Well here we are another month and I have more questions than answers. There is at least one advertised 3M plastic card fix. AXA and PGM are trying to come up with a temporary fix for the I-system cards and the emulator. You ask how could this be since we have been told the data stream has changed? Well, it now appears from reports from the top programers that there was a shift in code on the old data stream. The best way to explain that is like giving directions on how to get to your house if the directions are to go to the second red light and go left, then take the first right and turn in at the second house on the left. Well, the change would be go to the third light and go left then take the first left and turn in at the fifth house on the right. They both get you to the same place but in programing, unless the card knows the new jump to point, it appears dead, in that the data stream is the only thing running. The approximate release of the temporary fix is August 1.
My only problem with this, is will this be too late, has this been left in place for the remainder of July. My other thought on this is, has this change in the jump location been done to divert programers away from working on the asic fix for the new data stream? Now that brings us to the asic chip, the new twist in the new card. This is not a new twist to everyone. The asic has been used in Europe for sometime now. Paul Maxwell King (PMK) is coming out with a add-on that will accept an asic chip. He spent some time on the IRC July 19th answering questions. One of the things that caught my eye from the log of the questions was, when offered a donation for help with programing with his card he declined. The reason he declined he stated he made his money from hardware not software and made software available free to his customers. He also stated that he had 2 programers working on the problem. He explained the asic chip as basically a interpreter chip. His analogy was, if the main chip only spoke English and the data stream was in Hindu, the chip would interpret the Hindu into English.
At this time the IRC is the best location for information. When major discussions or announcements occur, log files are made available to the people who could not be there. This brings me to what IRC servers to use and what channels are on each. The following is a list of IRC servers I use and what channels I have found. This server has been around for sometime now but is still a good place for information. At times it has the most people that actually chat.
SERVERS - irc.grit.net at port 6666
CHANNELS - #satellite This is the new server that AXA and PMG and some others have set up. It is a good place for information. The #files channel is where log files and possible fixes and other information is made available for download.
SERVERS - irc.tv-fix.com at port 6667,6668 or irc2.tv-fix.com at port 6667,6668
CHANNELS - #news, #Cable-Fix, #AXA, #emulator, #files, #dss The following is how to add a new server to mIRC. 1) Start the mIRC program 2) Click FILE 3) Click SETUP 4) Click the IRC SERVERS tab 5) Click the ADD button 6) For Description enter anything you want to describe the server 7) For IRC SERVER enter the server name as listed above. (example: irc.tv-fix.com) be sure to enter exactly as listed in lower case. For ports enter the ports as listed if more than one port put them in separated with a comma (,) and the program will randomly select one on startup. (example: 6667,6668) 9) For Group Name enter anything you want. This is used to sort the channels in the list. I usually use DSS or SAT. 10) Now save and you are ready to use Another channel to look for is the VCII+ channel it shows up on different servers like Efnet or Dialnet.
There is some discussion of the work being done on the fix for the VCII. I was told that the U7 was complete for the old boards and the group was now working on keys. My understanding of this is that with this new U7 and these keys and software the old VCII boards will be able to receive the VCII+ programs. I HAVE NOT, I repeat NOT seen this. When and if I do see it working I will do a full review here. But I do feel that there is ongoing work on this which at least gives hope to a VCII fix.
Well until next month keep the faith and I hope I have new software and hardware to review by then.
ROCKY