Linux Boots on Treo 650

nilbog writes "A major leap forward has taken place in the development of Linux for the Treo 650. Grack.com has posted screenshots of a Cingular branded 650 displaying the familiar penguin logo. A discussion has sprung up over the the treo central forums where Shadowmite, one of the developers, has confirmed that it shouldn't be too long before they are able to get the phone's hardware working under linux. "

Re:If you have any questions, feel free to ask her

[strredwolf]

Looks like you got a bug there with the framebuffer being offset like that.

Any word on if you're going to bundle Opie or GPE on it?

Re:If you have any questions, feel free to ask her

[bfree]

How much communication is happening amongst the various Palm PXA developers, for example I just noticed the hackndev.com link has arrived on your handhelds.org wiki page. Garux seems to have spawned a lot of interest and it seems the machines are generally quite similar, so could we prehaps see a "distro" released for PXA Palms?

pssh

[commodoresloat]

This is cool and all, but for those who want to use unix on a treo now, check out pssh [sealiesoftware.com], which allows you to ssh into a functioning unix box from palmOS. It works quite well and, while it's not the same as having linux on the local file system, it allows you to use unix remotely without sacrificing the apps available on palmOS (e.g. the phone, the organizer, and everything else you probably bought the treo for in the first place). Not to put down this project -- I'm all for putting linux on anything and everything -- but this has a long way to go before you have a usable system.

Re:If you have any questions, feel free to ask her

[AugstWest]

Would it be possible to boot Linux from the SD card, or must the phone be flashed?

Re:If you have any questions, feel free to ask her

[bfree]

I don't really know (but guess you do) how many "ports" there are, but it seems to me the LifeDrive, TE(2), Treo650, TT(2|3) and Z72 are all potential targets for the one code-base/distro, it seems the core Palm PXA hardware is all quite similar. Between them it's also quite a range of machines, it will be interesting to see what will/won't work (bluetooth, Z72 camera, LD wifi, Treo Phone) and what uses people will put them to ... to ask a question again, do you have a personal itch you are scratching with this (a way to use your treo) or are you simply doing this "because you can"?

Re:Got some Kharma to burn here

[Cyberax]

Well, here is an article (sorry, in Russian) about a cluster of iPAQs (connected using IRDA): http://hard.compulenta.ru/2003/10/9/42473/ [compulenta.ru]

Locking?

[Del Vach]

I've currently got a 650 from our good friends at Cingular, who love tormenting me with their commercials about what great coverage they provide, despite the 0 bars I get at home. I'm curious to know:

  - Will a 650 running Linux still be locked to the provider's network?
  - For us lightweights, will it be possible to revert back to PalmOS after installing this?
  - Might there be a possibility of dual booting between Palm & Linux?

Personally I'd love to finally get some use out of the 1GB card I bought for the thing, especially if I could basically use the presence of a card to select the OS it boots with.

Pointless, really.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, it takes effort to make a port. And good job to the author. BUT

1) The Treo on PlamOS is dead. The new treos will be Windows whatever for phones.

2) Manufactors like Motorla have announced JUIX (Java and Linux) on new phones and claims this is going to be a supported platform beyond the E895 and A910 models.

So if ya wanna be excited, contact Motorola and ask them what the status of support for the E895/A910 at www.motocoder.com. Because Motorola seems to want to offer a 'Linux' phone and claims they will offer more phones like it.

So why get excited over a dead-end offering VS what appears to be a living, breathing and hopefully long lived line of phones?

Highly available, as in, go buy one at the store

[Anonymous Coward]

What can it offer? All the features Verizon or whoever locked out of it. Bluetooth DUN, OBEX, etc.

With PalmOS on Phones an orphan, Linux is needed

[rhyre417]

[I'm an unsatistifed Treo 180 owner - mine cracked in half twice.] PalmOS is a dead platform as far as phones are concerned. The treo 700 uses Windows. At least Linux has a lifetime longer than what the manufacturer will support with their native OS.