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Netpliance IOpener

ibmapc

ibmapc

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Messages
1,046
Location
Albany, OR USA
So, I bought a Netpliance IOpener from Ebay and have been playing around with installing a hard disk harvested from a broken laptop and installed Win98 SE. It works for the most part, but can't get sound working. I found the BadFlash web page which mentions a bios available that includes sound support. If I could get my hands on this "BadFlash" BIOS V540a, I think that might solve my problem. Any one ever played with an IOpener? Any idea where I can get the .BIN file for the BadFlash BIOS?
 
Hello!

I still have my hacked IOpener. I bought it new, hacked it with an 18GB HD and maxed out the RAM. It's possible that I still have the BIOS update on the hard drive, but I'll boot it up to find out. It will most likely be this weekend before I have a chance to look into it, but I'll let you know what I find.

Heather
 
I recall having to downgrade the BIOS to get it to boot IDE drives (the one with the purple screen and logo). The later i-Opener BIOS revisions had a black screen with just "i-Opener" in stylized text. I never had a problem with sound, it just worked.
 
SkydivinGirl said:
Hello!

I still have my hacked IOpener. I bought it new, hacked it with an 18GB HD and maxed out the RAM. It's possible that I still have the BIOS update on the hard drive, but I'll boot it up to find out. It will most likely be this weekend before I have a chance to look into it, but I'll let you know what I find.

Heather
Click to expand...
Thanks Heather,
Your help would be greatly appreciated. I have a couple of quick questions.
1. What BIOS version did you use?
2. What OS did you load?
3. Where you able to get sound to work?

Greg

njroadfan said:
I recall having to downgrade the BIOS to get it to boot IDE drives (the one with the purple screen and logo). The later i-Opener BIOS revisions had a black screen with just "i-Opener" in stylized text. I never had a problem with sound, it just worked.
Click to expand...

I downgraded the BIOS to the first version to get the IDE working. But Windows doesn't find the on board sound chip. I did, however, remove the modem to make room for the hard drive. I wonder if the modem is needed for sound to work?

1. What BIOS version did you use?
2. What OS did you load?
3 Did you leave the modem in place?

Thanks to both of you for your assistance.

Greg
 
That machine was running Windows 98SE before I pulled the HD for another laptop. The BIOS is either the first or second revision that shipped with the machine. My machine was a V3 hardware-wise (still had the IDE header, but epoxyed BIOS chip).

I don't recall taking the modem out. I used the "I-MOD2" kit from linux-hacker back in the day to mount the drive. It installed in place of the stock passive heatsink and the CPU got a low profile cooler installed on it. There is a possibility that the sound codec is paired with the modem, it was a common arrangement at the time.
 
I do not recall which version mine is (it was pre-epoxy covered BIOS), but sound was never an issue beyond loading the driver. Now I want to dig mine out, lol.
 
njroadfan said:
. I used the "I-MOD2" kit from linux-hacker back in the day to mount the drive. It installed in place of the stock passive heatsink and the CPU got a low profile cooler installed on it.
Click to expand...

Where did you get power for the fan? What voltage is your fan?
 
Bad News/Good New/Bad News update.

First bad news: I don't have an image of the BadFlash BIOS.

Good news: I looked at my ancient bank records and found a payment to BadFlash for a pre-flashed BIOS chip for the iopener. I also have the utility necessary to make a backup image of the BIOS.

Second bad news: I searched everywhere and I cannot find my iopener power cord so I cannot boot the system to make the backup.

I'll keep an eye out for the PSU and post the image once I find it. I went through what I thought were all of my power cables, so I cannot say how long it may take.

Take care,

Heather
 
RWallmow said:
Don't know what others did, but I am using a 5v fan drawing power from the COM port header.
Click to expand...

That is where my fan draws power from. It is a Tennmax Lasagna cooler with a custom plug to fit the COM port header. I got it with the IMOD-2 kit.

Looking through my archived files. I have an image of the onboard QNX software with flash BIOS software and BIOS images. Looks like v1 and v2 are on there. I don't have the BIOS files on their own.

These are the directions I used: http://fatsquirrel.org/veghead/wot/iopener.php

Looks like the image got archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20030714010342/http://www.joe.flintaero.com/iopener/

Looking at that page, I can say that my unit was a v3. I have also hacked v4 models for folks too. I never came across a v5 though, which appears to have a different sound chip on it.
 
Last edited:
njroadfan said:
That is where my fan draws power from. It is a Tennmax Lasagna cooler with a custom plug to fit the COM port header. I got it with the IMOD-2 kit.Looking through my archived files. I have an image of the onboard QNX software with flash BIOS software and BIOS images. Looks like v1 and v2 are on there. I don't have the BIOS files on their own.These are the directions I used: http://fatsquirrel.org/veghead/wot/iopener.phpLooks like the image got archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20030714010342/http://www.joe.flintaero.com/iopener/Looking at that page, I can say that my unit was a v3. I have also hacked v4 models for folks too. I never came across a v5 though, which appears to have a different sound chip on it.
Click to expand...
Looks like mine is a V5. I've been talking with jack@badflash.com and he tells me that since I have the Rise266 processor, a 2 position dip switch above the sodimm, AND NO YAMAHA sound chip, I have a V5. He also told me that I need the driver "68usr108.exe" but still no joy. I'm trying to get him to send me the BIOS file that he's been flashing the chips that he sells, hoping that it will enable the VIA sound chip on the v5. But hey I've got this thing on the web and I'm replying to this thread using win98se and IE5 on my I-Opener!!
 
UPDATE!!:Finally found the latest BIOS for the IOpener v540a. Now the UGLY IOpener screen durring post is gone!! And windows imediatly found the sound device and attempted to make it work, but windows did not have the correct driver files. After more research, I found the VIA vinyl_AudioCodec_v620b_M Driver (v700b didn't work) and now I have sound!! So now I need to find a usefull purpose for this Qwirky machine. Maybe I'll turn it into a file server or somthing that doesn't need a great display.
 
You're welcome! It's kind of sad to see all the IOpener hacking web pages with mostly dead links. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that people are loosing interest in these things. The display is not very good, the speakers are weak, expandability is limited, the v5 doesn't even have the Yamaha sound chip. But, on the other hand, the weirdness of it makes it kind of fun, and it doesn't take much space. How many computers out there can be modified to go so far beyond what they were originally intended for. IOpener Fans UNITE!!
 
I had to do a good cleaning on my I-Opener, so I did tonight and took a picture for you.



I forgot how many screws this thing has!

Heather

*EDIT* In case it's not clear, it's the top set of pins that the fan is connected to.
 
Thanks again Heather,
Looks like a nice mod. I'll take pics of mine when the modding is complete. Or at least complete enough to satisfy my OCD. I decided to modify the original heat sink to hold the hard drive and the cpu fan. So a lot of bare metal is showing on the heat sink. I think I'll paint it flat black instead of re-annodizing it. I checked voltage across the two pins indicated on your pic and sure enough, 5 Volts.
 
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