UIPAQ(4)

📦 version 12.2, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 UIPAQ(4) 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because we're reading the uipaq page from the Kernel Interfaces Manual (that's section 4, the driver girlies section) and honestly? it's giving "your old PDA can talk to your kernel" and I'm obsessed. no cap. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

uipaq — USB support for iPAQ units

like, the whole vibe is: USB + iPAQ = they're talking. periodt. 🦋

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

so to get this driver baked into your kernel, you drop these lines into your kernel configuration file, exactly like this, don't freestyle it:

device usb
device ucom
device uipaq

or — if you'd rather load it as a module at boot time (iconic, honestly, no recompile needed 💅) — you put this one single line into loader.conf(5):

uipaq_load="YES"

one line. that's it. she's flexible like that. ✨

👑 HARDWARE 👑

the uipaq driver is besties with all of these adapters:

  • ASUS P535 PDA
  • Casio BE300 PDA
  • Compaq IPaq PocketPC
  • HP Jornada 568
  • HP iPAQ 22xx/Jornada 548
  • HTC PPC6700 Modem
  • HTC Smart Phone
  • HTC Winmobile
  • Sharp W-ZERO3 ES Spart Phone
  • Most Windows CE based phones

(yes, Spart Phone — that's literally how it's spelled in the original, I am NOT fixing it, it's part of the lore now 🫶)

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

okay so the uipaq driver provides support for the USB serial emulation provided by the iPAQ devices. that's the whole thing. it's a driver. it does the USB serial thing. main character energy, honestly. 💖

and the way you actually access the device? through the ucom(4) driver, which makes it behave like a tty(4). so like — it cosplays as a regular terminal device and you just talk to it like it's always been there. slay. 🌈

🎀 FILES 🎀

here's where the devices live, in case you were wondering where to find them:

  • /dev/ttyU* — for callin ports
  • /dev/ttyU*.init
  • /dev/ttyU*.lock — corresponding callin initial-state and lock-state devices

and then the callout girlies:

  • /dev/cuaU* — for callout ports
  • /dev/cuaU*.init
  • /dev/cuaU*.lock — corresponding callout initial-state and lock-state devices

callin and callout, two flavors, both valid, both serving 💅

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

go read these next, fr fr:

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

storytime 📖✨

the FreeBSD support was imported from NetBSD for FreeBSD 7.0. NetBSD added support in NetBSD 4.0, and it was imported from OpenBSD 3.8. so this driver has been passed around like a group-chat meme and honestly? every single one of them ate. 💖🔥

lowkey a whole crossover event: OpenBSD → NetBSD → FreeBSD. the multiverse was real. 💀

and that's the page bestie!! this one came to you courtesy of Debian, dated April 26, 2017 — shoutout to the Debian girlies for keeping the UIPAQ(4) lore alive, mwah 💋💖 see u next manpage!! 🎀✨

📦 where this page comes from