Hacking Express gate (Asus Splashtop)
Splashtop is an instant-on commercial Linux distribution targeting PC motherboard vendors and other device manufacturers.[4] It is developed by Splashtop Inc. (which was previously named DeviceVM Inc.[5][6]).[7]
Splashtop is an instant-on commercial Linux distribution targeting PC motherboard vendors and other device manufacturers.[4] It is developed by Splashtop Inc. (which was previously named DeviceVM Inc.[5][6]).[7]
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Concept
Splashtop is intended to be integrated on a read-only device and shipped with the hardware, rather than installed by the user. It does not prevent the installation of another operating system for dual booting. It boots in about 5 seconds,[11] and is thus marketed as "instant-on."
Features
Splashtop features a graphical user interface[11], a web browser based on Mozilla Firefox 3.0[11], a Skype VoIP client[11] and a chat client based on Pidgin.[10] It also includes Adobe Flash Player 10.[12]
Limitations and requirements
Most versions of Asus motherboards no longer come with Splashtop preinstalled, as the manufacturer now limits the inclusion of its built-in ExpressGate flash drive to "Premium" motherboards such as the P6T Deluxe and P7P55D-E Premium. Other Asus motherboards allow installation of the compact OS via a Windows-only based installer on its support CD. Installation from CD requires a Windows partition to store 500 MB of files, which has to be a SATA drive defined as IDE (no support for AHCI).[13] If one doesn't have a Windows-based machine, it is possible to install Splashtop on a USB hard drive, from the sources.[14]
At present Splashtop, as supplied for Asus motherboards, has no support for add-on wireless hardware such as PCI cards (June 2010).
Internals
Splashtop seems to work with a 512MB flash memory embedded on the PC motherboard.[15] A proprietary core engine starts at the BIOS boot and loads a specialized Linux distribution called a "Virtual Appliance Environment" (VAE). While running this VAE, the user can launch "Virtual Appliances" (VA). Skype is a VA, for instance.[16]Computer models supporting splashtop
Asus rebrands Splashtop as "Express Gate" for its other products (such as motherboards) as well.
| plashtop Instant On Splashtop Instant On is bundled with motherboards, desktops and notebooks by their manufacturers. Currently, it is available with products from the following manufacturers: |
Notebooks and Netbooks  ASUS HP Lenovo LG SONY Acer |
| Motherboards ASUS |
| Desktops and Nettops ASUS Acer |
LibreOffice
Firefox
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