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Home / Other I-Appliances / MSN Companion eMachines MSn Companion Hacking & BeIS

eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) Coward Profile Has anyone hacked their eMachines devices with something like qnx or midori? How is it done, as I am looking at buying 1 from a fellow forums member. Ultimately, I would like to try BeIA on it, but want to know more about hacking this machine. Thanks 03-01-2002 07:43:28

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) MercenaryForHire Profile From what I can tell of the two I've got, they're basically IA-1s standing on their side with the LCD ripped off. Hopefully after a little more inspection (I've had these for a day!) I can find a BIOS jumper. :) Other than that, these seem to pretty much be identical - hopefully the IA-1 OSs will work on it as well. If I make any substantial progress, I'll make a note of it and upload to somewhere as well as posting here ... maybe even start my own little page. Who knows a decent free page host? :D Merc 03-01-2002 09:07:25

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) Coward Profile Well, they are similar, except for the CPU (eMachines is a Geode while the ia-1 is a via) Just need to know that someone can hack them, to help me finalise a possible purchase. =) 03-02-2002 05:41:15

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) hwhack Profile Coward, What do you want to know, specifically, about the eMachines MSN companion? 03-04-2002 14:05:57

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) Coward Profile How to hack this sucker? Is there a website for this device? How to install a new/different OS image when there is no external CF slot? Is someone game to try installing BeIa for me? :P What sort of weight to these units have? I was told about 12pounds, but it seems excesive for what appears to be a very tiny device. Sorry for the n00b questions, and thanks. 03-06-2002 07:34:47

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) Coward Profile Actually, you prolly won't be able to use the clipper images, as I suspect they are only for the via cpu. If someone wants to try, I can supply a basic Geode image. its 15.3MB or so (less than 16MBs in any case) 03-06-2002 07:43:23

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) hwhack Profile Coward, The only way that I have heard (of being able to change the contents of the SANDISK) is to boot off a USB ZIP drive. I have booted a USB FDD, but this is way too small to be able to do anything "useful" - and you are limited to DOS. I wonder if one of these small Linux distros can be made that fit on a single floppy and also have USB NIC support. That way you could boot and be on a network, then access the files across the net and reprogram the SANDISK. Any other ideas??? 03-07-2002 11:32:03

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) hwhack Profile Coward, The only way that I have heard (of being able to change the contents of the SANDISK) is to boot off a USB ZIP drive. I have booted a USB FDD, but this is way too small to be able to do anything "useful" - and you are limited to DOS. I wonder if one of these small Linux distros can be made that fit on a single floppy and also have USB NIC support. That way you could boot and be on a network, then access the files across the net and reprogram the SANDISK. Any other ideas??? 03-07-2002 11:32:13

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) hwhack Profile And how can I get your Be image? 03-07-2002 11:33:01

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) codummy Profile | Email I would also love a copy of that image 03-07-2002 12:20:53

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) thinker Profile For reference, there are two BeIA images from Clippers on http://thinker.falcons2000.com/ia1/ 03-07-2002 13:03:29

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) hwhack Profile Clipper BeIA images may or may not work on the eMachine -- most likely NOT as the eMachines uses a National GEODE CPU. I was hoping Coward would supply the 15.x MB image he says he has for Geode... 03-07-2002 18:34:07

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) radarman Profile The Geode processors are x86 processors implemented as a system-on-a-chip with onboard memory controller, disk controller, etc. They will run anything an *AMD* (not Via) or Intel processor can. I had a websurfer that used a Geode processor, and it ran Linux, FreeBSD and Windows just fine. Now, device support is another story. While the disk controller is a standard part, the audio functionality may be different. However, there is no reason why an image written for a K6-2 shouldn't work just fine on a Geode - at least partially. One thing to keep in mind is that they are Pentium (5x86) class, not Pentium-II (6x86) - in case you plan to optimize the kernels. 03-08-2002 17:01:08

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) Coward Profile hwhack give me a place to upload it 03-08-2002 21:23:40

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) hwhack Profile Sorry Coward, Sorry for being so late to respond, but I don't have space on the net to store stuff that big. Regards. 03-25-2002 18:54:19

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) MercenaryForHire Profile Here's an idea for hwhack: - Get FreeSCO from http://www.freesco.org/ - Add the package for your specific USB ethernet adaptor (they're large, so you might have to remove some parts of FreeSCO) - Boot that off the USB FDD - Use ALT+F2 to get to a second console and log in as root (root:root by default) - Set up an FTP/HTTP inside your network and use snarf to get the files across the network to the eMac - dd the new image onto the Sandisk - Remove USB, reboot Damn, now I wish I had a USB floppy. Merc 03-26-2002 10:42:01

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 2 times) woodyt Profile I tried to get Midori working and came very close... It boots then says it cant mount /usr because of a ioctl error with packed cramfs. Is there a kernel patch for this? I did manage to get peewee working, And hope to make a Terminal Services client with that. 03-26-2002 11:50:57

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) woodyt Profile Anyone found the freesco package for USB networking. i cant find them and as far as I know there was no support for USB in the works for freesco. I t uses a older kernel I think... 03-26-2002 12:13:50

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) MercenaryForHire Profile Right ... FreeSCO runs off 2.0.x which doesn't have USB support. We need 2.2.x ... jailbait? Merc 03-26-2002 20:14:24

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) woodyt Profile Hey, I was just browsing the Audrey posts and it looks to me like the Audrey images should work with the eMachines! Ill try it tonight and let you all know what happens.... 03-27-2002 08:08:34

eMachine Last-Ditch hacking attempt :P (modified 0 times) MercenaryForHire Profile I took a last-ditch hack at one of the eMacs that I've got here before they get ready to meet hwhack. - BIOS is accessible (it's AWARD-II style) by hitting F3/F4 (Favs/Search) at eMachines logo - USB devices listed - FDD, HDD, CD, ZIP - none of these allow booting off a CF (it was worth a shot) - Lots of other BIOS stuff to toy with once you do get a better image on the Sandisk That's all for now. If I can get my hands on a USB ZIP or FDD I might take one last shot at this. Merc 03-27-2002 13:55:04

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) radarman Profile It's been a while since anyone posted on these machines, but is it possible to boot a CF card via a USB CF reader? I have a couple of microdrives for playing on the IA-1's, and it would be nice if I could boot using my standard IA-1 hacking drive. I do know that CF cards can *appear* as if they are ATA devices - so that bodes well for this method. 06-24-2002 15:12:23

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) hwhack Profile Might work, but don't bet the farm on it. I would guess no, but you never know until you try with these things. What vendor of USB/CF reader do you have? I have a couple of these boxes I purchased from Merc a while ago now. They can boot off USB FDD or USB ZIP, but I have not been able to test other options as I don't have the adapters (USB HDD or USB CF) to do so. BIOS says USB HDD should work though... 06-26-2002 11:36:12

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) radarman Profile I have a standard IBM/Iomega 340Mb microdrive. I haven't yet bought a USB/CF adapter- though I understand they are fairly cheap. Any recommendations on adapters? 07-01-2002 08:55:05

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) hwhack Profile Well, as for USB/CF adapters, I just bought a ZIO/CF/USB adapter off the TigerDirect clearance page. Ends up somewhere around $16 bucks with the rebate. However, this one [I suspect] will NOT boot on the MSN companion because the CF/USB adapter is not a standard USB "storage class" device. It is a proprietary device protocol, and while it will work fine for Windows, I don't think it will work for any other OS's (haven't checked Linux support yet...). If anyone knows of any USB/CF adapters which ARE USB storage class compliant, please let us all know. Thanks 07-01-2002 16:53:37

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) wildwildwes Profile Could something like this be bootable? I'm sure I could find a use for this, unlike a usb floppy. http://www.linkpca.com/usb20hardise.html 07-02-2002 08:05:03

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) wildwildwes Profile Another thought -- what about a usb pen drive? 07-05-2002 23:08:13

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) hwhack Profile You'll just have to try it, since no one here seems to have done so. I am planning on trying some with other devices as I acquire them. I will post my results when I get time to try and devices to try. Regards 07-07-2002 13:00:02

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email Someone gave me an E-machine MSN Companion today. It looks very much like the Compaq IA-1, and acts very much the same. Has anyone had any success booting this machine in DOS Yet ? I read someone booted it off a USB floppy drive, and someone said it will boot off a ZIP drive. How is this done ? Does it automatically recognise the drive and attempt to boot from it ? Is there a BIOs reset jumper or something ? -Musicman38 07-15-2002 18:53:53

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email OK, I hooked up a standard PS2 Keyboard to the Emachine, and upon Emachine Logo I pressed CTRL+ALT+ESC this enters it into a standard CMOS setup, with all the options to boot from USB ZIP, USB CDROM, USB HDD, and USB Floppy . Also the standard Hard Drive C,D.. I don't have a ZIP or Floppy USB or USB Hard Drive, but it looks to me that one could run any OS directly from the USB port. Much Better if I could boot from a CF Card. I tried formatting a CF card on my PC in the USB adaptor, but it would boot on the emachine. Do I need to use Dolly or something to make the CF bootable ? Or just formmat and SYS the CF card ? Anyway this unit does look like it could be used as a simple workstation on my network. -Musicman38 07-15-2002 21:02:19

RE:eMachines MSn Companion (modified 0 times) Musicman38 Profile | Email Can anyone tell me why I can't seem to boot off my USB to CF card adaptor ? I have setup CMOS to boot from USB Hard Drive. But It by passes it everytime, The CF adaptor lights up for a moment as the CPU looks at it, but then go's on to boot from it's internal CF card.. I formatted the CF Card from Windows 98 on my other computer and SYS'd the CF Card so the OS and COmmand.com is on it , Is that all I need to do to make the CF card bootable ?? Thanks.. 07-27-2002 17:57:57

How to boot from USB (modified 0 times) BlurryEyed Profile I've seen this question asked alot, and it was kicking my butt for at least half a day, so I thought I'd post. On the bottom of the box there is a small square hole (the only square hole, at least on mine) that you can see two copper wires through. You must short the two wires and keep them shorted while the box boots up for the bios to pay attintion to the boot order that you specify (press F2 at the emaichines splash to set the bios.) Here is the catch: when you remove the short, the system reverts back to booting off the SanDisk again. If you remove the cover, you can put a standard jumper on the pins if you plan on booting off the USB more then just a few times. BlurryEyed 10-07-2002 20:24:50

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