The PCMG presents the "Crack the PC-L" Contest!

[Lord Dottore Matto]

Hello fellow saber enthusiasts. We at the PCMG are always thinking about ways to improve the general public's interaction with our beloved Petit Crouton. Although the timing of this announcement seems somewhat 'coincidental', this has actually been in the works for a few months. Just like the lag between the release of the PC-U to the PCMG Saber Smiths/ ISG members and the release of the PC-L to the public, the time between the release of the PC-L and this new 'bit' of news has been spent refining our ideas and policies and indeed the product we offer to all of you. I will not extol the virtues of the Petit Crouton. We all know that it came along to fill the great soundboard void. It is readily available, fully configurable, 100% warrantied, every board pre-tested prior to shipping and the Petit Crouton does not infringe on any Intellectual Property or patent (Previous or existing). It is the only all-in-one sound/driver product readily available in today's market and it is our goal that this board continue to be the leader in the Community.

It is for this reason that I am proud to announce the "Crack the PC" Contest. This contest (as did our disaster relief auctions) will run simultaneously on all three major saber forums (TCSS, Fx-s, JSSDC) and will run until we have a winner. What is this contest? You may ask. Well, what we want for you to do is "void that warranty!" Get in there and crack this bad boy. Figure out "how" to turn a PC-L into a PC-U. Yes, you read that right. We want you to do it. This contest is not a new idea since we have discussed the details of it since the release of the PC-L. Why should you do this? Well, think about what the result of such a contest will be...other than the obvious "prize". You will be lauded a supergeniusnerdmasterninjalord by your fellow community-ites, you will win a brand spankin' new PC-U and there will no longer be the need for...wait for it...there would no longer be the need for the PC-L...

Well, that is it. Wait? No clues how to do this thing? Well, we do have a fellow amongst our members at the PCMG who can give you a few clues...say two good ones...on what to do. He will be along shortly to lay that out for you. Have fun, and thank you again to everyone for your patronage of TCSS and the PCMG.


A final note...feel free to post your attempts and discussion in this thread.

[tachikoma1]

I guess I'm up for the challenge. I'm working on a cool saber right now using a PC-L. I've seen other smith's designs that somehow are able to put other fonts on the SD card instead of the stock "light meat" and "dark meat." My design will use both with a little compartment inside to store the second SD card. But I've wanted to know if it was possible to put other very cool fonts in there. Granted, those that are designed for the CF with its expanded options wouldn't exactly work in a PC. But those are just text files that are used for controlling more accent LEDs and FoC and other things. Text files are easily changed and customizable. I just want to make sure I don't permanently damage what I've got in my quest. Any "hints" to avoid that would be greatly appreciated.

[beggarsoutpost]

I guess I'm up for the challenge. I'm working on a cool saber right now using a PC-L. I've seen other smith's designs that somehow are able to put other fonts on the SD card instead of the stock "light meat" and "dark meat." My design will use both with a little compartment inside to store the second SD card. But I've wanted to know if it was possible to put other very cool fonts in there. Granted, those that are designed for the CF with its expanded options wouldn't exactly work in a PC. But those are just text files that are used for controlling more accent LEDs and FoC and other things. Text files are easily changed and customizable. I just want to make sure I don't permanently damage what I've got in my quest. Any "hints" to avoid that would be greatly appreciated.

After it's cracked you'll be able to use any of the sound fonts that can be used on the CF... You are right in that all you will need to do is change out the config files in the CF font with a set from your PC.... Also you will need to remove any extra sounds that are not triggered by the PC...ie blaster2 poweron2 etc....

[erv]

"Crack the PC-L" - a Foreword

Greetings sabers enthusiasts ! It's always a weird experience to build up a "protection" for a device that applies to hobby and DIY. Still, I would say that it's been exciting as an engineer and a software programmer.

While coding the Petit Crouton firmware and the said protection, I thought that maybe a few people would give a try to break it. I also thought that a contest about that topic would be fun, as a learning experience, excitement of hacking and to "free the board" of course

You might be worried about warranty, you've been threaten so far with "mess with the sound fonts and you'll loose the warranty". With the PCMG, we simply wanted to have most people staying out of trouble and not be tempted to fix something that works fine. We wanted to have the board simple to use, simple to wire, not over complicate it and rather propose pre-loaded SD card, requiring limited skills to swap sound fonts.

Still, placing a sound font on the PC is just similar as a doing it on a CF, you need to format the board prior copying all the files in one shot to the SD card, including the config files. The latter can be further edited in place on the SD card.

It's that simple.

** About Cracking the PC-L

First of all, there's no magic file or simple "secret" operation that will permanently turn your PC-L board into a PC-U. The locking operation is permanent and cannot be reverted aside of going back to manufacturing stage.

So it's not jailbreaking the Petit Crouton : the goal of the contest is to "fool" the protection and be able to install a custom sound font anyway. The custom font can be anything, the aim is to prove you were able to have the board accept the font. It must be the whole font, not just a part of it.

The best of course would be to get some REALLY original/fun sounds, or just your own voice saying "swing1", "clash2", not necessarily saber related, just to prove the concept you were able to put custom sounds on the PC-L.

The result doesn't have to be perfect or even mixed with the hum, that's up to your digital audio skills, but the topic remains hacking ! So if you have a few pops and clicks here and there, no biggie !

You'll have to make a video of your result and send me the archive of your sound font that fooled the protection. After validation, you'll have the pleasure to reveal how you did it and the solution you found to the clues below.

On a final note, there's not way to ruin / fry your Petit Crouton board by trying to crack it (unless you use a hammer). If you've already tried to install a custom font on the board, you know what happens when you get caught . You also know that the "issue" disappears when you go back to the authorized fonts.

So fear you should have not ! There's is no super uber complicated skills to hack the board. No electronic specific hardware is required.

Good logic, a computer, a USB card reader and some free software is all what you need.

Have fun, and enjoy this contest !


Erv' Plecter & the PCMG

__________________________________________________ _____________________


The clues



#1 : a puzzle
- The 21st one
- **** ! there ! shinny !
- 4 (but Jedi Loreen should whip me)
- The second finger
- For nails and storage

#2 :
"Kicked in the NUTS?"
Certain things in that statement are capital, if you ask he !

#3 :
The most famous yoda quote. Feel free to be negative about it.

#4
A fetish number applied to a fetish costume...

[tachikoma1]

Cool. Just in time for my latest build. Will the prize possibly involve store credit in addition to the "supergeniusnerdmasterninjalord" bragging rights title?

[dgdve]

IF you read the first post the prize is... wait for it.. "NO MORE PC-L"... What does that mean?? it means your crack will be recognized AND accepted and posted right here (probably stickied for everyone to see foreva!! (or until a future revision).. A better prize to the community you can not give (and with the full support of the pcmg).. this is awesome

[PhoenixReborn]

Well im gonna help on the solution..... This is what i've gotten so far... Collaboration would be the fastest way to do this!

#1 : a puzzle
- The 21st one -- The Letter U
- **** ! there ! shinny ! -- LOOK
- 4 (but Jedi Loreen should whip me) -- FOR
- The second finger -- Index
- For nails and storage - Clipper or box

-- You look for index clipper or you look for index box

#2 :
"Kicked in the NUTS?"
Certain things in that statement are capital, if you ask he !

-- KNUTS?
#3 :
The most famous yoda quote. Feel free to be negative about it.

Do or do not, there is no try.

#4
A fetish number applied to a fetish costume...

This is probably 69.

[erv]

of course, I won't comment anything about the progress and I won't give more clues,
however I'll just quote what I've posted on fx-sabers for the sake of fun

on another note,
as it's a contest, you're not encouraged to share your solutions here, unless you're planning a brutal team attack, which is a strategy. However, I'm sure we will be all pleased to hear about your progress.
If you go as a team, keep in mind the prize will be divided by the number of team mates, which is made easy with the Petit Crouton, you'll get a few crumbs each Wink
/joke, rimshot + cymbals not required

[PhoenixReborn]

Erv, im in it for the fun. So, whoever helps me can have the prize.

of course, I won't comment anything about the progress and I won't give more clues,
however I'll just quote what I've posted on fx-sabers for the sake of fun

[jin starkiller]

I agree we are a community and we all should do it just for funn and get it done than we all can have PC-l that act like the PC-U ...cheers