SD card cloning.

[lillyelse]

Hi Guys & Gals,

For example, Nav&Go say that their program IGO8 is "locked" to the SD card on which the software is supplied.

Do they use a type of software ROOTKIT encryption on the card that cannot be accessed by a diagnostic or copy program, or do they physically modify the SD card, for example by adding an extra contact somewhere?

Is the core program, or only the map data that's subject to encryption?

Just a thought as to why they can't supply on a larger capacity SD or SDHC card, to order, for a range of PDA that can use either.

After all, this is the IT age and the 21st century, isn't it?

[mikealder]

When (if) they realise this approach is costing them sales they might alter the stupid policy. Other supliers to the GPS industry lock down activation to the memory card, but they also allow a single transfer of the data to a larger card/ internal storage.
I am not going to enter into any discussions on how this process works, as it is in place to prevent piracy - Mike

[lillyelse]

Thanks for your reply Mike.

No way am I advocating piracy, but, it seems obvious to me that there can't be anything so mysterious about the protection used, because if they did, it would breach protocol that determines how an SD card works.

And it is common knowledge exactly how media is stored on various DVD, CD, Ram, Rom, solid state, and finally tape formats. Therefore anyone wishing to make illegal copies can do so with the knowledge, expertise, and hardware required to do so.

How else would any company distribute it's product en masse without making copies?

Don't forget that buyers too, have rights to protection for the products purchased from a vendor, not least the right to make at least one copy as insurance against any possible failure and financial loss, once any guarantee period had expired.

Would any company offer a backup service to compensate in these circumstances? I think not. Their primary concern is to protect their financial return only.

You are quite correct in your assessmant of damage being done to the marketing of its product by small minded manufacturers due to restrictive and short-sighted policies and practices adopted in an attempt to foil would be raiders.

Unlike you, I have little respect for manufacturers who treat honest buyers with contempt by employing strategies that are more fitting to the wild west trading era of yester-year.

Doug.

[MaFt]

[Mullet]

I wonder how many legal users resort to other methods when they find their expensive hardware is effectively crippled due to lack of storage.
CPRM, perhaps this is one reason why the iGo software is of significant interest within some communities? but I suspect not in the main.
There are ways, but as Mike says they are not for discussion here.

[mikealder]

Look there is nothing wrong with you taking a back up copy of any software you have purchased, in the case of software that is locked to a specific card then you can re-install that backup to the original card only.

Garmin, I-Go, McGuider, SatMap are all names that use this lock to card feature. I have copys of all my data on more than one hard drive as well as removable media, I accept that I can only install a back up to the original card when it was supplied locked - Mike

[MaFt]

[scarymonkey]

[Border_Collie]

I guess I'm the odd one out on this as I find it much easier having the software locked to the SD Card. I have made a back-up on my hard drive and a memory stick, which can easily be copied to the original card should something go wrong.

No problems with the locked card should you damage your device and it comes back with a new board, or if you are upgrading. You could always borrow a friends device, while yours is away, and use it for a holiday or weekend away.

Try any of that with TT. Re-activation after 7 days then only twice per year plus, as far as I'm concerned, iGO is superior to TT.

Maybe if Nav N Go gave people the choice of having their software on a 'locked' 2GB, 4GB or 8GB Card, it would suit more people.
_________________
Formerly known as Lost_Property
And NO that's NOT me in the Avatar.

[lillyelse]

Update.

I emailed Nav'nGo about the company offering a choice of SD card sizes to buyers of IGO8. His reply is here:

"Maybe in the future there will be avaible SD card with bigger capacity with Nav N Go iGO 8.

At the moment I can not tell you any date I just advise to follow up the news on our website: www.navngo.com. We bring out every important news on this site, like new releases, available downloads etc.



Kind regards,

Balázs PALOTAI
Product Specialist"

Hope this useful advice to those of us still waiting for perfection!

Doug.

[Mullet]

[SEJ016]

My understanding is that the program reads and recognises the device (SD serial device number). An algorithm is then applied to this which writes back the hashed code into something like a licence.txt file, thus locking the software to that device.

Software copied onto another SD card will have a mismatched SD serial device number and hashed code in the licence.txt file, so will not run.

[lillyelse]

SEJ016, what you describe is a rather simplistic method and is well known.

I just can't believe that NavnGo would opt for something as simple as encrypting the SD serial number of the SD card and then write it back without using an algorythm to place the result in a random hidden sector somewhere on the card.

A good dump utility would soon uncover this, thus making it easy to copy as would a disassemble of the .exe file if they went the other route.

IMHO, I believe that NavnGo is a bit more devious than that. I feel certain that they use some form of rootkit, similar to Sony's, that cannot be read with normal debugging software currently available, and I'm sure they won't divulge their encryption method.

This , I believe is the real reason NavnGo say that their program is "locked" to the card, rather than the device it is used on.

Could vindictive greed be the prime motivator for this degree of protection?

Doug.

[SEJ016]

"Could vindictive greed be the prime motivator for this degree of protection? "

Doug,

I suppose you could describe it as greed, but they would say they are protecting their business. Nevertheless, it places constraints on the way an owner may backup and protect their own/ed systems.

Given the furore in the market that followed Sony's use of rootkits I am surprised that other vendors continue to follow this route...but you obviously know NavnGo's stuff better than I do and are not without some expertise

SEJ

[lillyelse]

Thanks for your input SEJ016.

It is a fiscal fact that ALL inflation is government inspired and led. The last Tory government must be given credit for the turn around of the UK fortunes, but their fuel escalator would have had a negative and opposite effect on ALL of us, had it not been removed, very reluctantly, by this tax and spend government.

Environmentalists, with the emphasis on "mental" would approve any increase in taxation, in the misguided belief that tax alone would save planet earth. They really do not understand the scale of things, globally.

The corporates meanwhile, have been watching government fiscal policy in action, and are now following suite with regard to rip off prices, secure in the knowledge that this government would not take action against them, because of the precedent that has already been set by this government with regards to ever increasing taxation.

Hence companies, like NavnGo, and others , have decided to price their products as high as the prevailing market will tolerate initially, then attempt to justify high prices under a cloud of mis-informationn for as long as they can get away with it, claiming that "preventing privacy" is their only concern. They must know that un-enlightened astronomic pricing policy encourages piracy.

Doug.

We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
Have you considered making a donation towards website running costs?.
Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!