Flybuntu is a linux distribution and a modified Ubuntu hardy linux. The modification are primary to run Ubuntu on the Dialogue Flybook (Touchscreen, WLAN, ...)
Flybuntu is released under the Terms of GPLv2.
GoblinX Micro is a small linux installation based on Slackware. We added support for the touchscreen.
If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask.
The Dialogue Flybook is a small laptop. There are different models available. I have a A33i.
The Flybook comes with Windows XP. All devices of A33i and V33i are working with Linux.
Now its possible to install Flybuntu Linux without using an USB drive or CD. You can install it from your running Windows. We remove the D: partition to get space for Linux. Flybuntu has a default partition size of 10GB. After install, you can create a new D: with the rest of harddisk space.
Start windows
Remove with your windows administration program the partition D:
Warning: All data on this partition will be lost!!!
Create a new 10GB partition. This partition must be the
second partition on
the harddisk. Set the driveletter to P:
10GB = 10000MB. It has no effect for linux if you make the partition bigger.
Its not required to format the partition (costs only time).
Download flybuntu.000 (720MB) and flybuntuinstall.zip (0.2MB) to your Flybook in the same directory.
Extract the file flybuntuinstall.zip into this directory. Now you should have some files (setup.bat, flybuntu.000, and more) in this directory.
Run setup.bat
When the setup.bat says "install ok" then reboot your Flybook.
You have now a new entry (in your boot.ini)
called GRUB. Use this to start Linux.
When you start GRUB and you see no menu and only GRUB>, then enter the following:
find /boot/grub/stage1
You will see (hd0,1). Use (hd0,1) for the next command. English keyboard is active ( is shift 9 and ) is shift 0
root (hd0,1)
setup (hd0)
Now GRUB is your primary boot manager. A new reboot is required.
When Flybuntu starts, login as user user and the password is user
When you start Flybuntu, the Flybook is already configured for A33i.
If you have a V33i Flybook, then run the setup V33i This program copies the correct xorg.conf.
When you start Flybuntu, the Flybook is already configured for V5.
flybuntu.000 is an image file created with partimage. We use pimgrestore.exe to restore this image with windows. As loader we use GRUB with the GRUB installer.
If someone has already installed Ubuntu, then you can use the development package to install the driver.
This section will grow up.
How to know what input device I have to set in xorg.conf?
Run dmesg | grep -i penmount
You will see a path. Only the filename (ex. input9) is required. Edit / add this section to your xorg.conf and set the correct device.
input9 = event9, input8 = event8, and so on
Section "InputDevice" Identifier "touchscreen" Driver "plpevtch" Option "Device" "/dev/input/event9" EndSectionSearch in xorg.conf for Section "ServerLayout" and addInputDevice "touchscreen" "Pointer"A reboot is required.
Touchscreen calibration: More infos for the xorg driver are here.
You can download this development package (about 0.3MB) with scripts and sources used for Flybuntu: flybuntu-development-20080922.tgz
You can use sudo ./autoinstall.sh to retrive all additional required development packages for compiling the driver. This script compiles the driver.
After compiling, add to the file /etc/rc.local the line modprobe penmountlpc.
xorg.conf for A33i: xorg.conf.a33i
xorg.conf for V33i: xorg.conf.v33i
xorg.conf for V5: xorg.conf.v5
GoblinX is a small Linux Distribution based on Slackware Linux. We use the Micro Edition with plpevtch and penmountlpc added for the touchscreen.
You can install it without using an USB drive or CD from your running Windows. We remove the D: partition to get space for Linux. This GoblinX has a default partition size of 10GB. After install, you can create a new D: with the rest of harddisk space.
Start windows
Remove with your windows administration program the partition D:
Warning: All data on this partition will be lost!!!
Create a new 10GB partition. This partition must be the
second partition on
the harddisk. Set the driveletter to P:
10GB = 10000MB. It has no effect for linux if you make the partition bigger.
Its not required to format the partition (costs only time).
Download goblinx.000 (130MB) and goblinxinstall.zip (0.2MB) to your Flybook in the same directory.
Extract the file goblinxinstall.zip into this directory. Now you should have some files (setup.bat, goblinx.000, and more) in this directory.
Run setup.bat
When the setup.bat says "install ok" then reboot your Flybook.
You have now a new entry (in your boot.ini)
called GRUB. Use this to start Linux.
When you start GRUB and you see no menu and only GRUB>, then enter the following:
find /boot/grub/stage1
You will see (hd0,1). Use (hd0,1) for the next command. English keyboard is active ( is shift 9 and ) is shift 0
root (hd0,1)
setup (hd0)
Now GRUB is your primary boot manager. A new reboot is required.
| http://www.fuschlberger.net/flybook | Detailed informations about linux on the flybook |
| http://users.tkk.fi/~hlinnaka/flybook | the current touchscreen driver |
| http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Dialogue_Flybook | WIKI: linux on dialogue flybook |
2008-11-10: second version of GoblinX for the Flybook released
2008-09-22: first version of GoblinX for the Flybook released
2008-09-22: v0.6 released, penmountlpc driver and plpevtch updated
2008-09-13: new develop package
2008-08-16: Bootdrive in /boot/grub/menu.lst changed back to /dev/hda2
2008-08-10: v0.5 released, software updated, penmountlpc driver for flybook V5 updated
2008-08-04: v0.4 released, xorg touchscreen driver changed to plpevtch
2008-07-14: added compiled kernel for flybook
2008-07-03: v0.3 with easy install from Windows released. Driver for UMTS included for HSDPA
2008-06-13: Second release of Flybuntu with new kernel for different V33i
2008-06-01: First release of Flybuntu
2008-05-31: Flybuntu will be available for download today or tomorrow
2008-05-28: Idea to make an Ubuntu distibution for the flybook with the touchscreen driver was born
Special thanks goes to Manuel Ullrich and WoodSnake for spendig their time for testing.