Linux on an Axim X3i
If you found this post via Google, you can thank the masterful web codery that flows from Chris Curtis’s fingers. Two points for designing a site that conforms to web standards, and a bonus point to Google for noticing. I’m sorry if you came here hoping for good news.
That said, my old Axim X3i (the i stands for “wireless internet”...) was drug out of hiding last week. I had seen people around me using their Pocket PCs for useful things and pretending like they were essential tools. I say pretending, because most conversations go like this:
New Pocket PC Owner: This is really neat, but I have to “soft reset” about twice a day.
Veteran Pocket PC Owner: Oh, that’s normal. I “soft reset” mine all the time. Sometimes you have to “soft reset” it 3-4 times to get it to come on right. It’s just fine though.
No. It’s not fine. That, and other horribly persistant problems with the Windows Mobile family is what made me stop using my Pocket PC in the first place. After installing the newest ROM from Dell, and making sure I had a fully patched operating system, it’s no better.
So I thought, hey, I remember reading a couple years ago about Linux for handhelds. I’ma check that out. I quickly find out about the Linux based Familiar project. And how I could install it, and choose one of three GUIs, similar to Gnome, KDE, or X. And then I get to the hardware compatibility page. Axim X3 is out. Supported? No. Boots? Who knows? Ready for users? Who knows?
The answer, as it turns it, is no, no, no, and a big no. No one has been able to, or has spent the time to figure out how the hardware communicates. Touchscreen won’t work, serial port won’t work, memory card access won’t work, etc. In other words, it will “soft brick” your Axim. Please, please, if you were at one time involved in the project to make this work, exhert your energies to it once more. I’ll, um, give you a soda?
Posted Wednesday January 4, 2006 in by Derek Jones
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