Thank you all for the replies!

@pichlo: Thank you for that little tidbit.

@endorsermeans: Specifically EXT3? As for copying the Easy Debian files to it, where would I mount this partition? Thank you for the help!

@Mara: Where is MaeModder? I can't find it in the repos, unless the package name is different. EDIT: Never mind, found the .deb file for download.

@Amboss: I'm downloading BatteryGraph right now. That's definitely worrysome, considering that it may be able to explain why, after an overnight charge while turned off, my N900 ended up nearly flat after a few hours. Categorization's nice, but not at the cost of battery life for something so simple.

I'm aware that some info's outdated; 'tis an inescapable caveat of OSS wikis. Even the ArchWiki needs to catch up with itself sometimes.

welly-well-well...
yeah ext3 (It does journaling so it does mean a lowered lifespan for the sd card but the upswing is if there is a crash or error the system should reboot and repair itself automatically...you just sit back and relax)...
you can do ext2 (it doesn't do journaling so it means increased lifespan for your sd card...downside is if it goes wonky-wonk and crashes....you fix it yourself)
so it is a matter of personal pref.
As far how to...there are a number of threads for the nxx0 ...some may be for the n8x0.... some the n900 ...some threads may refer to both devices...methods on n8x0 essentially are the same on the n900 with a few differences in proceedure.....this'll get you started on the topic...here are a couple of links I myself have found helpful ...take your pick...I'm sure there are more.

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...016#post216016
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...ighlight=Links
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=89388

by putting easy deb on it's own rather enlarged partition...say on your microsd card...anything goes weird..no problem...it isn't like "installing" a proper distro that can have an impact on your device....after all it is easy deb running on top of your maemo...and it is isolated to your card as a topper...and it should run faster and you should have enough space on your made partition to build the terminator A.I. program of your dreams...(oh sorry wait...that's Dave's dream...
Not that I'm mocking ....I have no desire to intimidate a killer A.I. that sees this post 20-40 years in the future...I didn't mean it! Honest!)

Just install U-Boot and then you can run another OS off the SD card. Yes, there's a (slight) risk that if the U-Boot installation goes wrong it could brick your device but it shouldn't be any riskier than installing kernel power or CSSU.

It already is FAT32. FAT32 is an extension to VFAT. Linux displays it as VFAT.

Disaster strikes.

I was calling a friend when the battery died. It died surprisingly quickly, but that's to be expected when overclocking any mobile device. I decided to put it back on the charger for a few minutes, take it off, reboot, and put it back on the charger. I then called back and took the phone with me to make a sandwich.

It died again, and I really can't tell if it's taking the charge. The fact that the screen's on (dimly, but on nevertheless) while it's charging is disturbing me. The notification LED is also acting strangely. The screen will come on, and the LED will blink every 1.5s. After some time, the screen will turn off and the LED will go back to glowing until the screen comes back on.

I can't even boot the device. Presumably, the battery's completely drained. I'm going to disconnect the display while the phone charges just to make sure it's just the battery. After a while (give it 30min), I'll connect the display and try again.

I forgot who said it, but it's a very true statement (which I'm gonna badly butcher). "If you play with it long enough, it'll break."

Alright, now it's time to panic. After detaching the screen, I put the battery in and left it to charge for quite a long while. I then took it off the charger, put the screen back on, screwed everything together nicely, and...nada.

The only difference that seemed to make is that the LED no longer "blinks;" it just glows as usual. Presumably, the battery's no longer dead. The LED also keeps glowing for a few moments when I take the phone off the charger.

I'm stumped now. This is bothering me.

It's the Nokia BL-5J battery that came with the phone. I'm pretty sure it's the real one. Has the holographic sticker on it and everything.

It went completely flat when it died. I'm sure it was from rapid drain from overclocking and possibly the Catorize app.

I'm 100% sure the battery has never been used before. My N900 seemed to be completely untouched when I got it. By all indications, that seems to be the case.

I removed the display and left it to charge, so I'm pretty sure it has a charge now.

Unfortunately, I don't have an external charger. I don't think I have a power supply that delivers the proper current needed to charge the battery without killing it.

I do believe it's charging, however. When I plug it in the charger, the LED glows like normal. The screen also turns un and displays the Nokia logo.

Based on everything I've tried, I can conclude that the battery is both charging when the phone's plugged in and does have a charge. It's just that the phone's not turning on.

I don't know what other steps to take. I'm stuck.

After searching the forum and the internet, that does appear to be the case. Unbootable N900s aren't uncommon in the least. I still can't seem to find a proper solution, unless I'm just overlooking it.

I couldn't figure out all of what you described about your device. But besides fast battery drain a faulty loading comes to my mind. Like a half loose USB connector...

Even if it is the original battery, when where the last N900 produced? Don't they get some damage from staying in the closet with no charge in them?

And what is this about taking the screen off to have a better charging? IMHO a device not booted all the way shouldn't take much current while charging. btw, the original charger which comes with it has > 500mA, which should be enough for any weird thing going on in a not-booted device?

@Tigerroast,

In case you haven't done this yet: download the flasher and the firmware NOW so that if you fvck up you still have a chance to recover.

I hope it's just your battery going bananas, but you also have to consider that the microUSB port might break (or might be already broken) so installing U-boot and preparing a microSD card with a rescue system is also a good idea.

In short: every N900 has to be prepared for the apocalyptic-bricking-event where neither USB works nor Maemo/Nokia repos and firmware images are available on-line. Beware of Windows as well. It reportedly doesn't play well with flashing. Linux works OK (32-bit easier than 64-bit), but with 0xFFFF available this should not be an issue anymore.

I also bought my N900 only a few months ago. I noticed that the battery lasted very few (not even 12 hours). It was also original, but it definetely wasn't new. I bought a new one and since then I only charge the phone once every other day or so.

Welcome to this wonderful community!

I think I know what the problem is. The phone's charging normally, and the charger provides enough juice to charge it despite the screen coming on during charging (which is weird to me). The USB port is also perfectly fine; it's not loose and properly allows the current to pass into the phone.

I took a somewhat large LED with no resistor and put its leads in the corresponding terminals on the battery. It was VERY dim, and that's without a resistor.

It's definitely the battery. Now to go order a new one...

Btw, I do have the flasher in a tarball and the PR1.3 image downloaded on my computer. Even if I wanted to reflash, the battery doesn't have enough juice to do that. Also, since I've concluded that the battery's dead, I'm not gonna bother reflashing unless the new battery doesn't solve the problem.