Subject: [E3-hacking] Hello! (and cheap E3s)

From: Chris Tingley <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 00:37:32 +0000

Hi All,

Thought id quickly introduce myself as a new member!  Im a Masters  
student at Reading University UK studying Computer Science and  
Cybernetics so the thought of getting all this funky hardware for  
such a silly price seemed like a fantastic idea!

I know that on Sunday, Tesco were selling the E3 for £30.  Today when  
I went in there to pick one up, they had gone up to £50!  After a  
small amount of googling i found that Currys, Dixons, Argos and Toys  
r Us are all still doing it for £30 - I will go and get one tomorrow  
morning.

I am interested in the software side - being able to run own custom  
software on it [ip video phone, skype, home automation controller,  
maybe even a normal phone and networked answer machine!] - the  
possibilities are quite interesting to what you can do with quite a  
cool bit of IO hardware in a convenient form factor.  But the other  
great use is just for components - even the screen and camera are  
pretty good items to get for 30 quid!

Thats all for now - but if anyone has any suggestions on what i  
should start to investigate first with this beast as there is no  
point us all working on exactly the same thing.  My low-level  
firmware is not great (willing to improve), but i'm ok(ish) with the  
hardware side and pretty hot on the higher-level software.

Chris

---

From: Jasmine Strong <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 01:43:03 +0100

On 23 Jan 2006, at 01:37, Chris Tingley wrote:

> Cybernetics

This is way off-topic, but can you tell Kevin Warwick to shut the  
hell up please?

Thanks,
-J.

---

From: Chris Tingley <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:23:58 +0000

So,

Managed to pick up the last E3 from Argos this morning for £30 - all  
seems in order, it even came with a free game pad!!

Had a chat with a couple of knowledgeable guys from the department to  
strengthen my understanding of embedded linux etc.  They had a little  
read up on some of the components used in the E3 and seem to believe  
that it is definitely possible to get a kernel and file system on the  
beast!

Now starts the learning curve.  I presume that the general aim is to  
overwrite the linux kernel and then mount a file system (perhaps  
through a usb memory device rather than using the onboard flash?)  
which will then allow software to be run on the system.  I also  
assume that if the kernel is compiled with the correct libraries for  
the processor being used, then stuff like lcd and camera support (and  
ethernet - see below?) will work pretty easily.  Please correct me if  
I am wrong.

Also, does anyone know if the mainboard has ethernet capacity - i  
know there is no ethernet port - but does the board support this?  If  
it does, i imagine it to be a trivial task to solder a RJ45 socket  
on.  I presume that this would also allow booting over a network??

As I mentioned before, my linux knowledge is pretty poor, but I feel  
sure that I can get to grips with it pretty quick, so I ask again if  
anyone has any good material to start reading from?

Chris.
PS. Didn't see Kev today, but I'll be sure to pass the message on!! :)

---

From: "James Tinmouth" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 07:37:27 -0000 (GMT)

Hi Chris,

Although the vast majority of the content was beyond me, I'd personally
recommend reading the archives of the mailing list
(http://www.earth.li/pipermail/e3-hacking/) from March and April 2004 and
possibly beyond, if you have not already done so. Sounds like it would not be
so much beyond you ;) The posts shed a lot of light on what I thought I was
discovering for the first time, includes the first mentions of running code on
the E3, and also I think it is mentioned how they do ethernet at Amstrad (some
USB adaptor AFAIR)

I've got to trawl through May and beyond before I start trying to contribute
to the list again!

As an aside (and shoot me down if it is mentioned in the later archives ;) if
anyone has any suggestions of what I should plonk on the other side of a PBX
to talk to the E3, could you give me a quick point in the right direction? I
got a lot of asterisk to do in the next couple of weeks and if I can cover
that bit at the same time it would be nice.

Cheers,
James

---

From: Jonathan McDowell <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 15:51:09 +0000

On Tue, Jan 24, 2006 at 07:37:27AM -0000, James Tinmouth wrote:
 
> As an aside (and shoot me down if it is mentioned in the later
> archives ;) if anyone has any suggestions of what I should plonk on
> the other side of a PBX to talk to the E3, could you give me a quick
> point in the right direction? I got a lot of asterisk to do in the
> next couple of weeks and if I can cover that bit at the same time it
> would be nice.

A 56k modem that will answer and do PPP should do the trick.

J.