WebTV 2 Update

My larger compact flash cards can no longer sustain a full feature Windows XP OS, so I have fallen back to linux. There is nothing wrong with this, but linux on the RM4100 isnt new. The CoreBoot BIOS crew has been working on a replacement BIOS, which should kick my BIOS's ass, since they know what they are doing and I am just using blunt tools to carve away at something I dont fully understand. Dot get me wrong, I know how a BIOS works, but fucked if I can write one from source.

I have Damn Small Linux, Puppy Linux, and Debain on separate CF cards. Full debain doesnt run too well, a bit too bloated. If you are new to linux and want it on the webTV 2 RM4100 I dont suggest you start with Debian. There is some work needed to be done in order to get the TV Output working though. If you are not linux savvy then I dont know what to say. It will work, but if you arent wise with linux, just try and stick with the other prebuilt flavors.

All hardware in the RM4100 is supported under linux, except native TV output, but that can be fixed with the proper packages. No BIOS level support yet.

Save Now

You can check out the SeaBIOS here: http://www.coreboot.org/SeaBIOS
The main issue here is how do you flash the BIOS? Whelp, im working on a softmod method as well. Its based off the old BootROM Video Test Exploit, but do not expect me to make this work. This is not an area I am familiar with, then again, thats why I enjoy this.

Faceplant of sucksess

I promised I would post more often, and I am a man of my word. Although I prefer to spend my spare time hacking, modding, soldering, and tearing away at the inner soul of machines, my current situation has lent me a few minutes to update. Per previous posts and personality traits, I like to post about something thats worth a damn.

Like I mention over and over and over again, the Webb TV 2 RM4100 hacking is not dead. Not in the least, no way, no how. Time and the lack of it... anyways. Recently I pulled it out to confirm some of my BIOS hacking suspicions and try to make some progress. I have managed to podge together an AMI BIOS thats damn compatible with this RM4100. Only MAJOR BIOS level issues is that the machine cant restart itself. I suspect its an ACPI issue, but this is fixed once an OS is installed. Wait... what?! You got an OS installed?! HOW! WHICH ONE!

[ WebTV 2 RM4100 installing Windows XP SP2 - Click image to link to my picasa page ]

Yes this is my livingroom, which has suffered from a severe bulimic episode from my lab. Now to the fine details:

Using Compact Flash cards which is already onboard, native Primary Master and bootable on the RM4100, and and IDE mod, I hooked in a regular optical drive which has been powered off a separate PSU for now. The RM4100 does in fact have pads for an IDE header for the Secondary IDE chain, and even a spot for a molex power connector. I just havent gotten around to activating it. You need to add a few through hole electrolytic capacitors to get the onboard molex working. I have it set up and going on another RM4100 I have. Granted pre-install of Windows XP with SP2 was painful being that the BIOS had forced the Compact Flash card into a very slow DMA Mode 2 which is a crippling 33MB/s. After post install and I had configured Win XP with some minor tweaks, the typical action of turning off themes, indexing, restore points, and useless animations, then proceeded to install the device drivers... it ran pretty god damn smooth! I was able to get the CF card into UDMA Mode 4 which is twice the transfer speed. Performance wise I wasnt impressed, but I was surprised at how smooth it was, despite how the CF card was bottlenecking the OS Speed.

Performance does not compare to your typical PC today, but for what its worth this thing was running very nice, smooth, I couldnt complain. Except the Compact Flash cards were not in the best shape and it crapped out on me over and over again. I was able to test a few theories.

• IR keyboard/Remote is hooked to a microcontroller on the PS/2 bus. You cant put PS/2 back in, but you can use the IR keyboard if you remap the keys using some extra software. The keyboard doesnt have a full set of needed keys (Like the F-Keys and Esc)
  
• The BIOS can not get the TV-Out working natively. VGA is needed to configure the BIOS
  
• I was not able to get the Intel Extended Graphics to detect a TV display, chances being there is no load balance for the transmission lines that are used to detect displays. I can not force TV out with the default drivers. The CF Card shit out before I could install an application that will force TV output, but my assumption is that if we force it, it will work, and the registers for TV out in the IEGD (Intel Extend Graphics Driver) will TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) letting the BIOS do TV out, granted you have the BIOS CMOS Battery in place to keep all the registers set. When I plugged in a display, it did detect a carrier sync signal, which means it IS spitting an output to the TV-Out!
  
• Sound is in fact muted on the hardware level. There are some specific registers that need to be set to desaturate a transistor that keeps the sound card in a hardware based mute mode. Drives are at full volume, but nothing comes out. Removal of transistor Q3002 on the board gets it working. Crude hardware hack but it works. I do not have the coding skills to set the proper registers on a driver level to unute via software, 3 seconds with my soldering iron is a lot easier for me
  

I made some decent progress, a lot of my assumptions were correct and my technical experience in internet appliances and embedded hacking hasnt failed me yet on this device. Unfortunately all of my Compact Flash cards are extremely unhealthy and do not provide a stable test environment for me. I have some parts on the way, so just stay patient with me and I will release as much as I can as often as I can. This device does show quite a bit of potential granted you know how to make the most out of your hardware.

WebTV RM4100 Update on the down-low

Turns out my suspicion of the Web TV's new BIOS Socket being the main cause for failure. I removed the socket and in the process it was utterly destroyed. I Soldered the original BIOS back in place and the unit is back to its regular function. I lost my two other programmed chips, but no worries, I have a few spares. I'm pretty sure the BIOS I am working on will be what we need to boot the unit as a PC, with a few missing features, but I think the OS and a little iron time will fix those.

So YAY! The WebTV 2 is back to life!

Im a slut, and you should be too

I have been doing my typical crap. I have made a lot of progress on the Web TV 2 work, unfortunately the day I decided to install a Windows XP OS on the Dev' unit I have been working on, the bastard decided it didnt want to boot anymore. Im assuming one of two things are wrong, either the BIOS PLCC Socket is bad, or the unit finally bit my hand after all of the solder work ive put it through. I have one more to fiddle with, and 5 more on the way. I was told two of the units are DOA, and three were store retail units, possibly developer units. I might be able to get all of them back to life.

Here are some pics of my progress.

As you can see I have made a bit of progress, and I have been taking my sweet time with it. Just wait, I will be done someday... I am also working on an LPC Flasher for people who dont have one. I just need a competent coder to help me with the software side of things, but one step at a time, eh?

I have also been working on OS Install methods. I wound up getting a good deal on an Asus EEE 900a. Its still running the stock shit xandros OS, but I plan on swapping out to XP Pro. I have been playing with USB multiboot, which allows you to boot from a USB Thumbdrive and install XP. Now, I could be sane and just use Windows XP Pro, but of course I am not. I have been toying with Windows XP Embedded and Windows XP Tablet Edition. Now before you start to bitch "OMFG Why Winblowze!!!" let me remind you that I am not an OS Fanboy. I am choosing Windows for now mainly because of popularity, ease of install, and tech experience level needed for any preliminary hacking. Remember I am doing this as much for myself as I am for other people. If I wanted to be selfish little slut that only thinks inward, I wouldnt be doing most of this work on the OS, posting my research, or explaining anything. I figured this tech-slut can share the info and hope to get others started. Perhaps I could even inspire someone to go beyond my work and do something I cant, which is really why I am doing this.

I also got my hands on a WebDT 366, an embedded tablet. Well, im a slut, so I got 4 of them. Granted 3 of them are for my friends and they are reimbursing me, it still give me a few extra to play with. Here is a little bit about the WebDT so far:

• AMD Geode GX 500Mhz CPU
• 512MB onboard FlashROM (some models have 1GB)
• 256MB DDR 200Mhz RAM
• PCMCIA (Used for Wifi)
• Compact Flash (used for... DUH!)
• USB 1.1 (the 800Mhz model does USB 2.0)
• Adjustable (max 16MB) onboard shared video
• Onboard Audio and Microphone with headphone jack
  
• Onboard Bluetooth
  
• Typical BIOS features
• Boots from USB, FlashROM, or Compact Flash

This is a recent toy, I have no pictures, and being the technophile I am I have too many projects going on at once. Not to mention I dont blog for shit unless I have to, so dont expect much news on the WebDT right now. So far it boots Windows CE 5 from FlashROM. I have been able to load the USB Multiboot XP Install to get an OS, but the 512MB of storage is very limiting. I need to get my hands on a bigger Compact Flash card. You can enter the BIOS setting by hitting the F1 key on a keyboard when it loads a pale blue screen. I just whail on it like a crack-head maniac. Once in the BIOS it has the typical features. The unit has already loaded a few live Linux distros for me from USB Thumbdrive, I have not had a chance to fix my USB CD-Rom drive but the WebDT can boot from it. Once I get some extra time I would like to backup the internal flashrom since I dont have a WinCE Restore Disc. Once a backup is made I will feel a little more comfortable playing with OS Installations. Yay for linux and the dd command!

It just doesnt stop!! I also got my hands on a pair of MyVue iPod LCD glasses. They are marketed strictly for iPods' however it has a typical 4 pin 3.5MM headphone hookup. They run 320x240, yeah, kinda' low rez, but they look pretty good. They are a lot smaller, lighter, and better quality than my last pair of LCD glasses. The one thing I like about them is the fact that they arent full-field. They dont obstruct your vision completely. They only take up the lower third of your field of vision. One thing I dont like is the design seems to be for someone thats 9 feet tall. The headset will need a headband strap to keep it from falling off my greasy face constantly. I got a damn good deal on them and to be honest I enjoy them. I plan on using them for a few wearable projects, including a smaller slim-line 2.4Ghz wireless Video Scanner currently being worked on.

This is my idea of getting ready for sleep....

Hacking the cork out of the WebTV 2 RM4100's ass

Yeah, I dont blog. Blow me!

I have an MSN WebTV 2 model RM4100. Not because MSN WebTV is a worth while service, or because I am compelled to e-mail and browse the interweb from my TV, I have an Xbox running linux for that, and that can at least run nmap. The WebTV 2 Model RM4100 runs on all standard intel hardware. Here is some info on it:

• Intel Celeron 733MHz CPU
  
• Intel 830M northbridge
• Intel 82801DB (ICH4) southbridge
• SMSC LPC47M192 Super I/O
• ST M50FW080 8-Mbit (1Mbx8) Firmware Hub (FWH) flash memory
• 128MB PC133 SDRAM on board
• USB 2.0 ports
• 2 Ultra-ATA/100/66/33 IDE channels (no connectors)
• 64MB Compact Flash via IDE controller (upgradeable)
• Integrated 10/100 Intel 82562ET LAN On Motherboard (LOM)
• Integrated 2D and 3D graphics with AGP 4X interface
• Conexant CX25873-13 High Performance Video Encoder
• Composite and S-Video outputs (can deliver either NTSC or PAL video)
• Sigmatel STAC9767 AC’97 2.3 20-Bit audio controller
• Integrated Conexant CX81801-94 SmartV.XX V.92, V.34, V.32 data modem
• IR receiver for remote / keyboard via MCU on LPT bus
• Operates at 12V at 2.5A max draw
  

Everything about that should make your ePenis grow a little. There are more hardware mods to add in more USB, sound input, HDD, Optical, PS/2, and even PCI, however that will take a lot of serous soldering skill. HDD/Optical, USB, and Audio is a breeze, dont expect me to get PCI working anytime soon, but it is one of my main goals. Its all standard intel hardware, meaning any x86 compiled OS will run. Unfortunately that it not the case. First off the thing runs off a custom BootROM that doesnt even closely resemble a PC BIOS. It natively boots a custom build of Windows CE 5. A few brilliant fuckers have been working on a LinuxBIOS replacement, and to most extent have the unit working as a full featured PC that is very Linux capable. However, I am not a stinking linux fanboy, and if you even MENTION Ubuntu running on this thing ill slap you with a week old wad of bologna!

The main hurdle to overcome is the ST M50FW080 8-Mbit (1Mbx8) Firmware Hub (FWH) flash memory. Not only is is obsolete, the OEM disavows even making it. It had a VERY short life span, probably due to some critical flaws. FWH was created mainly for BIOS operations in which only small parts of the contents on Flash need to be changed, rather having to reflash the WHOLE thing over and over, just to flip a few bits around here and there. Its has a really nice style to it, much more efficient than having to deal with a whole Electrical Erase and Reflash just to put in 1k of modified code.

Here is the problem. The M50FW080 has gone the way of most geeks and dorks sex life, either non existent or so rare chances of it ever getting some kind of 3rd party support is slim to none. You might as well play LoZ for the CDi instead, that will be more available to you.

Now I have a Willem EEPROM Programmer. Thats like having a desperate fuck buddy on speed dial... that still doesnt like anal. It will not work with the M50FW080. So here is my theoretical solution:

• WEB TV2 RM4100 BIOS slot now has a PLCC 32 Pin Socket.
• I got my hands on some compatible SST 49LF008A FWH ICs.
• Flash the PC BIOS to the 49LF, and see if its brings the RM4100 back to life
• If the chips are not pin compatible, build a PCB Rebuild to make it so

In the long run I am looking to make a replacement BIOS for this fucker that can run a slightly modified PC BIOS, which I have but yet to configure. I also have some schematics here for a very inexpensive LPT based LPC FWH Programmer. That way if you dont want to spend the $50+ on a Willem to program this one chip just ONCE, or deal with a hot flash (pull a BIOS from a PC with compatible hardware while its on, while running a BIOS flashing utility) then just hit the parts bin to make this cheap ass programmer.

I just got my sample FWH 8Mbit ICs from SST in today. Im on a busy schedule so I dont know when I will get a chance to set up and perform the operation. I also have some PLCC 32 pin sockets on the way just in case i need to make the rebuild kit. This is looking pretty good so far. The only downside to any of this would be if the LPC Programmer wasnt compatible with the chips I have here. Then the lot of you are boned until someone comes by with a solution besides a hotflash.

Even if you are a total techno'fuckwit you should have enough scope by now to understand that out of the box using nothing more than a simple serial cable and some software know how, you can turn this thing into a moderately useful Linux machine that can run off 12V @ 2.5A. Either set top box, car'puter, media center, navigation center, internet appliance, or in my case, a future control node for a Wifi Death Ray.