Another problem is that most tutorials out there are not working, because they require quemu-arm-static which would have to be compiled manually. at least, there is no armel build for it in any repository thats compatible with the provided libc.

the only tutorial i have found is:

https://wiki.debian.org/MaemoAndSqueeze
in combination with
https://n900.elektranox.org/installation.html
(i had to heavily tweak the tutorials and to combine them to get everything working)

about binary compatibility of the modules: they don't really care, because you can use the 2.6.28 kernel for squeeze
some guy kindly provided it at
http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pal...12.04-1.tar.gz
(so saying "it uses the same kernel" wasn't really correct - the build is using the same kernel.)

afaik, the main problem for building a new kernel is that the blockdevice support, and fbcon have to compiled into the build. also, current patched kernels for the N900 are broken (necessary drivers are missing), so it will be necessary to find a working build. but that is something for the future, when the final squeeze image is finished. most stuff is fixed allready, the dpi etc have been changed for the small display and some other stuff. currently, i'm trying to find a working phone software which is compatible with ofono.

they do provide N900-patched kernel sources:
https://elinux.org/N900
at
https://github.com/pali/linux-n900

the last two versions of the 4.x kernel i tried failed with a missing rx51_defconfig build target, so i'm going to try the latest 3.x next.
(edit: just checked the repository. the v3.12-rc1 seems to support it.)

also, something seems to be draining the battery. i'm charging my phone with 2A, and it's still going off after a while being drained.

there are really dozens of problems to get a working phone up, which is usable in daily life.