Hacking the NCD ThinSTAR TS300.
Originally from http://www.bytebrothers.net/ThinSTAR.htm
NCD is rather mum about the commands that are available in the Diagnostic Mode of a ThinSTAR TS300 (reachable by pressing <Shift><F5> during terminal startup). It's understandable that they don't want folks mucking around in places where they can do plenty of damage, but when you've bought 250 of these things it seems a little rude to withhold detailed information about them.
No thanks to NCD then, I've managed to figure out at least some of the commands available. The following applies to a ThinSTAR TS300 with boot code 2.00 and core software 2.30. Some of the commands are quite pointless, some are downright dangerous, and at least a few are incredibly handy.
Information Wants to be Free. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
If you have any more information or details on what is shown here, please use this web site's Comments page to let me know. Thanks!
Some general information:
Commands that use TFTP assume that the TFTP service resides on your DHCP server unless you specify otherwise.
The PI command is a great prelude to using the TFTP commands since it'll grab a DHCP address and tell you what it is.
| COMMAND | PURPOSE |
|---|---|
| BE | Bell. Test your sound/speakers. |
| BL | Boot Load? Loads WBT.BIN from a TMS, forces update of all core software. Does not lose configured settings or connections. |
| BN | Boot N?? Attempts connection to TFTP server to load all operating software. Assumes TFTP is on DHCP server unless you specify otherwise. |
| BT | Boot via TFTP. Deletes NVRAM and
attempts WinCE or core software download from specified TFTP
server. (documented by NCD) BT [filename] [ThinSTAR IP] [TFTP host IP] [Gateway IP] [Subnet-mask] |
| CB | Change Bytes. Permits altering memory contents directly. |
| CW | Change Words. Permits altering memory contents directly. |
| CF | ?? |
| CM | ?? |
| CR | ?? |
| CS | Change Serial number!!! |
| DA | Display Addresses. MAC, IP, BOOTP/DHCP, etc. |
| DB | Display Boot PROM info. |
| DF | Display character set. |
| DI | Directory Listing (also LS) |
| DM | Display Memory (installed RAM and VRAM) |
| DO | Download??? |
| DS | Display network statistics. |
| EE | Engineering Extract. Displays complete hardware info. |
| EF | ?? |
| ES | Ethernet speed display |
| EX | Extended Tests (further menu options appear) |
| FD | Factory Default. I've found this is really handy for reconfiguring a ThinSTAR whose configuration password is unknown, without resorting to the drastic step of initiating a forced recovery. It deletes the system registry (and any settings along with it), and any connections defined. |
| GM | Get MAC address |
| GS | Get Serial # |
| GU | Get Unique ID |
| IB | Inquire Byte |
| ID | Inquire DWord |
| IW | Inquire Word |
| KS | Keyboard Statistics |
| LS | Directory Listing (also DI) |
| MI | Monitor ID (checks status of monitor DDE pins?) |
| MO | Shows Model # |
| NF | NFS block read size change |
| OB | Output Byte (???) |
| OD | Output DWord |
| OW | Output Word |
| OF | OFF (soft power off) |
| PI | PING address (attempts DHCP first). Press <Esc> to stop and see results. |
| RG | Registry Dump. |
| RS | Reset. Handy mostly if the power switch is out of reach. |
| SE | Set IP address. Uses GUI. |
| SI | Set Input source (i.e., keyboard) |
| SM | Show Memory (installed) |
| SR | Start Recovery (like <Shift><F11>), erases EVERYTHING!!! |
| SS | Show info block ? |
| UE | USB Error Stats |
| UN | ??? Attempts to upload operating software via TFTP |
| UP | Attempts to upload core dump (or settings?) via TFTP |
| US | ?? |
| VE | VErify?? Shows software and version information |
| ZK | ?? |
| ZS | ?? |