Iopener hacks

Hardware Overview

what's in the box?

For the sake of all the modem users out there, the images are not displayed on any pages however they are linked throughout the document

Front of the Iopener
Back of the Iopener
Motherboard
iOpener keyboard
iopener power brick

As of this writing there are five different versions of the Iopener. The version that I have access to is the last version, version 5. I do not have information yet about the other four versions.

Video

The iOpener contains a 800x600 laptop LCD flat panel display run by a Trident Microsystems CyberBlade i7 video chip. The default memory is 2MB borrowed from the system's RAM. It doesn't look like there is a way to add or configure more at this time.

Sound

All v5 Iopeners have an AD188X chip located in the lower left hand corner of the motherboard (one inch north of the PS2 port. It was believed that this was the sound chip however it was discovered that the VIA chipset has the sound device built in and that the AD188X chip is an amplifier of some sort. All sounds on the system are oushed to the small laptop style speakers located in the north east and northwest corners of the case. They have a sliding volume control located on the front of the panel.

Modem

The Modem is an internal version of the Actiontec 56K modem but surprisingly is not a Winmodem. The headers it is attached to is a standard serial port. It works under Linux!

Storage

There is a 16MB SanDISK chip that houses the QNX software located 1/4 inch northwest from the Trident chip. It is a little bit below the 44 pin header. The 44 pin Header that is along the top of the motherboard is not a standard IDE header and requires a special cable. (If you are brave, you can create one following my instructions in Hack 2, Adding a Hard Drive. The Sandisk has a unique feature in that it will change it's IDE assignment (master/slave) according to what else is in the system. It has the capability to be fdisked and formatted just like a 16MB compact flash module.

RAM

The iOpener makers went with standard SO-DIMM modules that are claimed as being PC100 however any attempt to add memory above the standard 32MB seems to make the IO unstable. According to the Linux Hacker BBS there are reports of being able to put as much as 256MB in these machines.

Other Ports

THis Iopener has the following ports on the outside: 1 USB-UHCI, Parallel port, two modem jacks(pass through), Power and a Combo PS2 jack. If you want to add your own keyboard and mouse, you can do so by obtaining a PS/2 splitter for the IBM thinkpad laptops and attaching the keyboard to the mouse port and vice versa.

Solder pads and other things of interest on the motherboard

There are hacks to get the CompactFlash header working (one inch above the PS/2 port) as well as to get the 2nd USB port working. Other spots of intrest are the two position switch above the SODIMM socket which controls the CPU voltage. (more info on this later in another hack to be released.) There is also a second serial port loaced on the 8 pin header located to the right of the SODIMM slot. The Iopener has a lot of really interesting stuff under the hood however not much is known. I will update this area when I find anything new.