(Modification!) This may be irrational or redundant...

feddx

OK, because I'm curious and thought to ask before I go looking. And I'm preparing for the beatings from this....

Has anyone heard, used, or read about any hardware or software mods done to AMX equipment (AX or Modero TP's, or Axcent or Netlinx Masters)? I was just talking to a friend about this when he asked me if it could be done....

I thought, "Hmmmm? Anything is possible...." as I rubbed my chin.....

I'm NOT trying to start any trouble or create problems for anyone. I'm asking from an intellectual (well mostly) standpoint. If you feel like there would be repercussions from answering this out in the open forum, feel free to PM me with any knowledge of this.

Thanks at you.

ericmedley

feddx wrote:

OK, because I'm curious and thought to ask before I go looking. And I'm preparing for the beatings from this....

Has anyone heard, used, or read about any hardware or software mods done to AMX equipment (AX or Modero TP's, or Axcent or Netlinx Masters)? I was just talking to a friend about this when he asked me if it could be done....

I thought, "Hmmmm? Anything is possible...." as I rubbed my chin.....

I'm NOT trying to start any trouble or create problems for anyone. I'm asking from an intellectual (well mostly) standpoint. If you feel like there would be repercussions from answering this out in the open forum, feel free to PM me with any knowledge of this.

Thanks at you.

I'm not afraid to answer this question. However, it is a very open ended question. It's a bit like saying, "What do you think about weather?" Well, I'm all for weather. I prefer my weather to be somewhat - weather-like.

What kind of modifications are you speaking of? (sorry for the preposition ending)

mpullin

"Software or Hardware modifications?"

Would a sticker count as a hardware modification? You could put stickers over the left external buttons on a modero that read "volume +" "volume -" "mute" etc. if that's what you were using those for... might make it easier for the client to remember what the buttons do.

As for software modifications... If your friend is looking for 'software modification' projects, have him hack KeypadBuilder to give it an edit menu.

Edit: You should be aware that commercial software programs like this are protected by law from being reverse engineered, but the legal page for KeypadBuilder probably contains too many spelling errors to be legally binding (see attachment)

feddx

RE:Modifications

For instance, there are examples of people learning about the architecture of PDA's and blowing out the embedded software/firmware and implementing a Linux-based backbone into it:

http://tuxmobil.org/pda_linux.html

Or a toaster with Software and Hardware modifications to it that runs on NetBSD:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25321

Even a company like LinkSys has had "hackers" (the term is actually a misnomer as the backbone of the original router was under the GPL and therefore subject to any and all mods of its users) alter all manner of settings in the WRT54G:

http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3562391

There are countless websites dedicated to modifying Gaming Consoles, and I even know of a programmer that I do work with having uploaded some altered firmware to a "competitor's" TP and using it at his home with some software on his PC to do annotation and pointer work with a free software online.

I hope that this closes the open-endedness. I'm just curious if anyone has tried altered or different firmware/software in any AMX devices, or done a physical alteration to do something MAYBE not recommended or endorsed by the manufacturer.

I hope this clears this up.

joelw

feddx wrote:

For instance, there are examples of people learning about the architecture of PDA's and blowing out the embedded software/firmware and implementing a Linux-based backbone into it:

http://tuxmobil.org/pda_linux.html

Or a toaster with Software and Hardware modifications to it that runs on NetBSD:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25321

Even a company like LinkSys has had "hackers" (the term is actually a misnomer as the backbone of the original router was under the GPL and therefore subject to any and all mods of its users) alter all manner of settings in the WRT54G:

http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3562391

There are countless websites dedicated to modifying Gaming Consoles, and I even know of a programmer that I do work with having uploaded some altered firmware to a "competitor's" TP and using it at his home with some software on his PC to do annotation and pointer work with a free software online.

I hope that this closes the open-endedness. I'm just curious if anyone has tried altered or different firmware/software in any AMX devices, or done a physical alteration to do something MAYBE not recommended or endorsed by the manufacturer.

I hope this clears this up.

There is an economy of scale with these hardware hacks. The hardware that is hacked is generally quite cheap. An AMX processor is not cheap. So few people would be attracted to doing this. So less community, more personal skill you would need to hack it.

Get yourself a copy of Cafe Duet. You can do quite a bit with it.

From the first person to upgrade the physical memory of a TiVo.

feddx

joelw wrote:

Get yourself a copy of Cafe Duet. You can do quite a bit with it.

Got Cafe Duet, playing with Java a bit... I'm not proficient enough so the problem is everything I can do in Java is far easier and 10 x less arduous in Straight NetLinx code.

Oh well.....

I was just asking if anyone has heard or seen anything is all..... No biggie

joelw

What sort of things would you like to be able to do?

My current list of items tested in Duet (non-SNAPI) is:
FTP tx/rx
POP3 Client
SMTP Client
HTTP File client
Whois Query
TFTP Send & Recieve
RSS Reader
SOAP
XMLSax/XMLPull/XMLDom
Syslog
Jabber Client
Database
Modbus - SeaLevel I/0 etc.
SNMP GetNext
Amazon Searches
Google Searches
Webservice
File I/O
Create File Archive - suitable for sending
Maxim/Dallas 1-Wire

I'm currently looking into doing LDAP

jjames

mpullin wrote:

Edit: You should be aware that commercial software programs like this are protected by law from being reverse engineered, but the legal page for KeypadBuilder probably contains too many spelling errors to be legally binding (see attachment)

LMAO - I guess it really does go to show a 4 year old wrote that program!! That is by far the worst AMX program ever made.