Can I install linux on this?

someoneFromInternet@lemmy.ml to Linux@lemmy.ml – 247 points –

I found this netbook(?) somewhere in old things and just wonder: can linux be installed on it?

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I think you would need to provide more detail to know what you have. Does it have a model number on it anywhere?

that's it: CPU: WM8650 800Hz Memory:DDR 256MB

It's information on back cover

"WM8650" seems to indicate a VIA WonderMedia WM8650 armv5te chipset, used by a lot of anemic Android laptops circa 2011 (sold under various brandnames, but apparently all made in the same factory). People have installed Linux on them in the past (there seems to have been a fad for Arch on these for a while, given the search results), but you might have trouble getting a device tree that will work with a modern kernel.

Honestly, though, it has less processor than a Raspberry Pi 3. Unless you've already thought of a specific use for this, I'd dump it back in the junk drawer.

It might be an interesting project to hardware mod it to gut it and replace internally with an R.Pi.

Probably not worth trying to actually use today. I'd leave it as it is, imo it's better as a small piece of history - Android on PC is pretty niche