Why do I have to re-load my HU firmware everytime?

[todd1010]

I've got an Audi/VW Phatbox and I know there's some issues with the patch. So is this why "EVERYTIME" I need to make a change in PMM or somewhere else like voice tags with Phatvoice. I'll have to format my PHTSYS partition, open PMM re-load the head unit firmware, just to get the NEW HD DMS to work. I'm getting sick of having to do it this way because I'm always tweaking and making things right with ID tags and what not.

Can someone shed some light on my problem and help me fix it?

To let you know my NEW HD will work because I've used it and have ALL of my music on it. So I know the patch is done. What is my next step? Please note that I'm not much of a computer guy, so please explain in layman's terms please.

Also, if I've got to run the patch again and possibly format/partiton the drive, is there a way to copy/backup my music that's on the hard drive so I don't have to manually do it?

[Genesis]

You can use the patch disk to do a reformat/recover on the new DMS, then put it in and let PMM recognize it.

You will need to put the firmware back on it, then remove the "forceupdate" file.

This should work - my disk does not need to be dorked with whenever I put new music on it.

[judb]

I don't know what the deal is.. the drive was correctly partitioned and whatnot.. I know it for a fact.  Now why its acting up, I can't explain.

I suggest formatting the phtsys partition (as FAT32) which you can do in windows... then load the firmware back on the drive again.  this should not require you to redo anything with copying your music.

Get the firmware from downloads.phathack.com and get the most recent one for your car.  Don't use PMM for it.  extract all 4 zip files onto your phtsys partition.

That SHOULD work.

[todd1010]

Yeah I've been using PMM to load the firmware. And then I delete the "forceupdate" file and "forcesettings" if that one exists. I'll try downloading the firmware from phathacks and see if that works!

[todd1010]

I tried unzipping the head unit files to the PHTSYS partition and then ejecting the DMS. And I get the same thing happening!

Let me ask you this; once the firmware is loaded and I go into the phatbox.ini file and make some changes to the "audioid" lines. Would/could that do something? Also at that same time before I eject I copy my "plugins" folder to the PHTSYS partition.

[A543]

You should recreate your DMS one more time and leave it bone stock. Don't edit any ini files, don't use phatvoice, don't copy your plugins over. Don't make any mods at all. Don't even add any playlists, just use the default one that PMM creates. I'd say DO let the firmware update one more time.  Then see if it works.  If it does come inside and make one small change. Maybe change a playlist or add a playlist. Try it. If it works make another small change. Maybe try copying your plugins this time. Try it. If that works try SOME ini mods. Try it....etc, etc.  When it stops working, you've found the problem. If it doesn't work bone stock, then I would guess you have a bad box, maybe a bad cable, or possibly a virus messing with things.

[Genesis]

I think he's managing to touch something that needs a .sig file, and thus mangling the box's idea of what's "ok".

[todd1010]

You should recreate your DMS one more time and leave it bone stock. Don't edit any ini files, don't use phatvoice, don't copy your plugins over. Don't make any mods at all. Don't even add any playlists, just use the default one that PMM creates. I'd say DO let the firmware update one more time.  Then see if it works.  If it does come inside and make one small change. Maybe change a playlist or add a playlist. Try it. If it works make another small change. Maybe try copying your plugins this time. Try it. If that works try SOME ini mods. Try it....etc, etc.  When it stops working, you've found the problem. If it doesn't work bone stock, then I would guess you have a bad box, maybe a bad cable, or possibly a virus messing with things.

Well I went and did what you asked and loaded the firmware without ANY modifications what so ever. Verified that it worked in the car. Brought it back into the house, docked it and copied over my "plugins" folder to the PHTSYS partition and device ejected it. Took it to the car and it would not boot up, said NO CD.  

I then put the DMS back in the cradle and removed the "plugins" folder that I just put in and then ejected it. Took it to the car and it worked fine.

So, now that I've narrowed it down to that my plugins folder not allowing my DMS to boot. How do I get my plugins back on my NEW DMS?

[bushing]

So, now that I've narrowed it down to that my plugins folder not allowing my DMS to boot. How do I get my plugins back on my NEW DMS?

This is probably going to require either A. a hacked aadec to authorize the plugins, or B. more cleanly (+ less sketchily), a new version of the hdparm program which lies about what your hard drive's id number is.

(The plugins are tied to the DMS, I believe -- you would have had this problem if you bought a new DMS from PhatNoise, too.)

-b

[A543]

Actually the plugins are linked to the box they were installed on, not the hard drive.  Each CPU has it's own unique serial number and the plugins use a routine similar to the hard drive sig to lock a plugin to a specific box/cpu combo.
If the plugin was originally installed on this box, then it should work, assuming all of the files are copied intact.  If it's a different box than the original one the plugin came from, it probably won't work without a hacked aadec.

[todd1010]

all i did was copy my "plugins" folder from my ORIGINAL DMS to my new home made DMS. So the plugins folder is linked to my official DMS.

[bushing]

Actually the plugins are linked to the box they were installed on, not the hard drive.

Can you support this assertion?

-b

[judb]

I agree with the plugins being tied to the box...

When you install the plugins they look at the "DMS usage history"  aka the boxid log files that are created and contain the CPU serial number and lot code for the type of phatbox you have.

I also was able to use my plugin folder from my original DMS on my new DMS with no issues. (well in one keg, not the other, the plugins dont work there.

[todd1010]

So do you think there will be some way to eventually use the plugins on the new DMS?

So me copying my plugins folder over to the new DMS, has been the cause of ALL of my booting issues. Well at least we know now that the plugins folder causes issues. Now, since finding the issue I have been able to run Phatvoice and make changes in the phatbox.ini file with no problems.

[judb]

Try copying the files over, without the plugin.dat

AND also do one plugin directory at a time and see if you can find which plugin is screwing you up.

[A543]

Also, just to be certain, does the original DMS with the plugins folder on it still work ok?
I'm assuming you're copying the folder to the new DMS from a backup of some kind, as opposed to directly from DMS to DMS, so, have you tried making a new backup of the folder and then copying it to the new DMS, just to make sure the first copy wasn't corrupted somehow?
Lastly, you might try making a bootload.log by copying any old text file that's at least 8k in size to the PHTSYS root and renaming it bootload.log.  Try the DMS and then post your bootload.log results.