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Home / I-Appliance BBS General / NEWS, Breaking NEWS Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc

Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) Programmer Profile It might be considerable fun to get linux running on this little puppy.. just bought one from my local kmart for $129 the CPU has a mips core. 12-08-2000 10:00:46

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) thnkgrn Profile Is that APEX's DVD player that was able to do send video to a vcr for copying? I have one of them, but had not torn it apart. More input. Charles 12-08-2000 13:22:36

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) vwbug19 Profile yeah that's the one of hackable that had secret menu allowing to change region,macrovision disable,etc but mine dosnt have that secret menu -ad600a is dated 7/2000 and some guys reports that it's a 50/50 chance of secret menu after that date nice dvd player that i enjoy watching movies ith captioning and views porno movie in better quality with zoom feature :) 12-08-2000 14:44:43

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) thnkgrn Profile Yeah the Apex (secret menu version) is great!!! Great features an abilities. I had built another PC in my 'TV' room for MPEG/RA playing, but it would be neat to hack the Apex just for hack sake. I however, am a 'babe in the woods' when it comes to Linux hacking. Any takes on lead? 12-08-2000 14:55:41

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) tinkerer Profile I have the original version. Was wondering if it would accept a standard internal DVD drive as a replacement if(when) the stock one dies. Also it would be nice to fix the garbage display that comes up on turn-on and to be able to search through a MP3 tune. If anyone knows how I could extract the firmware to a file I will try it and make it available to those who don't have the loophole menu. 12-08-2000 23:43:01

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) cerulean Profile Here are some links for more info: Nerd-out.com Apex Info website (links page) http://www.nerd-out.com/links.php This is the sight where I read about the secret menu and decided to buy one. If anyone is interested in adding the loophole menu or updating the firmware they should check out these two websites: For people who have the loophole menu http://user.icx.net/~sfrank/Apex.html For people who want to add loophole menu and may have the later video chip (need to add ram) http://home.ica.net/~robert/apex/tarzan_apex600a_project.htm I also remember seeing just the loophole ROM image available on the web, but don't remember where. I have the loophole menu but would like to be able to switch to the later firmware for better DVD playback. 12-09-2000 08:16:39

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) Programmer Profile Much better way to get rid of macrovision.. :) cut the trace between r31 and the via below L43, and install a switch to bridge that same connection. At power on, the connection needs to be complete for the player to boot. After boot, disconnect, and the macrovision will merely never be enabled. works on every disc I have tried, and lets you keep the better features of the new bios.. still have not done anything with linux.. realised that there's nowhere for a lan card.. .. but it might be cool to make a SIMILAR machine with the same CPU and such.. The DVD drive IS a standard IDE drive; it can be used in a PC and a PC drive can be used in place of it.. (if only I had a black slotload DVD).. 12-09-2000 23:12:57

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) Easystreet Profile What are the advantages/disadvantages of having a console DVD player or a DVD drive in your computer? Would a Playstation 2 be better than either in terms of total useability and value? 12-10-2000 13:22:47

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) eddavis Profile Has anyone figured this out for a AD660? (What to cut, if it works, etc...) 12-14-2000 19:20:01

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) Programmer Profile eddavis: in theory, disconnecting the sdata line (pin 24 on the ad7170), after booting and before disc insertion, will prevent macrovision from ever being turned on. if you don't have an ad7170, then this will not work for you. If your machine locks for some reason then this will not work for you(but would be easy to fix.. just reconnect the line). If you manage to get this to work, feel free to post somewhere that it also works for the ad660.. note that I have posted this information to an apex specific forum only to have it vanish within an hour. 12-15-2000 08:49:57

RE:Apex AD660 - ad7170 (modified 0 times) eddavis Profile Any idea where I'd find a diagram of the ad7170? 12-16-2000 07:34:52

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) Programmer Profile sure it available from analog devices (the manu) http://www.analog.com/pdf/ADV7170_71_0.pdf 12-16-2000 19:54:03

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) eddavis Profile Is it possible to purchase an adv7171 and simply replace the 7170 in there? Docs says they're functionally equivalent but the 7171 doesn't do macrovision... 12-18-2000 05:43:47

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) Programmer Profile Yes it is possible; though that would involve replacing a part that is surface mount on 4 sides, where inserting a switch is functionally equivalent. Also note that after replacing the 7170 you will get a black screen when the video processor sends the commands to turn on macrovision. with a switch installed, those commands are never sent. I am using a pushbutton that is held in on power-on, and released as soon as you see video. it works beautifully. 12-18-2000 06:43:04

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) Randy Profile Does the simple trace-cutting hack work with the later version 600's as well? Randy 12-18-2000 07:28:35

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) Programmer Profile I figured it out using a AD600A on a machine I got from kmart 3 weeks ago..; and it will probably work on ANY machine using the 7170, as all it does is prevent the processor from telling the 7170 anything. note that the 7170 MUST be connected at power on to allow the 7170 to be configured. 12-18-2000 13:39:42

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) eddavis Profile Prog, I'll pull this puppy apart in a week or two, definitely sounds like an interesting trick, and simple to reverse too. Regarding power-on, I'll guess you mean the hard switch on the front of the unit or do you mean the "warm boot" switch on the remote? Thanks for the idea. 12-18-2000 19:42:02

RE:Apex AD600A - has a CPU, BIOS, IDE controller High Quality Sound Output, MPeg2/MP3 hardware, etc (modified 0 times) Programmer Profile should only apply to the hard power on the front; though I haven't actually tried the soft power; as long as it does not remove power from the circuitry, it should be alright. 12-19-2000 09:57:40

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