Buying STAR
 

If anyone is contemplating buying STAR, I bought 2 setups last year for $400 each, they are done to $365 including free UPS expedited shipping. I've had 0 issues with my unit and it's been used frequently by the Houston AMG guys.
I used this site to order mine, I had it here in 5 days. http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs...olesalers.html

Does only work with the IBM T30 laptop :) There are better systems out there which work on all laptops like the ones I have in stock.

There is an external HDD version that run VMWare worksation which run perfectly for me!

Oh and BTW it comes with the Developer piece unlocked ;)

Ok I was just saying!

No need to feel attacked here!!!

Many don't even know what they're doing without Developer-Kit access. Messing up stuff and blaming MB then for their bad engineering while it's clearly nothing average Joe should do anyways. Oh well what do I know right?

Tztztztztz!

Yeah trust me Google Translate coms in real handy when working with DEV.

And what is Google doing for you when it comes to all the abbreviations which doesn't even make sense to me as a native German speaker?

That site http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs...olesalers.html contains a rather unpleasant entry. I am deeply worried by the "DAS key expired" notice. Will the unit stop working after one year?

Entry:
Xentry never work and error message "No key found" DAS never work as well. error message "503" They could not fix through teamviewer. They send me another hard drive, but it was also the same problem except for the DAS. It work for for one month and now that it is the new year. It is giving me a error message "DAS Key expired.

I contacted them and they no longer want to help me. I have all email conversation from the beginning to Jan 3rd, '11. Aaron the representative told me to buy another machine from them and that they wouldn't help me because I filed a dispute. He basically told me to get lost.

I will make copies of the pictures I took of the warning messages and full transcribe email and load it to Dropbox. The file will be open to the public for everyone to see. I shouldn't have bought from them because their rating are very low but the price was good. Plus they haven't sold MB Star in years. I researched this company they are nothing but a third party reseller.

Well, Xentry likes to get updated every 3 months now or it will stop. And about the error message, of course the way they do it it has to be that way :)

I bought one and can't get it to work if my life depended on it. I'm using a usb to serial adapter which I believe is my problem so I'm in the process of getting an older laptop with a serial port.

I find it kinda sad that these expensive tools still use serial ports ( MB isn't the only one ).

Serial adapter is absolutely not your problem :)

Than what could it be? I have it set to com2 and I can't even get the Caesar self diagnostics to find it.

I'll PM you!

USB to Serial will effect performance. I used one before. It works, but slower.

And where do you get these quarterly Xentry updates from? Download - where? Do I need to pay extra for this? Do I have to make sure this update service is included in the original purchase price?

I cannot see that warning ("must update regularly") anywhere. Am I blind?

I do not yet have the system but the price is very interesting. I wonder if they sell it without these "useless" truck cables etc. I will never have an MB truck. All I need it for is a W220

Seriously? Do you think MB gives that software out by simple downloads? Downloads are done by the Chinese... I leave this that way.

Well I will vouch for Mackhack. I have bought several items from him all have worked flawlessly! I even bought an extra SDS to make sure I had a good working system. Thank you for all the help you have provided in the past and possible future.

Roverron, your welcome. You know you can always knock on my virtual door :)

There seems to be a lot of insider knowledge I cannot understand or penetrate. Therefore I decided not to buy a C3 or C4 tool myself for the time being. As I am in the IT business it would have been fun to to play with the computer (specifically Comand) of my car.

However, I would be very much obliged for receiving a link to Comand OS related information. What CPU is being used (not the Bosch 27 ECU I have in my car)? What flash memory is Comand being booted from? Then I want to attack the CAN network.

The questions (and the software pictures enclosed) are slightly off topic here, but I wanted to use Star to penetrate these areas.

COMAND OS is developed in VXworks OS.

Harman Becker uses QNX Neutrino's Real Time Operating System (RTOS) as well. I'm not 100% sure in which COMAND that is running.

I have a friend of mine who works for Harman Becker and my mother works with Harman Becker with her own company. I can always ask. Will I get answers? No idea!

If you don't feel comfy with your own SDS don't buy one. You can easily damage stuff or change stuff without knowing what you just did. If you're in the SoCal area you can always shoot me a PM and we can meet if you wanna have stuff done on your car.

Anyone in the East Coast Virginia are willing to give me a lending hand with a Star Diag.? I'm not asking for a free handout since this tool does cost money so, I'm sure paying for your service is something I can do. Let me know???

Thanks!!!

Duc, I'm planning a trip to WV/VA/DC in April. I sent out PMs last night to all of the guys here on this string who wanted to have stuff done by me. If I get enough responses I'll see you guys soon.

That sounds good Mack I am willing to hook up with you when you swing by VA.

Subscrided!

That sounds good Mack I am willing to hook up with you when you swing by VA.

Subscrided!

Danke fuer den ersten guten Augangspunkt fuer meine Suche. Das ist ein grosser Schritt vowaerts.

There is a weakness in the OS and it is very likely that it is existing in stand-alone (non-networked) applications, such as Comand. This weakness is an ideal way to get into the OS. I will investigate.

http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabi...011/index.html

Is it possible to boot Comand from a CD WITHOUT making permanent changes? I am thinking of something like booting a PC with an OS from a CD; you can debug and investigate, but he next time you boot the PC, it operates as before.

My W220 S600 has a 12+ speaker system from Bose, so HB is of limited interest to me. Thanks!

@ Jerry Machen wir jetzt in Deutsch weiter oder wie? Koennen wir gerne machen LOL!!!

I have no idea about hacking our beloved COMANDs guts out :) User "Hubi" would be the one to ask. He did all kinds of surgeries to his COMAND.