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Home / Other I-Appliances / MSN Companion HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS

HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) bballctaulbee Profile well, i just unpacked and plugged in a new $99 IA-1 from TigerDirect however, holding down the Compaq key during bootup doesn't work to access the BIOS! e.g., i can't set up the machine to boot from CF or USB! (i have tried holding it down, then plugging the power in, with and without an installed CF, holding it down after plugging in and while the Compaq logo is displayed, and other variations.. please don't tell me that Compaq has changed the BIOS to thwart hacking on the this device! is there a 'tried-and-true' method of accessing the BIOS? any help appreciated... 11-08-2001 11:10:57

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) yesod Profile My IA-1 arrived yesterday. In order to break into the bios, I had to dismantle it and short the 2 pins to clear the CMOS. Once I'd done that, I could get into the bios using the 'Compaq' key. It was a bit tricky to do, but a bit of patience is all thats required. 11-08-2001 12:30:10

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) bballctaulbee Profile any tips on dismantling? i found all six screws, and know that i can release the back of the unit by using a small flathead, but attempting to pry open the unit is stalled due to some clips/holders along the front... i've read about others opening the unit, but is brute force necessary (i don't want to crack the case/screen, etc.) thanks in advance! 11-08-2001 12:55:37

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) yesod Profile There are some instructions on this board, but they discuss dismantling of the screen, which I didn't find necessary. I took the little plastic bit off at the back of the unit (one screw). Then I undid the 4 screws on the bottom, and the 2 behind the LCD panel on top of the unit. Using a small screwdriver I lifted the bit of hinge that was held by the 2 screws. This was a bit awkward, but it came off with a bit of wiggling. This exposes 4 screws holding the LCD panel hinge. Then I pushed the 2 clips in at the back, and started to separate the unit. In order to take the top off completely, you need to also undo the screws holding the flat panel hinge in place. That allowed me to get the top flipped back, so I could get to the PCB cover. There are a bunch of screws which need to come out (including some of those on the heatink). I didn't take the cover off, I just opened it enough to allow me to get to the jumper on the PCB. You can locate the jumper on these pictures: http://www.linux-hacker.net/ipaq/. I removed the jumper, then used a screwdriver to short 2 of the pins together (the pin which wasn't covered by the jumper, and its neighbor (which was)). Then I replaced the jumper, re-assembled and then I could get into the BIOS. 11-08-2001 13:43:53

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) ranman Profile Yesod, Yes, there was a thread about taking the screen apart to get into the IA-1 (and that is the way I did it the very first time) but subsequent posts described the same method as you did. It sure would be nice if the compaq button worked right out of the box. Now, about the bios, what version does everyone have? I think mine is dated 3/21/2000. I will have to check on that to be sure. Anyone have a newer bios than that? And what is everyone using as the OS for the IA-1? I have win98 on a microdrive which runs great. ranman 11-08-2001 15:47:08

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) bballctaulbee Profile thanks! i was able to do the jumper thing and now can access the BIOS.. unfortunately, like others, i have found the 'buttmonkey' images not to work, and i get the LILO 'LI' error at boot time... perhaps a different incantation of dd is required? i used a 32MB Sandisk CF like this (with both the boot device image, and then trying the internal linux image): dd if=ia-linux*.img of=/dev/hde (/dev/hde is the pcmcia IDE descriptor for the CF under Linux) a 16MB Sandisk CF is not 16MB, but report 15MB + change, and is too small for the 16MB images (dd reports 'device full' and barfs) <sigh> i guess i'll have to wait until someone posts a link for a working Linux image for the IA-1... as of now, it will sit and wait (i will *NOT* use MSN, and i really don't want to use DOS/Win98, etc.) appreciate any tips or a working approach... 11-08-2001 17:23:17

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) ranman Profile I had the same problem as you until I followed these instructions from Zack Folkerts: http://www.geocities.com/ranman/ipaq.txt There is more on this at: http://www.linux-hacker.net/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/UltraBoard.pl?Action=ShowPost&Board=MSNCompanion&Post=26&Idle=0&Sort=0&Order=Descend&Page=0&Session= Hope this helps. If you screw up something along the way, all you have to do is start over! Be sure to flash the jailbait on to the internal flash with the above instructions. I just used the standard jailbait v6 download and modified it using the above instructions. If someone could modify it so that it could use the linksys usb 10bt adapter please let me know - I would prefer to use jailbait than win98 just for browsing the web. Hope this helps. Following those instructions, I got jailbait to load (albeit with errors still) but the screen looked great. But since I only have the linksys 10bt adapters, I wasn't able to test any browsing. I don't know enough how to add the extra usb module. If you are a wiz with linux, it would be great if you could fix all the errors, and get sound in. Ranman 11-08-2001 18:19:46

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) bballctaulbee Profile thanks for the info regarding Jailbait.. i'm wondering if it would be possible to email me a working gzipped boot .img? i would be happy to put up a link for people to download... this could save people a lot of time and hassle, and at least get things rolling as a start... if you have broadband and an image you could mail it to (phonetically, mind you): bravo, bravo, alpha, lima, lima at tango, uniform, x-ray dot oscar romeo golf... 11-08-2001 20:01:19

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) ranman Profile Yeah, I have an image that I made the changes on. However, I don't have DSL anymore. I used to before I moved. Going from 49k to 800K was great, but going from 800K back down sure stinks. I will try to send it to you tonight or tomorrow night, but be patient. What's the diff between zip and gzip? And a correction as to the date for bios, it is 3/1/2000. ranman 11-08-2001 20:35:36

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) bballctaulbee Profile .zip would be fine (linux has a zip and unzip command)... .gz is the GNU gzip format... there's an even better compression util named bzip2, which creates .bz2 files... my favorite though is still tar.. for example (to create a compressed tar archive): tar cvzf new_compressed_archive.tgz name_of_directory to see the contents: tar tvzf new_compressed_archive.tgz | less to extract the archive: tar xvzf new_compressed_archive.tgz and many, many other options, pipes, and ways to use... 11-08-2001 21:52:26

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) ozzy_mcp Profile | Email Help... We just received 2 Compaqs... I believe they are the IA-1 model.. On the bottom of them - the model says ??1000... We opened up one of them and cleared the cmos..We 'rebooted' and it does the ram count and advises that a configuration change has occured - it then reboots , does the ram count and continues to boot... WE CANNOT get into the stinkin BIOS!! We know the keyboard is functioning and the computer is receiving - because if we hold down a key - it will give KEYBOARD error... What are we missing?... When you clear the CMOS and reboot - do you see the ram count/configuration change message?.. > When do you try to hit the Compaq Key - to enter the BIOS?.. Do you hold it down? Pump it a bunch of times? HeLp!! 11-09-2001 18:55:33

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) ranman Profile You need to hit the compaq key very soon after you plug it in. You need to do it BEFORE (or very shortly after you the flashing cursor) there is a flashing cursor in the top right of the screen. If you can't find the exact time, just plug the unit in (or hold the power button for 4 seconds straight - which will reset the unit) and hold the compaq key for one second, let go for a fraction, hold again for a sec ... You get the picture. That should work. When you hold the compaq key down, it should still say keyboard error but then take you right into the bios screen. When you do get into the bios, please let me know the version you have on both. I have 3/1/2000 on mine. Just wondering if there is a more current version out there - maybe with more features/options? And any time you change the amount of video ram it will do the ram check. You can also change that option in the bios, full ram check or quick bypass type of thing. ranman 11-09-2001 19:01:59

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) bballctaulbee Profile in order to access the BIOS, you apparently must disassemble the unit, remove the BIOS jumper, short two pins, then replace the jumper... this is a pain-in-the-you-know-what... once you do this however, you can access the BIOS... after changing the BIOS settings however, i have been totally unsuccessful in booting the IA-1 using either a 16MB or 32MB Sandisk CF... i have tried the 'buttmonkey' images, and i have tried installing DOS on the cards... in the former, i got a LILO 'LI' error, with the latter, i get "Cannot find an operating system..." error... this is after using the dd command under Linux for the .img files, and DOS FDISK, FORMAT, and COPY to attempt a simple boot to a DOS session... i am almost convinced that it is not possible to boot the IA-1 from CF, and that what is really required is use of a USB Zip or floppy, and then a copy to the internal CF... i will be pleasantly surprised when someone posts *definitive* steps on preparing and booting from a CF without the need for a USB device... until then, accessing the unit is a pipe dream... IF ANYONE HAS A WORKING .IMG FILE AND DIRECTIONS, PLEASE POST A LINK - DEVELOPMENT WILL THEN PROCEED MUCH FASTER! the IA-1's BIOS is pretty straightforward... after shorting the jumper and reassembling the unit, you simply tap the Compaq key after plugging the unit in... you can then set IDE device settings (do we ENABLE all of them?), and the boot order for A: Floppy (???), C: (the atrociously hobbled CE environment - may Compaq and M$ roast in Hell!), and D: (which i *assume* is the external CF)... there are also settings for displaying/checking memory, the Post image display ('Compaq'), and setting 2, 4, or 8MB for the device's video (2MB would seem adequate, considering the RAM space, although if you wanted the IA-1 for displaying images, i would hope that increase RAM would equal increased color depth) my BIOS is dated 03/01/2000... apparently there was an earlier version? the IA-1 is a much more 'closed' system than the 3COM Audrey, ThinkNIC, or I-Opener (i have two Audreys and a ThinkNIC - both were configured and put to work right away)... the IA-1 appears to be a real turkey, and i'm not surprised that they are being liquidated, especially as they seem to essentially be devices aimed at gathering credit card information and money from users... i am initially very disappointed, but remain hopeful that this unit can be put to work.. i'll keep trying with other avenues (Midori Linux, Coyote, etc.), and would like to thank all of those who have posted info regarding the IA-1 (we certainly won't get it from Compaq or M$)... 11-09-2001 20:36:43

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) ranman Profile bball, I understand the frustration you are having, as I initially had the same problem when I first tried it. But I can assure you, it is DEFINITELY possible to boot from the flash, as mine does everyday. This is what the problem might be: In the bios, enable EVEYTHING, i.e. both IDE controllers, DMA 33/66. Then reboot. It should detect that there is a card in the CF socket and then reboot Then go back into bios and tell it to boot from drive D: (the 3rd drive - not A, not C but D). This should work. If not let us know. The way I made a flash card bootable was with windows 98. I used the command format x: /s Alternately, you should be able to right click on the drive and click format, and tell it to copy over system files. ranman 11-09-2001 20:48:50

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) ranman Profile bball, I just went ahead and made my 32 meg sandisk compact flash card a bootable dos disk. It took some effort as this card previously held an Audrey image, and I had just loaded my jailbait on the internal flash to test it - it booted and got me to the usual login prompt. I also have a 4 meg card that previously was not even recognized by the IA-1. This was because its file system was FAT-12. I was able to make this card readable and BOOTABLE by making its file system DOS FAT-16 by using Ranish Partition Manager. I think the wrong file system is a big key as to why cards are sometimes not readable. The 32 meg sandisk card file system is DOS FAT-16 << 32meg. If you send me your email address, I will send you the location of the 4 meg file so that you can download it. If someone would like to host it, please let me know. Then they could also host all the driver files for the IA-1. Once you get the image, just dolly it to a compact flash card (I guess dd would work the same in linux) and it should work. The image includes the DOS files from win98, ranish partition manager (freeware??? - not sure) and dolly itself (shareware) and a bit of other useful stuff. If anything on the flash is not freeware or like dolly, then please delete it. To get my 32 meg card working I did this: 1. Put the card in my kodak dc240 camera and formatted it to make sure it was completely clean 2. Took it to my win98 box with a pccard reader and did sys e: (it's my e: drive) 3. Then went into ranish partition manager and make sure the system was right and the drive was bootable and rebooted if changes were needed 4. Copied over any files I wanted such as the DOS stuff 5. Removed the card and put it in the IA-1 6. Changed the bios settings to boot from drive D: with all other bios settings enabled 7. Then ran ranish partition manager on the internal flash made it dos fat-16, rebooting after any change 8. Made it bootable 9. Formatted it 10. Sys'ed it 11. Changed bios and it booted from it. Now, I did have a problem because I had put jailbait on it, so even after doing all of the above initially, it kept hanging at the LI - wierd. Anyways, with the 32 meg card in, I did: dolly hd128: hd129: even though they are different sizes - which overwrote everything. Then deleted all the drive settings stuff in ranish. Rebooted and then made it DOS fat-16. I don't think this is as clear as it could be unfortunately for ya, as it is getting late and I am tired. But let me know your email, and I can send you the 4 meg image file. You should be able to work from that. ranman 11-09-2001 23:29:12

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) bballctaulbee Profile thanks for the info... i sincerely appreciate your efforts and taking the time to help me (and at the same time, many others here)... my address (phonetically [1st ltr]): bravo bravo alpha lima lima [@] tango uniform xray [dot] oscar romeo golf many, many thanks! p.s. hope you got a good night's sleep! 11-10-2001 09:50:03

SUCCESS: [WAS] RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) bballctaulbee Profile well, thank you! i just verified that yes, the IA-1 can indeed boot from internal CF... the problem? M$'s fscking Win98 and FORMAT command! apparently, even if you use format /s on an ATA CF card in a PCMCIA caddy, the bootable flag is not set on the partition! ranish partition manager to the rescue! i popped in my former 32MB CF (which has a FAT16 partition and had been format /s'd, ran ranish, hit F5 to change to the CF drive, tapped the bootable flag key, saved the changes, removed the CF and then from its caddy... on the IA-1: 1. popped in the CF 2. turned it on 3. it recognized the card 4. entered the BIOS 5. enabled all IDE device settings 6. saved the changes (hitting the 'Compag' key simulates F10; the 'Cancel' key is ESC) 7. bada bing! up popped a DOS session thanks for the info... the ranish partition manager was the 'enabling' tip! now i'm off to try other images, and will report SPECIFIC procedures that work... no more obscure references and using Linux... when i come up with something, i will post detailed steps and will post a link with working images... thanks for all the info! 11-10-2001 10:49:32

Please.. Help Needed with first time user of IA-1 (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email I will receive my two Compaq IA-1's from TigerDirect in a few days. My Objectives are: (1) To use my own IPS (Earthlink).. (2) To use a compatable USB Ethernet adaptor to access my Local Host Server web pages. (3) To access the internet through the that same USB Ethernet Adaptor.. Could someone please explain if these three things can be done ??? And How do I find instructions to do so.. Thank You kindly for anyones time to help me.. Phil.. Please email me if you like at musicman38@mindspring.com 11-10-2001 19:27:58

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) tfhnotlt4char Profile Well i got the thing apart and managed the bios wipe. the cover gave me a lot of trouble, i was sure i had a screw in there i hadnt seen, then a bit of force caused the green thermal goop on the processor to let go of the shield and off it came. no way i could get the shield up enough to reach the pins without peeling it up. now for the $64,000 question, should i let this thing upgrade to MSN 2.0, will it reset the cmos back to closed down and will i have to pull it apart again, or is it done now. In other words, does the 2.0 upgrade reflash the bios and reset the cmos defaults...? Oh and i have one screw left over after reassembly. anyone know where that one goes? ;) 11-16-2001 18:29:09

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) ranman Profile tfhnotlt4char, What colour is the screw? Black? Or silver with blue stuff on threads? I would be it is the one that held the heat sink down - which is a small black one. In order to lift the shield up, there are 3 (I believe) silver ones - one at front left, front right, rear right. The small black one is used to hold the heatsink down. There are also other small black ones (different size I think - can't remember - I am going by memory) that are used for grounds. When I upgraded to 2.0, I was still able to get into the bios. AFAIK, it made no changes to the bios as the version data is still 3/01/00. ranman 11-16-2001 19:37:13

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email Upgrade the IA-1 to 2.0 just by pressing Control U ?? This is in part copied from another page I found, I believe it upgrades the (Virgin) IA-1 without opening the case. Simply by pressing Control U during bootup... But after that I Don't know what else. Still working on it.. COMPAC iPAC modify for local ISP And upgrade to version 2 Hold the Power key down for about 10 seconds (Or until the unit reboots) The red Compaq logo will appear along with a little white blinking cursor in the upper left corner. When the cursor drops about an inch, press Control U about 4 times. Wait for the service screen to appear. Erase (hold the right arrow key till you reach the end then back space over all the text) the user name and replace with your ISP user name Tab to the next field Erase the password and replace with your ISP password Tab to next field Erase the phone numbers and replace with your local ISP^Òs phone number Tab thru to the URL and remove the s from https. Thats about it. It will take a LONG time for the image file to download , about an hour.. 11-16-2001 21:17:06

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) tfhnotlt4char Profile the extra screw was more of a chuckle...i always have one screw left over from anything i take apart. it was silver with blue stuff on it. i may take it apart again to see if i can spot where it might be missing from, but everything works so i can just consider the unit .025 grams lighter than standard and move along...:) How long will this take to go to 2.0 on its own without forcing the ctrl/u deal. I dont need to change the isp information at this time...does removing the 's' from the https trigger the immediate download or does something else do it? 11-16-2001 23:13:04

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) ranman Profile tfhnotlt4char, I see. That screw is either from one of the 3 spots holding the shield down to the mobo/case - most likely it is the one spot closest to the power supply (rear right) as that is the toughest spot to put the screw back in. Or it could be from 1 of the 4 screws holding the screen on (I doubt you forgot one of those). When I had v1 on mine, I was trying to get force it to update (kind of like on the audrey), so I was making changes to a file that had some type of update parameter, and it would try to update but it would never make any progress. Then I just said I will wait, reflashed the old v1 back on, and left the modem cord in it, then the next day v2 was on it. It should start to happen at around 2am. So tonight leave it plugged in and hopefully v2 will be on there tomorrow. If not then it should come the following day. I never did figure out would trigger an immediate download. ranman 11-16-2001 23:27:00

RE:HELP: Accessing IA-1's BIOS (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email Can someone help me clarify this: If I press Control U during the IA-1's boot up I get a setup screen (See my previous post). Has anyone done this yet ?? If I put my ISP and phone number in the fields in that setup screen, it will then dial-into MSN's website and upgrade to version 2.0 ? It took about an hour.. If I am correct here, you do not need to open the IA-1's case ? Just thought I would ask before I start taking my case apart. musicman38 11-17-2001 08:04:34

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