Recent Posts

1

Gemini PDA - Linux / Re: NixOS on the Gemini - GPU / WiFi / most peripherals working

« Last post by Klug on October 12, 2026, 12:29:10 pm »

I had to stop on my end (have to get an old laptop and setup Windows on it to be able to flash the Gemini).

Please think of a way to change keyboard layout (mine is AZERTY).

2

Gemini PDA - Linux / Re: NixOS on the Gemini - GPU / WiFi / most peripherals working

« Last post by grw on October 10, 2026, 10:52:49 am »

very cool! i also started a similar project, my trees are here:

https://github.com/georgewhewell/nixos-gemini/
https://github.com/georgewhewell/linux-gemini/

main differences seem to be:

my boot chain is LK -> uboot -> systemd-boot -> EFI - it should be able to boot any distro with uefi images like this
i targetted linux 7.2 (the new `dmabuf` is useful for some things- e.g video encoder/decoder)
i targetted regular nixos, not nixos-mobile

hardware: i had codex write a driver for the cellular- it boots/scans and can see LTE network, i didnt try attach yet

3

Gemini PDA - Linux / Re: NixOS on the Gemini - GPU / WiFi / most peripherals working

« Last post by Klug on September 29, 2026, 03:37:09 am »

Terrific.
Super interested too.

I see nothing in the the repo about the 4G modem.
Chris, is your Gemini WiFi only?

I started Claude on the driver.

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Gemini PDA - Linux / Re: NixOS on the Gemini - GPU / WiFi / most peripherals working

« Last post by a1astair on September 22, 2026, 02:19:00 am »

I am super interested in this.

Having a lot of trouble trying to get a modern Linux distro installed on my Gemini and this seems a great alternative.

I would be willing to be an independent tester for you, so please feel free to share installation packages.

I have a Gemini with 4G, although I only use WiFi.

Alastair

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Gemini PDA - Linux / NixOS on the Gemini - GPU / WiFi / most peripherals working

« Last post by cjdell on September 16, 2026, 03:44:15 am »

Wanted to bring some attention to a side project that has been a focus of my time recently. As with many, my Gemini PDA has been stuck in a drawer for a few years. Now I'm starting to use it again with a modern Linux 6.6 kernel and GNOME desktop.

A lot of the work has been done with local-LLMs over a 2 week period analysing and porting the original 3.18 kernel. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, but if that doesn't bother you then the source is here, and should be completely reproducible on any system with the Nix package manager installed (NixOS not required).

https://github.com/cjdell/gemini-nixos

If there is enough interest I may make ROM images available for people to download and flash using existing tooling. It is still a work-in-progress however most things work, including a sleep mode and battery management.

There is still a risk the battery voltage could fall below a safe level (happened to me). So stay plugged in for now, and monitor the voltage using `gemcli` (a useful tool that manages all device specific hardware).

Feedback is welcome. I must admit I am quite proud of what has been achieved in very little time.

6

Zaurus - Hardware discussion / SL-5500 syncing with Ubuntu 24.04

« Last post by Edranom on August 13, 2026, 09:54:25 am »

I've been working on getting my SL-5500 to sync PIM data with Ubuntu 24.04. So far I've been able to retrieve the data but PC Link stays running after the transfer has finished. Anybody here knowledgeable with such things?

7

Zaurus - Other distros support / Greetings and my new project!

« Last post by fsshacks on August 06, 2026, 01:41:49 pm »

Hi everyone,
I’m a technician/developer that specializes in bringing old handhelds and phones back to life.

I got into Zaurii about a month ago with restoring an SL-5500 (worked for a while, now having battery issues).

My idea has been to put my vintage tech collection on the internet along with archives of the files I’ve data hoarded.
This project includes a working package feed for the Zaurus and should be completed in about a month with copies of all the ROMs that were available at least for the SL-5500 if not other models.

I’m also working on a very similar project on another handheld with the same Xscale processor, the Psion Netbook Pro.
We were able to conclude a worldwide hunt for a special beta of a Linux distro developed for the Psion by the Psion company itself, PsionLX, which has disappeared from the Internet and whose GUI has never been displayed on the internet before.

The PsionLX beta is unfinished and it is running off a specific version of OpenEmbedded from the early 2000s as a base. I am planning to try to refine and finish this beta and put it on Linux kernel 3.2.9, which was the last and most recent kernel for this device.

Given this forum and its closeness to OpenEmbedded, and the CPU similarities, I wanted to ask if anyone here happens to have any archives of the armv5te package feeds from OpenEmbedded stashed away somewhere.

I had tried to use a mirror provided by Gumstix for their SBCs but it’s the wrong version and creates a segmentation fault.

Really happy to be here, I tried for a literal month to get an account registered to post on here and help out here.

Thanks!

8

Site Suggestions, Requests, and Updates / Re: Issue with new users registrations

« Last post by Varti on August 03, 2026, 03:54:49 am »

New account fss/hacks activated, I have manually sent him an email to confirm that his account has been activated.

Varti

9

Site Suggestions, Requests, and Updates / Re: Issue with new users registrations

« Last post by Varti on July 22, 2026, 03:59:50 am »

As a general reminder: new account requests are still being manually approved, although no confirmation email is being sent (yet). These two members account are now active:

sam1am
fss-hacks/fsshacks
yota9/yota99

If you have a duplicated account and want to delete one of them please let me know which one you'd like to keep.

Varti

10

Cosmo Communicator - Hardware / Re: Rooting the Cosmo Communicator

« Last post by Varti on July 09, 2026, 03:39:43 am »

Hi, glad to read that you have solved the problem!

Varti