If you are like me, you will be reluctant in doing things that may turn your device into a brick. So I searched and searched and finally came up with the following amazing facts:
- It is possible to run Linux on your iPAQ *without* touching the existing OS (PocketPC/Windows Mobile etc).
- It is possible to replace the existing iPAQ (not h4150 yet) bootloader with another one that can boot PocketPC *and* Linux
Following instructions will help you get started:
** WARNING ** Following these instructions will erase all "user data" from your pocket PC, and leave it in factory default configuration. The user data consists of all your files, applications, configuration etc, Basically everything but the OS. Make sure to do a full backup with Activesync or built-in backup utility. If you have never made a backup before, now is the time to try it.
ALSO NOTE: These instructions will not do any permanent damage to your device. It will not overwrite the boot loader or the PocketPC OS. Just the application.
Method 1: Quick Linux ("ram only")
To get a taste of Linux running on iPAQ really quick, just copy this file anywhere in your iPAQ and run. Thats all.
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/unstable/images/h4000/RC1.3/Angstrom-x11-image-liveramdisk-2007.11RC1.3-h4000.exe
When done playing, do a hard reset.
Method 2: Linux on SD flash card
(Will *Not* touch the existing OS/Bootloader)
1) Create 2 partitions in an SD card: sda1=fat, sda2=ext2
2) Mount the SD card on a Linux machine.
3) On FAT partition, copy these 3 files:
- startup.txt
(from http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/unstable/images/h4000/RC1.3/startup.txt)
- zImage-2.6.21-hh20-r6-h4000.bin
(from http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/unstable/images/h4000/RC1.3/zImage-2.6.21-hh20-r0-h4000.bin)
- haret-0.5.1.exe
(from http://handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/HaRET)
- Copy opie-image-v0.8.4-ipaq-pxa270.rootfs.tar.bz2 from
http://familiar.handhelds.org/releases/v0.8.4/install/files/ipaq-pxa270/
- After running bunzip2 on the above *.bz2, do:
tar xpf opie-image-v0.8.4-ipaq-pxa270.rootfs.tar -C /mnt/sda2
- Plug SD card into iPAQ, find and run haret*.exe.
Your iPAQ will boot into a ** Full OPE ** environment, with USB networking (but without WiFi).
Get back to PocketPC (Windows)
To restore your existing PocketPC (Windows) OS, just do a hard reset. i.e. Push the 'reset' button (little hole thing on the left) with stylus, while holding the 'Power' button (|) down. After that, restore your data/applications from the backup file you just made. If you didn't make a backup before, now is the time to regret.
References:
- http://familiar.handhelds.org/releases/v0.8.4/install/files/ipaq-pxa270/
- http://linuxadministration.us/2008/01/30/linux-on-the-ipaq-h4150
- http://handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/RamdiskRescue
- http://www.angstrom-distribution.org
- http://handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/HaRET
- http://handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/UsbNet
- http://gate.brimson.com/downloads/gadget_serial_howto.txt
And finally, the: