Under construction.... Still mess!
HP iPAQ, the world's most powerful PDA will get MAXIMUM POWER with Linux.
Familiar is currently the most popular Linux distribution for iPAQ. Use 0.7.2 or higher.
If Familiar is successfully installed, then it will automatically get the latest packages (ipkg) from a server on the internet. You will anyway want to connect to the net later.
You have a choice to buy a CF LAN card, but here I will explain another way utilizing USB (that comes with iPAQ) as a network interface (usbnet).
So, get a Linux box with USB port ready. Any distribution will work but I chose Redhat 7.3 this time. If you do installation with a compact flash card, no Windows PC is needed.
# For ASUS Baby-AT main board (e.g. P2B-B), you need a cable with USB connector, USB/MIR adapter sold separately. A connector for PS/2 mouse may be an obstacle for this. In my case, even though only 8 pins are assigned for PS/2, my PS/2 connector had been occupying all USB/MIR pins. I cut off the unused 10 pins of the PS/2 connector with a cutter and filed the surface, then I was able to put the both connectors on.
iPAQ H3600 series comes with a CF card adapter (expansion pack). Compact flash card is like an external hard disk for your iPAQ so buy as large one as possible (I bought 256MB). Also buy a CF card reader/writer for USB 1.1 cause it's cheap ($10) but useful. You may find one in digital camera department. I chose Princeton PRD-CF3 but probably most cards (working without any driver in Win2k) will work with Linux too.
For kernel 2.4 or higher and USB 1.1 card reader, just plug it in and you're done. The device file is assumed to be /dev/sdb1 here, it can be /dev/sda1 if you don't have any SCSI devices. Insert your card, and if you can do
# mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/flash # umount /mnt/flash
then it's working. You don't have to reformat the CF (leave it in VFAT).
#!/bin/sh
# chkconfig: 2 45 96
# processname: usbnet
# pidfile: /var/run/usbnet.pid
# lockfile: /var/lock/subsys/usbnet
usage()
{
echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|status}"
}
PC_ADDR=192.168.2.1
IPAQ_ADDR=192.168.2.2
GW_ADDR=192.168.2.1
DRIVER=usb-eth
INTERFACE=usbf
if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
usage
break
fi
case "$1" in
start)
modprobe $DRIVER
ifconfig $INTERFACE inet $IPAQ_ADDR up
route add default gw $GW_ADDR
;;
stop)
ifconfig $INTERFACE down
modprobe -r $DRIVER
;;
status)
ifconfig $INTERFACE
;;
*)
usage
;;
esac
Modify /etc/network/interfaces for desired network configuration.
iface usbf inet static address 192.168.2.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 network 192.168.2.0 gateway 192.168.2.1
# ntpdate -b time.handhelds.org