Very pretty ZipitZ2 serial mod
[ Twentyseventh in a series recreating the lost posts -- This was originally posted 24/06/10]
Geordy Rostad has done a very nice serial mod on his ZipitZ2 even making the level shifter internal to the ZipitZ2. This is very well done and is extremely neat and tidy and is very good positioning of the jack for the serial port. I especially like the use of a phono socket in the hinge. Even without the internal level shifter it is a great job. Click here for his blog post about it.
update: i forgot to link his original post about the level shifter board. you can find it here
ZipitZ2 disassembly guide
[ Twentysixth in a series recreating the lost posts -- This was originally posted 24/06/10]
Geordy Rostad has put together a ZipitZ2 Disassembly Guide.
z80sim — Z80 Simulator/Debugger for the Zipit Z2
[ Twentyfifth in a series recreating the lost posts -- This was originally posted 20/06/10]
As many of you might know i'm very old-skool and a bit of a Z80 and CP/M fanboy. So when I had a few minutes between world cup football games this morning I decided to see if I could get YAZE or z80pack running on the Zipit (If the Z2 had a few more pixel rows i'd be ecstatic as then I could use it to emulate a TRaSh80 model 3/4, Grundy Newbrain, Camputers Lynx and a few others of my favourite 80s home micros) because if I can't get full machine emulation maybe I can have CP/M 2.2 or CP/M3 on my Zipit.
After a few false starts I got both YAZE and z80pack compiled and running and after a bit of playing I decided that I currently like z80pack better as it's more faithful to the z80 and CP/M experience and has a lot of things available for it.
I'm working on packaging it but in the meantime if you want to have a little play with the emulator and debugger then you can find the binary for IZ2S/EZ2S here
Mozzwald’s ZipitZ2 USB host video
[ Twentyfourth in a series recreating the lost posts -- This was originally posted 22/06/10]
A few weeks ago I sent #zipit user mozzwald the instructions and patches that #zipit user GPSFan made for USB host capabilities on the Zipit Z2. Since then he has ported the patches to a more recent kernel and build a nice usb powered hub to Zipit Z2 rear connector cable and has been fixing and using it and has made a nice video showing it in action.
USB host mode is the culmination of the work of several people all of whom deserve kudos and thanks.
rkdavis for stumbling upon the original method for the treo and thinking it might work on the zipit. GPSFan for actually implimenting it and writing the patches and instructions. Marex for u-boot without which it wouldn't be possible to have a kernel that supports USB host on the zipit. Mozzwald for actually doing it and making sure it works and continuing to improve it.
Update: Mozzwald has confirmed that the hardware mod is not needed and he has improved and simplified the installation and usage alot. He has also made a new blog post about it that is also posted on hack-a-day too.
http://www.mozzwald.com/node/60
http://hackaday.com/2010/09/18/usb-host-comes-to-zipit/
Youtube video of performing the Zipit Z2 serial mod
[ Twentythird in a series recreating the lost posts -- This was originally posted 16/06/10]
I'm going to have to do the serial mod on a couple of Zipits and while i'm waiting for the cable to arrive I thought i'd look at all the documentation on how to do it and I stumbled across this youtube video of someone performing the mod.
Ubuntu on the Zipit Z2
[ Twentysecond in a series recreating the lost posts -- This was originally posted 18/05/10]
mozzwald from the #zipit irc channel has created a ubuntu based rootfs for the Zipit Z2. I haven't tried it yet but it's nice to have yet another rootfs option for the Zipit Z2. You can find his blog post about it and the tarball at http://mozzwald.com/node/50
Another new version of setup-wifi.sh script for IZ2S (and variants)
[ Twentyfirst in a series recreating the lost posts -- This was originally posted 07/04/10]
I have just uploaded a new version of setup-wifi.sh script, from now on to be known as EWoC (Easy Wifi Configurator) 
This version turns the visible ssid's into a radiolist and lets you select one rather than having to enter it manually although if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the list of visible ssid you'll see an entry called NAMED SSID that when selected will still allow you to enter the SSID manually if you wish or if the AP is a non-braodcasting one that you know the SSID of.
I've done some testing for the last hour or so and it works for me and i'll have a go at making a debian version in the next day or so.
Please be kind in the comments though as it is terrible hacky code and probably not the right way to do it but it works.
EZ2S prerelease (IZ2Senhanced-ng)
[ Twentieth in a series recreating the lost posts -- This was originally posted 05/05/10]
EZ2S is the new name for IZ2S (enhanced) you can find it here
from the readme.txt
EZ2S v0.1 (Enhanced Z2 Shell)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a prerelease of EZ2S, my variant of IZ2S. It currently has less functionality that IZ2S or IZ2S (enhanced) but it does have my power saving tweaks and basic functionality. There is no sound,im or browser included at the moment but you can add them back yourself either from Ray Dios Haque's IZ2S or from IZ2S (enhanced) or you can wait until my next release of EZ2S.
EZ2S contains my wifi setup script (ewoc.sh), imporoved keymap, screen and keyboard brightness utilities (lcdbrightness, kbbrightness), my powerbutton daemon (powerbuttond), my lid and acpower utilities (lid, acpower), my battery status checker (battery), two battery level checkers (batlvl, battlevel), my screenblanker (screenblanker) and my wifi power tweak that combined with my other power management tweaks gives a battery life of upto 14hours+ in realworld usage i.e. periods of usage followed by periods of idling.
If you ssh into your zipit the username is root and the password is zipit
Note: EZ2S is binary compatable with IZ2S, IZ2S (enhanced) and Z2Shell so any libraries or applications compiled for them will work in EZ2S
Russell k. Davis rkdavis@burninghorse
rkdavis in #zipit
06/05/10 (uk date format)
Build your own ereader?
[ Nineteenth in a series recreating the lost posts -- This was originally posted 06/05/10]
This looks like a fun, cheap project and although it's an offline wikipedia reader i'm sure it could be turned into tiny ereader quite easily. I think this will be my next project when I get some time (and a bit of spare cash to get the bits and pieces).