by PedroR » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:24 pm
by PedroR
Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:24 pm
Preface:
This Guide is a compilation of all the information RoboSavvy collected on the installation of
Windows XP on eBox 33xx
MX series, Keyboard PC and other systems based on Vortex86MX/MX+.
Warning 1: There are a few Windows XP installation guides on the Internet for eBox 33xx Series (including the manufacturer's website ) but most of them are for 33xx
A which is an older model and uses a very different architecture.
Therefore many of these guides will not work with the newer eBox 33xx
MX series and thus you should follow this guide you have a 33xx
MX model.
(for example you DON'T need to use any special IDE driver or any Floppy drive to install XP on 33xxMX machines; a normal Windows XP installation CD will work. These kind of procedures were only needed for the old 33xxA model.)
Warning 2: KeyboardPC and eBox of 33xxMX series are based on the Vortex86MX/Vortex86MX+ processors.
These processors do not support the full i686 instruction set (they are i586).
This means there is no support for CMOV or SSE/SSE2. This
does not affect the installation and use of Windows XP but it's good to know the architecture is
i586 in case if you have an issue with a particular version of a software package.
Step 1: Choosing your HDD / SD card
All eBox models can use an SD card as their HDD.
This is the only option available in the case of eBox 3350MX and in the case of eBox 3310MX you can choose either SD card or instal a 2.5" SATA HDD.
- If you have an
eBox 3310MX (which supports SATA HDDs), and you're looking for
maximum maximum performance we recommend using a good 2.5" SATA HDD (5 400rpm at least).
You can also go with a 2.5" SATA Solid State drives although a regular HDD offers a good performance already.
- If you're using a KeyboardPC your unit may have come with a SATA DOM pre installed.
You can install to this SATA DOM or otherwise install and boot from SD card just like on eBox models.
- If you prefer to use an SD card as HDD please observe the following:
a) Choose a card that is at least Class 6 or Class 10 SD
from a reputable vendor.
A Class 4 SD card from Sandisk can often be faster than a class 10 from an unknown vendor.
Choosing SD cards from a reputable vendor also improves overall reliability.
b) Use Full Size SD cards and NOT microSD cards with adapters to full size SD.
Using MicroSD cards has proven unreliable and may results in random errors or intermittent failure.
There are plenty of reasons to prefer the use of an SD card as HDD: applications subject to vibration work better with an SD card; using SD cards lets you have multiple OS'es (one on each card) and quickly switch between OS'es; if you have an eBox 3350MX SD card is the only available option for HDD, ...
The quality of the SD card has a huge impact on the performance of your eBox. Therefore make sure to follow the guidelines above.
Preparation:
Installing Windows XP on eBox 33xx
MX and KeyboardPC machines is straightforward: just insert the CD, got through the setup process and at the end you'll need to install the VGA drivers, etc.
If using SD card as your HDD insert it now, before turning the machine on.
Make sure you use a full size SD and
stay away of MicroSD -> Full SD adapters!
Connected all USB peripherals (CD Rom, Keyboard and mouse) and turn the box on.
After turning the box on:
- Enter Setup
- chose "Load Failsafe Defaults" (just to ensure everything was going to work smoothly)
- set the CD ROM as the first boot device.
Tip:
To ensure the best installation experience and save time and disk space at the end of the setup process, we strongly recommend that you use an installation CD that already has SP3 applied.
There are indications that attempting to install XP using very old Installation CDs (ie RTM/SP0 or SP1) may cause issues during the installation.
Please see the post bellow detailing this finding and how to u0date the installation CD to include SP3.
Warning 3: if you're using eBox 3350MX, make sure your Power Adapter is able to supply a steady 5V 2A.
Insufficient power or lower quality power adapters may cause intermittent failures. If you experience no VGA, Reset during the boot process, date reverting to 2008 or not booting at all on the eBox 3350MX be advised they're caused by insufficient power supply; try using different adapters rated 5V 1A at least (ideally 2A).
We're now supplying the Official eBox 3350MX Power Adapters from DMP which offer the full 5V 2A.
Installation Process:
The installation process is straightforward:
From from the Windows XP installation CD and follow the Installation process all the way until it completes.
The installation process should complete smoothly using the standard Windows XP CD (no need for any special procedure - see Warning 1 above)
The installation process may take a while, especially if you have a slow SD card; just wait for it to complete.
Installing eBox Device Drivers:
After completing the installation process, you'll get a fully functional desktop but you won't have Network access or Audio as these need special drivers.
The following drivers should be installed:
- VGA
- HD Audio
- LAN
- WiFi (in case your model includes (or you purchased) the WiFi dongle supplied by DMP)
For
eBox 3350MX (and all other DMP products that use the Vortex86[b]MX processor)[/b] drivers can be downloaded from this location
-
http://robosavvy.com/RoboSavvyPages/DMP ... ortex86MX/
For
eBox 3310MX, Keyboard PC (and all other DMP products that use the Vortex86[b]MX+ processor)[/b] drivers can be downloaded from the following location:
-
http://robosavvy.com/RoboSavvyPages/DMP ... rtex86MX+/
Using another computer (as you don't have Ethernet at this point on the eBox/KPC yet), download the appropriate drivers for your platform and place them on a USB thumb drive.
Next insert the thumb drive on the eBox/KPC and
install the necessary drivers (VGA, LAN, HD Audio and optionally WiFi). Reboot whenever requested.
That's it! By now you should now have a fully functional Windows XP environment and can start enjoying your eBox or KeyboardPC.
If you wish to tweak your system further please read the tips bellow ( these are
optional )
Tips for Improving Performance:
Basic Tips:
- Disable Themes and Visual Styles (this is done by Right clicking on your desktop, selecting "properties" and under "Themes" choose Windows classic.
- Set the Pagefile to fixed size. Google should be your friend here in case you don't know how to do this.
This tip is particularly good if you're installing Windows on an SD card.
Advanced Tips:
These tips are
for the Advanced users and should only be considered if you feel comfortable trying them.
- You can use nLite to trim down the installation size by removing unnecessary services.
See here
http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7504
- You can enable EWF which will significantly boost performance if you're running from SD card.
This will essentially put your SD card in Read only state; all disk writes will be cached to memory and lost upon reboot (unless you use a separate partition or thumb drive to save the permanent data).
See here
http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7479 for more details.
- Install the
Flashfire utility to improve performance of the SD Card.
Flashfire sits between a default configuration and an EWF configuration offering the best of both worlds: it caches disk writes and periodically flushes them to the SD card at a time which seems to significantly improve performance.
Regards
Pedro
[Last Edited July 11th
- Added information about the Flashfire utility
Edited Dec 5th:
- Edited the "Tip: Added notice about old Windows XP installation CDs (RTM/SP0 and SP1) and recommendation to update/slipstream SP3.
Edited Nov 14th:
- Added instructions for KeyboardPC
- Added information about WiFi drivers
- Added link to DMP Power Adapter for eBox 3350MX ]
Preface:
This Guide is a compilation of all the information RoboSavvy collected on the installation of
Windows XP on eBox 33xx
MX series, Keyboard PC and other systems based on Vortex86MX/MX+.
Warning 1: There are a few Windows XP installation guides on the Internet for eBox 33xx Series (including the manufacturer's website ) but most of them are for 33xx
A which is an older model and uses a very different architecture.
Therefore many of these guides will not work with the newer eBox 33xx
MX series and thus you should follow this guide you have a 33xx
MX model.
(for example you DON'T need to use any special IDE driver or any Floppy drive to install XP on 33xxMX machines; a normal Windows XP installation CD will work. These kind of procedures were only needed for the old 33xxA model.)
Warning 2: KeyboardPC and eBox of 33xxMX series are based on the Vortex86MX/Vortex86MX+ processors.
These processors do not support the full i686 instruction set (they are i586).
This means there is no support for CMOV or SSE/SSE2. This
does not affect the installation and use of Windows XP but it's good to know the architecture is
i586 in case if you have an issue with a particular version of a software package.
Step 1: Choosing your HDD / SD card
All eBox models can use an SD card as their HDD.
This is the only option available in the case of eBox 3350MX and in the case of eBox 3310MX you can choose either SD card or instal a 2.5" SATA HDD.
- If you have an
eBox 3310MX (which supports SATA HDDs), and you're looking for
maximum maximum performance we recommend using a good 2.5" SATA HDD (5 400rpm at least).
You can also go with a 2.5" SATA Solid State drives although a regular HDD offers a good performance already.
- If you're using a KeyboardPC your unit may have come with a SATA DOM pre installed.
You can install to this SATA DOM or otherwise install and boot from SD card just like on eBox models.
- If you prefer to use an SD card as HDD please observe the following:
a) Choose a card that is at least Class 6 or Class 10 SD
from a reputable vendor.
A Class 4 SD card from Sandisk can often be faster than a class 10 from an unknown vendor.
Choosing SD cards from a reputable vendor also improves overall reliability.
b) Use Full Size SD cards and NOT microSD cards with adapters to full size SD.
Using MicroSD cards has proven unreliable and may results in random errors or intermittent failure.
There are plenty of reasons to prefer the use of an SD card as HDD: applications subject to vibration work better with an SD card; using SD cards lets you have multiple OS'es (one on each card) and quickly switch between OS'es; if you have an eBox 3350MX SD card is the only available option for HDD, ...
The quality of the SD card has a huge impact on the performance of your eBox. Therefore make sure to follow the guidelines above.
Preparation:
Installing Windows XP on eBox 33xx
MX and KeyboardPC machines is straightforward: just insert the CD, got through the setup process and at the end you'll need to install the VGA drivers, etc.
If using SD card as your HDD insert it now, before turning the machine on.
Make sure you use a full size SD and
stay away of MicroSD -> Full SD adapters!
Connected all USB peripherals (CD Rom, Keyboard and mouse) and turn the box on.
After turning the box on:
- Enter Setup
- chose "Load Failsafe Defaults" (just to ensure everything was going to work smoothly)
- set the CD ROM as the first boot device.
Tip:
To ensure the best installation experience and save time and disk space at the end of the setup process, we strongly recommend that you use an installation CD that already has SP3 applied.
There are indications that attempting to install XP using very old Installation CDs (ie RTM/SP0 or SP1) may cause issues during the installation.
Please see the post bellow detailing this finding and how to u0date the installation CD to include SP3.
Warning 3: if you're using eBox 3350MX, make sure your Power Adapter is able to supply a steady 5V 2A.
Insufficient power or lower quality power adapters may cause intermittent failures. If you experience no VGA, Reset during the boot process, date reverting to 2008 or not booting at all on the eBox 3350MX be advised they're caused by insufficient power supply; try using different adapters rated 5V 1A at least (ideally 2A).
We're now supplying the Official eBox 3350MX Power Adapters from DMP which offer the full 5V 2A.
Installation Process:
The installation process is straightforward:
From from the Windows XP installation CD and follow the Installation process all the way until it completes.
The installation process should complete smoothly using the standard Windows XP CD (no need for any special procedure - see Warning 1 above)
The installation process may take a while, especially if you have a slow SD card; just wait for it to complete.
Installing eBox Device Drivers:
After completing the installation process, you'll get a fully functional desktop but you won't have Network access or Audio as these need special drivers.
The following drivers should be installed:
- VGA
- HD Audio
- LAN
- WiFi (in case your model includes (or you purchased) the WiFi dongle supplied by DMP)
For
eBox 3350MX (and all other DMP products that use the Vortex86[b]MX processor)[/b] drivers can be downloaded from this location
-
http://robosavvy.com/RoboSavvyPages/DMP ... ortex86MX/
For
eBox 3310MX, Keyboard PC (and all other DMP products that use the Vortex86[b]MX+ processor)[/b] drivers can be downloaded from the following location:
-
http://robosavvy.com/RoboSavvyPages/DMP ... rtex86MX+/
Using another computer (as you don't have Ethernet at this point on the eBox/KPC yet), download the appropriate drivers for your platform and place them on a USB thumb drive.
Next insert the thumb drive on the eBox/KPC and
install the necessary drivers (VGA, LAN, HD Audio and optionally WiFi). Reboot whenever requested.
That's it! By now you should now have a fully functional Windows XP environment and can start enjoying your eBox or KeyboardPC.
If you wish to tweak your system further please read the tips bellow ( these are
optional )
Tips for Improving Performance:
Basic Tips:
- Disable Themes and Visual Styles (this is done by Right clicking on your desktop, selecting "properties" and under "Themes" choose Windows classic.
- Set the Pagefile to fixed size. Google should be your friend here in case you don't know how to do this.
This tip is particularly good if you're installing Windows on an SD card.
Advanced Tips:
These tips are
for the Advanced users and should only be considered if you feel comfortable trying them.
- You can use nLite to trim down the installation size by removing unnecessary services.
See here
http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7504
- You can enable EWF which will significantly boost performance if you're running from SD card.
This will essentially put your SD card in Read only state; all disk writes will be cached to memory and lost upon reboot (unless you use a separate partition or thumb drive to save the permanent data).
See here
http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7479 for more details.
- Install the
Flashfire utility to improve performance of the SD Card.
Flashfire sits between a default configuration and an EWF configuration offering the best of both worlds: it caches disk writes and periodically flushes them to the SD card at a time which seems to significantly improve performance.
Regards
Pedro
[Last Edited July 11th
- Added information about the Flashfire utility
Edited Dec 5th:
- Edited the "Tip: Added notice about old Windows XP installation CDs (RTM/SP0 and SP1) and recommendation to update/slipstream SP3.
Edited Nov 14th:
- Added instructions for KeyboardPC
- Added information about WiFi drivers
- Added link to DMP Power Adapter for eBox 3350MX ]
Last edited by PedroR on Thu Sep 13, 2012 5:56 pm, edited 5 times in total.