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Getting Started

Experimental Software

Linux on the BE-300 is experimental. Use at your own risk. However, this method is non-destructive --- Linux runs entirely from the CompactFlash card. Pressing the reset button returns the device to Windows CE with no permanent changes.

Requirements

  • Casio Cassiopeia BE-300 handheld
  • CompactFlash card (any size supported by the BE-300)
  • Linux4BE distribution archive (tarball or zip)

Installation

  1. Download the Linux4BE archive.
  2. Extract the archive contents.
  3. Copy the entire Linux4BE directory to the root of a FAT-formatted CompactFlash card.
  4. Insert the CF card into the BE-300.

Booting Linux

  1. Using the WinCE file explorer, navigate to the Linux4BE directory on the storage card.
  2. Double-tap Autorun.exe to launch the CyaCE bootloader.
  3. The CyaCE menu presents several boot options:
Menu Entry Description
linux4be Boot to shell (command line)
picogui Boot to PicoGUI graphical desktop
linux4be-serial Boot with serial console output
  1. Select an entry and press OK to boot.

Input Method

The BE-300 has limited physical buttons, so text input uses a character selection system built around the Rocket button.

Hardware Button Mappings

Button Function
OK Enter
ESC Tab
PWR Ctrl+Alt+Delete
Up / Down / Left / Right Arrow keys
Rocket + OK Space
Rocket + ESC Backspace
Rocket + PWR Ctrl+C
Rocket + Up Next character
Rocket + Down Previous character
Rocket + Right Confirm selected character
Rocket + Left Overwrite previous character

To type text, hold the Rocket button and use Up/Down to cycle through characters, then press Right to confirm each character.

Auto-Boot Configuration

To make the BE-300 automatically boot Linux when a CF card is inserted, rename the Linux4BE folder to CE\R4100 on the CF card. The device auto-runs executables from this path on card insertion.

CyaCE Configuration

The CyaCE bootloader reads a configuration file from the CF card. The format supports the following directives:

# Comment lines start with hash
timeout=300
image=vmlinux-pgui-demo
label=picogui
append=console=tty0 root=/dev/ram
Directive Description
# Comment line
timeout=N Boot timeout in deciseconds (300 = 30 seconds)
image=filename Kernel image filename
label=name Menu entry label
append=params Kernel command line parameters

Multiple image/label/append groups can be defined for a multi-entry boot menu.