Software for 3100

[Ralph Siemsen]

Hi Bill,

> I may have found a Netwinder 3100 for sale, though it is not available
> for my inspection.  Reading through the materials found online through
> Google, it's not clear how much software was actually ported to the
> 3100.  iCertainly enough for evaluation models, but did the compiler
> suite, etc. all get ported?  Does a disk image of the 3100 exist?  

Snap it up, that is a collectors item :)

There was a complete "OfficeServer" disk load for the 3100.  Like
the ARM-based netwinders, this was built on top of a base linux
derived from Red Hat.  It also included the same proprietary add-ons,
eg. a VPN server, as found on the ARM version of OfficeServer.
For that reason, you won't find disk images on netwinder.org.

Compilers etc. were not included, but they could be added quite
easily.  Of course, this stuff is 8 years old, when the 2.4.0 kernel
was just about to be released.  You certainly don't want to connect
it to the 'net, unless you want to see just how fast the machine
can be exploited by script kiddies :)

I recently helped get Debian Etch running on a 3100.  The only real
complication is that you cannot use the stock kernels, as they are
too big and they rely on using a initrd (ramdisk), which is not
supported by the 3100 firmware.  Instead, you have to build a
rather minimal kernel (with just enough support for the hardware
in the 3100).  The rest can be loaded after boot via insmod/modprobe.

Running other recent Linux distributions (eg. Fedora, Slackware, etc)
is also possible - similar kernel issues will arise, of course, and
can be handled the same way.  I was thinking about outfitting my 3100
with a SSD (or a CF card with an IDE adapter) and running Fedora on
it, mostly because that's what I have the most experience with.

Keep in mind that the 3100 has no video card.  It can only be accessed
via the serial port, and once running, via ethernet.  Makes a good
firewall, or a webserver (if you don't have too much CGI processing).
Or in my case, a mail/imap server.

> Also, I found references to x86 compatibility, but not much
> specifics.  Would a 3100 actually run DOS or Windows natively?

The Crusoe processor in the 3100 looks like a Pentium - complete with
the F00F bug and whatnot - even though there is a software emulation
going on behind the scenes.

However, it won't run Windows or DOS, because it does not have a BIOS.
It might be possible within a virtualization environment like VMware,
but getting that up and running would probably not be easy, nor would
it be particularly fast...

-Ralph