Why would anyone want to have linux on an 89 or 92+? Maybe the 92+ since it has a qwerty keyboard, but the 89 would be horrible. Lets not forget the fact that this is a calculator and by puting linux on it, you'd be destroying the whole purpose of the device. Lets not forget too that the kernel itself is large and that is without any of the binaries that are nessacary to make this worth-wild. The only value this has is in pure hack value. It's like a spud-server; ppl will say wow, and then move on.

This is true.

Also, it would be *very* nice to see the TIOS actually replaced by Linux.
It would be an unprecedented first for the device, and it would show that, yes, the TI-OS is hackable, and that it's quite possible to develop a new OS based on Linux.
In short, it might actually have some useful value in the future, if people put their minds to it.

--BlueCalx

And as the summation of the thread states, the would need the 1mb of flash rom to put the kernel in and most of the ram to run it. "Enough flash (1 MB) for read only root filesystem, enough ram (640 KB) for running the OS." Leaving no room for anything, and most developers have astablished that you can replace the flash rom, but the idea of making your 89 into a paper weight because you made a mistake isn't too apealing.

You can make the kernel a lot smaller by removing redundant stuff like TCP/IP...

Never!

I want my Netscape 89!


Seriously though, why not rely on some sort of backup memory device? That way, it'd be easy to implement things like TCP/IP - just grab it when ya need it.

I know it's not perfect. I'm no Linux wizard, either.

TCP/IP may be implemented in only 6.5 Kb of RAM, my friend Samir Ribic already implemented this (it is now in a state of alpha testing)... HTTP protocol is already implemented, so you principally can pick HTML page to the TI-89. The main problem is presentation, e.g. how to present correctly a HTML page on the TI screen...

The ROM is not completly flash though,so if you mess up all you got to do is destroy what you put on then it will ask to send a rom.Trust me I have had my rom deleted once by accident.Sure it is hard to do but if they put an auto delete thing in it it would help.

please delete this post nick

The ROM is not completly flash though,so if you mess up all you got to do is destroy what you put on then it will ask to send a rom.Trust me I have had my rom deleted once by accident.Sure it is hard to do but if they put an auto delete thing in it it would help.Oh and dont email me with the address on my name.It is no longer that and well I am no longer part of SychoSoft. emails to epyon@neos.cjb.net -EpYoN

Linux on a calculator would be awesome! I was thinking about Linux on a calculator while I was installing Mandrake 7.0 on my computer 2 days ago. It would not only serve as a learning tool, but it would take our calcs to the limit. It would prove that we are not just nerds playing on a calculator in Math class, but nerds playing on a computer in Math class.

I would help any effort to port Linux to the 89 or 92, but I only have a 83.

ET


ET

I was thinking of Calc-Linux (my creation I haven`t started on yet which is TI-89 Linux) 5 months ago.

Oh, I forgot about StarDown (Star Wars FallDown) for the TI-86 and (maybe) the TI-89.

This is silly since I have a TI-86 and 89 and I`m in 5th grade!

Landon Rodgers
L+B Software Inc.

I want it for the TI-86!

I started thinking about the idea about a month ago. That was before I tore (literally, you should have seen it) WinDoze '95 off my laptop and popped in Slackware 3.5.

I started writing it (really messy, more a demo than anything) in asm. But I don't really know asm... You can guess what it looked like.

Does anyone know if there's a good C compiler for such a task? Could some existing Linux code be ported?

How about some sort of networking? Ethernet? A calc on ethernet?

I think it should one very large file on your calc, and everything except the kernel could go on that.

~SirNonya.

>Why would anyone want to have linux on an 89 or 92+?

Well, it would be interesting to learn Unix from a calculator, we will need it someday anyway. And it would be cool to have a TI89 synchronized with a unix/linux server, just like a portable partner or something like that. Porting 68k programs for a TI89linux would be easy.



>Lets not forget too that the kernel itself is large and that is without any of the binaries that are nessacary to make this worth-wild

It doesn't have to be just-like the original 68k linux.
it could be a linux based kernel, or just like Prosit.


>Lets not forget the fact that this is a calculator and by puting linux on it, you'd be destroying the whole purpose of the device.

Don't say that...! please...! we always want to see something especial running in a TI89/92

Anyway, who is avaible and wants to make this convertion ?? remember, who dares wins !

I'm just waiting for somebody to port java (the so-called cross-platform language) to a TI calculator.

I think it is an excellent idea: it would boost our calc to unlimited possibilities. However, it might be necessary to hack TI-OS to implement the maths functions it has into a linux application so we dont loose that application, and a storage system to work like a hard disk drive, for example a USB flash pendrive connected to the port on the calc. This can be relatively easy to make, with some electronics and the appropriate driver in linux. I have been thinking about it and i think i could affordthe electronics if linux is finally ported.

It would be *really* cool to put linux on our calcs.
Of course things must be changed a bit...
But we have 2MB of flash rom, so we could transfer
a ready-made image of the running system there.
the 256k RAM is not a lot, but we are not going to run a WEB server. (anyway, why not ? :)) I am not sure how much of the standard applications could be ported, but for example recompiling (maybe a simplified) version of bc would make the calculator a real calculator again...
And what about networking ? If we had TCP/IP...
By the way, is anybody doing anything about this, or this is only a dream yet ?

TCP/IP would be great, with a portable external TImodem... the problem is that this modem will need :
-external power supply(or a good batt)
-memory(for buffering and others)
-some TI/modem protocol chips
-dialer keys(optional)
-etc

I will study this modem at the future, in my university, it souldn't be so hard, but not cheap.

What do you think ?

I think http://macross2000.org/ macross/cgi-bin/render.pl?wti

broken link... I will try again later

You may have done this already, but remove the space from after the slash and macross.....of just click on the Web Page link under my name (it's not my page, thought).

That's good ! well, I never tough in a wireless modem. I just want a simple modem just like the palmpilots. That means using the phone line to enter the internet.

This would be interesting. However, wouldn't a system of converters similar to the wireless ti idea to which a url was posted on this board also work(its also available for download from the informational text archives here) if it is connected to a cellular phone via a cellular phone modem? I have not worked with cellphone modems and do not know for sure, but if so this would probably be easier than building your own direct conversion and modem unit.

--Nerd # 110 (see the survey)
--future martian

I always wondered which software will use this Linux. Even if we used whole 2M of RAM (which means losing of AMS which is the most valueable feature of TI89), 256K is enough only for simplest Unix programs. The bash shell require, AFAIK, 940 kilobytes of RAM. GNU C takes megabytes. For minimal feeling of Linux you must have commands like cd, ps, ls and vi editor.

Minimal requirement for PC Linux is 1.2 floppy with 2M of RAM. We have much less.

The only gain of Linux is multitasking (play game during slow numerical calculation), which is feasible in much easier way.

Currently we have one foreign operating system on TI89, the OS of ZX Spectrum. I think that there is a point also to emulate CP/M, because software for it is quite short.