I found this netbook(?) somewhere in old things and just wonder: can linux be installed on it?
No, you're not allowed. Now go to your room and think about what you've done.
this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2024
244 points (97.7% liked)
Linux
48330 readers
627 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
*what you have NOT done.
Fixed that for you 😉
It’s already running Linux. You just showed us a screenshot of it running Android, which is Linux.
Surely its easier to install Linux than android.
I want to know how they put android on it
I mean, the internals might just be the ones of a tablet or something. With android I'd be guessing its an ARM chip
load more comments
(2 replies)
Probably Yes
Looks like you already did
Most likely yes, as many others have said. Of course you'll likely have to pick a very lightweight DE.
As a fallback there is always NetBSD.
NetBSD will not work at all with Broadcom Wireless
I mean if you're down to NetBSD as your pick you've probably already made some big concessions so plugging into Ethernet isn't a huge leap at that point.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Yes you can here is a place to start https://kernelhacks.blogspot.com/2012/06/arch-linux-on-wm8650-netbook.html?m=1
This looks like one of those low cost netbooks from the time where "EPad" and "MID" tablets were a thing. There is an edition of Windows CE floating around for these - but WiFi will not work, neither the modem if this has one built in.
No idea about Linux - there is a kernel so you're technically half way there, but considering most of these had a slow single core ARM CPU and 256MB of RAM on a good day, practical use is limited IMO
It probably has USB, wifi adapters are cheap.
Well of course you can.
Yes you can, it won't be great though.
I used to maintain a Linux distribution called "OpenWM8650" (back in 2011 / 2012) which was specially aimed at the WM8650 and WM8505. It would run off the SD card. Which wasn't great, but the flash onboard support was horrible at best.
Maybe you can find some old information on it, on XDA because the website for the initial distribution is long gone.
load more comments
(1 replies)
well in a cosmic sort of sense, it already is. (android is based on a modified linux kernel). seriously though, check out https://antixlinux.com/ it's a distro to put on any computer, even ones that old.
MX Linux is the sister project, and I think it also can work on very old hardware.
It had problems with my multi monitor setup, but it booted so ridiculously fast, even on a live ISO. Certainly worth a look.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
I think you would need to provide more detail to know what you have. Does it have a model number on it anywhere?
that's it: CPU: WM8650 800Hz Memory:DDR 256MB
It's information on back cover
"WM8650" seems to indicate a VIA WonderMedia WM8650 armv5te chipset, used by a lot of anemic Android laptops circa 2011 (sold under various brandnames, but apparently all made in the same factory). People have installed Linux on them in the past (there seems to have been a fad for Arch on these for a while, given the search results), but you might have trouble getting a device tree that will work with a modern kernel.
Honestly, though, it has less processor than a Raspberry Pi 3. Unless you've already thought of a specific use for this, I'd dump it back in the junk drawer.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Probably not worth trying to actually use today. I'd leave it as it is, imo it's better as a small piece of history - Android on PC is pretty niche
I just can't find
Just want to say good luck. Someone brought me one of these and asked to make it ready to be their university laptop in 2013. I worked real hard not to laugh because money was obviously tight but I just told them to return the pos to Amazon.
This device should be able to run Linux fine of the specs you provided are correct. You can either use CLI or a Light weight Window manager like IceWM. Web browsing and video playback are out of the question but it most certainly can run vim.
I would just install Debian. It is likely a 32bit machine.
The first image for wm8650 that comes up is a Debian boot logo.
Take a picture of the bottom pls
I'm not sure its appropriate here
that's it: CPU: WM8650 800Hz Memory:DDR 256MB and information about screen. Literally
Wow
The other guy’s getting started link is a good place to start. It will take some work
If not, there's probably one or the other security hole to root it and use chroot.
You can install Linux on anything you can get it on.
E: Please check out https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
maybe you have some instructions?
Was a bit tongue-in-cheek mate, I’m sorry and it wasn’t fair because you are here looking for guidance.
Please check out Linux From Scratch: https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
load more comments
(1 replies)
Looks very similar to the Windows CE device action retro has in this video so what he used could be helpful https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=anz17CNMixU
view more: next ›