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Home / Other I-Appliances / MSN Companion BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 Two versions of the IA-1 BIOS

BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) AirMan Profile Summary: I'm 95% certain there are two versions of the IA-1 BIOS floating around: hackable and non-hackable. The version you end-up with may be a crap-shoot. Background: Several users of this BBS including me (AirMan), Garfield, Stingray, and Scarebear (with an IA-2) have been unsuccessful in accessing the BIOS setup program. We can successfully short the jumper with a paperclip or by moving the jumper itself and receive the memory check, but no matter how or when we press the Compaq button we can never get the setup program. Mystery Solved: I originally purchased several IA-1's from Tiger. Two for me to run Linux and one for my mom to run MSN. I somehow hosed my first IA-1 and returned it to Tiger. I've never been able to get into the setup program on my second IA-1. My mom's IA-1 has been fine running MSN. Today, I got my Mom's IA-1 and did the paperclip trick on it. As soon as I applied the power, I could see immediately there was something different about it. For one, the cursor was completely visible and I could see it drop. The cursor was not visible at all on the other (non-hackable) IA-1. Secondly, the memory check was different. It was drawn higher up on the screen and rendered in a different size and font. I'm telling you guys, this memory check was noticeably different than the memory check on the non-hackable IA-1. Hitting the Compaq button after the memory check completed resulted in the setup program. Conclusion: Because of the very noticeable differences between the two IA-1's I have compared, I believe there are two versions of the BIOS floating around. 12-23-2001 14:43:20

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) scarebear Profile | Email I just talked to Compaq not much came out of the conversation though.(I gave him a boot error message in hopes he would volunteer the sneaky key combo) The guy told me that the Ipaqs were oversized telephones and that there was no BIOS or SETUP utility and that you had to connect to MSN to get everything for it to work blah blah blah...he did say that Compaq would ship a new unit to me since mine is broke :) and I could ship the one I have now after I got the new one hmmmmmm...but they are 30 days backlogged right now...Sounds like if we seriously mess them up we could still get new ones.Another thing he asked is if i had a blue or green sticker on the back I have a green one does yours? and does your mothers have a blue one? it could have something to do with the BIOS but the tech wouldnt volunteer any info. after I told him my color he told me I had a 1 year warranty and that it was one of the 1st ones. It does however have MSN Companion 2 or so it says. I have never connected mine to MSN so after I hung up I tried and it connected. after about 3 minutes it gave me an error that said something like "This object cannot be secured try another object" I clicked OK it remained on the line with the Default blue MSN background until I finally pulled the plug. I dont know what this means I am just sharing information. Have the others connected to MSN? maybe you do have to connect 1st before you can get into the BIOS??? 12-23-2001 16:18:31

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) johnmeacham Profile blue or green sticker? i see no stickers anywhere. where is this sticker? I bought four, but only have hacked one so far. it worked just like the instructions said it should. 12-23-2001 16:42:54

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Garfield Profile Sticker? What sticker!? Where is this so-called sticker? My model number is 178358-001 if that is any help. Let's try this: lets all list our model numbers here and maybe we can figure out what ipaqs are hackable and such based upon the model number. 12-23-2001 18:21:22

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) AirMan Profile I do not have a sticker on either IA-1. Both model numbers are the same: 178358-001. One is hackable. The other is not. I swapped with my Mom, so she has the non-hackable one running MSN. I have the hackable one, which is now running Linux. The Linux installation, by the way, went perfectly. 12-23-2001 20:49:08

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) scarebear Profile | Email Sorry been kinda busy today... The sticker is round and is about the diameter of a pencil eraser, it should be located on the back near the serial number. Mine has a "1s"on it and is green. It may not be on the IA-1 and it may mean nothing. What I want to know from all that have successfully got into th BIOS, did you ever connect it to MSN? before you did the BIOS Op??? 12-24-2001 13:35:34

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Garfield Profile airman, since you have atleast one of each, can you do us this favor to help test a theory: try the ctrl-u trick on both units and let us know what you get... it does not work on mine and I am interested for all of us if this is some how related to the nasty bios. i hope i do not need to have an msn account to get an exchange... or give them a CC# when requesting the exchange. if it works fine on your's and your mother's then I am doing something really wrong, if it does not work on your mother's then it is another bios issue... 12-27-2001 00:28:14

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Trump Profile I tried the ctl-u option on mine and could not get into this service option as described either... Note: I am also suffering from the inability to get into the bios after a clear. 12-27-2001 08:54:13

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) AirMan Profile My mom's machine is back over at her place, but the CTRL-U thing did work a couple of times. The timing for this was very, very tricky. It might take 10 reboots to get CTRL-U to work once. Nevertheless, I was never able to access the BIOS on that machine. I must have tried 150 times. 12-27-2001 10:50:37

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Trump Profile I was able to get into the Ctl-U menu but was unable to follow-up with the u key and get into a command prompt. Oh well..at least one thing is working. :) 12-27-2001 11:13:51

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) ToeTag Profile Hmm... I've read somewhere amongst these threads that the 'Compaq' key is used to access the BIOS. That is what I did to get into mine... just kept pressing it during the boot process until I got in. - ToeTag 12-27-2001 16:39:50

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Garfield Profile from what I can tell, there is no "command prompt" on this thing ;-( as far as i can tell... does anyone have an image of a good bios? if so then the trick would be how to flash the bios on board via some means... i have access to a chip programmer so i am thinking about making some sort of jig that I can clip on to the chip and connect to the programmer to program the bios while leaving it on the main board... i would have to make the jig for this task... <grin> BadFlash, if you are out there, how does this sound to you? is it a "safe" thing to do assuming the IA-1 is UNplugged at the time of programming... 12-28-2001 00:15:04

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Garfield Profile in terms of compaq goes, F10 does get me in to the bios on a Compaq Presario Laptop... has any one tried this: disconnecting the battery? that should make the machine bitch that the battery is dead and the system setings are lost andask you to go in to the bios to fix it... right? 12-28-2001 11:24:17

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) AirMan Profile I thought about disconnecting the battery, but it seemed pretty well attached. Kind of crimped on. I was afraid I might break somehing, having hosed one IA-1 already 12-28-2001 13:48:05

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Root Profile So i am planning to buy a few more ia-1's, and i wanted to take caution.. Where did you all buy your "unhackable" ia-1's ? also, has anyone bought an ia-1 in the last week or two and had success getting into the bios? finally, is the model number on the unhackable ones the same? (178358-01) ?? Root. 12-30-2001 08:42:59

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) AirMan Profile To recap what I said at the start of this thread, I purchased 3 IA-1's from TigerDirect. The first one I hosed while doing the paperclip trick. Of the other two, one was hackable and one was not. All three had the same model number: 178358-01. I, also, would like to purchase more, but I'm wary of getting another unhackable one. 12-30-2001 11:51:47

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Garfield Profile airman, since you have a hackable unit, just do a bios dump and reprogram the other bioses... the trick is how... i'm temped to remove the bios to reprogram it but i'm not fond of smt rework. i'm also thinking of making a jig that i clip on to the bios and connect to the universal programmer i have and reprogram it that way. my only fear is that i blow out something in the process... atleast it is under waranty and i did not see any seals. don't worry i will have the unit (ia1) unplugged during this process. will this be a safe operation? has anyone figured out how to write a java program that will reflash the bios? can that be done? it also sounds very dangerious if used in the wrong way. 12-30-2001 13:24:27

Box difference (modified 0 times) RatBastard Profile I ordered 3 IA-1s from TigerDirect. Two came right away in a *brown cardboard box* bearing Compaq tape. The third came about a week later (had been back ordered) in a red and white printed cardboard box. The third one is resisting the BIOS trick! I DID see the memory count up, and I DID see the "162 options not set" message, but I can't get into the BIOS via F10/Compaq (even with a USB keyboard). I've got no green or blue stickers, and can't tell any other difference yet. Any more insight into flashing one bios to another? 12-30-2001 17:05:36

sneaky key order... er how I got mine to work (modified 0 times) losto Profile Hey... for awhile I couldn't get into the bios, even after reseting via jumper... so I thought darn... a unhackable one... but I am a cheap student so I cannot afford another. so I played around and ... this is how I got mine to work (I am not sure if it was actually a 'unhackable' one, or if I had just screwed up the process a few times. 1* reset via jumper 2* let reboot and press the 'compaq' key, (I had my CF card in) (mem check, then identify the hardware) 3* it should reboot... press ctrl-u once right away... then press the compaq key... (you might have to play with timing) 4* bios lanaguge menu... set boot order 5* bootable CF card ->jailbait linux, or M$ dos hope this helps... -jeremy-(losto)- losto(at)purdue.edu 12-30-2001 17:57:08

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) PneumaMalestrom Profile I have a "Hackable" I got as a "recertified" from tigerdirect, and an "unHackable" I got as "new" on uBid. The unHackable is a little different on the front - it has "iPAQ" on the bezel right below the lower right corner of the screen. The Hackable has nothing there. When the unHackable boots, it does not seem to show a cursor in the upper left corner of the screen. I tried fiddling with pressing C-u and other keys on the unHackable and never got anything but the modem settings screen. Also, I needed to wait about 7 seconds from the time the "Compaq" logo appeared. If I type C-u too soon, I just get a keyboard error. Since the unHackable has "iPAQ" on the bezel and takes longer to boot and it is supposedly "new", I'm guessing it has a newer firmware version, or, maybe, there is something they do when they "recertify" which makes the machine "Hackable"? I am not going to be around to test anything for a few days. 12-30-2001 19:12:05

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) AirMan Profile The box may be key. As was the case with RatBastard, my unhackable IA-1 came in a red/white printed box and the hackable one came in a plain brown box. Both units, however, say "iPaq" below the lower right corner of the screen. I may not be the man to flash the BIOS from one unit to another. I don't have any experience with that sort of operation. 12-30-2001 22:35:05

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) PneumaMalestrom Profile I have not tried to "Hack" it yet (no time right now), but I got a "recertified" unit from tigerdirect which came in a box with pictures on it, and looks to me like the Hackable kind because when it boots it has the cursor in the upper left corner. The "new" unit I got in a box with pictures on it does seem to be the unHackable kind, but the "recertified" unit I got in a box with pictures on it seems to be the Hackable kind. I would be interested to find out if the boxes with pictures containing the unHackable units have the red circular stickers saying they are recertified units. My small set of data suggests that maybe the recertified units are the Hackable, and the not recertified units are unHackable. 12-30-2001 22:56:26

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) stingray Profile My unhackable Ipaq came in a brown box with the word Compaq on the sides and round red stickers say "Quality Refurbished Product by Compaq". 12-31-2001 15:28:45

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) tedium Profile Just got my Ipaq from tigerdirect, the $100 recertified version. The box is the same as stingray's (brown cardboard, red "refurbished" stickers), but I successfully reached the BIOS after the jumper CMOS reset. No stickers on the back of the unit, no "iPAQ" on the bezel. 01-01-2002 11:24:29

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Garfield Profile my ia1 came in a brown cardboard box & has the ipaq painted on the front bezzel. I have yet to get into the bios... at some point, i'll try with my usb keyboard. 01-01-2002 15:39:01

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) rlpeel Profile I got a referb straight from Compaq. I only had problems getting into the bio's when I first took it apart. It would lockup when I hit the compaq key and the asked for what language I wanted to use in the bio's. I put it back together and it worked fine. It came in one if the regular box. This one has Compaq on the front not Ipaq. UUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH where did all that smoke come from. 01-01-2002 16:35:31

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) shadowsunrise Profile i think there's a better chance of refurbs being hackable, especially if they come from third parites (3 ppl in my office have hacked theirs plus me, all from tigerdirect before the 24th of Dec) the lower quality refurb, the better. mine came with xerox copies of some of literature! also, mines a brownbox; sn:1V08FB73JF5F; model number: 178358-001 there's gotta be some way to 'fix' these things as long as they sell refurbs. figure it this way, you get a refurb then it's had somebody use it, so they've gotta copy a new image/re-install companion, etc, so they gotta get it to boot off the slot (or a usb?), of course unless the refurb was a showroom model, then it may not've been cleared... make any sense? 01-04-2002 14:01:20

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) chriscook Profile Has anyone tried to use a USB keyboard on the 'Unhackable' BIOS? I know (at least I think I know) that the bios has support for USB keyboards and it's possilble that the keymap was just changed to one of the other F-keys or the Delete key or something that you would have on a USB keyboard but not the wireless one. Just a thought, Chris TigerDirect Brown Box fully hack(able|ed) 01-04-2002 14:25:54

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) AirMan Profile I was mistaken about iPAQ on the bezel. My hackable IA-1 does not have iPAQ on the bezel. My unhackable IA-1 does have iPAQ on the bezel. Based on what I've read here and my own experience: iPAQ on the bezel == not hackable not iPAQ on the bezel == hackable The product packaging seems to make no difference. 01-04-2002 19:49:16

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) Garfield Profile any headway with the "unhackable" IA-1s? how can we get into the bios on the units that will not let us? do we run with a forced upgrade and try again after the upgrade? 01-07-2002 00:40:26

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) zxhwk Profile | Email Garfield i have 2 of the same units with the model # 178358-001 and both are hackable because i have linix on one of them now and restored the other to original just in case some one want to buy it 10-18-2002 10:40:11

RE:BIOS mystery solved - Read this before purchasing IA-1 (modified 0 times) MeMyselfI Profile > iPAQ on the bezel == not hackable > not iPAQ on the bezel == hackable Till now I can conform this. My IA-1 has 'iPAQ on the bezel' and I was not able to get into the BIOS :( 11-30-2002 20:21:51

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