I-Appliance BBS The Official Source for Internet Appliance Upgrades and Mods BBS Main List | Sign In | Sign Up | Search | Help | Linux-Hacker.net Reply to Thread | Printer |

Home / Other I-Appliances / MSN Companion Ongoing CE Platform

Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) rman Profile I now have CE booting on one of my IA1's but it is ugly. I have done some expirimentation with resolution but have come up bust so far. keith721 have you had any luck with resolution and does your mouse work? I think this project is doable once one of us figures out how to get the custome driver support in. I plan to spend a good bit of time over the holidays reading MS material on building platforms. Have the last couple of days brought you any revellations? 12-22-2001 14:40:00

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile yup - i posted a few messages last night, to the other WinCE thread - i thought you had read them. Summary - it works and looks pretty , but no USB or networking (yet). Details - create a new CE Platform Builder project, name it, select the MAXALL predefined configuration, select the 'Release' model, NOT the 'Debug' version; clean, build headers, build image file NK.BIN. make an MS-DOS bootable CF card (at least 16 meg - I used 32 meg) and place the following files on it: IO.SYS from Win98 MSDOS.SYS from Win98 HIMEM.SYS from Win98 CONFIG.SYS with only one line: "DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS" LOADCEPC.EXE from the directory C:\WINCE300\PLATFORM\CEPC\BOOTDISK NK.BIN from the directory C:\WINCE300\PUBLIC\<your project name>\RelDir\X86_Release AUTOEXEC.BAT with only one line : "LOADCEPC.EXE /L:800x600x16 NK.BIN" The LOADCEPC.EXE syntax was the issue. The help message returned from the utility by LOADCEPC /? displays an incorrect syntax for the /L: display definition switch. I found the correct syntax inside the AUTOEXEC.BAT file in the directory C:\WINCE300\PLATFORM\CEPC\BOOTDISK Of course, you could always do without the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and key in the LOADCEPC command line by hand. Good luck, and let me know what else you find out... keith721 12-22-2001 16:18:59

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) rman Profile Sounds like I am at the exact same point you are. I did go ahead and dolly the image to the internal SanDisk and lost the annoying debug/load menu. I have looked around the web for USB drivers and the closest I have come to is a company that does a USB to USB bridge with CE being supported. I could not find links to the actual driver anywhere on their site though. The site is http://www.prolific.com.tw/pl2302CE.htm. Other than that I sent off an e-mail to D-Link to see if they have a CE driver they would be willing to share. I suppose a driver could be written from scratch but that would be outside of my experience. Have you thought about trying to do something using ActiveSync and a direct USB connection? My previous experience (using SQL Server at work through SSCE Relay) was not real positive but it does prove that through ActiveSync and a proxy you can connect to remote PCs through a Windows host. 12-22-2001 16:32:51

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile actually, there are several example source code files for dealing with USB device drivers in the Platform Builder directories - i'm reviewing these right now to see what could possibly be developed. there are example network drivers for the devices included (NE2000, SMC9000, Proxim, Xircom). check out the directories beneath C:\WINCE300\PUBLIC\COMMON\OAK\DRIVERS named ETHDBG, NETCARD, NETSAMP, and USB. i'm not a low-level device driver developer (or even anywhere near it ) but figure if we gather enough reference material, a more knowledgeable developer familiar with the Linux USB network device drivers could get something put together. 12-22-2001 16:48:22

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) rman Profile I took a look at some of the driver code and I think it might be a pretty monumental task to get it merged for a combination USB and Network device. I guess I am really in the dark here because I have never done driver level programming. Do you know if the Linux guys have source code for the driver included in Jailbait? C is pretty much C and I would think it might be easier to try to port it to WinCE than to basically roll our own. 12-22-2001 20:13:43

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile the linux source code for kaweth.c and pegasus.c is readily available - but since it's written to work with the Linux 2.4.x USB stack, the USB details of it wouldn't necessarily work so well with WinCE. however, the chipset-specific functions should work perfectly well, and might be mated with some WinCE USB driver code. of course, someone else mentioned the new 'Talisker' (CE.NET) software has better USB and networking support, but that appears to be only an emulator, not source code or a Platform Builder. maybe someone else is reading/lurking, and can provide more/better information . . . 12-22-2001 20:55:04

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) JeepNuht Profile Keith Is there somewhere on the Net to dload 'CE Platform Builder' ? I don't really want to give ol' Microshaft anymore of my hard earned moola for a 50 cent CD, that should be a free download like the Embedded Tools. Between Coding jobs here and @home, I'd like to take a crack at making CE image. 12-26-2001 15:38:51

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile JeepNuht: mine arrived from M$ about a week after i ordered the evaluation online. i ordered DVDs, since i have one installed - it came on two (2) DVDs plus the Embedded Resources CD. if i had ordered CDs instead, it would have required at least fourteen (14) CDs just for the contents of the first DVD. so, i think there's more than just the control/audit/NDA reasons that M$ didn't want to publish the Platform Builder as a http: or ftp: download. i haven't played with the Talisker (CE.NET) emulator preview, either. i could never get it to complete the download without erroring out. keith721 12-26-2001 15:52:26

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) Curious Profile Can a version of CE written for MIPS processor run on an X86 processor, or can it be re-compiled with the Platform builder? I have various devices running CE 2.11 and 2.12 written for MIPS 12-26-2001 17:04:21

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile Curious: not having used the Platform Builder before, i'm only taking an un-educated non-scientific wild-arsed guess, here. my guess? if your CE project doesn't depend upon processor-specific tweaks, you might be able to import it into CE Platform Builder 3.0, change the desired target platform, and build it. it's possible you might have more problems with migrating a CE 2.11 or 2.12 project into the 3.0 tool, than you would platform-related problems. good luck, and keep us informed !!! 12-26-2001 19:10:33

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) Garfield Profile as mentioned, where can get a hold of the CE platform builder? where can we download this? if we coughed up money and gave it to the devil, how much would it cost us? on a side note, how does one get access to the main CE desktop on the IA-1s? 12-26-2001 19:50:23

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 1 times) rman Profile I am not sure if it is available for download publicly, I am a MSDN Universal subscriber and downloaded it from the MSDN Subscription download center. You can order it here http://www.developerstore.com/devstore/product.asp?productID=7568&store=TOOLBOX_NA . There are some problems with the CE Platform Builder anyway. The biggest one right now is that several folks have managed to get CE running on their iPaqs but no-one has gotten any networking to work. This is a major drawback as most of us are looking for a broadband device. What we really need is someone to either take apart a V2 image and find the driver, or port the existing Linux Pegasus driver to CE. I have given the Linux code a once over and it is at a level that would present a significant challenge to me. I think if we could form a team of people with enough different specialties, we might be able to pull it off. I am pretty sure that I could take a few hours and get the structure of the driver down in an understandable way, but finding the corresponding CE APIs to replace the Linux Kernel APIs would be a bigger challenge. I know several people are reading these threads and thinking the same things, but so far no one has chimed in with the right kind of knowledge. Does anyone out there know a CE device driver programmer with some spare time? I have also attempted to contact the proper people at D-Link about the availability of their CE driver but so far have come up bust. I will keep poking though because CE would be my ideal OS for this device. 12-26-2001 22:02:38

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) yellow2 Profile | Email Is it possible to open a previously created nk.bin Paltform Builder or to view the filesystem explorer-like ? If the latter is possible, that could be a way to get drivers on the CF ! 01-27-2002 17:27:14

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) radarman Profile I agree with the previous poster, the software that the unit comes with would likely be the best bet. Is there any way to go in and modify the system on the Sandisk from another installation (on a microdrive/CF)? I think what most of us want is the MSN Companion with MSN (and the corresponding $10/mo fee) The real trick is to find out exactly what connecting to the MS site really does for the machine. Does it really download parts of the OS (doubtful), or just enable access their DNS and other network services (which are presumable hardcoded in the unit's OS). If we could go in and selectively disable the parts that connect to the MSN service, but keep the remaining software intact, I think we would be onto something. If that would't work, can you edit a CE installation once it's released? IOW, could someone with the CD dev tools bring in the flash image and tweak it - then reflash it? 02-08-2002 10:55:39

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) radarman Profile (edited) I agree with the previous poster, the software that the unit comes with would likely be the best bet. Is there any way to go in and modify the system on the Sandisk from another installation (on a microdrive/CF)? I think what most of us want is the MSN Companion without MSN (and the corresponding $10/mo fee) The real trick is to find out exactly what connecting to the MS site really does for the machine. Does it really download parts of the OS (doubtful), or just enable access their DNS and other network services (which are presumable hardcoded in the unit's OS). If we could go in and selectively disable the parts that connect to the MSN service, but keep the remaining software intact, I think we would be onto something. If that wouldn't work, can you edit a CE installation once it's released? IOW, could someone with the CD dev tools bring in the flash image and tweak it - then reflash it? 02-08-2002 10:56:45

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) rbwinchell Profile I think one possibility is to put a CE registry editor and command shell on a webpage someplace, then connect using an MSN account. Download the reg editor and shell and run them, and disable the MSN shell that comes up during startup. It's difficult to say what is on there underneath the MSN shell. If someone is running the MSN v2 software, it may also be possible to find the drivers on the disk and pull them off. This may be as simple as finding them on the disk then attaching them to an email message. I don't know, since I am not running the software. If I could get the USB network drivers, it would be trivial to make a new CE image and put it on there. 02-08-2002 11:54:30

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) davideweaver Profile I've got an image booting using Talisker beta 2. Its functional, but the icons are screwed up and USB/networking is still not working. Anyone else have any luck with a Talisker image? I would like to spend some time trying to get the USB/network drivers from the MSN v2 image (have no idea if they will even work with Talisker images). Problem is, I don't have the MSN v2 image. Would anyone share that image retrieved using dolly.exe? 02-20-2002 01:04:14

RE:Ongoing CE Platform (modified 0 times) rbwinchell Profile I have a Talisker image working pretty well, without USB networking of course. I've spent some time pulling apart the nk.bin from MSN v1, and I think I've hit the wall. It appears the main content file (nk.cim) is ecrypted using RSA encryption. Why they would do this, I don't know. Perhaps the v2 image is different, but I don't have that either. 02-20-2002 11:12:43

Reply to Thread | Printer | All times are PST Powered by UltraBoard v1.62

I-Appliance BBS General - NEWS, Breaking NEWS - linux-hacker.net BBS on CD Questions - User Groups in Your Town - E-Bay, Yahoo Auction LINKS ONLY (MODERATED) - Jokes & Humor - usdtv box I-Opener Areas - I-Opener General Posts - I-Opener Technical Stuff - I-Opener Technical Info Reference (MODERATED) WebSurfer Areas - WebSurfer General Posts - WebSurfer Technical Stuff - WebSurfer Technical Info Reference (MODERATED) Other I-Appliances - Virgin Webplayer - WebPal - MailStation - 3Com Audrey - ThinkNIC / Oracle NIC - Gateway/AOL Connected Touch Pad - Philips/AOL-TV - ACER NT-150 STB - MSN Companion - Compaq IA - Emachines IA - IBM NetVista IA - Intel dot.station - MSNTV2 Network Computers - Fujitsu-Siemens Scovery Linux Net Computers - GallantWeb Server Consoles - Dreamcast - xbox hacking Web Pads - Epods One General Post - Panasonic CF-01 - Fujitsu Stylistic 1200 - Cybiko Thin Clients - Thin Clients DigitalVideoRecorders - DTV Recorders, Replay, TiVo, Etc... - Tivo Hacks Linux - Midori Linux General Board - ITX MotherBoards Single Board Computers - Earth Computers mARMalade Elite Member Area MISC Areas - The Swap Meet WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY TRANSACTION HERE AND NO COMMERCIAL POST PERIOD !!! - Wireless Net - Cameras - Robotics - Routers/Gateways - Mattel JuiceBox