https://www.oesf.org/index.php?title=Debian...eries_models%29
(Someone really ought to clean that page up)
I have been trying to follow the instructions there to install Debian on my c860, but so many of the links do not lead anywhere - especially as far as using Angstrom for altboot/kexecboot is concerned, which it seems I have to do for the c860. I am confused about what kernels are available and what boot technique I can use. Suffice to say I haven't managed to get Debian running.
If anyone can point me to a way of getting Debian working on my c860 using resources that are readily available now, I would be grateful.
I've sent you a PM, but it didn't end up in my sent box, so I'll repeat it here.
I must admit I don't use my Zaurus all that much now. Anyway, from memory what I did was follow the instructions on the
Omegamoon site for installing Ubuntu, but instead of the Ubuntu filesystem I installed the
Debian filesystem. So:
1)
Flash the multiboot kernel2)
Untar the Debian rootfs on an ext2 or ext3 formatted SD card3) Untar the C7x0-specific extra files from the Omegamoon site to the SD card (look for 1. Making preparations for running Zubuntu)
I think that was it in its simplest form, although in the end I also installed Angstrom on flash and installed altboot on top of that. The reason was that I found the filesystem would occasionally get corrupted. I don't know why, maybe the SD card was a bit dodgy. So in the end I created a loop-back image with the Debian root filesystem on it and mounted it via
altboot. The advantage was that it kept the SD card as a fat filesystem which made backing up things more easy, and it seemed to be more stable. On the downside, filesystem access would slow down at times.
I'd recommend you don't install altboot at first and see how it goes. If it isn't stable then try altboot, but I had to hack the script to get it working, so it is more complicated.
Slightly off-topic, but thought I'd say that I have stopped using my Zaurus for the time being because I found the maintenance effort quite high. I was using Emacs with
Org-mode, connecting it to my PC at work via the USB cable, and logging in to see my to-do list on my work monitor. I found it slow to use on the ARM processor, and the USB link would go down from time to time so I would have to reconnect the cable and log in again, something I always found to be an issue between the Zaurus and a Windows PC. I also found the latest c7x0 kernel, 2.6.26, to sometimes not charge the internal battery, which caused more frustration. The 2.4 kernels were better in this regard, but I'm not sure about if you can run Debian on the older kernels.
Now I've installed the calendar app
Rainlendar at work and home, which allows me to view and edit my Google calendar and task list in
RememberTheMilk, both of which are free. It's not as nice as always having the details on you, but it's low maintenance and it just works.
