Hi, how am I supposed to do the latest firmware update on a Linux PC? It keeps asking me to do a backup. What am I supposed to sync the n900 to in order for this upgrade to work?

Typically, a linux firmware update uses the flasher executable and a firmware file. It doesn't really have anything to do with backing up.

So I have to download it manually and flash the device?

"N900 firmware update" is a keyword that gets people very excited here. Please dont use it as a title.

Well I'm trying to update the firmware but can't find the answer... if they get excited by this subject they have bigger problems.

http://wiki.maemo.org/Updating_the_tablet_firmware

The advice to do a backup is just advice; you really don't need to do a backup at all unless you want to keep your setup or some specific file. I think it's good to start from zero sometimes; then you make decisions based on what you learned from your N900 since you first set it up.

manual flashing in linux is probably the easiest way I think. Once you have installed the flasher all you do is go into terminal and cd into the directory of the firmware file you downloaded. Then use the tab shortcut to finish the command name(ex: type flas and hit tab and it will type flasher-3.5) then -F (start typing firmware name *tab* for auto-complete) then -f -R

so it look like

flasher-3.5 -F Firmwarefile -f -R

Remember everything is case sensitive.

linux will remember that command later in case you mess up your phone...just remember to cd to the directory

Yes I have the flash setup and ready to go but it seems like a big effort seeing as the other updates worked through the App Manager. Its showing in the list but doesn't let me past the backup stage. I'm just wondering why my upgrade seems so elaborate and everyone has just been able to update simply?? :S

mine did that too at first, then I closed out of it and retried and it worked. I guess I just like using the terminal flasher because I can see what is going on.