magicJack and magicJack Plus Support, Reviews, FAQs and Tricks

I see that it's been a little while since there's been a post in this thread but, I just got a TC and a hitachi microdrive for use with MJ. I have a simple question that I'm sure some here should be able to easily answer..

How do I interface this drive with the CA9 unit? Do I need some kind of 50 pin adapter cable or a CF-to-IDE adapter of some kind? My CA9 has a DOM unit that I want to replace. The DOM, as you probably already know, mounts parallel to the unit's motherboard and if I just popped the MD on it I wouldn't be able to put the cover back on the TC so, how the hell do I interface these two??

Thanks, in advance, for your help.

I am using the same setup that Alpman used and sold here on the forum. I am using one of his images on my 6gb microdrive and it works great.

Here are the links to a couple of pics of my setup:

Cable Setup: http://www.megapix.com/?p=19JRSRM4
Microdrive: http://www.megapix.com/?p=JXVRJZHU


For my setup I had to purchase 4 items. The 44 to 40 pin IDE cable with the molex power connector, a male molex to floppy power adapter, the microdrive to 40 pin adapter, and the 6gb microdrive. All found on eBay.

If I could get enough interest I would be willing to put a kit together like Alpman did and send out to interested parties. I also have several Neoware units that could be sold as complete units with the kit and image installed.

What I have so far is:
Neoware ca15 with 512mb sodimm ram (purchased on ebay),
Hitachi 4gb Microdrive (purchased on ebay),
Compact flash to IDE adapter (purchased on ebay)

I haven't yet received the adapter but, from what I can see it should be a direct replacement for the DOM that's currently in the TC unit and allows direct coupling of the microdrive in the smallest possible form factor. I would have used the DOM but, it's somehow locked and won't even allow a hard reset. Does the microdrive require an external power supply that I'm missing with my intended setup?

The microdrive is powered via the molex adapter that is on the 44pin to 40pin IDE cable. This is the only location to pull power for the the microdrive and these cables are readily available.

If you purchased the compact flash adapter that connects directly to the 44 pin header on the board then it will not work. For some reason it does not pick up the power for the microdrive. I thought that would be such an easy fix but I tried serveral different ones and not one ever picked up the power.

This setup is a little more involved but Alpman seemed to really know what he was doing so I just ended up copying his.

STxFarmer wrote: If you purchased the compact flash adapter that connects directly to the 44 pin header on the board then it will not work. For some reason it does not pick up the power for the microdrive. I thought that would be such an easy fix but I tried serveral different ones and not one ever picked up the power.

Ya, I grabbed the wrong one myself. No power to the drive. I ordered another adapter which has a built-in floppy drive type of molex power connector but, it also requires a small ribbon as the adapter doesn't interface at a 90 degree angle as the non-powering one does (pity). This adapter can actually connect 2 microdrives but, I don't see a use for that in a device that will only run MagicJack.

I added the new image file but keep getting missing or corrupt windows system32\hal.dll
any idea how to fix it?Thanks

Got it fixed.Thanks

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STxFarmer wrote:I am using the same setup that Alpman used and sold here on the forum. I am using one of his images on my 6gb microdrive and it works great.

Here are the links to a couple of pics of my setup:

Cable Setup: http://www.megapix.com/?p=19JRSRM4
Microdrive: http://www.megapix.com/?p=JXVRJZHU


For my setup I had to purchase 4 items. The 44 to 40 pin IDE cable with the molex power connector, a male molex to floppy power adapter, the microdrive to 40 pin adapter, and the 6gb microdrive. All found on eBay.

If I could get enough interest I would be willing to put a kit together like Alpman did and send out to interested parties. I also have several Neoware units that could be sold as complete units with the kit and image installed.

You are one heck of a fantastic guy!!!!
Thanks very much for the 6Gb microdrive images. I installed the updated image on a 8Gb DOM that I had handy and my CA10 runs like a charm!

Unfortunately, I'm having problems with hardware in trying to use the image with a CF card and a microdrive.

Problem 1: With reference to the Neoware CA10 and CA22
I've used a 44 pin female-female IDE cable from the DOM pinouts (pin 1 on right) cable red stripe on right (when facing the unit with the DOM pinouts at the rear of the case) and plugged in a CF 44 male adapter. Unfortunately, the BIOS does not recognize any of the CF cards I plug in.
Are CF adapters (this one is a cheap one on eBay) not all alike?
I've used both a single and dual CF adapter. I've tested the IDE cable for continuity on all 44 pins (by using a male IDE adapter on both ends so that the pins are handy for my DMM)

Problem 2: With reference to the Neoware CA10 and CA22
Same setup with the 44 pin female-female IDE cable but this time I have a male 44 pin CF adapter (to use with a microdrive) with a male floppy power connector on the CF card adapter. Unfortunately, I don't know where to get power from on the motherboard.

Unfortunately the photographs you posted on megapix are no longer available. Is it possible to post the photographs again on sugarsync or other image hosting site?

Thanks for all the help in this forum and to me.

murugan wrote: Problem 1: With reference to the Neoware CA10 and CA22
I've used a 44 pin female-female IDE cable from the DOM pinouts (pin 1 on right) cable red stripe on right (when facing the unit with the DOM pinouts at the rear of the case) and plugged in a CF 44 male adapter. Unfortunately, the BIOS does not recognize any of the CF cards I plug in.
Are CF adapters (this one is a cheap one on eBay) not all alike?
I've used both a single and dual CF adapter. I've tested the IDE cable for continuity on all 44 pins (by using a male IDE adapter on both ends so that the pins are handy for my DMM)

Problem 1: SOLVED
I used a 44 pin female to female IDE cable with a IDE to CF adapter and a CF card. The orientation of the CF card adapter and the IDE cable are important. To help anyone interested in running a (relatively cheap) CF instead of a (expensive) DOM I have posted some photographs on Imageshack - links below.

NOTES:
1. Not all CF cards are created equal - I had the most problems with the Delkin - least with Hitachi/Toshiba (They are rebranded (PQI etc for Hitachi and WD/Silicon systems/etc for Toshiba. the Cannon CF shown is a rebranded Sandisk)
2. Not all CF adapters and IDE cables are created equal - especially the cheaper China eBay kind. But considering I was experimenting, I bought the cheap ones on eBay - total cost less than 10 bucks for the ide cable, IDE to CF adapter and the CF card! (including shipping). The Cannon CF shown is a 32Mb CF with a WinCE image. 512Mb and up (upto 4Mb) run about 5 bucks apiece (used) if you are patient and don't want ultra-cutting-edge technology like the Sandisk Ultra IV. It's overkill in the Neoware TCs (like putting Porche Bosch Jetronic injectors in a passenger car)
3. The cheap CF adapter has slightly smaller than spec pins. Or maybe the plating on them was thin. You may need to reseat (pull out and push back) the CF card if it isn't recognized in the BIOS.
4. DONT FORGET TO INSULATE THE CF CARD/ADAPTER/IDE assembly when you fold it onto the mobo or you may short the mobo! I used a strip of foam wound over the CF card/CF adapter and held it in place with a round of electrical tape (not shown in photograph - assembled position).
5. the CF card adapter shown does NOT have a molex (floppy) power connector on it - you cannot use this type for a uDrive. But it fine for a CF as it's 3.3/5V requirements are low and is fed thru the IDE cable.
5. The red stripe on the IDE cable is for Pin 1. Align the IDE female connector with Pin 1 on the 44 pinout on the mobo - the pins are marked on the mobo.
6. The CF adapter has a triangle to show Pin 1 - again align the CF adapter with the redstripe end of the female IDE cable. If you don't have a triangle to show which is Pin 1 on the CF adapter, seat your card in the adapter and use this link (http://pinouts.ru/Memory/CompactFlash_pinout.shtml) to figure out which end is Pin 1.
7. Not all 44 pin female IDE cables are created equal - some may have pin hole 20 (opposite the key) missing. Just poke a hole carefully with a sharp slim tool or a 0.5mm drill in a Dremel (or make that long overdue visit to your local Dentist - he/she will have all kinds of sharp instruments and of course the drill!) Pin (hole) 20 is not used electrically or data wise but is needed on both ends of the IDE cable for connecting to the mobo 44 pins and the CF adapter pins.


IDE-CF Adapter-CF assembly photograph links:
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/3418 ... idecab.jpg

http://img804.imageshack.us/img804/3418 ... idecab.jpg

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/9288/c ... lefema.jpg

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1792 ... fadapt.jpg

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/7319 ... fcard8.jpg

Next Step for me: Try and find an easy pinout available on the mobo to get power for the CF adapter to plug a uDrive in (Problem 2 - previous post). Will keep you updated. If anyone has found a pinout on the mobo for 5V it would make my pinout hunt with a DMM a lot easier - please PM me or post to this thread.

EDIT: Also see http://www.phoneservicesupport.com/hp-t ... t1493.html for another approach to a CF mod to a DOM Thin Client.

I can't get any of the images to install. I have an E90 with 5oomb upgraded ram and 1gb flash. I get an error when it's supposed to be writing to the flash and the following error when I try to start from hdd0 or 1:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <windows root>\system32\hal.dll
Please re-install a copy of the above file

Any clue on how to proceed?

All the suggestions below are assuming you have a Neoware e90 similar to say the DC-A3-KF (VIA Eden G270, Standard XPe, 512Mb RAM-1Gb DOM):

A-TRAIN wrote:I can't get any of the images to install.

Go to the very first post in this thread (by STxFarmer) and download and use the "How do I get a clean image to my Thin Client? Here is the info and files to make a bootable USB drive that you can flash/and or backup an image to your thin client - (new updated version) "
Always worked for me.
Note: All USB sticks (like CF cards) aren't made equal! I have tried Verbatim 2gb and 4Gb (both work) Sandisk Blade 4Gb( works) all other Sandisk USBs (regardless of capacity) don't work, PNY 2Gb and 4Gb work, etc.

A-TRAIN wrote:I have an E90 with 5oomb upgraded ram and 1gb flash. I get an error when it's supposed to be writing to the flash and the following error when I try to start from hdd0 or 1:

If you could be more specific on the "error when it's supposed to be writing to the flash" like "not enough space left on the device" or xxxxx+0 records in, yyyyy+0 records out, etc. I could diagnose the problem. xxxxx and yyyyy should be the same number for a successful image write.

If you have a previously successful image that works on your box, then you could also try Clonezilla to image that image and re-image the new DOM. (You need Clonezilla i486 as any higher (i686) version of CPU is not supported on the older e90. Or you could try any distro of Linux and use the dd command (dd if=/dev/sda (or hda etc) of=/dev/(your usb stick) file name bs=512 conv=notrunc,noerror
Use the dmesg command to find your devices or fdisk -l or lsusb (list USB devices)

***Warning!! If you reverse the source and target, you can wipe out a lot of data. This feature has inspired the nickname "dd" Data Destroyer. Warning!! Caution should be observed when using dd to duplicate encrypted partitions.*******

OR:
Issue a df to see which currently connected physical devices are mounted and contain file systems. Do not use any of these as a target for the dd, below. For example, if you see several file systems on /dev/hdan (where n=1 thru n) do not use /dev/hda as an output target of the dd command.

Try mounting other physical disks to see what your writer appears as, including /dev/hdn1 and /dev/sdn1. Once you've figured out its address umount the device.

Issue the following command to write the image file to the destination (unmounted) target (/dev/sda or /dev/hda etc)

# dd if=nnnflash.img of=/dev/hdn

I mention the dd command since the USB image writing tool uses it. There is also a "dd for windows" version. Or you could use physdiskwrite (works in a dos box in windows - unfortunately you will need a USB adapter to 44 pin DOM - available on eBay. Personally I prefer using physdiskwrite for imaging on windows instead of dd for windows.

A-TRAIN wrote:I can't get any of the images to install.

I'm assuming you have 512Mb of RAM and a 1Gb DOM. In which case you need to flash your DOM with the stock image (again first post) as a test to see if you can successfully boot the stock image and then flash the DOM with a tweaked 1Gb image (again first post) if you are interested in a Magic Jack installation or a non-stock installation with a lot of cool features.
You could try both 1 Gb images (1GB_v1.5_Tweaked_E100_-_CA10 and the 1GB_v1.5_Tweaked_E140_V4_-_CA22 ) - both have worked for me in the past but then I have used CA10s and CA22s only.

You could also try the 512Mb e90 image - 512MB_v1.5_Tweaked_E90_V4_-_CA21 - you can always write a smaller image to a larger DOM.

A-TRAIN wrote: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <windows root>\system32\hal.dll
Please re-install a copy of the above file

The error message is an indication that
(a) you have an incomplete image installed and/or
(b) You have an image incompatible with your hardware (hal = hardware abstraction layer).

On the HDD-0 and HDD-1: set your BIOS to boot from HDD-0 as that is the DOM on board the mobo.

Without going into any diagnostics, let me know if this works. If not I will try some experimentation on an e90 and let you know.

Okay so I get the following error codes after I try to write the image to the DOM:

Writing image 1Gb_Stock_v1.5.dd to /dev/hda...
..end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072951
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072888
.end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072952
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072889
.end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072953
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072890
.end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072954
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072891
.end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072955
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072892
dd: 1Gb_Stock_v1.5.dd: input/output error

After I reboot it I get the following error:

Verifying DMI Pool Data............

Anybody have any ideas? I have photos too if needed.

What size DOM did you get as I think the largest you can use is 1Gb

1gb

Should have read your post and I would have answered my question. I know your stuck and I don't have any answers. If you want to send me your DOM I can try to get it programed for you and send it back. Other than that I got nothing to offer.

Have you tried both the stock 1Gb image and the tweaked 1 Gb image? Maybe the download is corrupted.

A-TRAIN wrote:Okay so I get the following error codes after I try to write the image to the DOM:

Writing image 1Gb_Stock_v1.5.dd to /dev/hda...
..end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072951
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072888
.end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072952
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072889
.end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072953
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072890
.end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072954
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072891
.end_request: I/0 error, dev sda, sector 5072955
Buffer I/0 error on device sda1, logical block 5072892
dd: 1Gb_Stock_v1.5.dd: input/output error

After I reboot it I get the following error:

Verifying DMI Pool Data............

Anybody have any ideas? I have photos too if needed.

I'm confused - you are writing to /dev/hda and your error is on /dev/sdan (n=1-n)?

You have an I/O error - try setting your BIOS to boot first device as USB-HD and the second boot device as HD0 not HD1.
Other than that, the only time I have seen this error is with DMA faults.
Try (again in the BIOS) to enable DMA or disable DMA. Not all DOMs (like CF cards) are created equal - some do not support DMA.

Try setting no_dma parameter in the cfg (ide=nodma in syslinux cfg)

Try a different 44 pin DOM - preferably from a reputable manufacturer.

Or finally: send your DOM to STxFarmer - he has offered to image it for you and that would be my best bet.

The "Verifying DMI Pool Data" hang is common if there is no image or a corrupted image on the DOM (or boot device)

From Post #1 in this thread:

STxFarmer wrote: .................

Need a clean stock image?

256 mb:
512 mb:
1 gb:

Need an image that has been tweaked for MagicJack?? I have included a list of tweaks done and steps taken to get this tweaked image. Change anything you like to make them better for you application. You need to download the correct one for your thin client.

256 mb:

512 mb images:
512MB_v1.5_Tweaked_C50-CA15
512MB_v1.5_Tweaked_E90_V4_-_CA21
512MB_v1.5_Tweaked_E140_V4_-CA22

1 GB images:
1GB_v1.5_Tweaked_E100_-_CA10
1GB_v1.5_Tweaked_E140_V4_-_CA22

................................................................

If you find anything that needs to be corrected please let me know.

Would appreciate it if you could let us know what version of the OS (XPe) the images are?
Eg: XPe SP2 or XPe SP3
Or maybe edit the original post to include the version (which would be easier than installing an image to find the version).
I've used the images (1GB and 512MB) before but am hazy on what the versions are - to the best of my recollection, they may be XPe SP2.
Thanks for the images.
RM
PS: Links to the images were removed from the quote above since they are on the original post.

ca10 here with 256 dom, got the image on no problem, however, having an issue not being able to get a static ip to stick and rdp settings to stick. tried ez-remote manager software and it won't connect through the tridiavnc either....any ideas/suggestions?

Help me pls. I Hace CA22 with 128 DOM inside. As far i can see, the lowest stock image is 256 mb. I delete with format whole partition and now I cant get it back. Also have big problems with a ezremote and stuff...no F***N way to restore to stock. So, if someone would be so kind and help me to 128 MB stock image here. Thanks in advance.