I’m a big fan of squeezing every possible moment out of my technology. I don’t get a new smartphone every year and don’t run out and buy the newest graphics cards or other hardware for my PC. My PC can play all of my games (although some on low settings) so I haven’t been compelled to upgrade any time soon. I expect my tech to give me at least five years of solid service before I need to upgrade. After that, those devices become a bit antiquated and it often shows. But even though the hardware is old, these devices still can be useful. A smartphone battery might need replacement, but a lot of these devices can be used a few years longer. A smartphone could turn into a fun project given some time and a little effort. I have an old Motorola G3 that might fit the bill on such a project.
Many years ago, I was given an old HP Pavillion PC that someone was getting rid of after upgrading. I upgraded the RAM and installed a few games to play. It was a pretty low end machine and my main machine was a Powermac G4 MDD, so if I wanted to, I could use it as a project computer. After giving me a couple years of solid service, it was showing its age, and Windows XP was no longer being supported. I heard a lot about a popular Linux distro called Ubuntu and decided to install its Xfce variant, Xubuntu.
It was easy enough to install, although I remember having to manually install drivers for the wireless NIC I was using. The lightweight desktop OS was able to squeeze another couple of years out of the old HP. I also remember trying to get it on an old iMac G3 PPC, although the install wasn’t as successful as the HP install due to the PPC chip architecture. Overall, it was a fun experience to install and use an OS that wasn’t Windows or Mac OS.
Fast forward to today, a couple months ago I upgraded my phone from a Moto G3 to a Nokia 6.2. The old phone was still good, it just needed a new battery so I picked one up and gave the installation a shot. Unfortunately, it was a bit difficult and the little clip on the ZIF slot popped out and I might have compromised the screen cable a bit. Whoops! Anyways, I picked up a replacement screen in hopes that that will remedy the issue. Lets hope it does. More on that later.
The phone is still good, but it is stuck on Android 6, which is no longer supported with updates. No good. I did a little digging and found an alternate OS called Postmarket OS that sounded promising for the old phone. After I get the phone up and running again I’m going to give an install a shot and test it out. I do believe it is confirmed to boot on the Moto G3, so I have high hopes!
If you’re into tech, don’t throw your old technology in the recycling bin, give it a second chance! A lot of old tech is still useful if you put a little effort into it and with a little creativity, you can give that old device a few more years of life or even integrate it into a project. The possibilities are endless!
Benny's Bits and Bytes 