boxkey2

[fifthwind]

I am trying to extract boxkeys from a 4500 using boxkey2. When I run the program, all I get is IRD=0000 and Boxkey=000000000000. I have checked my dongle wiring 3 times, it is correct according to the schematic that came with the program. I have ran the program in a dos window, as well as pure dos, same results both ways. My 5v supply is good. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong? Do I need to change something in the bios setup for my parallel port? Getting frustrated. Thanks in advance from another dave refugee.

[nagolcj]

I've been looking at the instructions for doing this myself and noticed an inconsistency between the schematics and the BKREADME.TXT file. The schematics show DB25 pin 1 going to TSOP pin 10 and DB25 pin 17 going to TSOP pin 12. The BKREADME states the reverse -- DB25 pin 1 going to TSOP pin 12 and DB25 pin 17 going to TSOP pin 10.

I don't know which is right but it's possible that following the readme vs the schematics might solve your problem. I'd be very interested in knowing the outcome...

[fifthwind]

Thanks for the reply. I'll try that tonight when I get home from work, and I'll post the results. Thanks again.

[fifthwind]

Still no good with pin 10 and 12 swapped. I'm giving up on boxkey2. I may try to read key using the voltmeter method. Or, I may just scrap this unit and get a JTAG-able one. (this 4500 was a freebie)

Has anyone had success with boxkey2 ??????

Has anyone had success using the voltmeter method ?????

[grubciu]

I tried the boxkey2 method on my 3000 and 4500 which did not work for me eather. What I think my problem was is that I've made my wires too long - over 3 ft. Did not follow the wire lengths according to the instructions. Are all your wires under 12 inches?

[grubciu]

I also tried the voltmeter method with which I have fried both of my receivers (I think since the light will not come on)

[fifthwind]

Update: I finally got my 4500 running after 4 weeks. I'll try to explain what I did. Maybe this will help someone out there.

I desoldered U19 (flash1 tsop) and threw it in the trash. I installed a 34 pin dip socket at location U19. I moved surface mount resistor (R178, but not sure) to the empty surface mount resistor spot next to R178. I purchased a AMD 29F040 DIP chip and put it in the socket.

I desoldered and removed U23 (flash2, 29F010 DIP) and installed a 34 pin DIP socket. Put the chip in the socket.

I removed the 8 pin surface mount eeprom and threw it in the trash. I took a 8 pin DIP socket and soldered little wires to the legs and soldered the other end of the wires to the surface mount pads for the eeprom. Then I glued the socket to the board. I purchased a 24LC16B DIP eeprom and put it in the socket.

Now I have flash1, flash2, and eeprom all DIP chips in sockets.

Next, I downloaded a public flash dump for model 4500 with my build config.. I used flashedit to patch IRD and boxkey to flash1. Now, you may be asking, how did you get boxkey since you threw the original tsop in the trash. My buddy gave me his ex-subbed ROM3 card. Of course it was locked. I used rompopper to unlock, and then read card with NE. Now I had a matching IRD and boxkey. The card was originally married to model 1000 IRD, so I didn't know if it would work, but to my surprise it worked. I also used flashedit to create a virgin eeprom bin.

At this point I had flash1.bin, flash2.bin and eeprom.bin all on a floppy disc. I had to figure out how to program the 3 chips out of circuit. Well, fortunate for me, I have access to a very expensive (thousands of dollars) chip programmer. This programmer will do about every programmable chip known to man. It programs chips out of circuit. It supports all 3 chips. Most people will not have acces to such a programmer, but I think there are schematics and software out there that will allow you to program these chips thru the parallel or serial port of your computer.

I put the three programmed chips back in the sockets in the IRD. If my IRD gets hit, I can just remove the chips and reprogram them.

I am running emulation with a homemade max/mel internal. Going strong after 9 days.

I'm not sure cause I haven't tried yet, but I think this method will work on any of the "greybox" units.

The funny part of this story is that after 4 weeks of struggling thru this 4500, 2 days after I got it up and running, I found a 4900(JTAGable) at a yard sale. Go figure. Had the 4900 up and running in a couple of hours.

My conclusion: GET A JTAG IRD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nagolcj]

I tried the boxkey2 routine today & came up with the same results - all zeros. Wires weren't too long (~18 inches) and all soldering was good.

I was reading in the voltage method of retrieving boxkeys that some TSOPs may have problems with 5V and to put a couple of diodes to reduce it to 3.3V...has anyone tried this with the boxkey2 proggie?

Something else I noticed, boxkey2 found a parallel port at 3BC (it was actually at 378) so I switched it in the PC's BIOS but it didn't help. One mistake I might have made was leaving it as an ECP port. Ran out of time to test whether or not this made any difference.

Has anyone actually had any success following the installation instructions/ boxkey2 program or am I just pissing in the wind? I know the 4500 is a dinosaur etc etc, but I'd really like to get this working.

[xenawise]

Question, I have found two methods of getting the boxkeys out of the receiver. Now you all mention the BoxKey2 program, and the one that I am thinking of the .exe file is just called boxkey.exe. So, what program are you using? Can someone post an attachment so I can take a look see? I am getting ready to do some work on a 4000 and 4500 IRD and plan on using both methods to see what I get. I will be making a simple EEPROM programmer so that I can program and read the 29F040 TSOP. Just curious as to what software and hardware you guys are using...

[nagolcj]

There's another version of boxkey called, strangely enough, boxkey2. It's in the file downloads section. Not sure which works better (or at all for that matter) but I couldn't get boxkey2 to work -- next step is the original boxkey program and if that doesn't work I'm going to try the voltmeter option.

If that doesn't work I'm going to frisbee the stupid receiver out the window.