(I no longer use the Sharp Zaurus and do not maintain these pages. I have left them here in case they are useful to someone.)
The Cacko ROM is widely used because it has managed to recover more RAM for user data. It is well supported.
I used an old Cacko ROM for a while, but the network wizard was broken, and I couldn't set up my modem, so I switched the tkROM from theKompany. When Cacko fixed the network wizard, I returned. I'm very happy.
When you first get your unit, do a NAND backup onto a CF card. That way, you can always revert to how the unit was shipped to you. Instructions are here.
You can get the Cacko (Sash) ROM here. Instructions for installation (for this and any other ROM) are here.
In /etc/rc.d there is a file called rc.local. In most Unix/Linux systems, that would be executed at the end of the boot sequence. It isn't on the Zaurus. To correct this, use:
cd /etc/rc.d/rc5.d
ln -s ../rc.local S49local
This is where you put the instructions you want to be implemented on startup. You could, for example, put a hostname command in there.
(Thanks to http://www.ottaky.com/zaurus.php for this and a number of other tips on this page.)
If you are connecting to a Windows Samba network, edit /etc/samba/smb.conf to include the correct workgroup for your Samba network. To do this, make a copy in /home/zaurus, edit it there, and copy it back (as root).
Various console-based applications need libncurses (including the Samba client below). Get it here:
http://www.killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=452
Everyone needs this standard text file command line viewer at some point. Get it from here:
http://killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=392
Brilliant calendar application. You can get it here:
http://www.pi-sync.net/html/stable_ko_pi.html
If like the VIM console editor, you can get it here:
http://killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=388
Samba support is built into the kernel, but there is no Samba client shipped with the Zaurus. You can download an SMB client from
http://www.killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=220
Suppose you have a server called "owen_server", that it has an IP address of 10.0.0.1, and is sharing a directory called "Software", and you have a user account called "UserName".
First edit your /etc/hosts file and add an entry like this:
10.0.0.1 owen_server
Then you need to create a mountpoint ..
mkdir /mnt/owen_server
and then you should be able to mount the server like so ..
smbmount //owen_server/software /mnt/owen_server -o username=UserName
If all goes well you should be prompted for a password, enter that and hit return.