Installing Windows 7 on a OQO O2 (Dual/tri boot with XP and linux)
Here’s what I did in order to install Windows 7 on an OQO O2 that also has Win XP and Linux - with LILO handling the MBR.1 - make sure Vista OS is updated to SP1 - note - the windows update did not seem to install sp1 properly. I had to manually download and install the SP1 package.2 - use whatever means you feel comfortable to backup the MBR, i.e. DD in linux. use google to search for “backup MBR” . Make sure it is saved onto removable media that is accessible from either windows or linux.3 - install the windows 7 from the DVD . Factor around over 2 hours for the install to complete.4 - At this point the original LILO mbr has been wiped out. A huge caveat for those people using dual boot on an oqo with linux. The windows 7 upgrade will trash the LILO/grub boot sector! Make sure you back up your mbr/boot sector before upgrading to windows 7! Luckily, I’ve made a backup of it… It’s just a matter of restoring the mbr and things should be back to normal. What I’ll do before restoring, is to also make a backup of the current windows 7 installation and mbr before doing the restore, just in case things go horribly wrong. Boot using Knoppix or Backtrack Linux, and use the dd if=mbrbackup of=/dev/hdc bs=512 count=1 .After installation, the atheros wifi driver did not work. At first, the wifi needed to be manually started (enabled), which is strange. It seemed to connect to the wifi base station and also retrieved the dhcp address, however pinging the gateway did not work. The ethernet was working though, so I used that to connect to windows update and updated the atheros driver that was available from there. Once installed, the driver needed to be “enabled” , and it connected to the internet with no problems after that. So far, windows 7 on a standard issue oqo o2 seems to be a huge improvement over vista. Much faster response and usability speeds.Problems with Windows 7 on OQO O2Some issues I’ve found so far:- the Atheros AR500 wifi driver needs to be manually enabled after every reboot- the brightness controls work - however the original OQO brightness bar that used to show up is now gone- how windows 7 handles connections to wifi is maddeningly confusingUpdate: Jan 5, 2009I waited until now before trying to install the OQO Manager software. Some notes: The trackstick stops working after installing the OQO Manager software… the problem is that the manager software defaults the trackstick to “less” sensitivity. The solution is to go to control panel –> OQO settings –> Trackstick , and move the slider bar to more sensitivity. You’ll need to connect a usb mouse previously in order to do this though.