unfortunately, no one know this, i have seen many videos that apparetly dont know about this, they think a cellphone is a socialnetwork and games machine only, i know the translation is not that great, but it helps a lot, dude i even translate throught a video for a stupid youter who said, "i dont speak korean", while showing a spicy ramen soup, i paused the video, opened google translate and there you go, if i could translate throught a video, why he wouldnlt physically???
Yes, it's pretty cool, but i predict that the only reason Translate runs at a loss is to kill competition, and when we are all thoroughly dependent on it, it will become either a subscription service or be so full of ads that it will limit it's usability. This insidious tactic is the same one that enabled Google's near monopoly on searches and video hosting, and there's no reason to suspect that they won't use this tactic again. Google has made some incredible advances, but they are becoming a stagnant monopoly, and so it's time to break them up. Monopolies are always bad for innovation in the long run.
the way the handbook says 'YES theres a drive inside it, and then says 'NO its not a good idea to open the Zaurus to look where it is and play with it, it just makes you want to play open it for an unknown look inside
@@unduloid The world is in the state its in because we accepted easy answers in the past because we wanted it to be true. We wanted to be able to screw around and buy endless stuff with no consequence and there were an endless supply of charlatans willing to tell us that was possible. Where are they now that we have a sociological breakdown, and an energy/environmental crisis?
Fun Fact: There's a port of NetBSD to these things. Also fun fact: The Yocto linux project can directly trace its lineage to these devices. Yocto is the biggest little distro toolkit from Intel and others, and its history comes from OpenEmbedded, which itself was a fork of OpenZaurus. The interface, QTopia, was rarely licensed by QT/Trolltech after the zaurus was popular, as by the time the market had really opened up, Google had swept in with Android. The different generations of Zaurus are all identified by the breed of dog they're named after; The cl-3100, aka Borzoi, makes reference to this in the introductory boot screen. The only version of the Zaurus that came out after this was the cl-3200 (called the Terrier) which bumped the internal HDD to 6GB and had some minor hardware improvements but otherwise is the same!
Sweet memories! 🤓 I used to own a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 (Collie). _Which cost me quite some hard-earned money, back then as a 20 y/o dude, to import it from the USA (into the Netherlands)._ 🤑💰 I loved 😍 the tiny slide-out keyboard _(to type in the console, on IRC, etc.)_ and the USB 'sync' dock for the PDA (or PMT, Personal Mobile Tool) to stand on my desk. Pretty soon I switched from the stock OS to OpenZaurus. 🎉 There was also the Ångström distribution. Would have liked to get my hands on one of the later clam-shell shaped Zaurus devices, with a better LCD screen and many other improvements, looking like a "mini laptop" instead of a bulky, portrait mode Blackberry-ish PDA. 😂 But then, the smartphone came along. Still I have been missing the little hardware keyboard, 😢even though I find the on-screen swipe/gesture keyboard working pretty well on my Android device today. What I also miss: the unique look and feel of older devices, whether it be Zaurus mini-computers or Nokia mobile phones. Nowadays most smartphones look pretty much the same, like a flat slab with the front mostly covered by a touch screen. For obvious reasons, I know, and there are some (expensive) exceptions like the foldable smartphones. Anyway, back to the Zaurus 5500. As I don't have the electronics (nor low level Linux kernel/driver) engineering skills to mod(ify) / 'upgrade' it with a better screen for example, I eventually donated the PDA, including the original box, to a local computer history museum.
@@RichardNobeldonating your device to a local history museum is quite admirable!!! I am pretty sure it was impressive and beautiful of you to use such a unique device!!! Keep it up !!!
It's not really that surprising when you consider flash media was still brand new technology and very expensive when these came out. The first iPods had a 2.5" PATA hard disk in them, which is the reason why they were that big.
I have a Zaurus SL-C1000. I used this device in 2005(?) on the train on my daily commute to work because it was so small and still had a usable keyboard. There was a German dealer, thanks to him the desktop has a German layout, despite the English keyboard. I also used Midnight commander as a file explorer. Thanks to its 2-window design, it's better than any Windows Explorer. Incredibly, the device and the battery are still working. A wonderful extreme durable device.
Shows off a cool handheld Explains it doesn't work Starts diagnosing it. Needs to test the drive. Pulls up ANOTHER cool handheld to read the drive and test it lmfao
This thing looks like the direct ancestor to the Android smartphone to me. It's always so interesting how you can trace the evolution of revolutionary devices back an impressive distance before you finally find the root - even here it is noteworthy that the evolutionary split seems to have occured in the 90s.
Excellent narrative and presentation of debugging and getting an old device to work. Always was fascinated reading about these tiny marvels back in the day and now that we have much more powerful phones in our pockets daily, it is a bittersweet joy to mentally return to the days when these highly integrated devices were a practically unattainable curiosity from far away lands. Thank you for the journey!
OMG me too right ahaha i just randomly came across this video and i saw strangelove as one word and thats why i clicked on it Not because i Like the show if thats what its even fucking called idk i know theres a Character from IDK North american TV or movie Lore oh wait no Its from the UK? Right isn't it i mean innit!
@@Dumbscience4thewin I have received some amazing things from viewers. I'm very humbled by the generosity I have experienced while making videos. I'm keen to hear what you may have and especially any stories of tech that you have loved over the years.
Back in 2005 I was using a Palm TX. I would have really liked it if something like this was available in the US when I bought mine. I really enjoyed my Palm TX and with built in WIFI and Bluetooth as well as a GPS expansion module and the ability to work well with my phone at the time it was quite the powerful setup. With that said though I am a Linux user since the late 90's and the draw of a Linux portable may have been enough to get me to sacrifice features for the joy of geeking out with a Linux portable. Very nice looking device.
This is my first time viewing one of your videos, and I'm glad the algorithm steered me here. Thank you for making your frustration so entertaining for us
The audio in this video was really good. This device tickles all my mini computer retro metal, durable thingamajig itches. Then see all the effort you put into it to make it usable was quite a rollercoaster. This was a terific video. Thankyou for making it. Technology is amazing. ^^
Thankyou for this nostalgia trip. I still own one of these (C3100) that I bought in japan, and also still have the 5600. They were way ahead of their time, and running Linux as the default OS was nothing short of groundbreaking back in the day. I also saved (and still have) a bunch of Zaurus related files (images, software, even saved web pages and pdfs, so if you are interested, I can find a way to get them to you). Who knows, some of this stuff might be hard (or even impossible) to find anywhere else, given that groundbreaking as it was, the Zaurus was incredibly niche, even back in the day.
Great to hear from another Zaurus owner. I'm interested in anything not easily available. I did find a one package feed and that's where I found these games.
I bought an new imported SL-C3100 back in the day and ported Gentoo to it using the then new ARM EABI. I had it working with auto-rotation, frequency scaling (including overclocking), wifi etc. It worked great with Firefox 1.0!
@@JanusCycle you’re very welcome. It’s extremely refreshing to see someone work towards what they want, and do so happily. I wish you continued success and enjoyment.
Awesome job! What a cool little device and a great form factor, similar vibe to the nokia N90, N93/N93i. It's nice that all the resources for it are still available too, interested to see what it can do
8 місяців тому+1
I love this. Gives me a relaxing Bob Ross kind of vibe with the calm voice. You sir, have gained a subscriber.
So far, I have enjoyed every single video you have released! The simple videography, the vibe, the pacing, the storytelling, the music, the editing, etc are ALL top notch! Thank you & please keep them coming! (PS. Hoping for more Nokia Communicator videos if possible).
Wow, that's quite a compliment, thanks! You can bet I want to do more Communicator videos. My other model is still broken, but I'm looking around for more units. In the meantime an N series Nokia may make an appearance soon.
Heretic is based on an early Doom engine, iirc on Doom v1.2. Raven licensed the engine from iD Software and made some changes like an inventory, so you could carry around health packs until you need them. For the sequel Hexen they also made hub maps you could re-visit. I really like Heretic and consider it underrated. Hexen is boring as batshit, lots of backtracking through empty levels to hit a switch which opens a door all the way in another level which you've already cleared out too. Check out Strife to see the pinnacle of Doom engine FPS RPG.
A new Janus video always means it's going to be a good day. I absolutely love your video style, unique devices, and expert information. Your troubleshooting is next level! Awesome video!
Incredible video, and an incredible little handheld too! It would have been really cool to live in Japan in the late 90s and early 00s to see this amazing technology taking shape.
Hidden service menus save lives - some time ago I bought a Sony Ericsson Xperia X2. There are no tools for flashing this phone. For my luck there already was installed system with my native language but it was code locked. I found only one video that showed how to access hidden service menu which had an option to wipe data and reset device. So now I am one happy owner of Xperia X2. Anyways, another great video! Glad there is someone with love and enough patience to save such rare devices - pieces of long gone world :)
This brings back Memories. I've used to have a Zaurus C-700, an earlier Clamshell Model. This was my Computer on the Go for many Years until I trusted Smartphones enough to take over these Tasks, but sometimes I really miss this little Brick. Electronics is getting boring today.
BEAUTIFUL. It's hard to explain the feeling of accomplishment one gets out of these projects. This vid gave me life. First time I see your channel, BTW. Subscribed!
very nice choice of outro music. Subbed because of good content, reminding me a litte bit of LGR's Oddware series of weird computer peripherals and such.
stylish as ever, janus :) i wish real handheld PCs like this were more common today, i'd much rather have a full on OS than ios or android. i've been considering installing postmarket os on an old samsung tablet of ours to get a taste of that freedom.
I used to be involved in phones back in the 90's and early 00'. When the QTEK 9000 was released and I finally to managed to track one down and get it to my hands, I didnt use anything else for quite a bit. There were some strange JDM only devices I didnt manage to get my hands on, this was one of them. Very cool to see it like this!
I recognized that little drive straight away from my experience with the iPod Mini. Mine got the click of death too, must be a common occurrence especially at this age. I really liked the choice in music and movies too, both some of my favorites. I still listen to my Depeche Mode tape in my car haha.
I miss little devices like this. I understand why everything got absorbed into the smartphone but purpose built devices are just so much more interesting to me
I can't help with the fact that the clamshell design for the Sharp Zaurus reminded me more of the Nintendo DS lite in many ways, or a Gameboy Advance SP. Either way, it's still amazing to see how a Linux based machine came out in a small factor size like that.
wanted to get one so bad when they were new. They were very expensive back in the day, way more than their contemporary (and similarly specced) PocketPC PDAs. In the end, got a Toshiba e740 with the same xScale. The C7x0 and C8x0 had the previous gen xScale 255 @400MHz, but an ATI Imageon 100 dedicated graphics accelerator!!! For the unaware, when AMID acquired ATI, they sold the mobile graphics division to Qualcomm, who rebranded it into Adreno, which is an anagram of Radeon :)
I love the convertible laptop format, It makes so much sense. Versus the yoga format where you flip the thing in half and now you have an exposed keyboard waiting to get damaged and dirty on whatever surface you put it on and yes in some cases still functional so don't bump any keys. I've been running around with a GPD pocket three for the past year and every time somebody sees it they're like what is that thing. And I can't help but think that is what laptops could've been but instead the convertible format didn't go very far other than a select few models and it's not like it's that much more complicated to build.
Really enjoyable repair, highlighting how difficult recovering these legacy systems can be (let alone in a different language). I craved for a Zaurus machine at the time, but ended up purchasing a Nokia Internet tablet instead (N810), which was not only more easily available in Europe, but also had support for X applications and thus was much easier to get software running for. It also had build tools which run on device, which IIRC could be done on a Zaurus but was significantly more challenging.
Incredible little device from 20 years ago. Black magic for sure. But I see what you are doing at 5:00- It is Windows XP with my favorite skin "Zune theme". I loved the sleek look of this. Zune... hehehehe
It's been a LONG time since I've seen this. I was very active in the Zaurus community and helped Anton with the Cacko ROM. I even made that blue wallpaper in GIMP! If I recall it was on my old Sun workstation. Nice to see it running. 🙂
I have one of them (Qtek 9000 variant), and I do not have the battery for it. They are pretty much unobtainable; I really should design some sort of adapter for, say, a nokia battery. (So far, I have designed a block with approximately correct holes in it, and then abandoned the project. It's a long way to go.)
Always cool to see a Zaurus! Haven't owned one myself but something about them sparks wonder and interest. Very glad you got yours up and running once more!
What really hurts the desire to get these kinds of handheld computers is when individuals/groups barricade all available software/firmware/drivers behind a obscene paywall/donation. I purchased a neat little NEC handheld a couple of years back only to find out that, even to get any games or anything on it really, I'd have to pay an absurd monthly subscription to a site and not even be guaranteed any access all because the people behind it are so damn "pick and choose". I honestly wish that companies would invest time and money into portables like these again since the demand/interest for them are increasing and would be a great tradeoff of having to mess around with ones phone all the time.
It wasn't so much about nickel and diming than about saving someone's retirement fund eligibility. Japanese companies were even more join for life organization so everyone was fixed cost which makes any spots in employee record a cost saving opportunity which made everyone ultra risk averse and anti-growth, which lead to those walls. No one knows how companies would be even able to exist with that kind of culture, but a lot of them do, it's a big mystery.
Oh my, what a blast from the past. I have one of these, I'm not sure which model, or where it is, but now I want to hunt for it. I spent a ton of time in Japan from 2001 to 2011 and bought SO much stuff there. This was such a cool tool for the time, I know I didn't use it anywhere near its full potential.
@@JanusCycle oh I went nuts, I don’t even want to think about how much money I must have spent. I had 3 tiny Sony Vaios, a Panasonic let’s note laptop, a couple of Sony Clies (their palmOS devices) and lord knows what else I can barely remember haha. I still have some of those things, not sure what still works though.
I understand... Still love my Sony UX-50. These devices were so far ahead of the main-stream markets, yet not only little known, but remembered fondly by so few.
Hi, I really enjoy your videos. I always hope that you are able to get as much functionality working as possible, on the devices you look at. I hope to see the infra red connectivity working one day, and all else. Cool music too. Best regards from Lamb, South Africa.
I was a huge Zaurus fan and actually still have the model featured in this video. My first Zaurus mysteriously went for a walk and I never found it again.
@@309electronics5Android has almost 2 million different lines of code, uses a different C library, among other changes. So, Android IS Linux-based but it's heavily modified so they're basically incompatible
@@309electronics5 but android don't have that philosophy you know, every thing it's open, even if you want to replace your OS, something incredible that valve did
There are some like the beeper for raspberry pi, raspberry pi type cyber decks. GPD WIN devices run window or Linux , and a few android based ones like the f(x)tec pro1 although the android scene seems to lack some support for the latest android versions.
You need to find a compact flash wifi card that is 802.11 b, the driver should already be on the distro. This brought back so many fond memories of my Zaurus SL-5600.
Amzaing, technology and that too in 2005. People might think that this is a device from 2010+ era unless they are told. thank you for creating the video
it is always nice to revisit these old devices. hoping for your future nokia videos. would be awesome to make one about the n-series. nostalgia will hit everyone.
I have imported a few of these but dont have the ability to do anything with them. i have downloaded the files from the websites you mentioned. mines actually work but in japanese so i am going to have a crack at them after watching this,also want to thank you for helping me intsall English on my fujitsu f-07c.
I absolutely lusted after that model of Zaurus. Honestly, I still want to build something with the same form factor but with modern hardware and cellular capabilities.
i had several of those sharp devices, starting maybe around 92, i had the next years model every year until about 2001. i remember seeing them like in the video above but they were very expensive and by the time i made good money i moved onto pocket pc's around 2002. also, i had many palm devices and even still have my nx70, it was a trip seeing my old data from 20 years ago
It’s been a while, I used to import and sell these in Europe. The C7x0 and C8x0 then later the C3x00. From what I remember, only a handful of WLAN CF cards were compatible and you couldn’t just use any random ones. I still have a C3000 or C3200 new old stock in its box unused but within any running OS. Cool little machines, I remember being very impressed at the high density (for the time) displays.
i always loved this mini pcs, was always amazed bout how poerfull and tiny they were, now with portables like the ROG Ally and Steam deck im all over the moon
Hello Janus, I own this system in working condition with an original drive, maybe battery will be gone. I installed a multiple systems there, but always returned to the original one. Also I have a WiFi CF card that is compatible and I believe, no drivers required. I used it mostly as MP3 player, as controls and battery life was perfect for 8 hours shift 🙂. And yes, it is possible to restore bricked device. I have also a previous model, but I broke the display there 😞.
Cool. I had the same or similar model of Zaurus in the early 2000-s, and I also replaced the HDD with a CF card. As far as I remember, I had to format it in a specific way as described in some cryptic online manual and then do the OS recovery on it. Was a good device for its time, although it already felt abandoned and neglected by the maker. And I also had a Fujitsu notebook like that, although a cheaper model without a camera.
I love all the retrocomputing gagdgets and devices! This type of computer was my dream in the end of 90s and start of 2000, but restrict and expensive to me! With Linux wow! Majority had some version of Windows Mobile.
4:42 Toshiba? You sure?
Fujitsu!
Thanks, I ran without much of a script and made some errors in this video.
:)))))))
what's the model of it by the way? @@JanusCycle
First thing with a moving head hard drive, put it on the freezer
@@RobertSmith-ue8if Fujitsu LifeBook u810
How great is the live camera translate in Google Translate hey. That's one of those "living in the future" features I'm still amazed at every time.
We live a little bit in Star Trek Times eh?
unfortunately, no one know this, i have seen many videos that apparetly dont know about this, they think a cellphone is a socialnetwork and games machine only, i know the translation is not that great, but it helps a lot, dude i even translate throught a video for a stupid youter who said, "i dont speak korean", while showing a spicy ramen soup, i paused the video, opened google translate and there you go, if i could translate throught a video, why he wouldnlt physically???
Yes, it's pretty cool, but i predict that the only reason Translate runs at a loss is to kill competition, and when we are all thoroughly dependent on it, it will become either a subscription service or be so full of ads that it will limit it's usability. This insidious tactic is the same one that enabled Google's near monopoly on searches and video hosting, and there's no reason to suspect that they won't use this tactic again.
Google has made some incredible advances, but they are becoming a stagnant monopoly, and so it's time to break them up. Monopolies are always bad for innovation in the long run.
the way the handbook says 'YES theres a drive inside it, and then says 'NO its not a good idea to open the Zaurus to look where it is and play with it,
it just makes you want to play open it for an unknown look inside
Dialogue came across really natural in this video. I feel like you've improved really well with either your audio editing or recording your vocals.
I have been learning how to record clearer audio. Also speaking much more without any scripting. I'm glad this is starting to pay off. Thanks!
@@unduloidPedantry is pretty universally disliked.
Plus your voice is pure ASMR
@@unduloid The world is in the state its in because we accepted easy answers in the past because we wanted it to be true. We wanted to be able to screw around and buy endless stuff with no consequence and there were an endless supply of charlatans willing to tell us that was possible. Where are they now that we have a sociological breakdown, and an energy/environmental crisis?
@@unduloid I guess...
They called it petty when it was life and death.
Grammar, however, is usually fairly petty (not always, but usually).
Fun Fact: There's a port of NetBSD to these things.
Also fun fact: The Yocto linux project can directly trace its lineage to these devices. Yocto is the biggest little distro toolkit from Intel and others, and its history comes from OpenEmbedded, which itself was a fork of OpenZaurus. The interface, QTopia, was rarely licensed by QT/Trolltech after the zaurus was popular, as by the time the market had really opened up, Google had swept in with Android.
The different generations of Zaurus are all identified by the breed of dog they're named after; The cl-3100, aka Borzoi, makes reference to this in the introductory boot screen. The only version of the Zaurus that came out after this was the cl-3200 (called the Terrier) which bumped the internal HDD to 6GB and had some minor hardware improvements but otherwise is the same!
I am still with vanilla 2.6.23 + custom patches to have suspend working. Are recent kernels in good support state?
Sweet memories! 🤓 I used to own a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 (Collie).
_Which cost me quite some hard-earned money, back then as a 20 y/o dude, to import it from the USA (into the Netherlands)._ 🤑💰
I loved 😍 the tiny slide-out keyboard _(to type in the console, on IRC, etc.)_ and the USB 'sync' dock for the PDA (or PMT, Personal Mobile Tool) to stand on my desk.
Pretty soon I switched from the stock OS to OpenZaurus. 🎉 There was also the Ångström distribution.
Would have liked to get my hands on one of the later clam-shell shaped Zaurus devices, with a better LCD screen and many other improvements, looking like a "mini laptop" instead of a bulky, portrait mode Blackberry-ish PDA. 😂 But then, the smartphone came along. Still I have been missing the little hardware keyboard, 😢even though I find the on-screen swipe/gesture keyboard working pretty well on my Android device today.
What I also miss: the unique look and feel of older devices, whether it be Zaurus mini-computers or Nokia mobile phones. Nowadays most smartphones look pretty much the same, like a flat slab with the front mostly covered by a touch screen. For obvious reasons, I know, and there are some (expensive) exceptions like the foldable smartphones.
Anyway, back to the Zaurus 5500. As I don't have the electronics (nor low level Linux kernel/driver) engineering skills to mod(ify) / 'upgrade' it with a better screen for example, I eventually donated the PDA, including the original box, to a local computer history museum.
@@RichardNobeldonating your device to a local history museum is quite admirable!!! I am pretty sure it was impressive and beautiful of you to use such a unique device!!! Keep it up !!!
Those microdrives are so neat, kinda crazy there is a tiny actual mechanical drive in there.
Next broken one I get I'm doing a teardown (again).
It's not really that surprising when you consider flash media was still brand new technology and very expensive when these came out. The first iPods had a 2.5" PATA hard disk in them, which is the reason why they were that big.
Ipods have little hard drives as well.
Yes, they are so much more futuristic and cool than flash storage. Like a super fast tiny little robot fetching each bit as you need them. 🙂
Whoever translated the manual deserves a big hug. They're a breath of fresh air in the art of user manual writing.
So glad you got it working in the end, that thing is absolutely amazing. The things 15 year old me would have done for one.
I have a Zaurus SL-C1000. I used this device in 2005(?) on the train on my daily commute to work because it was so small and still had a usable keyboard.
There was a German dealer, thanks to him the desktop has a German layout, despite the English keyboard. I also used Midnight commander as a file explorer. Thanks to its 2-window design, it's better than any Windows Explorer. Incredibly, the device and the battery are still working. A wonderful extreme durable device.
Cool, I love hearing from original Zaurus owners. Thanks for sharing.
DM references are amusing, but the Dr Strangelove at the end, magnificent.
Thank you for another dive into a weird and fascinating hobby.
Shows off a cool handheld
Explains it doesn't work
Starts diagnosing it.
Needs to test the drive.
Pulls up ANOTHER cool handheld to read the drive and test it
lmfao
It's such a great feeling when you finally fix something that at one point you wanted to smash against a brick wall!
sometimes its not worth it to rage quit, just take a break to calm your feelings off and try again
"This Toshiba LifeBook"
- Janus Cycle, professional tech disser
oops, I have too many computers :)
@@JanusCycle Is that even possible?
@@JanusCycle i have 4 computers (6 if you include some motherboards and their components seperated) and i think that's too much
@@rockpie.iso.tar.bz2 not enough
@@rockpie.iso.tar.bz2 I've got 6 functional computers, and a couple more that do not work.
Love the Depeche Mode bit!
This thing looks like the direct ancestor to the Android smartphone to me. It's always so interesting how you can trace the evolution of revolutionary devices back an impressive distance before you finally find the root - even here it is noteworthy that the evolutionary split seems to have occured in the 90s.
Excellent narrative and presentation of debugging and getting an old device to work.
Always was fascinated reading about these tiny marvels back in the day and now that we have much more powerful phones in our pockets daily, it is a bittersweet joy to mentally return to the days when these highly integrated devices were a practically unattainable curiosity from far away lands. Thank you for the journey!
I'm really pleased to hear that you enjoyed this journey. I had fun making this video. Even the hard bits.
The pause at 3:36 after the click made my stomach drop
OMG me too right ahaha i just randomly came across this video and i saw strangelove as one word and thats why i clicked on it Not because i Like the show if thats what its even fucking called idk i know theres a Character from IDK North american TV or movie Lore oh wait no Its from the UK? Right isn't it i mean innit!
@@Dumbscience4thewin I hope you enjoyed randomly finding this and had a good experience from it :)
@@JanusCycle thank you you promptly responding uhm do you accept donations for your YT projects?
@@Dumbscience4thewin I have received some amazing things from viewers. I'm very humbled by the generosity I have experienced while making videos.
I'm keen to hear what you may have and especially any stories of tech that you have loved over the years.
@@Dumbscience4thewin wakey wakey
Every video you make is a masterpiece. Thanks again!
I'm humbled, thanks.
I love the Sharp Zaurus! I wanted it so badly when I was in high school. I much later on was able to buy the SL-3100 and SL-3200. So majestic.
Damn 2006 account, nice
@@Trappy-Chis names tells it lol .
Always coming back with excellent content!
thanks!
Back in 2005 I was using a Palm TX. I would have really liked it if something like this was available in the US when I bought mine. I really enjoyed my Palm TX and with built in WIFI and Bluetooth as well as a GPS expansion module and the ability to work well with my phone at the time it was quite the powerful setup. With that said though I am a Linux user since the late 90's and the draw of a Linux portable may have been enough to get me to sacrifice features for the joy of geeking out with a Linux portable. Very nice looking device.
This is my first time viewing one of your videos, and I'm glad the algorithm steered me here. Thank you for making your frustration so entertaining for us
fantastic, thank you. I'm glad you made it here :)
The ram is 64 MB, not KB. 11:35
oops, thanks
I think that's actually 8MB since the units written were with lowercase b ... 63791 Kb is 7.97 MB
@@EthanBB No, it's 64Megabytes. see the next page at 11:37 where it shows the 4GB CF written as "3971808Kb"
no its actually 3.5mb trust me
The audio in this video was really good. This device tickles all my mini computer retro metal, durable thingamajig itches.
Then see all the effort you put into it to make it usable was quite a rollercoaster. This was a terific video. Thankyou for making it.
Technology is amazing. ^^
Thankyou for this nostalgia trip. I still own one of these (C3100) that I bought in japan, and also still have the 5600. They were way ahead of their time, and running Linux as the default OS was nothing short of groundbreaking back in the day. I also saved (and still have) a bunch of Zaurus related files (images, software, even saved web pages and pdfs, so if you are interested, I can find a way to get them to you). Who knows, some of this stuff might be hard (or even impossible) to find anywhere else, given that groundbreaking as it was, the Zaurus was incredibly niche, even back in the day.
Great to hear from another Zaurus owner. I'm interested in anything not easily available. I did find a one package feed and that's where I found these games.
I always love your use of music in your videos, Janus. It really sets the mood just right.
I bought an new imported SL-C3100 back in the day and ported Gentoo to it using the then new ARM EABI. I had it working with auto-rotation, frequency scaling (including overclocking), wifi etc. It worked great with Firefox 1.0!
I love hearing from original Zaurus owners. That must have been an amazing experience for the time.
My dad still uses this to this day. He takes it every where he goes. It's his mp3 music / internet raidio (He built the app that runs on linux)
I love hearing this, makes me smile.
I’m extremely impressed by your patience and dedication to restore then give purpose to these devices. Thank you for sharing this.
The appreciation I receive when sharing these videos is where I get my motivation to keep going. Thanks for your support!
@@JanusCycle you’re very welcome. It’s extremely refreshing to see someone work towards what they want, and do so happily. I wish you continued success and enjoyment.
Awesome job!
What a cool little device and a great form factor, similar vibe to the nokia N90, N93/N93i.
It's nice that all the resources for it are still available too, interested to see what it can do
I love this. Gives me a relaxing Bob Ross kind of vibe with the calm voice. You sir, have gained a subscriber.
Hey cool. That comparison is quite a compliment, thank you.
So far, I have enjoyed every single video you have released!
The simple videography, the vibe, the pacing, the storytelling, the music, the editing, etc are ALL top notch!
Thank you & please keep them coming!
(PS. Hoping for more Nokia Communicator videos if possible).
Wow, that's quite a compliment, thanks! You can bet I want to do more Communicator videos. My other model is still broken, but I'm looking around for more units.
In the meantime an N series Nokia may make an appearance soon.
Heretic is based on an early Doom engine, iirc on Doom v1.2. Raven licensed the engine from iD Software and made some changes like an inventory, so you could carry around health packs until you need them. For the sequel Hexen they also made hub maps you could re-visit. I really like Heretic and consider it underrated. Hexen is boring as batshit, lots of backtracking through empty levels to hit a switch which opens a door all the way in another level which you've already cleared out too. Check out Strife to see the pinnacle of Doom engine FPS RPG.
Lots of details I didn't know, thanks. I will by trying out Heretic further now.
Yeah, I like Heretic too
A new Janus video always means it's going to be a good day. I absolutely love your video style, unique devices, and expert information. Your troubleshooting is next level! Awesome video!
You are very kind, thank you. Keep exploring retro tech my friend.
Incredible video, and an incredible little handheld too! It would have been really cool to live in Japan in the late 90s and early 00s to see this amazing technology taking shape.
Hidden service menus save lives - some time ago I bought a Sony Ericsson Xperia X2. There are no tools for flashing this phone. For my luck there already was installed system with my native language but it was code locked. I found only one video that showed how to access hidden service menu which had an option to wipe data and reset device. So now I am one happy owner of Xperia X2. Anyways, another great video! Glad there is someone with love and enough patience to save such rare devices - pieces of long gone world :)
I'm glad you were able to get your Xperia X2 working, well done. I really like these first Xperias. I hope to make a video on them one day.
Lots of research and lots of digging man props to you you make me want to even work even harder I thank you
Even when things don't work you learn so much more. Keep going and enjoying the process :)
This brings back Memories. I've used to have a Zaurus C-700, an earlier Clamshell Model. This was my Computer on the Go for many Years until I trusted Smartphones enough to take over these Tasks, but sometimes I really miss this little Brick. Electronics is getting boring today.
how I wanted something like this 20 years ago. just literally a computer in your pocket that is always with you
BEAUTIFUL. It's hard to explain the feeling of accomplishment one gets out of these projects. This vid gave me life. First time I see your channel, BTW. Subscribed!
Awesome, I'm glad you enjoyed this.
I have a working one , used it through to university , was amazing :)-(packed with LAN-CF , WIFI-CF that works)
I certainly admire your persistence !
Great job .
Thanks! looking back, this was a fun challenge.
I was 14 years old in 2005 and wanted one of these SO bad, because it ran Linux. Thank you for this in-depth view!
Thank you for watching and getting into it :)
every video is a learning experience, thanks for the great content!
I also learn doing this. I'm really pleased you find this worthwhile.
very nice choice of outro music. Subbed because of good content, reminding me a litte bit of LGR's Oddware series of weird computer peripherals and such.
I love LGR Oddware episodes. He's shown some amazing tech over the years.
stylish as ever, janus :) i wish real handheld PCs like this were more common today, i'd much rather have a full on OS than ios or android. i've been considering installing postmarket os on an old samsung tablet of ours to get a taste of that freedom.
I used to be involved in phones back in the 90's and early 00'. When the QTEK 9000 was released and I finally to managed to track one down and get it to my hands, I didnt use anything else for quite a bit. There were some strange JDM only devices I didnt manage to get my hands on, this was one of them. Very cool to see it like this!
The QTEK 9000 is very cool, nice choice :)
I recognized that little drive straight away from my experience with the iPod Mini. Mine got the click of death too, must be a common occurrence especially at this age. I really liked the choice in music and movies too, both some of my favorites. I still listen to my Depeche Mode tape in my car haha.
I never heard of the infrared port thingy.. That would be cool to see how you set that up. Thanks for the cool video!
I'm keen to try infrared communications one day. I'm glad you enjoyed watching.
I miss little devices like this. I understand why everything got absorbed into the smartphone but purpose built devices are just so much more interesting to me
I can't help with the fact that the clamshell design for the Sharp Zaurus reminded me more of the Nintendo DS lite in many ways, or a Gameboy Advance SP. Either way, it's still amazing to see how a Linux based machine came out in a small factor size like that.
wanted to get one so bad when they were new. They were very expensive back in the day, way more than their contemporary (and similarly specced) PocketPC PDAs. In the end, got a Toshiba e740 with the same xScale.
The C7x0 and C8x0 had the previous gen xScale 255 @400MHz, but an ATI Imageon 100 dedicated graphics accelerator!!!
For the unaware, when AMID acquired ATI, they sold the mobile graphics division to Qualcomm, who rebranded it into Adreno, which is an anagram of Radeon :)
I love the convertible laptop format, It makes so much sense. Versus the yoga format where you flip the thing in half and now you have an exposed keyboard waiting to get damaged and dirty on whatever surface you put it on and yes in some cases still functional so don't bump any keys. I've been running around with a GPD pocket three for the past year and every time somebody sees it they're like what is that thing. And I can't help but think that is what laptops could've been but instead the convertible format didn't go very far other than a select few models and it's not like it's that much more complicated to build.
What a cool little project, I'm always tickled by the weird foibles we tech people have and our obsessions with making weird stuff work.
Fantastic device. I used to own a windows mobile 5.0 based device around this time. Im still amazed at how powerful the devices were.
Really enjoyable repair, highlighting how difficult recovering these legacy systems can be (let alone in a different language).
I craved for a Zaurus machine at the time, but ended up purchasing a Nokia Internet tablet instead (N810), which was not only more easily available in Europe, but also had support for X applications and thus was much easier to get software running for. It also had build tools which run on device, which IIRC could be done on a Zaurus but was significantly more challenging.
Those handheld Nokia tablets were cool. I hope to try either an N810 or 770 one day.
@@JanusCycle Unfortunately I didn't keep mine, but I still have a Motorola Droid 4 running Maemo Leste to remind me of it.
Incredible little device from 20 years ago. Black magic for sure.
But I see what you are doing at 5:00- It is Windows XP with my favorite skin "Zune theme". I loved the sleek look of this.
Zune... hehehehe
It's been a LONG time since I've seen this. I was very active in the Zaurus community and helped Anton with the Cacko ROM. I even made that blue wallpaper in GIMP! If I recall it was on my old Sun workstation. Nice to see it running. 🙂
I really appreciate all that work you did, thank you!
That's awesome!
The flipping screen reminded me of the i-mate JASJAR
Man what a wonder that phone was
I have one of them (Qtek 9000 variant), and I do not have the battery for it. They are pretty much unobtainable; I really should design some sort of adapter for, say, a nokia battery. (So far, I have designed a block with approximately correct holes in it, and then abandoned the project. It's a long way to go.)
@@ozzelot3349 You know who you should donate it to 😉
the hard drive sound was better than most asmr videos, also your voice with the background noise is relaxing
Amazing repairing/tweaking story, thanks for this!
I'm glad you enjoyed this :)
Always cool to see a Zaurus! Haven't owned one myself but something about them sparks wonder and interest. Very glad you got yours up and running once more!
I would pay 500 usd for a new model that's able to run win 7 or something which won't have issues for basic work on the move.
Your voice is so relaxing compared to a lot of overly enthusiastic tech youtubers. I love your channel and await more content.
Very kind of you, thank you.
What really hurts the desire to get these kinds of handheld computers is when individuals/groups barricade all available software/firmware/drivers behind a obscene paywall/donation. I purchased a neat little NEC handheld a couple of years back only to find out that, even to get any games or anything on it really, I'd have to pay an absurd monthly subscription to a site and not even be guaranteed any access all because the people behind it are so damn "pick and choose". I honestly wish that companies would invest time and money into portables like these again since the demand/interest for them are increasing and would be a great tradeoff of having to mess around with ones phone all the time.
It wasn't so much about nickel and diming than about saving someone's retirement fund eligibility. Japanese companies were even more join for life organization so everyone was fixed cost which makes any spots in employee record a cost saving opportunity which made everyone ultra risk averse and anti-growth, which lead to those walls. No one knows how companies would be even able to exist with that kind of culture, but a lot of them do, it's a big mystery.
That was a satisfying video! Nice one. I bet this would be something LGR would love to see if he hasn't already too.
He makes some great videos and has shown so many devices I would love to try out.
Oh my, what a blast from the past. I have one of these, I'm not sure which model, or where it is, but now I want to hunt for it. I spent a ton of time in Japan from 2001 to 2011 and bought SO much stuff there. This was such a cool tool for the time, I know I didn't use it anywhere near its full potential.
Wow, you must have had some amazing devices. The 2000s was peak Japan gadgets!
@@JanusCycle oh I went nuts, I don’t even want to think about how much money I must have spent. I had 3 tiny Sony Vaios, a Panasonic let’s note laptop, a couple of Sony Clies (their palmOS devices) and lord knows what else I can barely remember haha. I still have some of those things, not sure what still works though.
I understand... Still love my Sony UX-50. These devices were so far ahead of the main-stream markets, yet not only little known, but remembered fondly by so few.
Hi, I really enjoy your videos. I always hope that you are able to get as much functionality working as possible, on the devices you look at. I hope to see the infra red connectivity working one day, and all else. Cool music too. Best regards from Lamb, South Africa.
Thank you. I have so many more videos I want to make. I'm glad you are enjoying them.
one of the best old tech legend.. love your videos
thank you!
I still have my SL-C860, which was my daily driver for years. Fired it up today, and it is still working great. :)
Thanks
Awesome, I really appreciate this. I'm pleased you enjoyed the video.
Impressive video! I'm always looking forward to your videos. This one was a Home Run! Thanks for sharing!
awesome, thank you.
I was a huge Zaurus fan and actually still have the model featured in this video. My first Zaurus mysteriously went for a walk and I never found it again.
This is so cool. The Steam Deck is the modern equivalent. I absolutely love the ability to run Linux on a mobile device. Great repair, good job.
Android phones: are we a joke to you. Linux is a kernel and android runs on the linux kernel
@@309electronics5yes, they are a joke
@@309electronics5Android has almost 2 million different lines of code, uses a different C library, among other changes. So, Android IS Linux-based but it's heavily modified so they're basically incompatible
@@309electronics5 but android don't have that philosophy you know, every thing it's open, even if you want to replace your OS, something incredible that valve did
@@309electronics5 yes android is a joke
I like the Zaurus but that Fujitsu Lifebook is a thing of beauty 😮
You should feel great satisfaction in finally conquering the Demon Zaurus 👍
I wish these existed with modern tech in 2024
There are some like the beeper for raspberry pi, raspberry pi type cyber decks.
GPD WIN devices run window or Linux , and a few android based ones like the f(x)tec pro1 although the android scene seems to lack some support for the latest android versions.
Any of the modern folding phones will be able to do anything these devices could, though they aren't nearly as rugged.
The GPD pocket is shockingly similar. Too bad the latest one dropped active stylus support
14:18 _"a builtin InfraRed port [for IR networking"_
ynah, i'd love to watch a vid on that
Very nice device, great that you got it working. Always enjoy your videos 👌😄
You need to find a compact flash wifi card that is 802.11 b, the driver should already be on the distro. This brought back so many fond memories of my Zaurus SL-5600.
Amzaing, technology and that too in 2005.
People might think that this is a device from 2010+ era unless they are told.
thank you for creating the video
it is always nice to revisit these old devices. hoping for your future nokia videos. would be awesome to make one about the n-series. nostalgia will hit everyone.
I've started carrying a Nokia N95, nice phone :)
I have imported a few of these but dont have the ability to do anything with them.
i have downloaded the files from the websites you mentioned.
mines actually work but in japanese so i am going to have a crack at them after watching this,also want to thank you for helping me intsall English on my fujitsu f-07c.
I already like them GPDs :)
Linux Grows popularity, thanks to everyone including you.
I absolutely lusted after that model of Zaurus. Honestly, I still want to build something with the same form factor but with modern hardware and cellular capabilities.
i had several of those sharp devices, starting maybe around 92, i had the next years model every year until about 2001. i remember seeing them like in the video above but they were very expensive and by the time i made good money i moved onto pocket pc's around 2002.
also, i had many palm devices and even still have my nx70, it was a trip seeing my old data from 20 years ago
Respect for exceptional perseverance!
thank you :)
It’s been a while, I used to import and sell these in Europe. The C7x0 and C8x0 then later the C3x00. From what I remember, only a handful of WLAN CF cards were compatible and you couldn’t just use any random ones. I still have a C3000 or C3200 new old stock in its box unused but within any running OS. Cool little machines, I remember being very impressed at the high density (for the time) displays.
i always loved this mini pcs, was always amazed bout how poerfull and tiny they were, now with portables like the ROG Ally and Steam deck im all over the moon
The DM joke (thrice) earned you a new sub!
I listened to a lot of Strangelove while making this video :)
Really cool device! I glad you made it work!
Hello Janus, I own this system in working condition with an original drive, maybe battery will be gone. I installed a multiple systems there, but always returned to the original one. Also I have a WiFi CF card that is compatible and I believe, no drivers required. I used it mostly as MP3 player, as controls and battery life was perfect for 8 hours shift 🙂. And yes, it is possible to restore bricked device. I have also a previous model, but I broke the display there 😞.
Cool. I had the same or similar model of Zaurus in the early 2000-s, and I also replaced the HDD with a CF card. As far as I remember, I had to format it in a specific way as described in some cryptic online manual and then do the OS recovery on it. Was a good device for its time, although it already felt abandoned and neglected by the maker. And I also had a Fujitsu notebook like that, although a cheaper model without a camera.
I didn't even know these existed until this video. And now I really really want one XP
Congrats for you tenacity!
thank you :)
I love all the retrocomputing gagdgets and devices! This type of computer was my dream in the end of 90s and start of 2000, but restrict and expensive to me! With Linux wow! Majority had some version of Windows Mobile.
Using the Zaurus to Infrared Sony Ericsson themes, now that would be a blast from the past.
The amount of times you said "strange love" I should've expected both Depeche Mode and Dr. Strangelove to show up!
You better believe it!
I loved my 5500. Was my first Linux on ARM back in the day.
gorgeous piece of hardware, as PDA very useful.
sir you video has good flow and interesting content difficult to find now days, reminds me of the old LGR and a mix of this does not compute channel
Thanks so much. I'm a big fan of LGR and This Does Not Compute!