How to get rid of hacked FW on Coolsat 8000?

[MrMars]

I purchased a Coolsat 8000 off of Ebay, and of course it was pre loaded w/"hack" software. I downloaded the latest firmware from Coolsat's site along with the "Upgrade" program from Ice's review of the 8000, however it will not load factory firmware, it says upgrade failed because the firmware on the box is "newer" then the one I am trying to load. Is there anyway to get rid of this firmware? The box does work but I just do not feel comfortable w/illegal firmware on it.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[brentb636]

You might consider that probably within a week , the illegal firmware will no longer work. The providers change their algorithms frequently. Once the firmware is "out of date" , you might consider it less distasteful. It's also possible that the illegal stuff is just a little more polished for FTA than the original firmware.
This may not solve your problem, but it might ease your conscience.



Brent

 

[MrMars]

I am not using the box on dish network or anything like that, I am only using it on unencrypted feeds on C-Band/KU, but it has options in the menu that I really do not want, that is the only reason why I know the software on it is illegal.

I guess the knowledge of knowing it would not work does ease the conscience a little but I still really don't want the software on it

 

[qwert1515]

I am not sure about the Coolsat 8000 but when I purchases my Coolsat 6000 the box was one sealed and it had third party firmware on it, I used the coolsat firmware loader and was able to change the firmware to the factory firmware. One difference I noticed was with the third party firmware if you were in the menu it would show the provider of the first transponder for a satellite which allowed you to identify what satellite you are pointing at.

 

[photoman76]

If you switch back to the factory firmware, will it still tune in DVB-S2?

 

[MrMars]

If you switch back to the factory firmware, will it still tune in DVB-S2?

I did not even think of that, I hope so

 

[MrMars]

I am not sure about the Coolsat 8000 but when I purchases my Coolsat 6000 the box was one sealed and it had third party firmware on it, I used the coolsat firmware loader and was able to change the firmware to the factory firmware. One difference I noticed was with the third party firmware if you were in the menu it would show the provider of the first transponder for a satellite which allowed you to identify what satellite you are pointing at.

I tried that too Same error message

"SW version is lower"

 

[Mr Tony]

There is a way to do it....

behold the magical software known as "clean"....this will wipe away ALL the software in the box...which will allow you once its "clean" to load any old software in it

1. run clean to get rid of everything
2. load the factory software into it.

I've used it a couple times. The clean works awesome but loading the factory again sometimes takes a few tries. I recommend to hook it up to the TV so you can see when it works. The TV will say "software 0.00--->whatever your loading. Make sure you let it go all the way through. The computer will say done but the reciever takes another 30 seconds or so to complete

 

[MrMars]

Thanks!

Worked like a charm!!

As always you are the man Ice!!

I can also report the DVB-S2 still works w/factory software.

 

[Mr Tony]

glad to help out

 

[Smith P.]

Very strange BIN file - no code at all and only 16 bytes long.

 

[qwert1515]

We are probably the only two people who took a look at the file with a hex editor

Iceberg - Will this work with "any" Coolsat (4000, 5000, 6000) ?

 

[Anole]

dead hack firmware has a use

Last year on the Satpros receivers, there were no factory upgrades.
I found that the hack firmware did clear some bugs.
Wound up using Feb or March firmware through the end of the year, long past its freshness date. -
And in spite of newer hack releases.

Likewise, the Mercury II stopped being supported by the hack community some time last summer.
I have the latest official firmware on it, which is probably 1.53.
Was thinking about getting an old hack copy because I believe it offers enhanced LNB support.
Hasn't really become a problem yet, but I do have plans, should they be necessary.

In neither case, would either receiver have any nefarious capability.

 

[bert01]

The Coolsat 4000/5000/6000 do not require the clean software. The factory software or a version older than the currently loaded bin will have no trouble loading. Make sure to do a reset to factory default after loading your bin. This will remove your settings for time, satellite setting, channels etc. You can save your current sat/channel settings for use with Channel Master prior to the reset. For the CS8000 the clear_sw bin allows you to load an older bin, but does not really clear everything. You will find that all your settings for sats/channels are still there until you do a factory default reset. Make sure also to do a factory default reset after loading any newer bin from Coolsat, or the new features will not show up in the menu. If your CS8000 does not have the latest factory software (currently 11170A), make sure to load as follows:
1. save current settings for sat/channel if desired
2. load clear_sw.bin
3. load CS8000-11170a.sgn
4. reset to factory default
5. program via menu or load sat/channel settings.

 

[qwert1515]

Thanks Bert01, you know a lot for only one post

I was wondering because my Coolsat 6000 blind / smart search seems like it is much slower than when I first got it, maybe I have gotten use to the speed so it seems like it is slower (I guess I will have to run a test)

 

[Davage]

Likewise, the Mercury II stopped being supported by the hack community some time last summer.
I have the latest official firmware on it, which is probably 1.53.
Was thinking about getting an old hack copy because I believe it offers enhanced LNB support.

Mercury II stopped being "supported" last summer by the hack community? Wow. That explains why that receiver used to sell for $150+ last summer and the current price for a brand new Mercury II from a lot of places is $89 including shipping...

 

[brentb636]

My most recent Merc purchase (used ) was $22 plus shipping off of ebay.
Funny how that works .

 

[Davage]

My most recent Merc purchase (used ) was $22 plus shipping off of ebay.
Funny how that works .

Boy oh boy, just wait until the Dish and Bell card swaps are done... I'll be on the hunt for a Coolsat 8000 - I've read Iceberg's reviews on them.. Built in AC3 decoding sounds sweet..

 

[Mr Tony]

Iceberg - Will this work with "any" Coolsat (4000, 5000, 6000) ?

The 8000 has different guts than a 4000/5000/6000. If you've seen the menus on the 8000 (from my review) they're different than the others. The 4000/5000/6000 you can override any software in it regardless.

I guess they don't want the 8000 to do that...until "clean" showed up

 

[schlever]

Thanks!

Worked like a charm!!

As always you are the man Ice!!

I can also report the DVB-S2 still works w/factory software.

From what I've heard this box will work on the Equity DVB-S2 feeds, can you confirm?