VW Phatbox hacked - was working fine now not

[vwsteve]

I've hacked my Phatbox (VW version 5.01 firmware) in August 2009. Tucked away the original 20G DMS for safe keeping and created a new 30G DMS from a blank drive.  Loaded music onto the new 30G DMS and all was working great until this week.  Then the head unit reported no magazine.  Popped out the 30G and plugged the 20G original DMS back in an all is well.  Plug the 30G back in and it's a no-go.  So I thought somehow the 30G must have crashed, so I deleted the partitions and created a new DMS using the same method I did in August with the PhatHack DMS Tools for Windows version 2.10.  No-go.  The tools state it's created a new DMS and all is well, but when I pop the new DMS into the Phatbox unit the Red light comes on, then the green light comes on for 1 second, off for 1 second, then back on blinky at a very fast rate forever (more that 1 hour).  If I pop the original DMS back in all is well.  I did notice that the linux file in the phtsys folder is of a different size than is in the phathack tools directory.  I read that this could be an indication the non-lba version of linux is on the DMS.  I've tried copying the version in the phathack tools directory to the DMS phtsys folder but still just get blinky lights.  All the time the headend unit reports no CD.
Should I re-hack the phatbox unit using the original DMS drive?  I've also tried a 40G drive to fix my issues thinking perhaps the 30G is physically bad but that made no difference either.  All this debugging too, I've unplugged the phatbox unit from the wiring harness since VW's phatbox's pretty much stay powered.  I've actually pulled the fuse to the headend unit as well.  Getting frustrated with the whole deal.  Was real happy from August through October.  Any help/offerings/assistance/suggestions is greatly appreciated.

vwsteve

[markbowen]

If the Phatbox was successfully hacked, as it appears it was, there is no need to run the hack again -- unless the hack was unsuccessful, and it only worked as a fluke with the non-orginal DMS, which is extremely unlikely.

You wrote that you used version 2.10 of the Phathack tools.  2.12 is the latest version, and that's what you should use. 

You also wrote that the PB originally had firmware version 5.01.  The last VW firmware version is 7.02.  After you ran the hack, which version of the firmware did you load onto the new DMS?  Did you ever flash the PB with 7.02 firmware?

These points aside, usually when a DMS goes from working to not working, the drive is failing.  It's even possible that the 40GB drive is failing too, by coincidence.  I've had two DMS drives fail, and it seems the PB is more sensitive to drive faults.  Whatever else you might need to do, I suggest you run a full disk check (with surface scan) on whichever drive you intend to use as a DMS.

[vwsteve]

My mistake on the phathack tools...I am using 2.12.  I never updated the VW Phatbox to 7.x but rather kept it at the 5.01 firmware the box came with.  As I said, the original dms works fine, just can't create a new dms.  I'm sifting through other folks problems to see if I see a clue.  The green light just blinks forever.  I know you shouldn't do this, but yanking the dms out while the green light is blinking makes no difference, the box continues to blink.  Going to load up the rc.zip stuff and see what the log files say.

[VorTechS]

When you created the new DMS, was the option 'Install non-hacked firmward' checked?
Anything in the 'CreateNewDMS' log file in My Documents\PhatHack Media Manager\Logs?

You mentioned a different version of linux.  Unless the v5.01 ended up having a different version the LBA version of linux should only have been deployed if the tools saw the drive as being > 120GB.  Again, take a look in the tools log files and you should get an indication of whether or not this was the case.

The other thing, just in case, make sure you have some music on the DMS.  I think the tools does do it for you .... but it wouldn't hurt to check.

Otherwise the RC logs are definately a good route to go.

[VorTechS]

It might also be worth checking the box itself, for any loose internal connections.  It seems to be something cropping up more and more recently.

[vwsteve]

never checked any boxes to install a non-hacked os.  I have tried to put music on the new dms and the media manager does it without any issues, but again the phatbox unit is a no go.  The rc debugging revealed the following;

PhatNoise, Inc. - Welcome to the Phatnoise Car Audio System05.60:phatd:main      : Media Daemon (phatd) $Revision: 1.164 $
05.61:phatd:main      : Debug level = 10
Selected profile is: Default
05.84:phatd:main      : Corrupted /dos/exec.ini
05.60:phatd:main      : Media Daemon (phatd) $Revision: 1.164 $
05.61:phatd:main      : Debug level = 10
Selected profile is: Default
05.84:phatd:main      : Corrupted /dos/exec.ini
05.60:phatd:main      : Media Daemon (phatd) $Revision: 1.164 $
05.61:phatd:main      : Debug level = 10

My guess is the ini file is corrupted... going to compare the version on the new dms with the one in the hacking tools next

[vwsteve]

 ok...so copying the exec.ini file made no difference.. the file on the dms and in the phathack directory were identical.  So I went back and used the dos tools..First I removed the two partitions from the dms using XP's disk management tool then I ran the newdms.bat file from the dmsutils (not sure where I got these from, but I'm sure from this site..where else?).  This basically reformatted the drives with the two partitions with nothing on them.  Then I manually added version_5_0_1_vw_firmware.zip files to the phtsys folder.  Plugged this into the phatbox unit and things were looking good.  RED LED then Green LED on then off then back on for about second then both LEDs off....perfect!  That's how the original DMS behaves.  Of course no music is on on the new dms at the moment and I get a NO-CD on the headunit, but I know the drive boots.  So in the house I go...put the drive in the cradle and launch the windows phathack dms v2.12 tools to repair the phtsys folder.  Put the dms back into the phatbox and no go.. green blinky light!!!.  So, I put the new DMS back into the cradle and copied over all the version_5_0_1_vw_firmware.zip files then launched PMM to add a song or two.  Disconnected from PMM and cradle and back into the phatbox the new DMS went.  Guess what?  Works like a champ!! 

Conclusion, something is up with v2.12 windows tools (I think).  The good news is I am back up and not listening to commercial radio any longer.  Many thanks for everyone who replied and for other folks who posted similar issues that gave me ideas on what to debug.  Great forum.  Phatbox is a great unit and will miss it when it dies someday.

[VorTechS]

The problem I think is that you were not unchecking the install non-hacked firmware check box, which meant the original firmware was being used and failing because certain files need our hacked variants.

[vwsteve]

could be, but each time I made sure the non-hacked firmware box was unchecked and the reflash was unchecked too... certainly was odd for sure.  good thing all is running....thanks for the assistance.

[VorTechS]

I'd still be interested in taking a look over the logs in 'My Documents\PhatHack Media Manager\Logs', something may have screwed up and be identifiable from there....

[vwsteve]

I've attached a zip file that has the two txt files with the same date/times as when I launched the phatbox hack tools (v2.12) and when I clicked the fix/repair.  Let me know if anything pops out at you.  I know when I copied over the files manually, after I did the fix and the dms stopped working in the phatbox, only one file was different (different size).  All the other files I copied over manually from the firmware zip file were the same as what was on the dms drive.

[VorTechS]

What was the file that was different?

[vwsteve]

being in a hurry I didn't write down the file name.  I don't believe it was a ini file and from memory it wasn't a real small file either.  I'm still loading up music on this dms. When this task is done, I'm going to retrace my steps using my 30G drive and I'll write down which file was different.  I'll post by tomorrow I hope.

[vwsteve]

Ok, retraced my steps with creating a 30G dms cartridge.
1. using XP I removed both partitions from the 'dirty' drive that I'd be using for as my 'new' dms drive.
2. Plugged drive into cradle and launched Phathack DMS tools v2.12.
3. Selected DMS tools mode - Create New DMS.  Assured all four available check box options were cleared
4. Selected VW Version 5.01 firmware (that's what I've been using and happy with it)
5. About 7 minutes later, message received on the Phathack DMS tools that the new drive was created.
6. Unplugged drive from cradle and plugged into phatbox.  No go, fast green blinky LED forever.
7. Plugged drive back in to cradle then manually copied and compared the files from the version_5_0_1_vw_firmware.zip downloaded from this site with the files on the DMS cartridge.  The following files were different;
a. phatwma ( 575676 bytes on dms, 176260 on zip file)
b. phatwma.sig (244 bytes on dms, 248 bytes on zip file)
c. aadec (2756 bytes on dms, 341836 bytes on zip file)
d. aadec.sig (241 bytes on dms, 243 bytes on zip file)
e. exec.ini (309 bytes on dms, 304 bytes on zip file)
f. exec.sig (242 bytes on dms, 241 bytes on zip file)
g. forceupdate (not on dms, 0 bytes on zip file)

8. Plugged drive back into phatbox and after two or three minutes the LED stopped blinking and the dms booted correctly. 

What I didn't realize is that I didn't delete the forceupdate from the drive prior to putting it into the phatbox.  Perhaps that's the difference why the drive boots correctly.  Not sure why the files are different sizes.  My next step will be to recreate again and make sure I delete the forceupdate file before plugging back into the phatbox.

[VorTechS]

Forceupdate should not have been installed if the options 'Reflash box' was checked, so that's interesting.
Can we have the latest CreateNewDMS log file?

But then it booted and worked??  Very odd....

[vwsteve]

here's the log file you were asking about.  I zipped it up.  Looks like this file keeps an one going history of creation of dms's.  Let me know what you find out... you're right, very odd.  The first time I did all this, at the time of the original hacking, I followed the v.2.12 instructions to the letter and no issues.  I've documented what I did so far in case I have troubles again but would really be interested in why the departure from the normal in creating my dms's.  No big hurry at the moment since I'm back up and running.

[VorTechS]

Just out of interest, were you creating a new DMS and performing the hack at the same time?

[VorTechS]

I just looked at the log file, and there's no mention of the 'forceupdate' file at all!
Something just doesn't make sense!

LOL

[vwsteve]

I agree, it doesn't make sense.  When I created the new DMS I used XP to delete any partitions on the DMS, basically wiping the drive.  Then I launched the windows based hacking tools version 2.12 and created a NEW DMS.  The hacking tool goes through it's gyrations and after a few minutes I get a message on the lower right side of the application window stating the drive was made.  This is all done with none of the check box options to create a new DMS checked (no force update, etc.).  Then I plug the drive into the phatbox unit and the green LED will blink all day long.  Take the dms out of the phatbox, plug it back into the cradle.  Shut down the windows based hacking tools and manually copy the contents of the .zip file that I downloaded manually from this website, plug the drive back into the phatbox unit and the green LED will blink for about 5 minutes and then the phatbox boots.

I agree, very strange.  But I've now duplicated this behavior twice.  I am reluctant to update the phatbox firmware to anything beyond 5.01 that is on the box now, but maybe that's the issue.  At the moment, I ok with my work around (ie manually copying the contents).

[VorTechS]

Are you sure your box is hacked, you definately heard the 'Your box in unlocked' message after running the hack?

What you describe, sounds very much the non-hacked firmware was applied after hacked firmware (no check box on 'install non-hacked firmware' = install hacked firmware which won't work on a non-hacked box).

You're up and running now, when I get some more time to devote to getting the new version of the tools up and running, perhaps we can go this process with newer firmware to get to the bottom of it...  but this will be some time away yet!