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What ROM for SL5500

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Chris Bartram

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Jan 18, 2008, 9:40:00 AM1/18/08
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I've got an SL5500 I've had for a while, and started to look at seeing
what I could do to make it better do what I want. I use it for a bit of
mobile text editing, and surfing the web, and mucking about because I
like the idea of a Linux computer in my pocket.

Here's my wishlist:

*Web Browsing, with as useful a browser as possible
*IMAP Email
*Bluetooth modem/network link

I'm not bothered about PC sync- I've only used the cradle once!

I've tried Openzaurus, and got stuck with the root filesystem size (it
looked really interesting besides that, but the instructions to get
around the problem were vague) and Cacko, and found that very slow (and
missing a browser?), so I've gone back to the Sharp 3.1 ROM that does
most of what I want.

Is there a better alternative without too much mucking about, or should
I forget it and wait for my EePC :-)

David L. Johnson

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Jan 18, 2008, 10:48:51 AM1/18/08
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Chris Bartram wrote:
> I've got an SL5500 I've had for a while, and started to look at seeing
> what I could do to make it better do what I want. I use it for a bit of
> mobile text editing, and surfing the web, and mucking about because I
> like the idea of a Linux computer in my pocket.
>
> Here's my wishlist:
>
> *Web Browsing, with as useful a browser as possible
> *IMAP Email
> *Bluetooth modem/network link
>
> I'm not bothered about PC sync- I've only used the cradle once!
>
> I've tried Openzaurus, and got stuck with the root filesystem size (it
> looked really interesting besides that, but the instructions to get
> around the problem were vague) and Cacko, and found that very slow (and
> missing a browser?), so I've gone back to the Sharp 3.1 ROM that does
> most of what I want.

Well, the 5500 is pretty limited in terms of space. The only really
viable imap-capable email for these machines is sylpheed. For the Sharp
rom there were a couple companies claiming to have something, but they
never delivered (or if they did, it was after I gave up on them).

OZ would have been the best bet for you, but it is dead. Angstrom (OZ's
successor) is probably too bloated for you, and you may find their
priorities and available packages frustrating. They are very much into
kernel development and porting the system to various devices, but not so
much on usability. Many packages they list are actually broken. I am
not sure whether or not they even have a working kernel for the 5500;
there was negative chatter about that recently on the OESF forum.

In order to do anything reasonable, you have to get a fairly large sd
card and move most of the filesystem to that, freeing up internal memory
for ram.

You might try pdaXrom, but again I doubt that it would fit. All of
these calculations change with a bigger machine, such as the 3100 -- I
run debian on mine, and love it. But my 5500 is collecting dust.

That ee is only $400.....

--

David L. Johnson

It doesn't get any easier, you just go faster.
--Greg LeMond

Chris Bartram

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Jan 18, 2008, 3:59:05 PM1/18/08
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Thanks for that. It's about what I thought. As good fortune would have
it, my wife has bought me an ee, but it hasn't arrived yet. It's just a
shame for the 5500 to gather dust because it's a nice machine.

Chris Bartram

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Jan 19, 2008, 6:14:34 AM1/19/08
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David L. Johnson wrote:

> In order to do anything reasonable, you have to get a fairly large sd
> card and move most of the filesystem to that, freeing up internal memory
> for ram.
>

That#s what Cacko tries to do, but I found it took far too long to boot
while initialising /home, and ran slowly. Otherwise, it's the same as
the Sharp rom, but with Opera missing.

> You might try pdaXrom, but again I doubt that it would fit. All of
> these calculations change with a bigger machine, such as the 3100 -- I
> run debian on mine, and love it. But my 5500 is collecting dust.
>

Debian would be ideal!. The machine I'm posting from is dual-boot
XP/Debian, and I runa Debian 'server'. Not likely on a 5500 though.
> That ee is only $400....

See my other reply. Thanks.

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