[wplug] Life with Zaurus

[Vanco, Donald]

Yes, it's pretty cool - but the battery life is dismal - especially when you
start adding CF-based cards.

Don

Coutch, Robert wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Just got my new Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 this past Friday.
> 
> I found mine on the net for $325 from buydig.com.
> 
> The thing is GREAT ! Once you dowload a few essentials into it, you
> have a handheld computer.
> 
> I love working in the shell issuing standard Linux/UNIX commands.
> It's too cool.
> 
> I put a 256Mb SDRAM card in it and a Netgear 802.11b CF card too.
> Tried some old CF flash cards I had lying around and they work too.
> I even formatted the SDRAM card from FAT16 to ext2 (ahhhhh).
> 
> I tried to install fdisk but this failed. Anybody out there got this
> to work?
> 
> Just for laughs, I installed a java based webserver program on it and
> it works great.
> I have openSSH on it (server and client) to transfer files between it
> and my Linux box at home.
> 
> That brings me to the down side of my situation.
> 
> The Zaurus syncs great with my Win2k laptop running intellisync for
> Outlook. 
> 
> It was a nightmare to get my SuSE 7.3 system to sync and ended in
> failure so far.
> I found the Linux version of Qtopia desktop for Linux on Trolltech's
> website. 
> 
> I used google to find out how to get the Zaurus to "talk" to the
> Linux PC. I couldn't find a kernel patch (or source code) for my
> 2.4.10 kernel to get the usbdnet module working so I could do
> ethernet over USB. Instead, I set the machine for serial over USB and
> established a ppp connection between the Zaurus and the PC.
> 
> Qtopia desktop crash several times but finally sync'd after numerous
> attempts. Just when it seemed like it was finally working, another
> sync attempt crashed my Zaurus and corrupted the filesystem.
> 
> After some checking, some important files were zapped (like
> /etc/passwd for starters).
> I finally had to restore the Zaurus back to factory setting and try
> again. 
> 
> It's working again but I'm afraid to try to sync with my Linux PC via
> ppp and Qtopia desktop.
> I've been using SSH to transfer files to it over my home network and
> just syncing it to my work laptop.
> 
> Anybody out there have any success syncing to a Linux PC ? I'd like
> to hear from you.
> 
> The stylus top just broke off today so I wrote a note to Sharp.
> 
> Other than that, the Zaurus is GREAT, there seems to be lots of
> software for it and the little hidden keyboard works pretty good.
> 
> If you're shopping for a PDA, give this unit a serious look.
> 
> 
> -Bob
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