e3-hacking May 2019

e3-hacking@earth.li

3 participants
3 discussions

E3's Internal Storage
by ZudoBug2 . 29 May '19

29 May '19

Hi, I have an E3 that's still in its factory state (PBL V4.9 and never registered with Amstrad). It can boot into BusyBox Linux as per the instructions at https://wiki.earth.li/E3_Getting_Started Is it possible to access the E3's internal storage from the BusyBox command line? I am curious to read some of the config files etc. As an aside, I noticed that the E3's OS includes a driver for my "Pegasus II" USB Ethernet adapter, so I tried connecting this before power-up. The E3 doesn't obtain an IP address automatically via DHCP, but I wonder if it assigns a fixed IP that might permit access, for example via SSH? There also seems to be a driver for a Belkin USB serial adapter (but I don't have one to test it with). Anyone tried connecting one of these? Thanks, Jamie.

2 1

Re: [E3-hacking] Understanding the E3s Partitions
by Nick Griffin 12 May '19

12 May '19

“When it flash's Linux to the E3 it only uses partitions mtd0,mtd1,mtd3 and mtd4, so mtd2 and mtd3 is not used.” mtd0 - kernel mtd1 - PBL ( Maybe, I say this because Uboot is flashed there.) mtd3 - ldr ( File System..? uses mtdblock3 of mtd3) mtd4 - Root( Root File System,maybe ?? uses mtdblock4 of mtd4) What are mtd2 and mtd5 used for..?? Trying to find out what each Partition is used for? Is the Amstrad Install Script running in a Ramdisk..?? You have 2 Uboot images the same, one for flashing the other on for the install so you made it a bit like FEL mode where you hold down the FEL Button and can boot into Uboot +ramdisk from you PC thought its usb cable that powers it then you can mount the system partition to get into files and folders, that's on TheC64 Mini. Most Developing Boards now have the FEL button. Just trying to find out more ,it dumps the firmware into 6 partitions, when it dumps them, can they be put back the way they are or do they need to be converted, so what I am say, are they raw files so they can’t be used the way they are at the moment…? You can backup your firmware with this script without installing Linux on the E3,you can say no to installing it, right..?? if so I will try and see if I can back the E3 up to get the 6 backup files. P.S Have not done anything with my E2Plus yet, if I can backup its firmware and then flash it back then I can fix the dead E2s out there, but I need help. If I can backup its firmware I am willing to share it.But don’t worry my E2Plus is going no where.. 😊 Just been looking at you page Ralph,One of the problem with the E2 is it don’t run Linux, I am trying to find out more about its firmware at the moment. The E1 and E2 use the same Firmware and same CPU Sharp LH79531 ARM (L136 00B), the only difference in them is the Plus had ZX Spectrum games. So I might be able to use the firmware from the E2 on the E1. The E3 had a different CPU because it need a MMU for the Colour LCD screen so need to be more powerful than the E1,E2. Spanner..

8 115

List etiquette
by Jonathan McDowell 01 May '19

01 May '19

I've just rejected a couple of multi-megabyte messages to the list; please don't add big attachments, there are currently 124 people on the list and I doubt they all want to receive such big emails. Post links where appropriate. (Great to see a revival of interest in the E3 though, I managed to find mine in the attic but not the PSU yet.) J. -- "Making the impossible very | .''`. Debian GNU/Linux Developer difficult" -- The OpenGALEN | : :' : Happy to accept PGP signed website. | `. `' or encrypted mail - RSA | `- key on the keyservers.

3 5

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

e3-hacking May 2019