Topic: Insignia InfoCast 8 Newbie

Hi there. I always meant to get a Chumby and never managed to get around to it. A few months ago a coworker gave me their Insignia InfoCast 8, knowing that it was 'sort of like a Chumby' but they could never get it to work, and thought I might want to try it.

Of course, I quickly found out that they couldn't get it to work because there was no more Chumby service, but I happily plopped it on my desk to use for Pandora. I hadn't turned it on in a few days with the holidays, and this morning I got a little 'there is an update' notice. I was too scared to click it, but I did go looking for more info, and here I am.

Can someone point me toward where to start? Should I let it update? What do I do if it doesn't work? If it does work, how will I know? I gather that I need to pay for a subscription to get access to Apps? I never got to actually use a Chumby in the past, and I don't even have a smart phone, so apps are a bit of an unknown to me. What sort of Apps are out there? Is there something I can use to turn my InfoCast into a little TV for watching Amazon?

My apologies for all the dumb questions, but I'm starting from scratch with this odd toy that I don't know what to do with, and I'm afraid to break it. I'm reasonably technical, but not very comfortable with messing around with firmware or SSHing into my unit. Any help figuring out what to do first would be much appreciated.

Re: Insignia InfoCast 8 Newbie

Hi there and welcome to the chumbyverse.

first read the faq... (only proper, since Duane and I took the time to write it smile

then mosey on over to www.chumby.com and set yourself up an account.

let your icast update, and it will probably come up with a new default clock.

it will likely still be 'owned' by the friend that gave it to you, so you can follow the instructions to deactivate it, (from the faq) then reactivate it as your own!

then you can browse around the widgets, and decide that yes, you simply MUST subscribe for maximum chumby fun! smile

Cleaning up any loose bits and bytes.

Re: Insignia InfoCast 8 Newbie

welcome lemur!

i too have the insignia 8, but it's still deeply packed away after a move to our new forever-home in a Raleigh suburb last month.

however... i unpacked a box today with a smaller Classic, and plugged it in, expecting the same old clock we've all been staring at for sooo long

nope... not the same old clock!

wow... i jumped online and read the news about the resumed chumby service, and immediately signed up!

"it's alive!"

all of my favorites apps are back, plus a ton more that i haven't seen before!


come join us?

Re: Insignia InfoCast 8 Newbie

My InfoCast8 is still running strong...

Re: Insignia InfoCast 8 Newbie

almost 3 years to the day since my last post...  classic is still running!