<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">Several sites on the web refer to the Pixel Magic Systems MB100/MB200 as being Linux based [1] [2]. There were also several posts to the Pixel Magic Systems Forum [3] that discussed the internal hard drive being formatted with EXT2. I emailed Nelson Choi <nelson at
<a href="http://pixelmagicsystems.com">pixelmagicsystems.com</a>> who confirmed that the system is indeed Linux based. I then attempted to begin a discussion about the GPL'd software being used in the system but all of those emails have been ignored. I have also been banned from their forum for asking questions about the GPL software used in the system. I previously worked with Philips to release software for the RC9800i remote control [4] but Pixel Magic Systems is making things much more challenging.
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">In an attempt to gain more evidence that the device is based on Linux I've been looking at their firmware images [5]. This is unlike any other Linux firmware image that I have seen in the past. The first 0x200 bytes look like:
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000000 56 45 52 5f 30 30 31 00 00 00 00 0b 00 00 82 00 |VER_001.........|
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000010 14 1c 8c ee 74 01 00 00 22 00 00 00 10 00 00 00 |....t...".......|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000020 00 00 00 00 6d 74 64 35 2f 76 65 72 73 69 6f 6e |....mtd5/version|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
00000030 00 00 00 02 96 01 00 00 01 02 00 00 ec 01 00 00 |................|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000040 00 00 00 00 6d 74 64 35 2f 61 75 74 6f 72 75 6e |....mtd5/autorun|
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000050 2e 73 00 02 97 03 00 00 c6 37 02 00 ae 37 02 00 |.s.......7...7..|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000060 00 00 00 00 6d 74 64 35 2f 63 75 72 61 63 61 6f |....mtd5/curacao|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
00000070 5f 54 00 02 5d 3b 02 00 d6 2b 01 00 c0 2b 01 00 |_T..];...+...+..|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000080 00 00 00 00 6d 74 64 35 2f 63 61 73 79 5f 65 61 |....mtd5/casy_ea|
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000090 2e 74 00 02 33 67 03 00 fa da 38 00 e8 da 38 00 |.t..3g....8...8.|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">000000a0 00 00 00 00 6d 74 64 35 2f 63 75 72 61 63 61 6f |....mtd5/curacao|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
000000b0 00 00 00 02 2d 42 3c 00 c6 37 02 00 ae 37 02 00 |....-B<..7...7..|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">000000c0 00 00 00 00 6d 74 64 35 2f 63 75 72 61 63 61 6f |....mtd5/curacao|
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">000000d0 5f 53 00 02 f3 79 3e 00 b9 d8 05 00 a4 d8 05 00 |_S...y>.........|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">000000e0 00 00 00 00 6d 74 64 35 2f 6d 79 66 6f 6e 74 2e |....mtd5/myfont.|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
000000f0 74 74 00 02 ac 52 44 00 bd 06 00 00 a8 06 00 00 |tt...RD.........|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000100 00 00 00 00 6d 74 64 35 2f 70 68 72 61 73 65 2e |....mtd5/phrase.|
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000110 74 78 00 02 69 59 44 00 6c 40 02 00 56 40 02 00 |tx..iYD.l@..V@..|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000120 00 00 00 00 6d 74 64 35 2f 63 75 72 61 63 61 6f |....mtd5/curacao|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
00000130 2e 78 00 02 d5 99 46 00 00 34 63 00 00 34 63 00 |.x....F..4c..4c.|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000140 0a 00 03 00 4e 6f 72 6d 61 6c 2d 72 6f 6d 66 73 |....Normal-romfs|
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000150 2e 62 00 00 d5 cd a9 00 00 00 60 00 00 00 60 00 |.b........`...`.|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000160 01 00 00 00 6a 66 66 73 32 2e 70 61 72 74 00 00 |....jffs2.part..|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
00000170 00 00 00 01 2f 74 6d 70 2f 6d 74 64 35 2f 76 65 |..../tmp/mtd5/ve|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000180 72 73 69 6f 6e 00 71 67 e5 98 33 56 81 d7 e5 27 |rsion.qg..3V...'|
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">00000190 cd 22 ac 84 76 1c 2f 74 6d 70 2f 6d 74 64 35 2f |."..v./tmp/mtd5/|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">000001a0 61 75 74 6f 72 75 6e 2e 73 68 00 58 46 c6 b7 50 |autorun.sh.XF..P|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
000001b0 3f ef f8 97 4f c7 4b cb e7 19 72 72 10 6e 96 8d |?...O.K...rr.n..|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">000001c0 5d 70 e1 40 8d 04 3d 2d 37 3b 2c d2 94 59 1e cc |]p.@..=-7;,..Y..|
</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">000001d0 be 15 ff 20 5e e8 c0 13 c9 92 1d ce f2 a3 b4 80 |... ^...........|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">000001e0 ee 91 73 49 9d 68 87 41 c3 a2 e6 54 13 8b e8 1d |..sI.h.A...T....|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
000001f0 1e c5 93 c6 2d a0 49 c9 ed 04 3c 36 56 7d db 98 |....-.I...<6V}..|</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
The strings that stand out: mtd, romfs, jffs2, and autorun.sh. Does anyone recognize this firmware layout? This header type is similar to that used in the firmware for their Crystalio II video processor product.</span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">Any assistance in extracting the components of this firmware would be appreciated. Thanks,<br><br>Jarrod<br><br></span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">
<span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">1. <a href="http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Reviews/Home_Cinema?Article=/Reviews/Home%20Cinema/R6D6N9P9">http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Reviews/Home_Cinema?Article=/Reviews/Home%20Cinema/R6D6N9P9
</a></span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">2. <a href="http://www.pixelmagicforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6535&postcount=69">http://www.pixelmagicforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6535&postcount=69
</a></span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">3. <a href="http://www.pixelmagicforum.com/">http://www.pixelmagicforum.com/</a><br>4. <a href="http://magick.org/rc9800i/">
http://magick.org/rc9800i/</a></span><br style="font-family: courier new,monospace;"><span style="font-family: courier new,monospace;">5. <a href="ftp://ftp.crystalio.com/Public/download/MediaBox.zip">ftp://ftp.crystalio.com/Public/download/MediaBox.zip
</a></span>