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NOTICE!
I have found out that an Ebay seller has directly linked to this page from his/her auctions. Although I do not mind the publicity, I do highly recommend that anyone considering buying an MSN companion read through all of this documentation before attempting any hacks! If you are an experienced hacker and know how to use Linux, then you might want to try it.

FIRESTORM_v1
http://www.theratshack.net

Preface:

If you know me then you know that the very mention of anything MSN makes me rabid.Their website sucks, the security is nonexistant and this .NET strategy is crap.

In this day and age of people gradually getting less and less computer literate the AOL aspect of computers is sweeping the globe. This "One Icon Fixes Everything" approach is designed to make the task of doing a task so mind-numbingly simple that a diseased chimp can do it. Rather than have a dial-up program (or a dial-up networking icon in windows) an email program, and a web browser program, AOL has brought you a single program that does everything at great expense to security and flexibility. It has only been recently (within the last two or three years) has AOL finally decided to let other web browsers use the AOLgenerated internet connection for their path to the Internet.

This AOL aspect has caused the developnemt of many devices called "Internet Appliances". These devices are designed to accomplish a specific task, for example, the MSN-Companion IA is designed to make getting on the Internet as brainless as possible. You answer a few questions, it dials up connects to the 'net (through Microsoft, of course) and you can check your e-mail using their program, and you can surf webpages using their browser. There is no longer a big, bulky computer required. This MSN-Companion is similar to the NetPliance iOpener, which was designed along the same principles.

Like the NetPliance iOpener, these Internet Appliances are designed and built, usually at a cost to the company building them, with the intent of selling a load of the appliances and the mandatory 1 year service contracts that will offset the manufacturer's initial cost.

The MSN-Companion branding actually refers to two diffrent products, The Compaq IA-1(the left image) and the eMachines EZNET-200 The two units are diffrent on the outside, but very similar on the inside. I have yet to get one of the Compaq ones. If you are considering hacking one of these things I very strongly suggest that you take a look at the fourms at http://www.Linux-Hacker.net

The big (most commonly asked) questions is:

Why waste days hacking this?

Well.... BECAUSE IT'S THERE! I'm saving the hardware from the evils of MSN... well, Actually it's a great learning experience. I'm taking something that's designed to do "X" and making it do something that I want it to do. This is quite complex and most people don't have the patience/lack of sanity that I do.

Why don't you take the money and do something else with it?

First off, I didn't pay the $350.00 retail that follows this device, I found one at First Saturday for $20.00 If i can't get it working, oh well at least it comes with a power supply and a pretty decent 3 button scrolling USB mouse.