Hacking into obsolete equipment
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One of my favorite toys is my Audiotron. It's a stereo unit that plugs into the network, plays audio files from any computer on the network, and has a web driven interface that allows me to control my music from any computer, laptop or PDA in the house. Unfortunately, they quit making them and now no longer offer support. The unit is running Windows and IIS. I'd love to get to the file system so that I can make some improvements on the web pages. But of course, I have no FTP information, there are no shares, etc. and the manufacturer politely responded to my request but told me they couldn't help me. Any ideas?
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
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One of my favorite toys is my Audiotron. It's a stereo unit that plugs into the network, plays audio files from any computer on the network, and has a web driven interface that allows me to control my music from any computer, laptop or PDA in the house. Unfortunately, they quit making them and now no longer offer support. The unit is running Windows and IIS. I'd love to get to the file system so that I can make some improvements on the web pages. But of course, I have no FTP information, there are no shares, etc. and the manufacturer politely responded to my request but told me they couldn't help me. Any ideas?
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
Call me old-fashioned - or just old - but why don't you just open the unit, remove it's HD and plug that into another computer. You can then browse/update that and find out the information you need. Obviously, that's a very primitive way of doing it, but maybe while you have access to the disk you can do other things to automate the process going forward. This is all of the top of my head, but maybe will get you going on some other ideas.
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Call me old-fashioned - or just old - but why don't you just open the unit, remove it's HD and plug that into another computer. You can then browse/update that and find out the information you need. Obviously, that's a very primitive way of doing it, but maybe while you have access to the disk you can do other things to automate the process going forward. This is all of the top of my head, but maybe will get you going on some other ideas.
That's actually a decent idea but it doesn't have a hard drive[^]. They're running Windows CE 2.12, so you can think of it as a rather odd shaped mobile device.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
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That's actually a decent idea but it doesn't have a hard drive[^]. They're running Windows CE 2.12, so you can think of it as a rather odd shaped mobile device.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
Hi, Christopher. Is it this device? http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/products/audiotron/producthome.asp#atscreen[^] If it's running CE, then most (if not all) of the files will be in the device's ROM. You may want to see if you can attach to it with ActiveSync. If so, then you can try the Explorer with ActiveSync and browse it's files that way. Although the knowledge base doesn't specifically mention FTP support, you could also try attaching to it with an FTP program using the device's IP address and see if that lets you connect. Other than that, there may be other means of connecting through the network cable. Just not certain what methods there are out there. :) Flynn
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Hi, Christopher. Is it this device? http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/products/audiotron/producthome.asp#atscreen[^] If it's running CE, then most (if not all) of the files will be in the device's ROM. You may want to see if you can attach to it with ActiveSync. If so, then you can try the Explorer with ActiveSync and browse it's files that way. Although the knowledge base doesn't specifically mention FTP support, you could also try attaching to it with an FTP program using the device's IP address and see if that lets you connect. Other than that, there may be other means of connecting through the network cable. Just not certain what methods there are out there. :) Flynn
Yep, that's the critter. ActiveSync seemed like a good idea, so I installed the latest & greatest version and gave it a try. Unfortunately, ActiveSync doesn't appear to support connection over a non wireless TCP/IP network. It wants to connect via COM, USB or IR. Dang! I'd already tried hitting it with FTP, no joy. One would think that there must be some way to get into it, especially since it's running Windows, but it escapes me.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
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Yep, that's the critter. ActiveSync seemed like a good idea, so I installed the latest & greatest version and gave it a try. Unfortunately, ActiveSync doesn't appear to support connection over a non wireless TCP/IP network. It wants to connect via COM, USB or IR. Dang! I'd already tried hitting it with FTP, no joy. One would think that there must be some way to get into it, especially since it's running Windows, but it escapes me.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
Windows CE is quite a bit different from the standard Windows OS though. It is modular and the OEM can add or remove major bits of functionality. You may want to try ActiveSync 3.8.1 or earlier. The latest version of ActiveSync dropped support for older devices (Pocket PC 2000 and earlier) and Serial support. Unfortunately, Microsoft pulled 3.8 from their site, so you may have to hunt for it. :( I have it on backup at home since I have this little device -- http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_archives/Jan00/images/Hitachi_ePlate.jpg[^]It runs CE 2.11 and is an absolute wonderful little beastie. It's what got me started in device programming (using eMbedded Visual Basic). :D Flynn
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Yep, that's the critter. ActiveSync seemed like a good idea, so I installed the latest & greatest version and gave it a try. Unfortunately, ActiveSync doesn't appear to support connection over a non wireless TCP/IP network. It wants to connect via COM, USB or IR. Dang! I'd already tried hitting it with FTP, no joy. One would think that there must be some way to get into it, especially since it's running Windows, but it escapes me.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
Open the box and see if there's a way to connect via a com port. Most boards like that have debug ports (a com port). If you break it, at least you can get them fairly cheap on ebay. :)
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
One of my favorite toys is my Audiotron. It's a stereo unit that plugs into the network, plays audio files from any computer on the network, and has a web driven interface that allows me to control my music from any computer, laptop or PDA in the house. Unfortunately, they quit making them and now no longer offer support. The unit is running Windows and IIS. I'd love to get to the file system so that I can make some improvements on the web pages. But of course, I have no FTP information, there are no shares, etc. and the manufacturer politely responded to my request but told me they couldn't help me. Any ideas?
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
Start with port scans. Get a list of what is open to the network and what service that is on each port. -- modified at 14:34 Wednesday 21st February, 2007 Audiotron Version 3.0 Application Programming Interface:) ftp://ftp.voyetra.com/pub/tbs/audiotro/api/atron_api.pdf[^]
God Bless, Jason
Programmer: A biological machine designed to convert caffeine into code.
Developer: A person who develops working systems by writing and using software. [^] -
Yep, that's the critter. ActiveSync seemed like a good idea, so I installed the latest & greatest version and gave it a try. Unfortunately, ActiveSync doesn't appear to support connection over a non wireless TCP/IP network. It wants to connect via COM, USB or IR. Dang! I'd already tried hitting it with FTP, no joy. One would think that there must be some way to get into it, especially since it's running Windows, but it escapes me.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
You need the earlier version of ActiveSync. Microsoft removed that featue. I've downloaded it, but I forget which site I got it from since you can't get it from Microsoft anymore. Google Search[^]
Using the GridView is like trying to explain to someone else how to move a third person's hands in order to tie your shoelaces for you. -Chris Maunder
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Yep, that's the critter. ActiveSync seemed like a good idea, so I installed the latest & greatest version and gave it a try. Unfortunately, ActiveSync doesn't appear to support connection over a non wireless TCP/IP network. It wants to connect via COM, USB or IR. Dang! I'd already tried hitting it with FTP, no joy. One would think that there must be some way to get into it, especially since it's running Windows, but it escapes me.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
That's not quite true. Remember that gig I did for Radiant (the Radiant Time Clock). It ran WinCE and I connected to it over a TCP/IP network. I would try the ActiveSync that comes in embedded Visual C++ 3. You could also use eMVC4 (but 3 is what I had to use for Radiant). Anyway, ping me offline if you want to discuss further and I'll try and hook you up with someone in that department if I can.
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One of my favorite toys is my Audiotron. It's a stereo unit that plugs into the network, plays audio files from any computer on the network, and has a web driven interface that allows me to control my music from any computer, laptop or PDA in the house. Unfortunately, they quit making them and now no longer offer support. The unit is running Windows and IIS. I'd love to get to the file system so that I can make some improvements on the web pages. But of course, I have no FTP information, there are no shares, etc. and the manufacturer politely responded to my request but told me they couldn't help me. Any ideas?
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
