Can't update firmware, install AAC; Also, is my stuff hacked already?

[somedude]

Hello everyone,
Over the weekend I acquired a used PhatNoise audio system for my 2000 Audi A6. I installed it in the car, turned it on, and listed to some of the tunes left over from the previous owner (who I believe had a similar Audi with most likely the same radio - Audi Symphony with in-dash CD player).

Here are the things that keep me up at night:

The DMS I got is model DMS-020G rev B. I imagine from the numbers that's supposed to be 20GB in size, however, it's actually 40GB (as reported by the computer). I imagine someone hacked it and replaced the 20GB HD with a 40GB model. Would that be a correct assumption?

The firmware version information my radio recited back to me about the PhatNoise system installed in the car is something like 39xx.7 if I recall correctly (I don't remember the other numbers; the ones mentioned, I'm certain of). I downloaded the awesome DMS Tools 2.12 software and tried to update the firmware. I started with the non-hacked version 7.02. DSM Tools reported the operation as completing successfully. I took the DSM back in the car, turned on the radio, watched the green and red LEDs on the PhatBox blink intensely for minutes. When the music started playing again (and the LEDs stopped blinking sporadically - the red LED remained lit and the green blinked occasional), I check the firmware version and it was still the original one (39..). I repeated the process in DMS Tools with various firmware version (both hacked and non-hacked) and my car still reports the old firmware. Am I doing something wrong? I'm quite certain I followed proper DMS Tools procedures. Could it be something that the previous owner has done to the system?

I've also attempted to install the AAC plug-in via DMS Tools and did not seem to have much success. At least, I certainly cannot copy any of my unprotected iTunes-encoded AAC files (*.m4a) ripped from my own CDs.

I'm very new to this PhatNoise gear and quite stumped by the stuff mentioned above. I would greatly appreciate any help! Thanks

[Terry_Kennedy]

The DMS I got is model DMS-020G rev B. I imagine from the numbers that's supposed to be 20GB in size, however, it's actually 40GB (as reported by the computer). I imagine someone hacked it and replaced the 20GB HD with a 40GB model. Would that be a correct assumption?

Could be. Or perhaps the drive was replaced by PhatNoise as a warranty repair.

The firmware version information my radio recited back to me about the PhatNoise system installed in the car is something like 39xx.7 if I recall correctly (I don't remember the other numbers; the ones mentioned, I'm certain of). I downloaded the awesome DMS Tools 2.12 software and tried to update the firmware. I started with the non-hacked version 7.02. DSM Tools reported the operation as completing successfully. I took the DSM back in the car, turned on the radio, watched the green and red LEDs on the PhatBox blink intensely for minutes. When the music started playing again (and the LEDs stopped blinking sporadically - the red LED remained lit and the green blinked occasional), I check the firmware version and it was still the original one (39..). I repeated the process in DMS Tools with various firmware version (both hacked and non-hacked) and my car still reports the old firmware. Am I doing something wrong? I'm quite certain I followed proper DMS Tools procedures. Could it be something that the previous owner has done to the system?

A couple of things:

1) if you checked the "installed non-hacked firmware" box and the PhatBox is still playing audio, then you don't have a replacement drive that relies on the hack, or it wouldn't work.

2) The AudioID string doesn't directly correlate to a firmware version. 3950 is the code for VW/Audi. The rest of it doesn't directly show the version number that is displayed by the DMS hack tools (or any other PC software). You can find a table in the phatbox.ini file on the DMS' PHTSYS partition. Note that even when PhatNoise was still actively selling these units, they were pretty lax about updating the version strings. If you picked the latest version in the DMS tools, then you should be safe in assuming that you have the latest version.

I've also attempted to install the AAC plug-in via DMS Tools and did not seem to have much success. At least, I certainly cannot copy any of my unprotected iTunes-encoded AAC files (*.m4a) ripped from my own CDs.

I'm not sure of the interaction between the AAC plugin and needing a hacked DMS - somebody with more knowledge will be along shortly. In the meantime, what happens? A box without the AAC plugin installed should say "Aufio player plugin not found". If you're getting "Corrupt track" or something similar, you may have an AAC file encoded in a manner the box can't handle. It is kind of picky about bitrates for most of its formats, including WAV and MP3. I don't use this plugin, so I can't be more specific.

[VorTechS]

My guess is the firmware version you are seeing on the stereo, relates to the headunit.  The firmware version installed on your PhatBox (if the player is playing music) can be found in the file PHTSYS\CurrentSetup.xml.

From the sounds of it, you are having trouble with AAC in terms of PhatNoise Media Manager/Music Manager.  The AAC plugin was part of the 'premium' version of the products, which they released after they discontinued the product.  You can download this latest premium version of Media Manager/Music Manager from PhatNoise.us once you are registered.  It is labelled as 'NON-ACTIVATION', as it does not require any form of activation of the product.

@Terry, the AAC plugin is the ORIGINAL version of the plugin - Sam and I found a way of activating it on the DMS and I worked out what entries were needed in EXEC.INI to make it work without any of the PhatNoise MM installation rubbish.  (Which obviously means a new .SIG file to go with it)

[somedude]

Thank you for the replies.

The firmware version installed on your PhatBox (if the player is playing music) can be found in the file PHTSYS\CurrentSetup.xml.

I did confirm this and DMS Tools did indeed install version 7.02. Since I also checked the "Install AAC Plugin" checkbox, I imagine the AAC plugin is also installed on my DMS and therefore I should be able to add AAC files to it and play them back in my car. But I cannot do this either using PhatNoise Media Manager (regular version) or PhatMac (third party media manager that allows you to add music from your iTunes library to your DMS - including AAC music files if the AAC plugin is installed on the DMS). I should be able to add AAC files to the DMS with PhatMac.

[VorTechS]

PhatNoise MM shouldn't care about whether the plugin is installed, AFAIK, but that might not be the case (can't say as I have tried it).
PhatMAC explicitly checks for the presence of the plugin in it's original installation form.  Unfortunately because we don't know how to make the plugins active in their 'original state' this means it's useless for you.

Did you try the PhatNoise MM version I outlined in my last post?

PhathackMM does not have such a problem, and will always allow AAC files to be copied over.... but you might want to wait until v0.10 which I hope to be able to release in the next couple of weeks.