[talk] NetBSD on IBM Workpad z50

[George Rosamond]

I picked up a few IBM Workpad z50s circa 1999. The have a MIPS chip and
by default run Windows CE. They look like a slightly smaller version of
the older X-series Thinkpads, like the X41.

Sevan has NetBSD running on one:

http://dmesgd.nycbug.org/index.cgi?do=view&id=2991

They are interesting little laptops. The base holds two AAA batteries to
save settings, plus they have extended batteries.  Most interesting,
they have battery packs that take AA batteries. Rumor has it one could
get 16 hours on the batteries.

They can take up to 48M of RAM, but come with 16M by default. There is
no USB or ethernet. You need PCMCIA type I and II for ethernet,
wireless, etc. Unfortunately, I threw out all my old PCMCIA cards a few
years back.

There is no hard disk, just WindowsCE in firmware, but there is CF card
storage.

Fun, interesting little devices, and when I have the time, I should have
them up and running with NetBSD for the installfest. Until a recent
snapshot, hibernation was working fine also.

g