Recently I bought a used Sharp Netwalker PC-Z1 in excellent condition as my learning machine for linux. The preloaded system (Ubuntu 9.04) is okay but I really want to update the system to make the device practical for real use. Plus I simply hate its UI.
For those not familiar with this old machine, it runs on an i.mx515 and the stock kernel is 2.6.28.
Official source codes are here:
https://jp.sharp/support/mit/source/download/fileset_001.htmlThe latest source I can find is 2.6.31:
https://github.com/darion76/linux-sharp-netwalker-2.6.31I've done a bit of research but there was so little info about running linux on this machine, and all the information looks rather outdated. At first I wanted to start with Debian, but the information there fails to enlighten me as to how to install that:
https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Sharp/PC-Z1NetWalkerSo I would be most appreciative if someone can guide me where to get started to breathe new life into this adorable gadget.
I have no preference for distros (debian based, arch, fedora, suse, etc). As long as a current system can be set up and run X I am a happy guy.
Thanks all!!
p.s. I am also aware that NetBSD (up to the current 9.0) has a port for NetWalker under the branch of evbarm. 9.0 fails to boot (throws tons of errors on boot), while 8.2 did boot, but the booting USB (created by dd the raspberry pi image) was mounted as a read-only UFS filesystem and I couldn't do anything to go further. So I just gave up.