5.1 crack [DONE]

[jf_uk]

Hello all who tinker,

I've joined this board after finally having something to offer the community, despite this being
a moderately old topic now. I and a friend had worked on bringing new life to some EOL
communications equipment that was protected by software keys like the d8b. The company
went to the wall, assets bought up, you know the story. Long and short of it, my friend prepared
a patch for the licensing code that allowed us to bring this old thing to life again. I mentioned
the d8b I was thinking-about to him, and the licensing patch that a chap on here had done. (the
control.asc file) Not taking any credit for his work whatsoever, he has no desk, and I try things
out, oops.. and we discuss, and he comes up with something else. It's been fun trying.

The other night he sent me some python scripts/code to try on the image resource files. They
initially part worked, but now do; I am a linux user, though he wrote them for Windows with
Python 3. So below I have attached two scripts. One takes a resource file as input, and unpacks
it, creating an appropriate dir, and plonks the images in there. The other, allows you to re-pack
the files into a resource file again, to be put on your d8b, and have changed graphics for
anything. I've simplified my splashscreen, and removed the fake screws and the "d8b"
backgrounds from all EQ and dynamics windows, as I found them excessive being I'm sitting
at a d8b, and know this - not to mention it being distracting to me.

The 5.1 patch to control.asc is brilliant, but I notice that many people complain that not all of
the plugins function. Assuming this was correct I looked around.. No, they all work fine, and
in fact, there are none that don't work!

Someone else asserts that you must alternate your MFX and UFX cards too.. No, I didn't have
to do that either. I have 2 MFX cards, and one UFX. In that order, and all work as expected.

Someone didn't know that you have to have a MFX card in there.. at least one, and that only
three modules will load on them. If you add a UFX, accordingly you can load the third-party
plugins. If you have both types of card, you can load all of the plugins as listed in the patch
("Hack1") -And I have no licenses beyond these fine instructions to the informed on here.

In the end, I hope nobody is offended here, monkstrap especially; I have tested out a new
patched MackieOS.EXE received today that bypasses the need for the v5.1 upgrade key, I am
pretty certain. The original "control.asc" was put back for this test too. In the plugins
licensing page, my original desk ESN is now displayed properly, and all of the plugins show
as unlocked. The desk has been on for a while and seems to be working fine. I can save setups
(doesn't declare "unlicensed") and the effects modules all state "already authorised."

Now.. I have previously put in the licenses as per the kit that's circulating around here, but
not removed them in testing this patch I'm presenting; so it *may* require anything, any
old correctly-formatted key? But I don't think so.

He had started on a keycode generator, but being there's no API or dev kit for the DSP boot-
loaders on the d8b sadly, there's no point in a keygen, as the plugins are a finite fixed list.
So a patch-all seemed more practical.

Herewith are three files, zipped up on linux.

MackieOS.EXE is in the root dir of the d8b's filesystem. You can rename the existing one
with an extension of .bak or something, and copy this one in; It is the same size, as it's a
patch, not a re-write.

The other two, with execute permission on linux, will just run as-is with a minimum of
Python 2.7 (old, so you upgraders are safe). These were modified from windows scripts,
which I've put back in a win/ dir.

With a file such as splashscreen.rsc in your current working directory, on linux, (windows
similar syntax) you would do: ./rscextract.py splashscreen.rsc -And it creates an app-
ropriately named dir, and plops the 256 colour bmp file in there. NOW: CAVEAT: All you 24-bit,
96k nutters: These are 256 colour indexed files; Do not try to make them into 24-bit or 32-bit
screwy modern images; these were created against an older standard, and must not deviate;
As well, you must use the colour pallete in the indexed file, else the way they're rendered
(multiple images on the screen at once remember) may cause issues. To re-create the
resource file, you would ensure there are *no* windows created oddball files in the dir
(hidden indexing service files? I dunno) and then: ./rsccreate.py splashscreen (return) -the
name you give is the directory that all were extracted into. DO NOT put additional files into
the dirs; they are indexed by the OS exactly as they are. It will not expect different offsets.
The newly created resources will have an additional nice _new in them; This must obviously
be removed prior to your putting them in the d8b.

The image files are in /system5/Images I seem to recall.

While I cannot walk beginners through how to use linux or the command prompt in windows,
I would indeed appreciate constructive feedback on the MackieOS.EXE file; Has it worked for
you? plugins? ESN correct again?

There are ample resources on here explaining how to get into your Mackie HD to do these
tricks. I used FTP once, took the HD out (grrr) and used a cheap usb-ide cable and PSU..
whatever works. I have ordered one of these CF to IDE PC rear-slot adaptor plates, and will
also put a reset button in there, wired to the board reset pins, as sometimes a hard-reset might
be needed. Whatever.

Again, exercise caution with the image files, and always make backups, best leaving them
in the same dir to be sure. (The OS doesn't care what's in there... just what it's looking for.)

And with the MackieOS.EXE file, be sure to put back the original /system5/Firmware/control.asc
file too. And again-again, copy any original to something like "MackieOS.bak" first!!

enjoy!

Jason

[FrankH]

In the end, I hope nobody is offended here

I'm not. A little backstory about those 8bit 256 color BMP files.

While the D8B was still in development, I was designing the GUI. All the original drawings were 300dpi 24 bit…millions of colors… because I was informed that the final build video system was going to support 24bit color.
The entire GUI design was as smooth as glass and had ton of color variations in it. It was actually quite good looking.

Then I got the bad news. 8bit only. What to do?

Back then, I was using a Mac 9500 running OS9 with Photoshop 5.5 or 6. At the time, Photoshop’s ability to convert 24 bit to 8 bit color palettes was incredibly restrictive. However there was a 3rd party app (whose title I forget) that was able to do an incredible bit of custom averaging and dithering that resulted in a palette that managed to retain the color scheme with the least amount of compromise possible. Far from perfect…but miles ahead of anything Photoshop was capable of doing.

So this is how that palette was created: A very large single drawing was created. The entire library of 24bit “parts” .PNGs were placed on it. That drawing was flattened and the 8bit conversion app was applied to it. There was a bit of trial and error with its settings until the best compromise was attained, where all the parts looked reasonably “unblock-y”. The app spit out a 256 color palette that became the “God” map for all future graphic development.

That app was able to use the official palette and re-dither individual bitmaps so they came out even smoother. All in all, it was pretty miraculous, considering the restriction of 8 bit.

As to the aesthetics of the design….well….it was 1996 and the skeuomorphic look was the standard....screws and all.
The thing I am most proud about in that design was the “Fat Channel”. Getting the entire channel strip on a single page was considered a pretty innovative thing to do at the time. It influenced a lot of other developers after it was released.

[funk]

frank and jf uk ... wow... just wow, well done guys, all that is like this to me....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKCi0gDF_d8

[jf_uk]

Thanks for giving this aged topic and my 'pre-apology' a nod Frank. Nice to hear from someone who was a part of the 80's design squad. (I was too, albeit for print, not hardware) Oh my Mac SE/30 with a pimped 80MB hard drive.. Pagemaker.. Freehand 3.1... System 6. Syquest 44 drive posted through the letter-slot of the local linotronic print house... proofed and carried to the magazine later, with bits of red blackout tape.

Ahem. Nostalgia fart there. On the MackieOS.EXE as I posted earlier: I have some good news to report:

A friend who produced some pretty fantastic names in the day, and still does, called me the other day;
He bought a d8b in the US (brought it back to the UK) for some $18,000 in the day, and with many issues with it, and being a music producer, not a tinkerer (ahem), he's not deep into the workings. "Man.. my desk.. it's dead. I'm... upset. Can't work. I bought another one, and it arrived smashed, and it's beat-up. I messed up the licenses.. i bought all of them too, and now both desks say (please contact mackie... for 5.1 etc.)" He was down. I said I'd be over in a half hour, and with my linux netbook, a usb-to-ide adaptor and a standard hard disk power lead, I merely mounted his HD's, renamed MackieOS.EXE to a backup name, put in the patched one we did, and pop, both are up and fine, no monkeyed ESN's, all licensing authorised.

So it works a charm. Three distinctly different systems without any crash or hiccup.

Frank - If you happen upon this; The DSP development kit to make DSP code loads: Was that ever a kit that was something that floated away? THAT.. would be an interesting discovery.. to port some dsp tricks from the software world (I'd really like to write a 'bitcrusher' for it) into there, with the great midi control. Some plugins are so simple you might have enough dsp tempi to have 4 running on a UFX. (That is, for older programmers used to working in Kilobytes, not gigabytes apple style...) Imagine having some new fun and open source plugins for that desk. Hmnn. hmnn-hmnn.

Sorry about the screws.. I have an over-acute sense of perception and get distracted in details... I remember when some folks attacked Apple for its over-silly faux-leather books in the e-library etc, then M$ boldly threw all skuemorphic out with windows.. squares of flat colour and plain text. The iPhone went this way, and now all. I looked at your files with a comb and decided; "Someone's spent a LOT of time on these, and i feel a little rude in trying to flatten the entire thing." so I left it, but.. i did make the splash streen all 50%k and in a typeface "Lintel" on the right-hand side, mid way up, "Mackie d8b" -as it's sadly development is long halted, but freed now.

Like some fool on this forum who was talking about "...trying to run the software in a virtual machine.." without understanding the software is just a dumb feedback display and automation recorder of hex values from the knobs... and sent back to a real hardware DSP mixer: Mackie probably spent a horrendous amount of money on the d8b hardware. I bought a back-panel for the desk; DSP, card-cage, and i/o panel. It honestly hurt to take that apart, seeing the captive stainless-steel screw holders crimp-fitted to the steel honed cover plates, the steel thread-buts crimped into the aluminium sections "because it's the right way" and alu will just strip after a use or two. The nylon card guides that are the same width as the convection cooling slots
precisely.. There's an oversight or two inside, but it's such a well-made piece of equipment that is not made anymore... when they got the idea that "hey, let's just put a pc in there, interface the cards somehow, and run it all in software (the 2000)... you can smell the decline, the race to the bottom at that point. The race for profit over anything else. Ok I know, a company has to profit to keep alive and innovate, but the audio world in the race to 24 bit and 196khz is like a snake eating it's own tail... I owned two AMS/Neve Logic 2 systems with Audiofile SC32's.. One was in a DFC frame. They are absolutely inctrdible mixing systems in the way they sum/mix whatever.. it's the DSP, as Mike Reddick told me on the phone once. We ran them at 44.1 in 24 bit, but mixed out to 16 bit. That's your 70/100 blockbusters for the last decade or so. Hardware mixer, DSP designed from the ground up for one purpose. When I downsized, and moved out the Logic's, I bought the d8b.. and shee-it.. it's so so nearly the same desk, and from the same time period too! But with the ability to host DSP for effects? on top of the large DSP farm inside? what a piece of engineering marvelry! I kept my Lexicon 300L and 4 (secret weapon) Behringer DSP-2496 effect units that are now on
the d8b because I could get a AES i/o card! how fantastic! The main digital out is always sending the main mix too! How awesome! It feeds a TC finalizer, and to listen to it a/b, I merely select digital in 1, and I hear the mix via the finalizer now.. That is such an incredibly well-thought out signal path; I only wish i had discovered it a decade ago.

What am I going on about... bahh. Oh right. Discovering stuff from an age when things were done right! And
it's all made in the US, the MFX DSP and ivl chip from B.C. Canada too, that AMP power supply connector.

"Nah mate.. jahs' get a delta 1010 wif the i/o card man, it's 24-96 and sounds way better than anytning.."

Smiles to self. OK. No more ramble. That means I am a nutter, or: a non-twitter social-media real life communicator.

[arjepsen]

Like some fool on this forum who was talking about "...trying to run the software in a virtual machine.." without understanding the software is just a dumb feedback display and automation recorder of hex values from the knobs... and sent back to a real hardware DSP mixer

well, I guess I'm one of those fools
The main reason for trying it out, was trying to find ways to overcome the hardware limitations of the pc inside the cpu box.
The motherboard among other things are getting increasingly hard to find, so it would be sooo nice to be able to run the MackieOS on a more modern machine. (or even a pi, as others suggested).
But if as you say it's just "a dumb feedback display and automation recorder of hex values from the knobs", wouldn't that make it relatively easy to reverse engineer, and put in drivers for more modern hardware?

[jf_uk]

Oops. My arrogant there.

Well... Let's break it down. Intel i386 instruction set: there's other small boards out there, (even the small atom board) and really, it's:

-RS-422? (or 485?) on the two serial ports, clocked fast, synchronus I'd expect: Desk to CPU coms.
-Video driver; Can a small intel board run in compatible "VGA" mode? perhaps!
-ISA boards for MIDI and 9-PIN (Sony P2 control) -Not likely... And I use MMC and MTC to control Logic.
-Probably NE2000 or whatever that olllld standard ethernet card protocol is.

The rest is just booting and reading files to/from the HD.

Now, the Ethernet isn't reeeeally *needed* on a single, functioning desk...

Oh... I just want to use it to make music with. Mine's old, a 166 (soon to get a 233mmx chip) and 96mb ram
that never gets filled up... it works, and I gave up on the SD card back-slot I bought too. I just want to
use it now. Seems too much a process for what gain? tinker value. But I can't slight that, as that was what
led me to ask a friend to help with the patch.

oh hindsight. Pardon my willy-nilly insult.

[arjepsen]

yeah, it seems like it's should be possible to make it compatible with newer hardware - unfortunately I haven't been able to find anyone able or willing to do the work. I think I'd happily pay if someone would/could do the programming, and I imagine many people with this desk would be very happy to get rid of the big cpu unit, and be able to just use a small atom based etc. computer. But again - can't find anyone to do it

[captainamerica]

I have a friend who does software reverse engineering but does not have a lot of time.
I had also started a post a few months back on this same subject, but time, energy, skills and the value proposition of what new technology has to offer today, makes it hard to go backwards.

[arjepsen]

out of curiosity - did your friend have a look at the OS, or was it just talking it over?
One thing that really annoys me, is that the OS is so small. The whole installation _including_ the plugins are just 30 mb.
It makes me wonder how hard it could be. But then again, that's easy to ask when I don't really know much about it myself

[captainamerica]

I sent him a bunch of question on this subject and waiting to see when/if he will reply ...he is very busy but hoping to get some feedback