Can I install linux on this?
Can I install linux on this?
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.
*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.
Clearly not the point of OP’s question though
I know :D
As much as a human has of a lizard (lizardbrain). Are we still Lizards?And "Android" specifically is a certified package with proprietary apps.Firstly humans having lizard brains is pop science nonsense, and secondly humans and lizards are amniotes. And thirdly, the Android userland is Apache 2.0 licensed, regardless of whatever proprietary apps might or might not be installed on top of it, and the vast majority of Linux distros’ kernels have proprietary binary blob drivers installed in them.
For better or worse the more correct name GNU/Linux did not catch on and is universally shortened to Linux. Android uses the Linux kernel, but is not GNU/Linux, and therefore is not Linux.
Alpine Linux users are in shambles.
GNU/Linux != Linux
Linux is a kernel
GNU/Linux is the GNU userland (tools and libraries) combined with the Linux kernel to form a complete operating system
Android is Linux but not GNU. So are Alpine, postmarketOS, and others I can't think of
Linux is to an operating system as bread is to a sandwich... an essential component, but a slice of bread by itself does not make a sandwich make
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.
Well of course you can.
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.
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.
https://archive.org/details/wm8650-linux It might have been archived here.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Can you access the BIOS/Bootloader?
Is it x86 or ARM?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/
Alpine Linux if ARM7 but it is older arm i think
Even a potato can run linux if you try hard(er) enough.
a potato?
It should! As long as you can get it to the bios screen you should be able to get it to boot a live USB. I actually resurrected my EeePC1005 two weeks ago with DamnSmallLinux2024.