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PAL WebPal's?
PAL WebPal's?

New MessagePAL WebPal's? (modified 0 times) NarShadda
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According to the thread WebPal Thoughts, it is possible for the WebPal to output PAL video. I also saw that someone pointed out this website http://buy-webtv.com/tvtopbox-intl.htm which says "The WebPal can now be configured to work in any foreign country and in almost any language." This leads me to believe that none of these were manufactured to output PAL video by default.

From what I read in the thread mentioned above, the video frequency is hard-coded on the board and will need to be wired for 50Hz for PAL and 60Hz for NTSC. Does this also apply to the NTSC/PAL setting on pin 30 of the 7001? I just picked up a WebPal from eBay and although all of the documentation talks about it being used with Earthlink here in the US, it is outputting a PAL signal on the video port. I took the thing apart, and I don't see any jumpers for NTSC/PAL which leads me to believe it is either software controlled or hardwired on the board for PAL output.

I can connect it to a monitor, but I wanted to be able to hook it up to my TV. Since I have NTSC equipment, it won't do me much good to have a PAL output. I wanted to check here before I start hacking it to see if there is an easy way to get this outputting NTSC or if I have a rarity that someone would like to see before I "break" it. :)

Thanks for any assistance.

03-19-2003 11:27:09

New MessageRE:PAL WebPal's? (modified 0 times) NarShadda
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Also, in case anyone is interested, my motherboard version reads "PWB-117A Ver.01" and shows a manufacture date of 97/04/03. It has Version 1.3.5.14 of the software loaded.
03-19-2003 11:51:37

New MessageRE:PAL WebPal's? (modified 0 times) NarShadda
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Ok, I got impatient. :) After looking at the schematics and re-reading the hardware notes, I realized that the hardwired clock was the same for both the NTSC and the PAL units and the NTSC/PAL pin seems to be under processor control. Armed with this and some info posted in Webpal Firmware Update, I attempted to "update" my software to the NTSC version at http://manmicro.com/webpal/ which was the same version as mine, but clearly says NTSC, so I thought maybe it would work. To make a long story short, I was successful and I have posted details in the other thread. It's nice to actually be able to see it on my TV screen now. :)

Although the WebPal with the 33.6k modem seems to be the most prevalent, I see that there were models with a 56k modem as well as an ethernet card. Do any of these models actually exist? Has anyone tried swapping the 33.6k modem with a 56k model and see if the WebPal will recognize it? 33.6k is SOOOOO slow. I'm sure 56k would seem slow to me since I've gotten used to broadband now... :)

Has anyone attempted to disassemble the firmware upgrades for the ethernet and/or modem versions to see if it yields any clue to what model of ethernet card this thing is expecting. Anyway, on to hacking. I'll probably eventually put the linux on here, so this will all be moot, but it's still nice to know. :)

NarShadda

03-19-2003 23:52:31

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