Installing Linux on the AMD Personal Internet Communicator (PIC)

Notes on install Linux on the AMD Personal Internet Communicator (PIC).

Flashing the BIOS

The PIC was shipped with a locked-down BIOS which prevented the installation of any other operating system. Fortunately, someone created a hacked BIOS which circumvents this: PICMOD.ROM.

However, first we need to get access to a command line in WinCE on the AMD PIC:

• Boot the AMD PIC into WinCE.
• Open "My Device" on the desktop.
• Select View/Options and unclick everything (show hidden file, os files, etc)
• Right click on "Control Panel.lnk" and select properties.
• Click on "shortcut" tab.
• Change path to "\windows\cmd.exe".
• Click Ok.
• Double click "Control Panel.lnk"
• You should be in a command prompt!

Now, on to flashing the BIOS:

• Download PICMOD.ROM and copy it to a FAT32-formatted USB flash drive, then insert it into the AMD PIC.
• From the command line:
  • \Windows\FlashCE 256 "\USB device\PICMOD.ROM" 0x01dfd81a noreboot

Links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Internet_Communicator
• http://www.amdboard.com/pic.html
• http://mozy.org/amd-pic/
• http://jsco.org/dectop/
• http://pair.offshore.ai/pic/
• http://www.dashfest.com/?p=327
• https://hardforum.com/threads/amd-personal-internet-communicator.990629/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20071022022658/http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6147197554.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20071022135648/http://pclab.nectec.or.th/wiki/index.php/Hardware#AMD_Personal_Internet_Communicator

Credits

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