destroyed 1MB section while repartitioning

[walkAbout]

Hi all,

I'm a brand new phatbox user. Just purchased it overseas in the US.
I connected the DMS to my PC and after not ejecting the DMS and a pull out both partitions went corrupt and my whole pc went slow, when connected.
Unfortunately I did not only reformat the PHTSYS-partion, but deleted this partition and created it new. Now my PHTSYS is 261MB in size, cause it grabbed the unallocated 1MB at the beginning of the disk, as I read here and in phathacks wiki.

I know how to restore the partition like it was before, but how do I get the signature back to the 1MB section, so that my phatbox will recognize the dms again. Until now only flickering green light.  

My question to you is, can somebody send me his/her disk dump from the 1MB section and will my phatbox accept this signature? Or is the signature unique on each pair DMS/phatbox. I guess no, otherwise spare-DMS wont work.

Many thanks in advance
walkAbout

[S80_UK]

Hi,

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

If you really did repartition the drive so that the initial space on the drive was no longer reserved, then I am afraid that there is no way to recover the information unless you already took an image of that area.  The drive signature which is part of the data within that space is tied to the physical hard disk and so cannot simply be copied from another drive.

The simplest solution would be to borrow an original DMS cartrige from someone in order to apply the hack to your Phatbox.  Then, it will be possible to use a drive without a signature, such as the one that you now have.  This procedure should not affect the DMS that you borrow and that can be returned to it's owner.

It was not clear from your post - where are you based? Which country, region?

[sbingner]

I believe you may be able to mail the DMS to phatnoise and have them fix it for you also, but they may charge.   Hacking your box is of course the simplest solution assuming you can locate a valid DMS.

[walkAbout]

Thanks for your answers.
If both are tied, then I have to mail the box and the DMS together, I guess? Oh, what a sh**. I'm located in Germany. I think I will get additional trouble with customs then, a long time until it is here again and the charge.

I have a friend 200km away from my location, with a phatbox.
So I have to get his signature with the phathack.iso and then put this on my DMS with the same boot-cd and hack the mentioned files on my DMS? Thats why I asked, if anybody can send the image to me per email.

I think this will be really the easiest way.

Is the separate space just unallocated or a hidden 1MB partition. I assume unallocated.

And just got this answer from phatnoise:

You will have to purchase a new DMS or send in your DMS for repair.
Please note that we charge a $25 assessment fee plus return shipping.

If I just purchase a new DMS, how can this be tied with my box?
I believe the sigs are all the same, the box is looking only for the sig. So I have only to restore the image from a working DMS and thats it.
But this is all to new to me. Let's see.

CU
walkAbout

[S80_UK]

So I have to get his signature with the phathack.iso and then put this on my DMS with the same boot-cd and hack the mentioned files on my DMS? Thats why I asked, if anybody can send the image to me per email.

Sorry - You have not understood correctly.  The signature area on the hard disk is tied to the disk.  So even if someeone sends you the image it will not help you, since it will be for their disk, not for yours.  Like I said in my earlier message, you need to borrow a good DMS so that your Phatbox can be hacked.  After that, the signature is not needed.  

Is the separate space just unallocated or a hidden 1MB partition. I assume unallocated.

The hidden area is not set up as a partition.  It is before the first partition, and so it is not visible to normal operating systems.

You will have to purchase a new DMS or send in your DMS for repair.
Please note that we charge a $25 assessment fee plus return shipping.

A charge of $25 sounds not too bad, but I don't know about the customs situation in Germany.  

If I just purchase a new DMS, how can this be tied with my box?
I believe the sigs are all the same, the box is looking only for the sig. So I have only to restore the image from a working DMS and thats it.
But this is all to new to me.

The signature area on the hard disk does not tie the DMS to the Phatbox.  So any good DMS can work in any box.

I suggest you read a lot more on this forum before you make a decision - it will help your understanding.  I am sure that there are some more owners in Germany who could help you.

[markbowen]

If you cannot for some reason borrow a good DMS, I would NOT suggest sending yours to Phatnoise.  They will charge a ridiculous amount for return shipping.  I once asked them about shipping a USB2 cradle overseas, and they quoted me $160 just for the shipping cost.

So, if necessary, the cheaper alternative would be to buy a new DMS off eBay.  You can find a 10GB DMS for as little as $50.  I think the most eBay sellers charge for overseas post on such an item might be $25.

[sbingner]

I have a friend 200km away from my location, with a phatbox

Your best bet is getting your friend to use his DMS to hack your phatbox using the hack from here.  Once that is completed, you'll be able to use ANY hard drive in it including your original DMS that you broke.  While he's at it he should hack his so that if his DMS breaks sometime he can use any laptop drive to replace it.

NOTE: You WILL need his original DMS to do this, an image is useless since the signed data on the DMS includes the serial number, so the signature only works on the DMS that was signed.

[walkAbout]

Hi,

thanks for your suggestions.
I read through the wiki, and I understand now a lot more.
As they crippled the DMS only for their profit, I will not support it and will hack my box. As I organized a meeting for our Audi-community, I will meet a second friend with a phatbox in October.

My understanding is the following:
- I will put in his DMS to my box to get it working the first time
- I will then put the flash update for the box on his DMS (will make a complete backup of his PHTSYS first)
- I update my internal flash with his DMS
- I copy his DMS with the Phathack.iso over to my damaged (burned and tried the cd already)
- then my DMS and any other 2.5" drive will work in my box

- if he doesn't like to have a hacked box, I replace the PHTSYS-backup back to his DMS, before putting it back in his box
- otherwise I put in his DMS without the backup in his box and his internal flash will be hacked too

I think you understand, that I will make really sure, that nothing happens to his phatnoise system. Most users will not be willing to hand you out the DMS for such modifications cause it is dangerous, especially, if they have no technical background.

A couple questions are left:
- when my DMS breaks in the future, can I simply restore the 1MB.bin to a new drive with the pahthack.iso? So I will never need an original DMS?
- if my friend decides to update his internal flash too, do I only leave him the 1MB.bin for future replacing the disk in DMS?

- is it still possible to upgrade the firmware from the official site after the modifications?

NOTE: You WILL need his original DMS to do this, an image is useless since the signed data on the DMS includes the serial number, so the signature only works on the DMS that was signed.

So why not change the serial (of the hdd, or whatever serial it is) to the same like the original DMS has? There are programs around, that can easily change hdd serial numbers. But then we have to know what serial they are using.

CU
walkAbout

[sbingner]

Overall, what you said is correct except:

I copy his DMS with the Phathack.iso over to my damaged (burned and tried the cd already)

This step should be un-necessary, you can just put in your DMS as it is.  It should work once the hack is applied.

A couple questions are left:
- when my DMS breaks in the future, can I simply restore the 1MB.bin to a new drive with the pahthack.iso? So I will never need an original DMS?

You never need the original, and you also won't need the 1MB.bin -- all you need is a properly partitioned drive.  The 1MB gap before the first partition is not even necessary anymore.  

- if my friend decides to update his internal flash too, do I only leave him the 1MB.bin for future replacing the disk in DMS?

He won't need anything to replace it later.   He can just put a new drive in, and use the DMS-repair or hack CD to format it.  Once that is completed he would be able to use PMM to load software on it.

The current hack removes ALL the boot checking, the original versions still needed the signatures but that has been corrected in the latest versions.

- is it still possible to upgrade the firmware from the official site after the modifications?

Yes, it is.  As long as phatnoise does not put in some code to check for hacked boxes you'll be fine with it.   What that updates is completely separate from what we update.

[walkAbout]

You saved my day. It is easier then I thought then.  8-)
Now I understand completely. No 1MB space needed anymore after hacking the internal flash. So I can just input my prepared DMS without sig, after flashing with the original one and start listening. Pretty cool.

Thanks for all the explanations.

walkAbout

[walkAbout]

Overall, what you said is correct except:

I copy his DMS with the Phathack.iso over to my damaged (burned and tried the cd already)

This step should be un-necessary, you can just put in your DMS as it is.  It should work once the hack is applied.

I just thought it will need also the 1MB sig, cause in wiki it says:

You must write the first 1 meg of the original DMS onto the new DMS. Use dd...

Thats, why I wanted to write it to my damaged...

CU
walkAbout

[judb]

Since the wiki was created it hasn't been updated to reflect some of the more recent patch changes which remove the 1 meg sig requirement that was there previously.

[walkAbout]

Thanks for your comments.
So I'm only a couple minutes away from my working phatbox, when I'll meet my friend.

walkAbout

[walkAbout]

Hi again,

just wanted to let you know, that everything went fine and quickly.
Just copied the patch to my friends DMS. Inserted it to my system, flashed, put in my "damaged" DMS, it updated the firmware to the latest, as I had a newer on my DMS and started playing music.

I just want to say thanks again, I'm really lucky now.

When I will have paypal account once, I will make a donation.

CU
walkAbout