Sven Utcke's Olivetti Quaderno

1. Olivetti Quaderno (PT-XT-20)
2. Olivetti Quaderno 33 (PT-AT-60)
3. Olivetti Quaderno 33/J

This page describes the Quaderno 33 (PT-AT-60). Note that I also have a page on the original Quaderno (PT-XT-20).

In Germany, the original Quadernos were also sold by Vobis under the name Highscreen Laptalk. Is this also true for the Quaderno 33?

Specs

Linux on the Quaderno 33

Well, I've only had this for a couple of days, but here is what I have found out so far:

tomsrtbt 1.7.118:

It does boot, but fails on the fact that the Quaderno comes with only 4MB of memory:
UH-OH! No RAM for /usr, Runlevel 4!
Bare minimum, Good luck. Remove floppy.

SuSE Linux 6.0:

Using the normal EIDE boot-floppy one can boot no problem. However, I can not currently use my IBM External PCMCIA 4X CD-ROM Drive - SuSE correctly detects the drive (after some tweaking), but then tells me
get dev info on socket 0 failed: m
When autoprobing for modules, SuSE loads the module NCR 53c8xx - anybody knows what this is for?

Xdenu HdX 2.1.2:

This boots directly out of a directory on the normal DOS HDD, using loadlin. What can I say: it runs. Linux on the Quaderno! Yeah baby! But not all is perfect yet:

• So far, I have not been able to get X running. Well, I had X running once, but with a wrong mouse, and never since. But it seems possible.
• When I say X, I am talking about an XTerminal only - I don't think that any server is provided, which needs to run on a different machine.
• No APM.
• No PCMCIA support.
• No German key-map. What a pain!

SmallLinux 0.7.2:

This boots from either two disks (a boot and a root disk) or from its own HDD-partition.

• No German key-map.

Monkey Linux 0.6

Alows real users with real passwords, but X doesn't run out of the box (try a dotclock of 35.4). There's only an English keymap. It claimes my video-card to be an ct65545+ with 512kB and a TFT (which, of course, it isn't) and dies when the mouse is used (in and out of X).

µLinux 10r3:

I can not get this to install due to insufficient RAM. Shame - this really is a nice distribution.

CCLinux 1.5:

This stops booting, telling me:
Checking if this processor honours the WP bit even in supervisor mode... No.
Kernel panic: This Kernel doesn't support CPU's with broken WP. Recompile it for a 386!
In swapper task - not syncing

Tips and Tricks

Links

Sites dedicated to the Quaderno

Olivetti page by Holger Lorenz

German version of the manual as WinWord 6.0 document, the original PA-software in several languages, several utilities, FAQ, guestbook, usenet-news

Olivetti page by Holger Lorenz

Olivetti page by Hans Olav Elsebø

Specs of the Olivetti Quaderno, software and utilities

Olivetti page by Denis Faivre

Specs of the Olivetti

Sites that mention the Quaderno

Computerwoche Nr. 21 vom 22.05.1992

Article on the occasion of the Quaderno's introduction

Guardian 21/7/94

Terry Pratchett used (?) to have a Quaderno. Yes, that's right, the famous author of the Discworld-Series.

Quaderno 33 Technical Features (in Japanese)

Well, I don't know any Japanese, so what can I say...

Olivetti Ouaderno, ein Erfahrungsbericht

Here's a report from someone who recently aquired a used Quaderno and has so far changed the disc and replaced the batteries.

List of old computers

Technical specifications of old and obsolete computers.

List of Palmtop, Pen or Small Computers

Technical specifications.