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IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) beowulf Profile I have an chance to get a free IA-1, and I was thinking about taking just to install Linux on it to be used to check mail and browse the web. It seems from reading this forum that all I have to is reset the bios, remove the SanDisk and flash it with Jailbait and then I'm up and running. True? Does X work reasonably well on such a small machine? I see there's a linksys usb nic that works, any wireless ones? And, finally, can anybody suggest a good linux compatible PCMCIA-SanDisk adapter I can use to flash? Thanks. Eddie 10-26-2001 08:10:02

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) junkbuster Profile Should you bother? If you enjoy a little challenge But it does work and its a cute little system. I found that the others on this forum were very helpful and that makes all the difference. I used the image on http://nc.flyingbuttmonkeys.com/mirrors/IA1/ And I could not get the Linksys USB Ethernet to work. Once I added the Pegasus driver to the modules list (you can use the /etc/install.sh script to do this). I could get the D-Link USB Ethernet to work perfectly. Now I can NFS mount the disks on the other systems on the network for storage, and browse the web with Netscape, etc. X works just fine, although the trackball style mouse in the keyboard is annoying. I used a $20 SanDIsk PCMCIA adapter to write the SanDisk flash in Linux. No problems. I think any adapter will work. I'm trying to get other local USB storage devices working to make it more of an independent system. Hope this is useful. 10-27-2001 05:52:30

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) Svartalf Profile Well, the IA-1 has several things going for it, and several negatives. It is a K6-2 266. It has a Trident CyberBlade display chip. It has an on-board flash store and a CompactFlash store- the on-board appears to be a SanDisk CF device mounted on-board. It has a 640x480 LCD display and looks cute. It has USB support along with an "ok" IR wireless keyboard. It has only 32Mb of RAM with NO upgrade path. As things go, a full-fledged Linux distro would choke on this- Jailbait'd probably work as would some of the embedded Linux distributions, especially if they use Nano-X or Tiny-X. As a hacking toy, if you've got nothing else to hack on, it's an okay box to go with. 10-31-2001 09:11:01

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) atemybuick Profile Well, tigerdirect has IA-1 for $99.99. Since I can't get any more Audreys cheap, I've been thinking of buying one or more. My girlfriend would like a simple web browser and I'd like another terminal or two for home automation and browsing around the house. The question is what can I do with an AI-1 right out of the box, specifcally the ones from tigerdirect that may or may not have the latest software? Can they be used for dialup access without giving any money to Microsoft for MSN? Can they browse over the network w/o reflashing to linux? Does anyone out there have experience with the version tigerdirect is selling? Any info would be appreciated. 11-06-2001 14:13:06

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email I to would like to buy another unit, I just ordered one from Tiger yesterday. My concern is that I need to be able to access my own ISP (NOT MSN's) with this unit. I also need to be able to access my LAN web server (Intranet) from the unit. My Audreys worked right out of the box, so the big question is ?? Will the IA-1 work with my ISP ?? (What needs to be done to it) Can anyone help me on the question ?? Thanks in advance.. Phil 11-08-2001 12:16:13

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) atemybuick Profile Musicman38, Looks like you and I are looking for the same thing out of the IA-1. Since I'm too chicken to buy one until I know a little more, please post some info when yours arrives. Thanks, BoB atemybuick(at)yahoo(dot)com 11-08-2001 13:27:50

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) Zack Profile I've had my IA-1's (2 of them) for a couple days now, but decided to read up on them a little before I powered them up. After everything i've read though on here, I don't think many people know much abouth these particular appliances. I think that we're early to the party here and are going to have to get our hands dirty figuring some of this out. I'm going to go home tonight and spend some quality time in from of my IA-1 and see what it can and can't do. I'll have some updates tomorrow. Zack 11-08-2001 15:44:12

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) ranman Profile Zack, Yeah, there is probably still lots to know about the IA-1. And not many people know about them either. But we have learned a fair amount so far I think. What kind of things were you wondering about? I have had mine since February, and I have learned a fair amount of information on it through win98. I haven't seen/heard anything about changing the default msn companion, so other OSes seem more promising. If you have some questions, fire away and we will see if we can answer them. ranman 11-08-2001 15:55:06

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile well, i noted a message from AudreyLover in the Audrey group, that the IA-1 doesn't enable ethernet access through the USB ports, until AFTER you've upgraded your unit from the default MSN 1.0 software to the MSN 2.0 version. i received my unit this evening, but haven't powered it up, yet. nice to know that i can't just connect the network adapter, and expect it to work properly.... as per my previous question, where's the best place to get a decent version of 'dolly', and what are your recommendations for Win98SE 'lite' versions? thanks !! 11-08-2001 19:58:13

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) vwbug19 Profile does ipaq have touchscreen?? 11-08-2001 21:37:35

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) ranman Profile Keith721, Yes, what Audreylover said is true. And I also noted that the green indicator light does not indicate a connection - however it does work when I use the same adapter (linksys usb 10bt version 3.0), in the same port while using windows 98. Don't know why - but it worked otherwise. You can go here to get dolly (it is shareware so this should be okay): http://www.geocities.com/ranman/dollypp.zip I installed win98 (as I don't have win98se), and I would think win98se would be better. Get a big compact flash card (256+) or microdrive and format with system files. Then copy over all of the cabs. Then insert the card in the IA-1 and run setup (faster if smartdrv is running first). Check some of the other threads, they will be in more detail. As I said, I have windows 98, and I have 98lite, but didn't install it as I wasn't sure if it would disable the windows update feature (b/c browser removed). Vwbug19, Unfortunately, the IA-1 doesn't have a touchscreen. If it did, it would be almost perfect. ranman 11-08-2001 21:59:36

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile ranman: thanks for the information. i've seen your earlier posts about telling W98 setup to disable the hardware configuration check, and creating the bootable media. since your recap here doesn't differ in any significant way from earlier messages, i shouldn't have any problems with it, short of buying a larger CF card and/or microdrive. (Audrey spoils you with only having to buy a 32MB CF card ) as for vwbug's question, i agree entirely -- wouldn't it be totally kick-*ss if the IA-1 had touchscreen capability?? thanks again for the advice and the link !! keith721 11-09-2001 07:41:15

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email What is the most compatable USB Ethernet Card I can get ? 11-10-2001 23:09:47

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile musicman38: i posted this list in the thread started by AudreyLover USB Ethernet adapters for IA-1 Network Components Compaq 10/100 Ethernet USB Linksys USB 100TX 100T (Both old and new versions, 3.0 and B1) Linksys USB 10TX v3 Linksys USB 200 HA Linksys USB 10TX v3 Linksys USB 200 HA SMC EZ Connect USB D-Link 10 USB D-Link DNH-120 D-Link DSB-650TX 10/100 USB Ethernet Smartlink HUE-210 (Compaq HPNA Dongle) Netgear 10X10MB USB Home Nic Adapter Netgear Phoneline 10X Photo CP-1 and CPW-2 Compaq Connection Point Photo Standard DHCP based Cable/DSL router keith721 11-11-2001 08:20:39

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email Keith, Thanks for the info on the USB Ethernet adaptors. Going to search the web for best prices on them. I am assuming that all the devices you listed work equally well with the IA-1.. It would also seen that if someone used windows 95 as an OS one could use any USB adaptor. I am especially tempeted on one I saw for only $19.95 BTW; a good plac to search for the best prices for any hardware is: www.pricewatch.com One more question: TigerDirects ad says "Use your own ISP" , "Broadband-ready" Know one has answered me about removing the MSN default ISP off of the stock IA-1. Is this possible out of the box ? Phil.. 11-11-2001 13:53:31

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) ranman Profile Musicman38, I highly doubt you can use your own ISP right out of the box and fully BYPASS MSN. I tried doing that by creating an MSN account with a username that I used for another ISP and even used the same password. Then I tried changing the numbers that the IA-1 dials to the one of my ISP. Of course, it had no problem dialing the numbers, and starting the connection with the usual modem sounds, but it just wouldn't connect. Unfortunately, this was several months ago, so I cannot remember what the error it gave me was (if any). So somewhere along the way, it is looking for some specific thing, possibly something similar in how the Audrey was looking to the 3com servers. With the supported usb adapters, and paying the $9.95 MSN fee, you can use the IA-1 right out the box (but AFTER it has updated to msn companion 2.0) to connect via your desktop/laptop to your ISP. So, you would be using YOUR own ISP, but paying MSN $10 per month to do it. Hmmmm. This is why the price has come down on them. ranman 11-11-2001 14:18:46

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 1 times) Kudzu Profile Unfortunately, this was several months ago, so I cannot remember what the error it gave me was (if any). So somewhere along the way, it is looking for some specific thing, possibly something similar in how the Audrey was looking to the 3com servers. Have you considered the possibility that the MSN software encrypts the username & password it uses to log in? A certain "Defender of the Free World" ISP used a similar scheme, which was bypassed by a group of tinkerers for the sake of their linux users. Kudzu 11-11-2001 21:34:29

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) ranman Profile Kudzu, Sure, that is a possibility, but I found my username and password unencrypted in the $upginfo.inf file on both of the partitions (of the 16 meg internal sandisk) of the MSN companion version 1 OS. They might have made a change in version 2.0. I took a quick look, and noticed some username there and a password, but it was not mine. I made a post about this in more detail on this board. Have you an idea to overcome this if this is the case? ranman 11-11-2001 22:19:54

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 1 times) Kudzu Profile They might have made a change in version 2.0. I took a quick look, and noticed some username there and a password, but it was not mine. I made a post about this in more detail on this board. I'll go take a look at your post. It'll be fantastic if it's that simple to fix. Were you using MSN Companion 1.0 when you edited the files to dial your ISP, or 2? Have you an idea to overcome this if this is the case? It'll depend on the encryption used, if it is indeed being used. 11-12-2001 00:22:20

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) Kudzu Profile I see in the thread you mention using version 1, which means no encryption. Back to the drawing board. 11-12-2001 00:38:23

RE:IA-1, should I bother? (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email I just noticed this thread about cracking the MSN default for the IA-1.. If this could be done we could all use the IA-1 out of the box with our existing ISP. I have 2 Audreys that I use already with Homeseer, and hopeing I get my IA-1 today. But no way do I want to put 10 bucks a month in Bill Gates pocket. I really don't want to install a new OS either, but will do that if I have to. If anyone has some ideas on removing the MSN companion please let us know.. Phil.. Musicman 11-13-2001 07:35:25

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