I thought I'd start a new thread on this to get extra exposure; posting at the end of a 6+ page thread doesn't lead too far.
I posted this as a gig on different specialty sites and I did get a handful of replies from a few hardcore programmers. Unfortunately, the lowest bid was around $3000 - for removing the OK button and maybe extending the time of the bitmap display until the system is fully loaded. Trying to negotiate led me nowhere, they all say it's a lot of work involved to disassemble the code, trying to figure out the inner workings and eventually modifying what has to be modified, and I agree.
I personally am willing to pay approx 20$, maybe 30$ for this "hack". If there would be another 100-150 people like me out there, we could get it started. Also remember that there is a great potential for future improvements and additional features once there is someone who knows what's going on in that navi's guts.
Note that the money will be held in an escrow account until final delivery and testing is done, so there is basically no risk on our part. If they can't do it, in time, they don't get paid - it's that simple. For more info on the process, check out http://www.rentacoder.com/
and let us all know you opinions. Financial logistics will be discussed later if there are sufficient response. Use the poll along with your comments. Thank you!

 

The thing is...someone already did this (the Bysin guy)...and had it running on his site, which they made him shut down.


Something about it being illegal or something like that....so how are you going to get around the same legality issues that made him shut it down in the first place?

You can't even find it out on other warez / illegal sites now like kazaa and stuff...since they seem to have pulled it from most 'net websites, otherwise you would be able to download the nag remover along with the other stuff.

 

Removing the nag screen AND the need to press the "ok" button has NOT been accomplished. The closest thing was that they managed to replace the disclaimer text with a black screen for which you still have to wait several seconds and at the end of which you still have to press the button to move on.
And about the legal issue, any reference to "legal trouble" can only be found in the first thread of the sticky summarized thread, with no details whatsoever. I believe it's a fabrication of the "summarizer" guy's mind written only as an excipient. Think of the software mod as a turbo kit or spoiler wing or chrome wheels or custom brakes. The car is yours in its entirety and the software that it comes with is not under any kind of licensing structure.
And who told you the site was shut down? As of today, it is very well up and running.

 

correct me if I'm wrong... all bysin did was remove the nag screen and had a "ok" button in place of it. I think he did figure it out how to completely rid of the button part but did not have time to write new codes before he was sent to prison (for hacking?)

 

Interestingly. stanekfelix did not answer gqchicago's question... how are you going to get around the legalese of the software license??? This sounds like complete bullshit to me. Noone in their right mind is going to give money for this when it has already been done to an extent.

Oh yeah, you are sorely mistaken if you think you own the software in your vehicle....

 

You are correct sir... He did not include it in his source code but he did leave clues as to how you can do it with a hex editor.... so yes it CAN be done, just noone has done it yet...

And yes he went to prison....

If anyone wants FREE help with the Navi hack, let me know.... I can help...

 

He went to prison?! For what? Was it for the navi hacking or something else? Where is that info?

Regarding the OP, I wouldn't pay because it's not important enough to me. I'd spend my own time and DVD blanks trying to figure out a few things to tweak, but I would not contribute any money to a group effort.

Edit: Never mind...I think I found it myself (Link)

 

You got it!!

 

...if you don't, the result, "summarized", is that bysin (if he's even the same guy) went to prison for spamming and phishing software development. Hehe, looks like spammers do make some nice money if they buy themselves new TL's, huh?

 

If you want the original thread from the TSX forum that was started by bysin himself:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21434

In another thread (windows up with key FOB), a vendor sold something that can bypass the OK button. It seems like that thread has been deleted. I'm sure you can it.

 

I have seen a "nag screen" bypass module for sale online for Infiniti vehicles w/ navi. I can't recall if they offer a module for Acura vehicles.

 

Yup, thats the one I am talking about.

 

...I don't. Instead of paying $44.98 for this green crocodile [IMG]D:\Flix\Project1.jpg[/IMG] and then dismantling the dash board, installing the mod, losing your warranty, soldering stuff, putting it al back together, I'd rather just pop a disc in the trunk and have it all done in a reversible way with no risks and no hassle. But then again, some folks like it the hard way.

 

kptechnologies.net or something like that sells something that will press the ok button for you. i had one of his items on my Z and it worked fine.

 

ugh, soldering. not reversable.

 

I would pay, but for a more complete hack, which will unlock hidden software features, first of all a trip computer with instant fuel economy gauge.

 

i have tried to play with it as well and have not really found enough information on it to figure it out yet , i have a friend of mine that is a hardcore programmer , i'll see if can get him to take a look at it..

 

Possible ways

1. Live with it and wait to press the okay button each time you need to use the Nav
2. Contact and buy the product from KPTechnologies
3. Buy a new car/nav
4. Find a programmer that is up to the challenge and will do it for a small fee/free
5. Try to raise a large sum of money, find a secure place to store it, rent a programmer to try to hack a copyrighted software and then worry about what happens when the final product doesn't meet everyone's expectations.

Disassembling software has issues of its own IMO (legal, warranty, etc). I'll stick with my option 1. I don't think its complicated. For me, it's a pet peeve of the car (like no MP3, Aux-In, CD Text, RDS).

stanekfelix, I don't appreciate your comments and judgments of other members. Good luck with the fund raising.

 

First, I'd like to apologize, datmrman. I didn't realize I was bashing you with every occasion as you were the "summarizer" and we'd like to thank you for that thread, you did a great job. What I was trying to accomplish was to calm people down about the legal issue which, as you can see, turned out to be totally unrelated.
Yes, the hardware solution from KPT is a viable thing, it works, and most of all is readily available as we speak. But you must recognize that it has its major downsides: cost, cost of installation - hassle of installation (for the DIYs), functionality, plus a real risk of warranty woes. Whereas most of these things are inexistent with a software solution, the advantages are beyond comparison.
I do agree with you that I should try to locate some others up to the challenge for a smaller fee - but that'll require to supply them with a summary of what has been done (not the how to change the BMP logistics) but rather the technical data gathered so far. The above mentioned price quote was based on the original disc so they would have had to start from scratch. Can you help us out here maybe?
As for your "...worry about what happens when the final product doesn't meet everyone's expectations...", I encourage everybody to check out how http://www.rentacoder.com/ works and how your money is protected all the way through the final delivery of the product. So if it's not like specified, no money is given, period.
And, as an ever optimistic type I find myself to be, I also hope for some of those pet peeves that you mentioned to be addressed.


In the end, just a little sarcasm - I can't help myself: POLL:
This? or this?

 

stanekfelix, apology accepted. We're all here to help each other. I commend you on your efforts to start the ball rolling on this. The nag screen has been an unresolved annoyance for some since the car was released.

Other than the original thread by bysin in the TSX forum, I believe this is the original link of the hack for the TL forums:
https://acurazine.com/forums/automotive-news-6/s4-cabriolet-112677/

More details can be found in there. If you can give the coders some additional insight, maybe they will lower the price since they wont be starting from scratch. Again, good luck!

 

something that we haven't done yet: why don't we lobby honda nicely about this?

 

Unfortunately, that is very unlikely to get anywhere. Even if they were willing to invest the time into making the software modification and then making it available, the lawyers almost certainly wouldn't let them. And that's speaking as a lawyer that thinks that advice is idiotic. But it's the way it is. They would rather inconvenience the customers rather than get sued.

 

well then, let's hack this baby!

 

I'm would pay to have that damn ok buttton gone and also the "unverified roads" bullcrap. "You are now entering an unverified area, blah, blah, blah" Make it go away and I would pay $100. I like the nav, but honestly my garmin ique 3600 has more features and never says anything about unverified roads and it uses navtech data. Wonder what's up with the acura data?

Will

 

IMO, there is a very, very, very small (but admittedly nonzero) chance you will find anyone able to remove the nag screen. Bysin talked like you could just insert a NOP in the right spot and skip the screen. In my experience, it's rarely that easy. Especially with something based on Windows CE. And as far as I know, there aren't any (publicly available) emulators that will let someone step through the assembly instructions to see what happens where and when (a disassembler by itself is not much help.) I'm sure Honda or Acura or whoever built this sucker has the development tools, but we don't.

And as far as actual improvements to the system (trip computers, instant fuel economy, etc.) I just can't imagine how any of that could be done without access to the source code of the current system and lots of help and support from the engineers that built it.

It's a nice idea, and nobody wants to get rid of the nag screen more than I do, but I don't see it happening, so I don't think it's worth it to go to all the trouble of raising and administering bounty. (I'm secretly hoping someone proves me wrong, though....

Just my $0.02...

 

Unfortunately, this stupid thing called the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) says that modifying software is NOT like installing a turbo kit. ONce you explain to someone here in the US what you are asking them to do, you most likely won't get any takers, at any amount of money.

As far as the software not being under any license structure, you are wrong. If you bought your car used, you may not have received it, but I have all of the documentation, including the licensing. If there were no licensing, you would be free to copy and distribute the software as well, and I'm going to speculate that if you posted copies for sale on EBay, you'd either get a visit from the law, or some guy with a middle name of a food, a city, or an animal.

I guess the sillier question is, what is so difficult about reaching up to hit the OK button? It wouldn't surporise me if you were the same people that just don't use blinkers because of the effort involved.

I'm not trying to be insulting, but just trying to understand your value or apparent "need" to not push the OK button.


Steve

 

Steve,

I don't think there is a NEED. It is just annoying. Now people have a forum to whine and complain about it. The more whining that is done the more "annoying" it becomes to people. So now, they want it gone.

 

Given the curent gas prices, unlocking the instant MPG meter would pay for itself. To me it is a better value then the nag screen removal.
I am sure Honda will not invoke DMCA if it is applicable in our case. If they cared, they would do it when startup image and nag screen text hacks were disovered.

 

Honda won't. Alpine will. Remember who writes those software updates each year. Its not a matter of whether or not they will, but why would you put yourself in a position that they can?

 

Well they could make the disclaimer come up when you first buy the car and then again once a year and this would relieve them from getting sued as they still installed a disclaimer...

When you buy a piece of software for your computer you dont have to look at it every single time you start the software.

 

True, makes 100% sense...but youll probably get some jerkof who rents the car or borrows it and will claim that he didnt see the disclaimer therfore when the navi directed him to drive off a cliff he followed through.


To get 3000 from a large amount of people and possibly have to pay it all back over the internet may be difficult. What the person who started this thread should do is independently hire a person to do this.. If they succeed, lay out the money, and only send the fix to people willing to contribute... use PM's and paypal if anyhting. Stop when you hit 3000. I donno how legal that is but if theres a legitimate company who does what law did you personally break? Yea its farfetched but you people seem VERY determined. Please feel free to prove me wrong.

 

has anyone gotten into trouble for having modded navi screens when they brought their car in for service at an Acura dealership??

 

Most likely not; why, have you?
As long as you stick to the software solution and make no physical changes whatsoever, you'll be fine. And it all looks like we finally made it. Check out the latest here: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...hreadid=144925