EuroVox Max 3 (Blue Box - Clone) June Firmware Brick

[babalon]

Hello All,

Need a few posts to get access to the Downloads section, so I though I would start on my first one!

Bought a EuroVox Max 3 Blue box of ebay and recieved it on Friday... Great price at €140 delivered... Super!!!

Not to be one to RTFM, and also a constant tinkerer, I went straight for my null modem cable and flashed on the June firmware (believed it was needed in Ireland - I'm in Liexlip, N*L, and got 140 channels... yay!)... everything working smooth (although was working with the Feb software as well, hmmm!)... No problems...

Three hours or so later a message comes up on the screen and the unit powers off... strange... great, won't power back up!

At that stage I start surfing forums looking for what is happening and hey presto... clones... damn!

Will try and reflash the firmware again and see if the box is recognised, otherwise will wait on a Buffered JTag kit I bought for €30 (solderless solution... cool!) and am hoping I did not buy an expensive paperweight in the excellent, but cloned, EuroVox!

I will update this with my attempt to use the JTag with pictures and if all is well with the recovery will list the name of the guy on ebay I bought the JTag off...

All this, a rebuild of my home computer and a hangover to boot... it was not a good weekend!

Oh yeah, a few questions:
Is it okay for OEM to put this brick targeted against clones?
Would ebay sellers have to specify that their box is a clone?
Don't suppose anyone has tried to decompile the firmware dump and hex out the call to the brick section the OEM's were thoughtful enough to put in?

I know with the usage of the box, you don't really have a leg to stand on, but would be cool to find out anyway...

[ronster]

open a dispute with paypal if thats how you paid as the blokes selling cloned,fake,counterfit items and name and shame the fecker!!

[babalon]

Thanks for your speedy reply Ronster...

Not sure I can complain too much, because the ebay listing does not say it is genuine (although not stating it is a clone) and their is small print saying that software updates void the warrenty (actually the small print is a killer and pritty much squashes any comeback... updates not needed because they do not support illegal activities etc... clever guys... smarter than me! I'm swimming in the creak... forget about the paddle!).

I sent the seller an email and will await his reply (for a day anyway)... will try and reflash to see if I can get it back working in the meantime... interesting lesson on the JTag stuff anyway, although quite an expensive one!

Thanks for your advice, and I will follow it if i can't get any traction on resolution after weighing up the impact of a possible black mark on my Ebay account...

----- UPDATE -----

So, i heard back from the seller and he was fairly sound about it... said i could do what ever i wanted to try and fix the box and if i can't repair it he will cover it under warranty... that does me fine and i am happy enough now... get to learn something new which is always a good thing.

I will update this post with images of the JTag fix as there seems to be a lack of recovering cloned boxes in the forums...

[immy_2k]

just out of interest mate uf ut us a clone and had been flashed already then why does it mess up if you try to update it / dont they just use cheaper parts for the clones just a quick question

[immy_2k]

and the update for june 07 wasnt that just for the eurovox max 5 and red box and not for the blue box. i have read somwehre on this site i think that someone else tried it but it bricked theirs too not sure if they had a clone box too have u tried to re flash to an older update to c if that works. if u brick a drive or bad flashed it theres always ways to bring it back well most times similar to flashing xbox 360's so u might have just had a bad flash well hopefully. try re flashing back to an older firmware see if that helps

[ronster]

the june 07 firmware was desighned to brick clones just stay clear of this and you wont have any problems flashing,use the feb 07 blue box

[babalon]

As Ronster says... just stay away from the June firmware if you have a clone (I should have read these posts before trying).

The clone would be a cheaper imitation of the original box, so i would assume the hardware id's of certain components wouldn't match which is what the firmware would look for, and when found would block the startup section or corrupt itself...

I live away from home during the week for work, but i should be able to try the JTag method over the weekend and will post pics/results once i have had a chance...

I will also look into decompiling the firmware and hex editing it... but am not too sure how successful i will be!

[babalon]

So, The firmware flash did not work on the standard RS232... the box was not detected.

I ran the JTag last night and managed to recover my box with minimal fuss...

Plug Jtag to computer, attach to socket on MOBO and attach clip to diode, run program, and hey presto.... it's back up and running... Took three pictures:

First of bricked box
Second of JTag attached
Third of eurovox downloading







Bought the JTag kit off an ebay seller called tailor-madecircuits and worked a treat for me... Quite expensive, but i couldn't find how to make one for the eurovox anywhere...

[abb16ott]

How easy was this and did you need a longer cable for it?


Thanks

[babalon]

Sorry for the very late reply... as you can see, i am not active on this board and do not use my primary email address!

The process was easy, if not a bit fiddly! Getting the software to actually see the eurovox took some trial and error... and plugging in and out the cable from the computer a few times... could just have been the JTag i got... Then again, i am use to computers, so depends on what you are comfortable with...

The cable was plenty long... except i had to bring the vox to my computer and sit it behind it... didn't need access to cable/tv or anything, looking at the LCD was enough.

Box is still working fine, but i gave it to my parents and bought an original for myself (about 4 months ago... for eur160 shipped by the way, ebay is your friend - just read the feedback and make sure the thing is original from a reputable seller!!!... can't understand why people are paying 250 for these things around Dublin now!)