Installing Linux on an iPaq H3765
Published on 13 Dec 2005 · Filed in Information · 183 words (estimated 1 minutes to read)Before I switched to Mac OS X, I was a heavy duty Windows user. I had Windows XP on my laptop, Windows 2000 on my servers, and used a Windows CE-based Compaq iPaq H3765. Since that time, I (of course) switched to Mac OS X on my laptop (a 15" PowerBook G4 with SuperDrive); a mix of Linux, OpenBSD, and Windows on my servers; and a Palm OS-based handheld (currently a Treo 650, previously a Tungsten T3). As a result, I still had this iPaq sitting around doing nothing. So, on a whim, I decided to install Linux on my old iPaq.
Using the installation instructions at familiar.handhelds.org, I downloaded an Opie image, installed the bootloader, and reflashed the iPaq from a spare 128MB CF card (I had a CF sleeve with external battery for the iPaq). After only a few minutes (the entire process was really quite painless), I was up and running with Linux on my iPaq.
Having Linux running on the iPaq is great, but now I have to figure out what to do with this Linux-based PDA. Suggestions, anyone?