version 5.1 Authorisation issue

[Crash]

That is dissapointing to hear. I am surprised that they are having such a hard time getting this handled but even the company forum is dead and gone for months now. That is another eye opener to me. The mothership ain't what it once was. Sorry you can't get your code for 5.1. Maybe some day things will turn around.

[kv68]

yeah me too ...is a great desk ...which could be greater grrr but hopefully they haven't given up on her

[Crash]

In all honesty, I am surprised they have supported it in any form or fashion this many years after its been discontinued.

[Recording Drummer]

Hi all,

I am all new to this but I too could not authorize my 5.1 and they did refund my money. Rebecca told me yesterday to check in two weeks from now to see how they are doing. I'm having midi problems and need help so I am going to start another thread.

RD

[RonnR]

Just spent the last couple of weeks going thru this as well. The code they sent me wont unlock my d8b.

The software that generates the code only generates 1 code for eack d8b system id #. They said the computer that
generates the codes had been 50/50 on giving working codes, and that lately it doesnt give any unlock codes that will work.

They called me today, and said that they were going to refund my money's, I assured them that I would be willing to wait.

But they all but said that they wouldn't be spending to much time on it in the future. What are we to do.

Surely the original programers had a back door, universal, unlock code... One that doesnt require a d8b sin.
I'm more than willing to pay. Thought I would try here, maybe somebody knows something..

Going to be watching this thread closely.

[doktor1360]

Just spent the last couple of weeks going thru this as well. The code they sent me wont unlock my d8b.

The software that generates the code only generates 1 code for eack d8b system id #. They said the computer that
generates the codes had been 50/50 on giving working codes, and that lately it doesnt give any unlock codes that will work.

They called me today, and said that they were going to refund my money's, I assured them that I would be willing to wait.

But they all but said that they wouldn't be spending to much time on it in the future. What are we to do.

Surely the original programers had a back door, universal, unlock code... One that doesnt require a d8b sin.
I'm more than willing to pay. Thought I would try here, maybe somebody knows something..

Going to be watching this thread closely.

I completely agree, Ronn... I've been developing software professionally for 3+ decades (yeah, I just placed a Carbon Date Stamp on my sorry ass ) and there HAS to be a way to circumvent this authorization 'issue'. Personally, when (and not if') I get a v5.1 OS loaded and authorized, I'm gonna blow this wide open. The issue that currently stands in the way is having a 'working' 5.1 installation - by working I mean fully authorized and working as advertised by Mackie.

At that point, I'm gonna analyze and/or reverse-engineer the byte code to produce an EPROM for the Brain Board that's gonna plug in and 'just work'... for anyone. I'd love nothing more than to eliminate Mackie's authorization process from the mix. I really don't think this community is gonna get much 'push back' from them... hell, they hardly support us as it stands...

Resistance is NOT Futile... stay tuned, Boyz n Girlz...

Peace

[Casey_Pittman]

Where's the like button on this page!!??

-Casey

[anyhorizon]

Is the ESN on an eprom or is that a fixed chip? Only reason I ask is that if the ESN IS on an eprom, then that could be duplicated and everyone could have all the plug ins etc.

Peter

[doktor1360]

Is the ESN on an eprom or is that a fixed chip? Only reason I ask is that if the ESN IS on an eprom, then that could be duplicated and everyone could have all the plug ins etc.

Peter

It would have to be an EPROM, Peter... An EPROM can be electrically erased and re-programmed - so it tells me that somewhere in the authorization algorithm it's reading the Mackie ESN from somewhere (most likely a specific address in the EPROM's byte code), and checking it against the entered 'code' Mackie supplies for authorization. The part is actually listed on the BOM as well. This is where it gets kinda 'fuzzy' without having a working example in front of me. It makes sense (for Mackie) to burn the ESN at the factory and load the Brain Board for each desk, then you have an immutable identifier (in firmware). What's in play here is about 1-2 Mb on-board memory for the EPROM, herds of room for all manner of storage considering it's byte code; to use for storing an ESN and plausibly the Auth Code wouldn't be difficult at all. Using the OS to access (and optionally writing) this information would be Childs Play...

My personal thoughts are, IF I could look at the byte code in a Hex Editor... all bets are off Mackie. IIRC, the auth codes for the plug-ins are stored on disk w/ the OS; they 'move' with the physical boot media. Not so for the OS auth code... it would 'move' with the hardware (i.e. Brain Board EPROM). A good bit of this is obviously speculative, but I really don't think I'm that far off the mark. Time will tell... and I WILL get to the fucking bottom of this matter... sooner rather than later...

If ONLY they open-sourced that damn OS...

You knew it was coming tho, so here it is:
[Standard Mgmt Disclaimer] - "Your actual mileage may vary..."

[anyhorizon]

OK. That's possibly a bit complex for me Dok but what I was thinking was that if the ESN were inside an eprom, and that could be copied, I have all the codes for the plug ins and OS 5.1 then it would be an easy matter for all to have a full bucket for a minor charge. After all, Mackie are hardly being co-operative re this issue. You are right regarding the authorisation codes being on the HD.

Cheers,

Peter