Digital Lock AR105A, B,C. Oddcircuits?

[Nifty]

I was wondering if anyone has used the following digital locks and their experience with them the AR105-A Autoreset Lock and/or the AR105-B and AR105-C Autoreset Locks. Do they work well and are they difficult to install?

[t160hq]

I was wondering if anyone has used the following digital locks and their experience with them the AR105-A Autoreset Lock and/or the AR105-B and AR105-C Autoreset Locks. Do they work well and are they difficult to install?

AR105-A
No haven't used it. So can't comment.

AR105-B

Works as advertised. Works well as a matter of fact I was impressed.
Mine had the new firmware that no longer requires the DQ7 input. Although when hooking up the lock I included the DQ7 connection anyways. It seemed to have no ill effects on operation.

I installed it on three receivers. A 301-010, 301-013, and a 3700. Hookup is different on all three models so get the correct how to for the model your installing. Not only differences on motherboard of the receiver but differences in hookup on the lock pcb for different receivers. Differences in connections for the lock pcb are greatest bewteen DP and Legacy receivers. For DP 301-010 and 013 there was no difference I could see in the lock pcb hookups. Just differences in receiver PCB hookup locations.

I did the autoreset mode for all three receivers. For the 3700 you can leave it locked to change most settings for favorites, dish setup and such. I found on the DP 301's it was best to unplug and unlock before changing settings. Mainly if I changed some settings while locked on a DP it would autoreset after saving. This may be normal can't say.

I found them easy to install. But I have a great deal of experience and the right equipment for this sort of thing. So it can be bit hard to do if it's a first time thing. You may also find it difficult if your using a rat shack 25W huge tipped pencil soldering iron. Especially on the DP series. If you have any doubt send it to oddcircuits. It's well worth the charge to install and shipping vs a useless receiver.

The wires sent with the lock are easy to break and a little hard to strip the insulation off of. But after installing them I consider them the perfect wires for the job. They slip right into the holes on the PCB traces on a 301 perfectly. That means a solid connection with little or no worries about shorting to another point. Always a good thing.

I used a external lock unlock switch and recommend it. Firmware updates for the receivers are a lot easier if you don't have to remove the cover to flip the switch.

All in all I was very pleased with the product and can highly recommed it.

I did not try the AR105-C version since it cost more and I had no need for it. As I understand it is required for the PVR units and unneeded for my models. But since it is just a AR105-B with a larger IC (memory wise) it should perform just as well.

t160hq

[mentle]

I have used the AR105a and AR 105B LOCKS. They are easy to install. Download the instructions and follow it.

[edz]

I have also used the AR105-B works nice...........

[phiberoptik]

T160hg, make sure you cut the trace/remove the resistor as required for the model of receiver. Charlie has a new ECM that will penetrate the "no trace cut" method. If you cut the trace and add the second WE# line, it adds only 2 minutes to the installation and it's 100% effective against this ECM.

He's only taken this ECM out twice to play with it that I'm aware of. Once on 11/05/03, and again during the superbowl. I call it the split write ECM because the write data ia broken down into small chunks instead of being written in one continuous string. The 153 nag is attacheed only to the last chunk.

Breaking it down into small chunks alters the time that the flash takes to enter the write cycle. It reduces the lead time into the cycle by as much as 50%, even though the command sequence to enter write mode is unchanged. Charlie's playing with the latency of enabling the flash write against the latency on resetting the receiver. You'd have to see it on a logic analyzer to fully understand it, but he can make the write begin before the receiver is fully inactive from the reset. This still disallows the actual write, but it corrupts the flash. Cutting the trace and adding the WE# TSOP line protects against this fully.

I'm working on the rewrite for the AR105-A, B, and C documentation to reflect this.

[t160hq]

No wories phiberobtik. Did the cut trace or removed resistor on every installation. To tell the truth I thought the "no trace cut" method sounded like a bad idea to me. I'm sure some people wanted it but control on my end seems prudent compared to allowing DN at least a level of input.

I also changed some connection points as well. Shorter wire runs for DQ 1, 4 and 7. Connected to pins 3, 7, and 10 of U20. For the XX00 receivers.

t160hq

[ThoughtStream]

I also like to solder the rest to the Diode by the card slot instead of the little capacitor. I'm always a little leary of those surface mount components coming off of the board. The Diode works fine and is a LARGE solder point. I love these little locks and they are inexpensive. I'd like to be able to put them on a 3000 and a 3200 also though. Haven't been able to confirm that they will work though.
Thoughtstream

[phiberoptik]

I don't have a 2700 in front of me at the moment, but I'll tell you how to get your answer. Take an ohm meter and take a reading with the unit unplugged from power. If the resistance between the reset point shown and the one you want to use is 0 ohms, then you can use it. If the resistance is higher, then you can't use it.

I've heard that they do work on the greyboxes, but I'm not going to suggest that you use it for that. If the lock doesn't work on a 3000, you have a bev 3000, it'll never work on dish again by any practical means.

This is why I decided from the very beginning not to support the greybox units. We help plenty of people recover from pooched lock installations on jtaggable receivers. The tech support email usually begins with "hook up your jtag and..."

What would I tell the guy who just ruined his 3000 because he didn't hook up the lock right? He'll blame the lock rather than accept that he did the damage himself. At least I can help the guy with the black box, 301, or PVR.....

[t160hq]

ThoughtStream i was thinking the same thing myself. Got a 4500 I wanted to try out one on. Though it has two TSOP's so I may have to use two locks to make it work.

I figgure if works on a 2700 it should work on a 3000 as well. Used the same single IC locks on both when they still worked way back when. Still work with those single ic locks currently on the 3000 and 4500 I have now except you have to cut power to reset.

On the 3200 why put a lock on it. They have never been hit in my experience. At least the one I have in operation has never been locked and has survived every hit sent down.

t160hq

[t160hq]

What would I tell the guy who just ruined his 3000 because he didn't hook up the lock right? He'll blame the lock rather than accept that he did the damage himself. At least I can help the guy with the black box, 301, or PVR.....

Phiberoptik I have half a dozen of these boat anchor (door stop) grey box receivers laying about. You'll never get that kind of email from me. LOL.

But you are right, not a area you want to go to. Stick to the jtag units. At least they can be saved in a worst case senerio.

In the mean time i'm gonna play around with a few just to do it. I'm in it for the hobby. Couldn't care less about watching this tv stuff. Already burned out at least 6 receivers of various models trying stuff out. Cam's I have had better luck with. Only killed 4 of those.

t160hq

[xenawise]

phiberoptik, I have a few of these grayboxes that I am willing to play with. Made a EEPROM programmer and found some old documentation on reading the boxkeys. Will get a DIP version of the TSOP to use if need be. Just updated a 4000 in the stream to the latest software so I guess they are still sending down the updates for the 4000 model at least (I think they are all pretty much 4000 units now as far as the software is concerned). So, I just want to know if it is possible to use the 105B lock in the 4000/4500 units and even use the reset function (there is a place for the reset switch on the board). Please PM me if you get the chance, I can hook-up all the points, just wondering if the timings and how they write to the flash on these models is compatible with the 105B. Or should I just build some old digi-locks with no autoreset? In any case, I want to play with these old dogs as I have a few. Please, let me know. Thanks!

P.S. Have been using your AR105B's and they are working fantastic in DP301's and 2800's! Thanks for the work on these! It's appreciated!

[phiberoptik]

****This is experimental only, it's not a supported install method. Use it at your own risk. ****

The facts are that the AR105-A, AR105-B, and AR105-C will work fine as a conventional lock on the greybox receivers.

Leave the CE#, Eeprom, and Reset lines disconnected on the lock. Make the rest of the connecions to the same points and use the same trace cuts as you would any other lock on a greybox receiver. The 4000 and the 4500 will require two locks, just like any other lock install to these units.

The new flashes for the AR105-B and AR105-C do not require DQ7, but they do require DQ1 and DQ4 not to be interchanged with each other. This is critical.

The research has never been done to hook up the autoreset and eeprom functions on greyboxes. I don't know if CE# is required or if it can simply be connected to WE# CPU like a 301 model. If you want to experiment, you'll really need to pull the data sheet for the flash chip and locate a point on the receiver to connect CE# to try it.

The reset point can be found with an ohm meter. With the receiver unplugged from power, measure the resistance between the card slot pins and ground. The one you're looking for will have a 0 ohm connection to ground with the card removed and will open up when the card is fully inserted.

Always use 3.3V power for VCC on the lock. You should be able to pick up 3.3V from a decoupling cap near the RAM chip.

This is not offcial Oddcircuits tech support material. The greyboxes are unsupported and will remain unsupported. This is only for the adventurous testers who want to play with these locks on the greyboxes, so if you get the install wrong and pooch your receiver, you were warned ahead of time...

Phiberoptik

[bring12345]

On the 3200 why put a lock on it. They have never been hit in my experience. At least the one I have in operation has never been locked and has survived every hit sent down.

t160hq

Thats great news! I just received a 3200 from my friend who had it exsubbed with a rom2. gave me both. so you have full open 3m on the card and the receiver has been able to withstand the past ECMs?

[t160hq]

Currently running a multi OB tier along with the usual Movie channels, locals, sports and such.

Never touched in the last ECM. As a matter of fact it is the only receiver in my inventory that was not hit. Including my 7100 and 7200 recievers.

t160hq

[skinerd]

ThoughtStream i was thinking the same thing myself. Got a 4500 I wanted to try out one on. Though it has two TSOP's so I may have to use two locks to make it work.

I figgure if works on a 2700 it should work on a 3000 as well. Used the same single IC locks on both when they still worked way back when. Still work with those single ic locks currently on the 3000 and 4500 I have now except you have to cut power to reset.

On the 3200 why put a lock on it. They have never been hit in my experience. At least the one I have in operation has never been locked and has survived every hit sent down.

t160hq


Don't know why you would need 2 locks, sure there are 2 tsops, but only write line from the CPU.

[t160hq]

Thought the same myself till my 4500 got hit on the second TSOP.

They have independant WE lines one for each TSOP.

The only reason I can think of for building it that way is the two TSOP ic's are different sizes. Unlike models like the 301 where dual IC models are the same size.

t160hq