3MX 4.0
3MX 4.0
Release date: 01 oct 2009 Created by Matt O. This Linux Distro will change your Little Linux Laptop in a full force multimedia machine!
Description:
A very powerfull and complete distrubution for your Little Linux Laptop!. 3MX replaces the normal Little Linux Laptop OS and is a very user-friendly operating system that comes with a LOT of pre-installed software such as: A battery status monitor, rox-filer file manager,a menu entry to disable wireless, muPDF to view PDF files, Iceweasel (firefox 2) browser, bitlbee (1.2.3) irc to im gateway server, Icedove (mozilla thunderbird email/news reader) as default news and email client,’video download helper’ firefox plugin if you want to watch youtube videos, new game such as Defendguin, Holotz Castle and TicTacToe, snes9x-sdl (super nintendo emulator), Pidgin chat, Xchat, a Nintendo Gameboy emulator, different Wallpaper and menu icons, Htop (process monitor) , Abiword, etc etc etc..
The 3MX Desktop - click to enlarge
IceDove Mail & Rss reader - click to enlarge
RoxFiler file browser - click to enlarge
Remarks:
This complete recovery only works on Little Linux Laptops that use a .IMG as the recovery file, like the Trendtac and the 3k Razorbook. If you are not sure which recovery file your Little Linux Laptop needs, please contact your retailer where you bought your little linux laptop from and ask him before trying this recovery!
If you have any questions or remarks about 3MX Linux please visit the following sites / forums:
The 3MX thread @ Ark2Webdesign by 3MX creator Matt O.
The 3MX 4.0 Changelog by 3MX creator Matt O.
The 3MX 4.0 Help file by 3MX creator Matt O.
WARNING:
The upgrade software will cause you to lose all data and personal settings so please back up all of your files. Little Linux Laptop.com and Matt O.cannot be held responsible for any data loss.
How to install:
1. Download and unzip the image file from the link below.
2. Copy the files to your SD card, then with your laptop off insert the SD card.
3. Hold down the F3 keys at the same time while turning on your laptop. Your laptop will now automatically perform the upgrade. Please make sure that you do not turn off the power during the upgrade.
4.Once you can see the desktop as normal your upgrade is complete.
DOWNLOAD the 3MX 4.0 distro for your Little Linux Laptop now!
3MX 4.0 – @ filefactory – (right)click to download - FILE IS ~178 MB!
3MX 4.0 – @ megaupload – (right)click to download - FILE IS ~178 MB!
Credits: Matt O. aka Wicknix- © 2009 – Please read the disclaimer before installing or using this software
October 1st, 2009 at 18:14
hey, the wireless not working , it show a gtk error when run from command prompt, also it jams when i try to connect to network anyway to fix?
October 1st, 2009 at 21:50
That’s been a quirk since 3MX-rc2. The gtk error doesn’t mean anything. The trick is to NOT resize the wireless connection window. Just let it load and scan for wireless hot spots. Then just double click on the AP you want to connect to. It’s the resizing of the window that causes it to freeze. Works fine otherwise.
Cheers.
October 6th, 2009 at 21:47
This is brilliant but I would love to see some type of skype/voice chat software on 3mx!
October 11th, 2009 at 12:24
3mx is fantastic! Thanks for all your hardwork. One small question however, how do I get to CUPS to setup my printer? localhost:631 does not seem to work?
I would be grateful for any help with this.
Thanks very much
October 11th, 2009 at 18:38
Kim Hoskin: Thanks. Unfortunately Skype isn’t open source and unless you can convince them to build a mipsel version it wont happen. There is other voip software out there however that i might still look into.
Chris Humphrey: Thanks. Printing is 1 thing lacking in 3MX. I could never get it working in earlier releases so i removed all cups related software from 4.0. A simple solution (if you have a main pc) is save a document or web page to SD/USB card and print it from your main pc.
October 18th, 2009 at 09:24
is there any way of compiling open source apps on the machine? if so how do we do that?
October 23rd, 2009 at 21:34
Yes and no. It has gcc/g++ built in, but no extra development headers are installed. It basically works only for learning C and simple programs. If you hand install the development files for sdl, jpg, png, binutils etc etc, then yes it will work fine.
Otherwise it has full python, perl, tcl/tk and ruby installed if you wish to write/build/use those types of applications.
October 26th, 2009 at 14:00
Great work! I, too would like to see a package installer capable of handling .deb (mipsel) packages directly.
In the mean time, I have to make up xap packages by myself – works for simple things, yet no luck with my favourite, jpilot.
November 3rd, 2009 at 02:35
What about make? Is that installed on 3MX?
November 3rd, 2009 at 03:53
Nope, no make. Not needed to build simple C/C++ code. The only reason the full build tools and development headers weren’t installed was due to the massive amount of space needed. 1gb nand is not really large enough. As proof i installed debian etch on my alpha400 and installed all the essential build tools and tried to compile minimo. Guess what? Ran out of space and the system hosed itself.
If you want to build things natively i’d suggest installing debian etch on an SD card, get the patched kernel that has boot from SD option, build your program, then copy it over to 3MX as Etch and 3MX are mostly binary and library compatible.
November 8th, 2009 at 11:13
hi,
my trendtac is running great with 3mx 4.0, thanks for this.
is it possible to create a swap partition for this, and if yes
how do you activate it?
thanks.
November 9th, 2009 at 01:44
You can so long as its on an SD card. For whatever reason the yaffs filesystem (or nand) wont allow it on device. If you create a swap file vs a swap partition on the SD card 3MX with auto-mount it at boot.
November 9th, 2009 at 22:34
Hi, it would be great to get feedback on which little laptop this software is successful. I have a CNM Notebook V70… is it a good idea to switch or do I kill it off? Cu Stefan
November 13th, 2009 at 00:33
Will this program work with the Belco alpha 400?
November 13th, 2009 at 06:29
So far 3MX ( all releases, see: http://linuxlaptopforum.ark2webdesign.co.uk/index.php/board,27.0.html with versions 1.2 and 4.0 being the newest) is known to run on the following machines.
Belco/Bestlink/Skytone Alpha 400
Maplin minibook
CnM minibook
Trendtac EPC700
Elonex OneT
3k Razorbook (the older mips version with linux, not the newer arm version with windows CE)
November 15th, 2009 at 14:42
Hi,i will try this.
I hope it works cuz the previous version didn’t work…
November 15th, 2009 at 15:02
What files I can install on this distro?
November 16th, 2009 at 14:53
How can I start wifi networking on command line ?
November 16th, 2009 at 19:00
I have an Alpha 400 and I have a wirelss problem. Install when fine, but I can’t connect to my wireless network. The link indicator shows that I am connected to a network (although i can’t confirm which one), but I can’t surf the web.
Also, in the wireless dialogue box, I can see all the wireless networks in range, but the active wirless button is greyed out and is not working.
The SSID on my home router is set not to broadcast. I manaually entered the network information. I can not get internet access nore can I browes mt home network
Any ideas?
November 24th, 2009 at 19:39
Merci vielmals
korrekt.
December 2nd, 2009 at 16:23
What’s the version number of the included Transmission?
December 5th, 2009 at 10:11
Can i use instead of an SD card a usb to load the OS?
December 13th, 2009 at 18:43
For me it worked this way: put the img file on a 1gb usb-stick. Rebooted as described with holding down the f3-key after powering up. 15 (or so) lines of dots appeared (curiously 2 dots at a time, every second or so) and after filling the screen it kept being on the lowest line. After more than about 2 hours still a blinking cursor. So in the end, powered off and a non functioning machine….. So started the process again and now the f***ing machine won’t recognise anything on usb or sd-card?????
So I sit down and think what to do now?
December 17th, 2009 at 18:56
is there a way to view (like the ebook-reader) cbr files with comix?
The usual config/make/makeinstall obviously won’t do but the rest is out of my league i’m afraid.
thanks anyway for this useful upgrade for my trendtac.
December 19th, 2009 at 11:52
Hello there, I have the same problem as the other version of 3MX. I find wireless connection but it’s impossible to connect with it. The netbook is the CNM . Thanks
December 19th, 2009 at 17:40
anybody checked out this one? they have 256 ram supposingly
http://www.cherrypal.com/openstore/
December 20th, 2009 at 18:36
Hello, i have a firstview pc703 notebook. But i can not boot from sd. F3 key doesn’t work.
Can help me?
December 24th, 2009 at 07:15
mw: Because your pc703 runs windows ce and uses an ARM cpu. 3MX is not going to work. It’s only for the MIPS netbooks already running linux.
Antonio: No idea. Works fine for most everyone else.
frans: I’ll look into it. If i can find a comic reader thats light enough i’ll try to build and package one.
Hans Siemensma: The instructions specifically say to use an SD card, not USB.
EL MAHICO: No.
December 26th, 2009 at 20:39
syFNfa blzeaarahjlc, [url=http://jwtovddhvana.com/]jwtovddhvana[/url], [link=http://ghrnxzywxyvd.com/]ghrnxzywxyvd[/link], http://mkmiaczmocfm.com/
December 27th, 2009 at 02:16
Icedove has a dependency on MySpell which isn’t installed. This prevents me from opening the compose window.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/An_error_occurred_while_creating_a_message_compose_window
Any chance you could include apt-get so that we can simply pull in more packages (such as this one) at will? That way, we can remove the stuff we don’t use as well.
December 28th, 2009 at 01:03
There is a much more refined 5th version of 3mx called 3mx Ultra. Sylpheed is back, thank goodness.
http://linuxlaptopforum.ark2webdesign.co.uk/index.php/topic,794.0.html
January 4th, 2010 at 14:31
How can I find if my IPC 400 has an .IMG recovery Did not work with copying files to SD + F3 during start up. Otherwise description looks to match
Please help
January 15th, 2010 at 23:39
+1 к предыдущему комментарию
February 3rd, 2010 at 03:25
I have a delstar ds700 with ce 5.0, is there any way of removing ce and replacing it with some version of linux??? I really dont like windows ce.
Bobby Smith
February 3rd, 2010 at 21:50
Not yet. It involves a lot of work. However keep on eye on this ubuntu forum thread. Some guys are pretty close to accomplishing it.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1349626
Cheers.
February 5th, 2010 at 17:16
After installing 3mx ultra on my Trendtac EPC700 i find that two of my three usb ports do not work nor does the touchpad yet rest of keyboard is ok !!!! any ideas i have reinstalled a number of times with the same result.
February 11th, 2010 at 00:55
Hi, Stuart,
W/ regard to your loss of USB ports and touchpad, have you also lost wifi?
This happened to me as well,
Jake
February 15th, 2010 at 14:10
hi jake
yes do you have any clue to a solution i have tried every recovery prog available but still no change.
Stu
February 16th, 2010 at 00:55
No, Stuart, I don’t. Have you lost your wifi as well? I can’t imagine that a new OS would fry the hardware. I lost two USB, the touchpad, and wifi about ten days after I installed 3mx-Ultra, but I had bought my machine used and had immediately installed 3mx-Ultra and ard’s kernel (for backlight control) minutes after the machine arrived.
I’ve since purchased another machine, have installed ard’s kernel and 3mx-Ultra, and have run–knock on wood–these two things for about three weeks without complaint.
My amateur opinion tells me that your machine, like my first one, can’t be repaired vis any OS installation (I had tried installing original OSs w/o success of returning defective hardware to life).
Jake
February 23rd, 2010 at 16:16
Its not working!
when i’m pressing f3 and put the trendtac on, you get the : Alpha system recovery.
I press enter, and then they ask for the sd card with recovery files.
i press enter, and then the computer says: can’t find the file.
Please help me.
February 28th, 2010 at 16:50
Did you first rename the imagefile to Alpha400_0701.img ?
March 1st, 2010 at 20:25
Should i do that first?
And only the img. file?
March 6th, 2010 at 23:49
well i got a swap partition now but, how can i turn it on?
i used the command “swapon” but that doesn’t work
when i check ” cat /proc/meminfo it doesn’t show anything.
March 7th, 2010 at 16:01
this 3mx is great but is there any way i can get my broadband dongle to work cheers
March 8th, 2010 at 20:46
Alison: I’d suggest upgrading to the latest version found here: http://linuxlaptopforum.ark2webdesign.co.uk/index.php/topic,794.0.html . Some 3G dongles work, some don’t. You could also search that forum for dongles known to be working.
Erazer: swap will not work on the devices nand itself. You could set up a swap partition or swap file on an SD card however and it will work fine.
swapon /SD/SD_1/swapfile works fine on mine.
March 11th, 2010 at 08:15
Proficient, thanks for sharing this info. Looks great on my iPhone, but on the Blackberry Pearl’s browser your site comes out a little irregular.
March 14th, 2010 at 22:10
I can’t get anywhere with this. I have the rubbish Maplin Notebook and I have followed these instructions, downloaded and unzipped the file, copied to SD and then goe through the procedure…every time it says “can’t find recovery file”. Any ideas – will it work on this machine, if so how? Or am I just wasting my time?
March 15th, 2010 at 05:28
Firstly i recommend 3MX-Ultra over 4.0 as it’s the latest release found here: http://linuxlaptopforum.ark2webdesign.co.uk/index.php/topic,794.0.html
Some machines require the .img name to be something specific. Your maplin minibook does indeed run 3MX fine. Try renaming the .img to Alpha400_0701.img or visit the above linked forum for other .img names found to work on specific machines.
Cheers
March 15th, 2010 at 16:19
Thanks Wicknix – I’ll try that.
Muchos Gracias
March 18th, 2010 at 11:44
Thanks for making my morning a little bit better with this great article!!
March 25th, 2010 at 18:42
About that request for a comix-reader,
CBR (comic-book-reader) files are merely JPG’s rar-ed and renamed. Unpacked to a sd-card viewable with Gview.
Pro: it works
Con: megaload of files on SD
Is there a way to replace Gview with Gviewarch?
Thanks, Frans.
March 26th, 2010 at 20:30
necesito instalarlo en una (npc-400) es la misma que la npx-9000 y son anti hack necesito ayuda solo consegui conectarla mediante usb debajo de la bateria pero windows no la reconoce no tiene drivers ni contrlador para ella
March 26th, 2010 at 20:33
soy español aqui tambien llegaron estas basuras pero pueden responderme en su propio idioma yo me encargare de traducir las respuestas
May 3rd, 2010 at 22:56
Hi guys, i’m a linux netbook newbie, just got my hands on a cnmbook, love it to bits but i want to tweak the os, really want to install this software but the cnm doesn’t support img files for sys recovery. anyone know of a way to do it or of another destro i can install. the built in front end on the cnm is a little erm Bland and i’d like to squeeze a bit more out of this machine. many thanks for any help
May 8th, 2010 at 19:30
hello! please What should I marked.
??????????
please insert the sd card or u-disk wich contain the needed recovery file .
ready, press [ enter ]
quit, press [q]
input your choice :
sorry for my english
BIG THANK YOU
May 8th, 2010 at 19:54
sorry my computer such a nomad @ cube I intall 3mx4.0
May 9th, 2010 at 14:05
press (enter).:)
May 9th, 2010 at 15:01
thank you very very much alan , Breton French hello you
May 9th, 2010 at 15:37
sorry these still me, I just installed 4.0 3mx but wonder this: MiniBook login and passeword, what should I wear?I’m starting to netbook
May 9th, 2010 at 16:12
sorry these still me ,I managed to thank you for all your help, I wish you a very good continuation byebye
May 15th, 2010 at 21:38
hope it works ok for you,seems i cant install it on mine
May 21st, 2010 at 07:53
Please make a version for the ARM-926 based ones!
May 28th, 2010 at 04:58
I just installed 4.0 on a Skytex SX-E700. Everything works great, except for it reports Cannot found any WIFI device, please confirm that you have device. I checked it before upgrading, and it was working. Otherwise, great job! I love it. This went from a toy, to a useful device, if the wireless would come alive! The NIC works.
June 3rd, 2010 at 21:18
Howard: You should really try the latest release as its quicker, smaller and more up to date. It also includes the ralink wifi drivers needed for skytex machines.
http://linuxlaptopforum.ark2webdesign.co.uk/index.php/topic,894.0.html <–download of 3MX-Ultra3
Cheers.
July 3rd, 2010 at 06:25
Thanks, I downloaded & installed. However, I still had to install the ralink drivers.
I am trying to install minicom, but I cannot get it to work. I am using this version:http://packages.debian.org/lenny/mips/minicom/download
How can I install it?
July 5th, 2010 at 21:52
I thought i included minicom in Ultra3. If not you can download it here: http://www.3mx-linux.co.uk/3mx/ in the /packages/net folder. Grab the 2 minicom files and install using the package installer.
Cheers
July 11th, 2010 at 18:24
will this work with my cnmbook ?
please help !
July 13th, 2010 at 08:09
Natalie: Yes it will work on a cnmbook.
I have instructions posted here: http://www.3mx-linux.co.uk/3mx/ (the recovery-readme.txt)
July 17th, 2010 at 04:29
I installed minicom from the link. However, it does not execute properly. It says configuration file not found, using defaults. Then it says tty8 not found and quits.
Where can I get a config file, and where do I put it?
Also, I am trying to install a Lawincel USB device http://www.canusb.com that uses a file 90-canusb.rules which is supposed to be put in etc/udev/rules.d Any suggestions?
July 17th, 2010 at 04:41
I figured out the minicom problem minicom -s. Can you help with the canusb problem?
Thanks again.
July 31st, 2010 at 03:01
Does anyone know where i can buy a netbook that will run this? I’ve been looking everywhere online for someplace that still sells these. I’ve been watching ebay as well and nothing!
August 6th, 2010 at 19:32
I should like to know too!
August 12th, 2010 at 05:43
You can find the one I bought on EBAY used for $65 here:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=netbook+skytex&_sacat=See-All-Categories
But, it is a little more.
August 16th, 2010 at 03:53
I need ftdi_sio.ko for 3mx. I am having a lot of trouble trying to compile it. I get lots of errors about expected declarations of specifiers, and incomplete types. I an not missing any includes. I suspect I have an environment issues. Do you have this compiled for our little laptop, and if not, can you give me advice on the proper environment so I can compile this successfully. I have ftdi_sio.c and .h
Thanks,
Howard