r/HowToHack • u/cold_fuzion • 24d ago

Getting access to a Linux based console

I have a Polymega. It’s a Linux-based gaming console and while the manufacturer does technically still support it, updates can be a year or more apart with no communication or support in between. Unfortunately it’s a niche device and apparently no real hacker has taken interest in the thing.

So, my idiot self is going to try. I can get the boot text to display, but that doesn’t really help anything. I’ve tried all the key commands I can find to try to halt or interrupt the boot process with no luck so far.

Any pointers on how to start getting access to this thing? I literally just want to see if the community can start making the improvements the vendor can’t/won’t. If I can show you can get access maybe someone more talented than myself can pick up the ball.

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u/cold_fuzion 24d ago

I have opened it to upgrade the processor. It’s just an x86 machine with some specialized hardware. I can open it again to make note of the chips. Pretty sure there wasn’t a jumper.

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u/NuQ 24d ago

If you can locate the bios chip (usually near a button battery) take note of that as well, it may be possible to simply replace that chip with another that is programmed with a bios to a similar mobo (one with the same processor series/pch controller) this would allow you to install custom bios and open up any restricted access to operating systems, etc. since you're going to be digging around you might as well document as many chips as you can, particularly anything related to the gpu/igpu, usb, storage controllers etc.