Hi there!

I would like to install Maemo on a Nokia E52 device. Is that possible? Can I switch back to the preinstalled Symbian OS afterwards?

Thanks!

Best regards,
Martin

No, it's not possible

Thanks Rob1n!
Could you also tell why, please?
I'm asking because a device like E90 would be the perfect candidate, btw...

Well, I suppose theoretically it's possible. There's a number of hardware (e.g. too slow processor and not enough memory) issues, as well as major software issues (there's no drivers for any of the hardware in the E52/E90). In addition, you'd have to find some way to actually write something to the flash which isn't a valid S60 image (presumably there's some checks in the NSU software).

Where to start?

You would first need a Nokia handset that's capable to be flashed without special hardware (E52 AND e90 can do this with NSU).

But you would need a custom ROM image that fits onto the E52 or E90's internal ROM that contains a Maemo image.

That Maemo image would also have to be compiled to work with the CPUs on those Nokia handsets.

It would also have to be modified to include hardware drivers for all of the hardware on the handsets which is radically different then the hardware found on any maemo device (Bluetooth, GSM, UMTS radios/GPU/display device/keypad input devices/Sound chip/ etc...).

To top it all off, most of the drivers for the hardware found on Nokia handsets is closed source and incompatible with their open source counterparts.

So in short... No you can't.

I think E90 is pretty close to N900 power (except for powerVR) and features (except for touch screen)...
But, anyway, I wouldn't expect anybody else to dare that much but Nokia itself...

The E90 is way behind the N900 in processor power (unsurprisingly, being about 3 years older) - they're totally different generations of processor as well as different clock speeds.

It may feel as fast, but that's because S60v3 is a lot more optimised for phone usage than Linux (though more limited as a result).

I think you'd need to make a non-touch version of Maemo as well, as naturally the E52 is not a touch-screen phone. The openGL effects in the UI are also quite heavy to handle for a phone like the E52, so it does seem unlikely.

It doesn't go to say that I wouldn't like to have an alternative OS to Symbian on my older Nokia's Symbian devices!