Proprietary SB3 Firmware "Turnkey Media Solutions"

[MikeDeez]

Hello everyone,
I have an interesting situation that will require a low level programming solution. I have a technical background so I'm up for the challenge - I'm hoping someone on the forum can save me some time.

I purchased a Squeezebox classic (SB3) on ebay. When it arrived, I powered it up and attempted to connect it to mysqueezebox.com. The player reported that it was disabled by "Turnkey Media Solutions" and to contact them by an 800 number. I tried a factory firmware reset by holding down (+) and plugging in unit, and then reprogrammed the xilinx by holding down (1) and plugging the unit in. Forcing a firmware update with the (brightness) button does not help the situation. The unit still reports that it's locked even after all previous steps succeed.

I contacted Turnkey who told me that they purchase Squeezeboxes in bulk form Logitech who provides them with custom firmware which IS the factory default. Turnkey is a monthly paid music subscription service. Their Squeezeboxes are only allowed to connect to their service and will otherwise be useless. I'm quite sure that this isn't something that Logitech will support me on. ...you're starting to see my problem. I'm dealing with the eBay seller and eBay buyer protection so far with no resolution. My last recourse to salvage my investment is low level manual intervention.

I've successfully used command line software packages before to configure a Squeezebox receiver for operation without the Duet Controller. A Pearl program called "Net-UDAP" by Robin Bowes was a great solution. projects<dot>robinbowes<dot>com/Net-UDAP I'm hoping there's a utility out there like this one that might help me in my current situation. Please note that I'm not trying to replace the factory default firmware, but rather alter the firmware that the device is running to get around the cripplewear. The overall goal is to use the player through my mysqueezebox.com account.

Does anyone have any suggestions on this? I know this is a really low level technical question. I really appreciate any help you can provide.

Thanks ahead of time!
-Mike

[sebp]

It reminds me the useless demo Squeezebox found on e-bay, but yours at least seems to be able to play some music.
Have you tried connecting it to a local Logitech Media Server instance, so that it catches an up-to-date firmware?

Reading the instructions at TurnKey, it looks like the unit is intended to connect to SqueezeNetwork/MySqueezebox.com.
I guess either the player uses a hardcoded IP address / different server name to connect to TK rather than SN/MySB.com, or its MAC address is filtered at Logitech's.
In case it's a hardcoded server matter, a firmware upgrade from a regular LMS instance should solve the problem.
In case it's a MAC address filtering matter, it shouldn't be hard to replace it with a "standard" one (there's an option to change it in the firmware settings), given somebody with a dead SB could provide you his/her.

10. Select music source
» Scroll down to Connect to Squeezenetwork
» Scroll right
» The device will connect to SUBWAY Radio automatically from this point
Please Note: You always want to select Connect to SqueezeNetwork

This last sentence seems to indicate the custom firmware won't prevent you connecting the unit to a local LMS instance, so there's hope it'll upgrade to a sane firmware.

[andyg]

If you PM me the MAC address of your player I can fix it for you. Please talk to the seller and/or TurnKey and remind them they are supposed to contact Logitech with a list of players they intend to sell, so we can properly remove their players from the database. Selling players in this state to someone is completely irresponsible, but at least you did not receive a defective or bricked player.

[MikeDeez]

If you PM me the MAC address of your player I can fix it for you. Please talk to the seller and/or TurnKey and remind them they are supposed to contact Logitech with a list of players they intend to sell, so we can properly remove their players from the database. Selling players in this state to someone is completely irresponsible, but at least you did not receive a defective or bricked player.

Thank you VERY MUCH Andy, I sent you a PM with the MAC address. I will pass along the favor when an opportunity permits.

-Mike

[MikeDeez]

It reminds me the useless demo Squeezebox found on e-bay, but yours at least seems to be able to play some music.
Have you tried connecting it to a local Logitech Media Server instance, so that it catches an up-to-date firmware?

Reading the instructions at TurnKey, it looks like the unit is intended to connect to SqueezeNetwork/MySqueezebox.com.
I guess either the player uses a hardcoded IP address / different server name to connect to TK rather than SN/MySB.com, or its MAC address is filtered at Logitech's.
In case it's a hardcoded server matter, a firmware upgrade from a regular LMS instance should solve the problem.
In case it's a MAC address filtering matter, it shouldn't be hard to replace it with a "standard" one (there's an option to change it in the firmware settings), given somebody with a dead SB could provide you his/her.


This last sentence seems to indicate the custom firmware won't prevent you connecting the unit to a local LMS instance, so there's hope it'll upgrade to a sane firmware.

You are correct, LMS is still usable on this player. The HTPC running LMS isn't always on however, so I wanted a different solution to provide ease of access for my family. Upon further investigation, the MAC filtering is the issue; no firmware tampering is going to get around that! Too bad, sounded like fun (sort of).

[sebp]

Too bad, sounded like fun (sort of).

I don't think it would have been fun to be left with a semi-bricked Squeezebox, given its firmware is close-sourced:

The ip3k firmware can never be open-sourced unfortunately, as it contains proprietary code from Ubicom.

I'm happy to see that Logitech has kept control over the Squeezebox sold for the Turnkey service, though.
Let PM your player's MAC address to Andy, now, and tell your seller he's a naughty boy. ;-)

[MikeDeez]

Thank you again Andy for your incredibly fast action taken after you received the player's MAC. Also, thanks for your replies Sebp. Everything is now working as it should. I will 'educate' the irresponsible eBay'er.

-Mike

[srekstad]

If you PM me the MAC address of your player I can fix it for you. Please talk to the seller and/or TurnKey and remind them they are supposed to contact Logitech with a list of players they intend to sell, so we can properly remove their players from the database. Selling players in this state to someone is completely irresponsible, but at least you did not receive a defective or bricked player.

Andy, I have the same problem, I connect fine to my LMS, and can see the players at mysqueezebox.com but cannot get the Turnkey lock out of the my apps on each player. I've emailed the seller but no response. Can you help with these, the good news is that I haven't left feedback for the seller yet.

[plympton]

Andy, I have the same problem, I connect fine to my LMS, and can see the players at mysqueezebox.com but cannot get the Turnkey lock out of the my apps on each player. I've emailed the seller but no response. Can you help with these, the good news is that I haven't left feedback for the seller yet.

Who is the seller? I was thinking about getting another Classic on eBay, and want to avoid this (solvable) hassle if I can...

[srekstad]

Who is the seller? I was thinking about getting another Classic on eBay, and want to avoid this (solvable) hassle if I can...

Seller has responded and says they are looking into this: ebay id: ritaberi7511

I'll definitely post how this turns out.

6/26 - I suspect the seller will not help or be able to help, they just responded and somehow thought mac id's of the players had something to do with macintosh. I've emailed Logitech tech support twice, no response yet.