You'll need a miniSD card and a SD card reader (with miniSD adapter). Put the card in your reader and check the device name under which it appears (usually /dev/sda, mine is /dev/sdc... be extra careful if you already have SCSI drives...). I will refer to this device as /dev/sdx.
There are two options for installing Linux on the miniSD card. The first one is to simply dump the provided miniSD images on a card. However, this will only work on an unlocked phone (see why here). The second option is to build EOL from the source and sign it with your miniSD unique identifier. This is also useful to install EOL on an already formated miniSD and still use it for storing data (make a backup of your data then!).
Note that to retrieve your miniSD unique identifier, you can boot from WinCE and read the identifier in /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc0/mmc0*/cid (see also "Using the Mini-SD image"). Unfortunately it's in reverse order and the first byte should be zeroed, so the following command should give you the CARDID to set in EOL Makefile:
sed 's/\(................\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)../00\8\7\6\5\4\3\2\1/' /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc0/mmc0*/cid | sed 's/\(................\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)\(..\)/\1\9\8\7\6\5\4\3\2/'
Simply copy the image to the card:
# dd if=minisd.img of=/dev/sdxand skip to the section "Booting".
$ tar xvfz eol-0.5.tar.gz $ cd eol-0.5Unless your phone is unlocked, edit the Makefile and replace the CARDID with your miniSD unique identifier, zeroing the first byte. Make sure MODEL matches your phone model as well. Build EOL:
$ makeInstall it on the miniSD:
# ./mkbootimg /dev/sdx boot.imgIf the above line complains there is not enough room on the miniSD, you will have to repartition it (and thus lose data already present on it).
# mount /dev/sdx1 /mnt # cp linux/arch/arm/boot/Image /mnt/IMAGE.BIN # umount /mntThe rest of the distribution is not done yet. You can use this initial ramdisk image to have a minimal userland in the meantime. Simpy copy it to the miniSD as well.
# mount /dev/sdx1 /mnt # cp initrd.bin /mnt/INITRD.BIN # umount /mnt
# mount /dev/sdx1 /mnt # cp eol.conf /mnt/ # umount /mnt
Turn off your phone, install your miniSD under the battery. Press and hold the camera button (on the right), then press the power button (on the top) for half a second or so, then release the power button, and wait
for a white screen to appear. If the splash screen logo appears instead you pressed the power button for too long, wait for the phone to boot then turn it off again and try again. The white screen should read:
SD MFG image
<- Press this key
Start Download
Download SD image?
You have 5 seconds to press the volume down button (on the left) to start loading the image. If you were not quick enough or something went wrong you will see the tricolor SPL screen. Power down your phone and try again.
Now the EOL bootloader should be loading (black screen written in white) and proceed to the boot menu. Booting back to WinCE or turning off the phone is not supported yet, you have to remove your battery if you want to do so.
modprobe cdc_ether modprobe usbnet ifconfig usb0 up 192.168.9.1You can then connect to the phone with telnet:
telnet 192.168.9.10login is 'root' with no password.
If things don't work, check lsusb (should report: Netchip Technology, Inc. Linux-USB Ethernet/RNDIS Gadget). The message 'usb0: full speed config #1: 100mA, Ethernet Gadget, using CDC Ethernet' should appear on the phone screen as you plug the USB cable.