There are excellent resources and articles regarding the installation of different Linux distributions onto a Tablet PC. It almost may seem a horrendous idea, considering the time, effort and investment Microsoft has put forth with the Tablet PC. However, the two operating systems can co-exist nicely on Tablet PC Hardware. You don't need to choose one over the other.

This thread is for listing sites and articles showing how to install Linux onto a Tablet PC. Please add your own in a post to this thread and then I'll try to keep this list updated.

Running Linux on a Tablet PC?Pen Computing (June 2003)

Linux on a Tablet PC

Making the ViewSonic Tablet PC Run Linux

Linux on an Acer TravelMate C100

Vendor
Element Computer

Distributions
Lycoris Unveils OS for Tablet PC Platform

First Linux Tablet PC (Lycoris)

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Here's a great link about running Debian Linux on the M200.

http://www.adebenham.com/laptop/toshiba_m200.html

Linuxmon

I know this is an old post, but hey, I'm a n00b, and I want to reply to it...:)


It's very easy to install Linux as a dual boot solution, that's for sure. I've been running with Ubuntu and TPC for about two years now. That's all well and good. The real issue is, as you hinted with your statement ...

What I mean by that is, as you know, the Tablet functions (other than the pen itself) and Tablet specific software don't function in the Linux environment.

The answer to that, it would seem, is obvious...just install the WinXP/Tablet PC OS in a "Virtual" machine, like VirtualWare or VirtualBox, right? Wrong. Most Tablet PC's come only with a "restore" CD, if that, and are locked to the machine they were sold with, usually, via the BIOS.

Therein lies the rub. Virtual machines "emulate" the hardware, so the installed machine doesn't have access to it. I've tested this with three different Tablet PC's., and three different restore CD's. None will install in a VM.

I love my Ubuntu, and I certainly do love my Tablet PC. I use it for business and rely on it. I really need a reliable platform and I prefer using Linux for most everything, except Tablet PC stuff like OneNote (my favorite TPC app.). And then there is the multitude of Win apps I need that won't work under Linux w/Wine, and have no Linux equivalent.

I've tried setting up a "raw" partition, as well. A raw partition is where you have both OS's installed directly on your hard drive. The, in Linux using a VM (I prefer VirtualBox-and it's free), you create a VM, and "link" (for lack of a better simple term) the partition it's on to your VM, as opposed to running it on a "virtual" partition. This, in theory and practice, allows both OS's to have full access to the hardware including the BIOS, and now you have Tablet PC running inside of a VM on Linux.

The downside to this is (you knew there had to be one, right?), it's not reliable. For some reason I keep corrupting the files on my HD. Both the Linux and Windows files, as well as, the Win boot partition. It shouldn't so this, it's not supposed to do this. Yet it does. Others using Tablet PC OS have the same issue, and yet, none of us can figure out why, not even the gurus over at VirtualBox. It just does.

So, it's back to the drawing board.

Has anyone had any success using an unbranded OEM version of Tablet PC in a virtual machine? That is probably the last possible solution that appears that it may work. I would love to try it.

I saw a post on this forum, some time back, from someone asking if anyone wanted an OEM copy to use with their own key. Has anyone taken him up on his offer, and did it work for you?

Thanks for your interest.

Bother ... wrote quite a long message & then lost it. :(

OK:
I've just acquired a spare tablet, it's an old Toshiba 3500 - one where the original owner left work & so no-one knew his password. As I've been wanting to test out linux for a while, it struck me as a good excuse to try installing it.

I went for Fedora - and have got it running from the hard drive. The pen works, sort of; it needs some calibration!

The link to Debian on a M200 in here was useful, and I've found http://groundstate.ca/tabletsoft & TuxMobil: Tablet PCs, Pen PCs and Convertibles with Linux which have been useful (I also have a Linux for numpties book!)

It's going to take some time, so if you have any handy hints, they'd be appreciated!