Xcal 1 Going Offline Discussion

[icer]

if tuners know about the xcal1 been finished in whatever time period, why do they still sell them to customers after the notice has been given by herrod (and worse of, not even informing them?). Its herrods job to inform the tuners, but its really the tuners job to inform the clients IMO

[ratter]

Every time we flash a tune into a box it is recorded in our software, sometimes during the course of tuning a car, although the customer may get 1 custom tune, we may have flashed to box up to 30 times endeavoring to get the best tune for the car, this would count as 30 flashes.

The way the software works is we need a dongle plugged into our computer for the software to open, no dongle and it will not open, this flash count is kept in the dongle, after a certain amounts of flash burns the dongle has to report back to SCT and be updated, some tuners may have as little has 25 flashes before needing an update, when updating we get the latest versions of software and any changes to existing version plus any added processor codes, the dongle flash count is also reset.

We can have 2,3 or even 10 computers with the software, but we have 1 dongle which needs to be updated on a regular basis.

[Corzza]

What about the hand held Xcal2???

[icer]

what if you have no internet? how does the dongle report to SCT? What if you image the dongle when it is on 0 flashes?

I dont know how far tuners go to doing the 'dodgy' but im sure we can work a way around it if need be.

[ratter]

We must have internet to communicate with SCT, what business these days would not have it?

We are not interested in cheating the system or finding ways of doing it, we are a legit business and choose to stay that way.

[gregor]

what if you have no internet? how does the dongle report to SCT? What if you image the dongle when it is on 0 flashes?

I dont know how far tuners go to doing the 'dodgy' but im sure we can work a way around it if need be.

Imaging a PC is easy but I'd suspect creating an image of the dongle would be a lot harder. You can be sure SCT would have already considered stuff like this.

The worrying thing is if they'll do the same thing to the xcal2 then 3 later down the line. I dont buy that they couldnt have some legacy support for the original boxes, they're lazy, incompetent and/or just plain greedy. A good comparison would be with PCs - microsoft will stop providing support and updates for an OS but they don't limit your ability to use the computer later on. At least if Xcal1 boxes didnt have access new parameters/codes/etc.. owners could choose to upgrade if they consider it worthwhile. Fair enough if you stop unlocking them and anything else but to take away tuning capabilities for existing owners is a dirty move.

[arm79]

Just found this that was posted by Herrod Motorsport on the 03/02/09... It is post #342 in the original X-CAL1 thread.

JUST TO CLARIFY EVERYTHING!

For all of those out there questioning the life-span of the XCal1, this is the news you’ve been more than waiting for!

In previous forum entries, we have noted that what we need is if you have a tune shop that you use, get them to contact Rob or Chris Herrod on +61 3 9464 5100 or email support@sctflashtuning.com so as we can collect of all the information we need as these tuners need to be registered with the Herrod/SCT as of now…

Now, this is the part that should make EVERYONE out there happy.

So long as these tune shops contact us ASAP on the details above, those who do will be able to update the XCal1 for as long as they have customers needing updates... So, if you CURRENTLY own and use an XCal1 unit then you are fine and have nothing to be concerned about. Nothing has changed for you at all, you have lost nothing... As long as your unit has already been tuned to your car, you are fine. We are supporting currently tuned XCal1 units.

This being said, all new tune sales from here on will need to be done on the X3 (if your chosen tuner doesn’t have any stock of the other units), as again, components are no longer available to repair the XCal1 or add future years to them.

In relation to unlocking XCal1 units, the ability to unlock the XCal1 is being retained so long as the unit has been put back to FACTORY STANDARD (Meaning the car it was in, has been put back to standard).

If it hasn’t been put back to factory standard, then it’s all over! It is ILLEGAL to unlock a unit that hasn’t been as it is not the intended use of the product. In this case, the unit will remain, as it always should have, locked to the car that it is currently until it expires. This means that no boxes will be able to be reset! You can't put a tune in one car, have it unlocked and tune another! Doing so is ILLEGAL!

This I’m sure will put EVERYONE at ease now and prove that there is nothing to be concerned about.

Trading is as normal for your chosen tune-shop and others alike!

Cheers,

The Team @ Herrod Motorsport & SCT

Australia's No1 Ford Enhancement Specialist

103 Northgate Drive

Thomastown

VIC 3074

Phone: 03 9464 5100

Fax: 03 9464 5166

Reading this, it seems it 100% contradicts exactly what is happening now. This post insinuates that the X-CAL1 will have indefinate ongoing tuning support, on the following conditions:

1. The device is already tuned to your car

2. You have an unlocked new/unused device ready for tuning.

I read that if I walked in off the street and had nothing and said "tune my car" then the tuner is obliged to make me buy an X-CAL3 device and that's it. But if I have an already used device for my car, I can continue to use it and get tune alterations.

I think on the whole that is fair enough. It supports existing users and forces new users to buy the latest device.

However, as I said that completely contradicts what is happening now. I see no where in that post that they had decided the X-CAL1 had a finite lifespan, which they obviously have decided it now does.

All the tuners, and hopefully ratter can confirm the background on this, have said "you have known for ages they were going to pull support". The distributors post says they arent. Did you receive extra notification beyond that that said the devices had a finite life? Because if you did, it sure doesn't seem to have been communicated to the buying public. Note that I'm not having a crack at you, just trying to find out where the idea of cutting off support came from.

Last time I spoke to a tuner about my car (2 of them in fact) and told them I had the X-CAL1 box, they made no mention of an end of life, so to me it comes as a suprise, not something they knew.

Maybe the fix to this problem is as simple as reminding Herrod of their post and "clarification" as above, and seeing what they say. I cant see how they are going to weasel out of the contents of that post!

My 2c anyways.

[BA-XR6T]

We can have 2,3 or even 10 computers with the software, but we have 1 dongle which needs to be updated on a regular basis.

Thank you for clarifying, that makes complete sense, I didn't even think of a security dongle being part of the package, so basically it's monopolised to force us to play ball. Have to admit that is a well structured model.

[banddriver]

What other tuning software is on the market for the Falcons?

I think this should be seen as a turning point for other software providers to step into the market.

I for one will be looking at the Sniper Software and the Hp Tuners packages.

[Full Monty]

Yeah I just went back and read that post from Rob Herrod in the Nizpro forum, just to be sure I wasn't imagining things. Sure enough it simply states that existing owners are safe, and can have tunes adjusted and uploaded to their car "as long as we require".

Bit of a bloody backflip, I'm not so sure I can trust any assurances regarding Xcal2 and Xcal3 not seeing the same fate in 1-2 years time, just because the new profitable model is released.