WirelessSoftware.info: Setting Up and Connecting with a Linux PDA (iPAQ)

“The focus of this article is not about setting up a PDA to run
Linux although some of the process will be covered. If you are
interested in installing Linux to your PDA, I recommend following
some of the links listed in this article.

“When I started this article I had two PDAs running PocketPC
2002. Therefore the first action was to install Linux on one of
them. I started with this HOW-TO
(http://www.handhelds.org/feeds/bootldr/install.html) and installed
the bootloader. The process basically involves using ActiveSync to
copy a file to your PocketPC and then execute it. The program
allows you to backup your PocketPC ROM and then flashes the new
bootloader, which is capable of loading the Linux kernel. When you
reboot the iPAQ at this stage you get a nice splash screen and the
capability to connect to the PDA using HyperTerminal.

“After I installed the boot loader, I discovered this site
(http://familiar.handhelds.org/releases/v0.6/install/install.html).
The new site mentioned an updated bootloader so I upgraded using
the transfer capabilities of HyperTerminal. I then proceeded to
install a ROM image which included Familiar Linux distribution plus
Opie user interface. When I rebooted, I quickly found there was
problems with Opie not displaying any fonts (I later found I just
had to install one more package which was not included. The problem
is specific to 3100 and 3800 iPAQs.). Instead of fixing the font
problem I decided to flash another ROM image with only the Familiar
distribution and no graphical user interface…”

Complete
Story