Handtops, UMPC - OQO and Linux Thread

04/04/06 + fil

If you're planning a installing Linux on the OQO, you may want to research these threads:

OQO Linux Installation & Configuration: link
SuSE 9.2 on OQO 01: link
From Linux to GRUB: link

Other links that may offer additional help:
Installing Linux on the OQO: link
OQO with XP, X and Linux: link
Gentoo On The OQO: link

Recent Blog: OQO best for Web surfing

05/23/07 + rhccinc

I installed Mandrivalinux 2007.1 spring on the Oqo 02. I also installed a Sandisk Solid State drive in my Oqo 02. Under Mandrivalinux I have the wifi working, and xorg working with the Vesa driver.

05/23/07 + Picasso

Here is a link to an active forum about OQO and Linux link oqotalk.com

05/23/07 + zorg

The above link seems to go to a list of threads, mostly about Model 01/01+. The only person reporting experience with Model 02 on any of those threads is Kenrick, who mentions that he tried Knoppix via USB and had immediate success with wired Ethernet and has not yet tried anything else, such as Wacom or 800x480. Are there any experiences on that forum with 02 there that I'm missing?

The reason I ask is that the OQO site itself seems quite sufficient for Linux for Model 01/01+. It's evident that Moshen has worked things out quite extensively. The big question mark now is whether Model 02 will get (or need) that level of support.

05/24/07 + Picasso

Things take time. Im sure OQO still has a Linux nutt in the shop who will update the unofficial linux install on the OQO.com site

05/24/07 + fil

If you all keep an eye out at Dell, their Ubuntu Linux release for some of their notebooks may mean a lot of great drivers for handtop and other notebook devices and periperhals that do not exist in opensource.

Recent Blog: Apple iPhone Switch

05/26/07 + rhccinc

I thought I would update my post a bit about getting Mandriva linux 2007.1 installed on the OQO 02. Mandriva is my preferred distro of linux. It seems that most people here are focused on ubuntu which I do not really like. I checked all of the hardware on the OQO 02 by checking out what windows drivers were available for it. My main concern was getting the wifi card to work. I noticed on the link web site that the wifi card was an atheros card. The same one that was in my fujitsu p1610 so I knew it was well supported by link on linux. The first thing I did was void my warranty by opening the back of the OQO, and replacing the hard disk with a sandisk 32 gig Solid state drive, that I got from link they are selling it for about $550.00 . I then attached a usb dvd drive to the OQO and booted with my Mandriva 2007.1 dvd . It booted but could not find the hard drive. It had problems loading the VIA PATA driver. Mandriva 2007.1 comes with linux 2.6.17 which is a rather old kernel. Which is a bit annoying since Mandriva 2007.1 was just released a few weeks ago. The VIA PATA driver works best in kernel 2.6.19 and newer. I booted up with the latest knoppix 5 dvd, and was able to see the sandisk ssd drive. I then did a fresh install of mandriva 2007.1 on my fujitsu p1610. I installed linux on a partition called /dev/hda1 . I did not installed a swap partition. I download the latest linux kernel from link , kernel 2.6.21 . I unpacked it on the fujitsu, patched it with the madwifi driver, configured it with the VIA PATA and other VIA drivers, then compiled it. I then made sure that the fujitsu booted. I then rebooted the fujitsu with my knoppix dvd, attached a usb hard drive to the fujitsu, created a folder called hda1 copied everything from my fujitsu's drive to the usb drive. I booted the OQO from the knoppix dvd with the usb hard drive attached. The Sandisk SSD drive shows up as /dev/hdc . I created a partition /dev/hdc1 and formated it. I then copied everything from the hda1 folder on the usb hard drive to the sandisk ssd drive /dev/hdc1 . I then edited the /etc/fstab /etc/mtab /etc/lilo.conf files on the /dev/hdc1 folder so that instead of those files pointing to /dev/hda1 they point to /dev/hdc1 . then I ran the following commands :

mount -o dev /dev/hdc1 /mnt/hdc1
chroot /mnt/hdc1 lilo

This installed lilo on the sandisk ssd drive in the OQO. I then rebooted and Mandriva 2007.1 booted on the OQO 02. I tested the wifi and it works perfectly. I then used the xorg vesa xwindows driver, and the xorg.conf file I found at link which is really for the OQO 01+ but works fine for the OQO 02 with the VESA driver. I will work on getting the native unichrome II driver working some time in the future. The VESA driver works fine for me, I can even play divx with it, with no problems. I had not gotten the audio working so there is still no sound yet, but when I get time I will work on it.

If anyone has any suggestions/comments let me know.

edited: May 27 2007 + Kenrick

Great post! Do you notice a big difference with the SSD drive?
I was wondering when Midinux might be released and if it might be a good distro for the 02.

05/27/07 + rhccinc

I did not install linux on the regular hard drive that came with the OQO 02, so it is hard to compare performance ....etc versus the Sandisk SSD drive. It would be nice to have a user interface specifically designed for small low res screens.

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