you have a link for it? at all? Is it similiar to pdaXrom?

Pdaxii3rom is a stable version of pdaxrom - which has had a lot of effort to make it very functional and stable. It is X based and feels alot like a desktop system on the Z - which is great if that is what you want (and I do love it:-))
See here for the details:

pdaxii13rom

Have fun

[RLamb]

I've had a look around and found some information about pdaxii3, it does look very good indeed! I'm a bit scared about the installation but I guess you just have to take the plunge

Do you know if its compatibile with my wireless card by chance? I'l have a search around for info now but if anyone knows off-hand that would be great.

[RLamb]

Pdaxii3rom is a stable version of pdaxrom - which has had a lot of effort to make it very  functional and stable. It is X based and feels alot like a desktop system on the Z - which is great if that is what you want (and I do love it:-))
See here for the details:

pdaxii13rom

Have fun

Hi sorry I made my last reply while you were doing yours I think. It is exactly what I was looking for really (desktop X system rather than so PDA like), will definitely install it I think.

How did you find the installation? Any problems? Also do you rememeber which guide you followed to install it and if so could you show me the link please? Thanks for the reply!

[portalgod]

Pdaxii3rom is a stable version of pdaxrom - which has had a lot of effort to make it very  functional and stable. It is X based and feels alot like a desktop system on the Z - which is great if that is what you want (and I do love it:-))
See here for the details:

pdaxii13rom

Have fun

Hi sorry I made my last reply while you were doing yours I think. It is exactly what I was looking for really (desktop X system rather than so PDA like), will definitely install it I think.

How did you find the installation? Any problems? Also do you rememeber which guide you followed to install it and if so could you show me the link please? Thanks for the reply!

Your wireless card is supported out of box. Just plug it in, configure a scheme, and you're golden.

[HoloVector]

I'm running pdaXii13 on my 3200 it is exactly what you are looking for. To install it with all the goodies. Install pdaXii13 Akita first from here. That will give you the stable 2.4.20 kernel for the 3200 that is similar to the old pdaXrom Beta 3. After that you need to upgrade it to pdaXii13 full by downloading the hdimage-full.tgz from here. I recommend using the unstable hdimage because it is more feature complete than the stable one and is actually quite stable. Meanie's alphas are more stable than most peoples betas.

pdaXii13 was what I was expecting my Zaurus to be like when I first bought it. A powerful open source micro-notebook that supports all of the Zaurus features in a user friendly manner.

[speculatrix]

here's my "devil's dictionary" guide to ROM distros

Sharp ROM - for those who are too scared to flash
Cacko - for those too scared to flash more than once
pdaXrom - for people who love flashing as often as possible
OZ - for people who love flashing, don't like documentation, don't mind being beta testers, and don't want a web browser
Angstrom - for people who love flashing, don't want ANY documentation, love being alpha testers, and don't need any particular software at all

[RLamb]

post

Sounds like it is just what I'm looking for indeed! Is there anything I should do before I flash that isn't mentioned in the guide? (like backing up old SharpROM maybe?), Just want to be sure I don't make a £400 paperweight

Also, that guide where you linked me to isn't very noob friendly do you know if there is a more comprehensive one around?

[Dromede]

yes, pdaxrom is indeed enjoyable. though a word of caution is necessary IMHO...although pdaxii3 is very stable, it is also quite slow. dont expect it to be nearly as responsive as a desktop system. and i mean an old p3 desktop system or even older. i'm quite dissapointed with its speed. especially when it comes to apps like abiword and firefox. pdaxrom r198 is supposed to be much faster. now, im not going to confirm or negate that. i tried r198 on my c1000 and abiword was much slower on r198 than on pdaxii3. not to mention a lavish flashing experience...
now i ask you fellow senior and new Z users... is it feasible to expect significant performance increases with the introduction of EABI and stable kernel 2.6 based distros?

[HoloVector]

post

Sounds like it is just what I'm looking for indeed! Is there anything I should do before I flash that isn't mentioned in the guide? (like backing up old SharpROM maybe?), Just want to be sure I don't make a £400 paperweight

Also, that guide where you linked me to isn't very noob friendly do you know if there is a more comprehensive one around?

Use these instructions (Reset and Service Menues section only) to backup your current SharpROM setup using the Backup Restore Menu on page 3 in the Diagnostic Menu.

http://www.thesounddesign.com/zaurus/beta3.htm

I recommend placing a blank 256MB to 512MB CF card formatted to FAT16 (no EXT2 or FAT32 formatted cards allowed) in the CF slot since the diag menu has compatibility issues with some SD cards.

Follow these instructions (it says it is for Beta1 but, they are are still applicable) to install pdaXii13 Akita.

http://www.oesf.org/index.php?title=Installing_pdaXrom

However you must use the files from here

http://www.tyrannozaurus.com/feed/pdaXii13/akita/

to get pdaXii13.

After that replace intrd.bin from the Akita page our install CF/CD card with hdimage-full.tgz from here

http://www.tyrannozaurus.com/feed/pdaXii13/tmp/

Go into the Flash Upgrade menu like you did to install pdaXii13 akita. Start the upgrade and choose to partition your MicroDrive (select default), reboot and go back into the Flash Upgrade menu start the upgrade again and choose write HDimage to MicroDrive. After it is done rebott and enjoy your pdaXii13 full.

[HoloVector]

yes, pdaxrom is indeed enjoyable. though a word of caution is necessary IMHO...although pdaxii3 is very stable, it is also quite slow. dont expect it to be nearly as responsive as a desktop system. and i mean an old p3 desktop system or even older. i'm quite dissapointed with its speed. especially when it comes to apps like abiword and firefox. pdaxrom r198 is supposed to be much faster. now, im not going to confirm  or negate that. i tried r198 on my c1000 and abiword was much slower on r198 than on pdaxii3. not to mention a lavish flashing experience...
now i ask you fellow senior and new Z users... is it feasible to expect significant performance increases with the introduction of EABI and stable kernel 2.6 based distros?

I hear this all the time about how much slower 2.4 kernel is compared to the 2.6 kernel but, I find the speed gains minimal for what I do. I'm running R198 on my 1000 and pdaXii13 akita full on my 3200. Firefox, AbiWord and Gimp are slow on both ROMs. ScummVM runs like a dream on pdaXii13 but, doesn't work properly under R198 thanks to some audio issues. Videos run smoothly under pdaXii13 but, I hear that is not the case with the 2.6 kernels. Got to test that one.

The 2.6 kernel based ROMs have a ways to go before they have the usability of the 2.4 kernel based ROMs. I also have a feeling that alot of the speed increases that everyone keeps talking about with 2.6 kernels will be lost once the ROMs become more feature complete on the Z.

[HoloVector]

here's my "devil's dictionary" guide to ROM distros

Sharp ROM - for those who are too scared to flash
Cacko - for those too scared to flash more than once
pdaXrom - for people who love flashing as often as possible
OZ  - for people who love flashing, don't like documentation, don't mind being beta testers, and don't want a web browser
OZ  - for people who love flashing, don't want ANY documentation, love being alpha testers, and don't need any particular software at all

Nice. Ya finally had the nerve to post it. Good for you.

Is OZ 1 supposed to be OZ Opie and OZ 2 supposed to be OZ GPE or Angstrom? OZ 2 sounds a alot like Angstrom to me.

You forgot BSD:

BSD - for people who like to use Linux as a bootloader and don't trust other peoples packages.

[RLamb]

Great post.

Hey thanks for that post very useful/informative. Unfortunately though I just ordered an SD card and reader not CF, but I checked the compatibility list here:

http://www.tyrannozaurus.com/?q=wiki/SDCompatList

And am actually getting the one you commented on

SanDisk | 2GB | Standard Speed | C1000-C3200/Sharp-Cacko/Tetsu/pdaXii13 | Yes (HoloVector)

http://memory4mobiles.co.uk/memory/sandisk...048pluse10/4722

Is this going to be OK or have I just wasted £20?

Thanks again for that post mate is very much appreciated, but please don't be shocked if you see an urgent help thread over the next few days though hehe .