Maybe I'm missing something but to me it's just a USB to OBD2 cable which I've found online for $30. What's so special about theirs that costs so frigging much?

 

The USB microSD cord is just a plain ole cord with the Uprev logo. What you are actually paying for is the piece that plugs to the ODB2 port and to USB connection which holds the licence information. I used my phone charger usb with that and it worked perfectly fine. Hope this helps.

 

What you're really paying for is the research and development UpRev has put into their software. They're confident their technology built into their cables will keep their license intact.

 

I don't mind paying for the software but the cable seems ridiculous but if that's what houses the license then it makes a little more sense as to why it costs what it does.

 

The cables have a chip in them that activates the software and stores the license... You don't need a user id, password, activation code or anything just plug in your cable and it works.

 

That makes more sense.

 

Also I don't think a generic cable will allow you to talk to the ECU.

 

That isnt true for me but ok, because i was able to use my regular usb cable with the uprev port connnection and it worked fine with my laptop to flash the ecu, data log and live tune with Rom Editor multiple times already. Not saying you are wrong but this wasnt an issue with me and my Z.

 

most cables i have seen are one piece

 

Hmm.

This is my Tuner cable and Uprev Port, when i got it from my friend who is a member on here it came in 2 pieces. Maybe this is where i am kinda getting confused with everyone elses comments. Were the Uprev cables originally one piece? If so I apologize for not knowing.

 

Mine is one piece

 

It's not the cable thats expensive its that OBD2 dongle that contains the license code. The USB cable in your 2 piece set is just a regular cable.

 

This is correct. The older (pre 2014 I believe) reflash cables are all once piece, then they switched to the two piece design with the detachable micro USB cable, then earlier this year they switched to a mini usb cable.

For the newer 2 piece cables the chip is in the OBD2 dongle, the usb cable is generic and can be swapped out if necessary.

 

Yeah the older ones are one piece, newer ones 2 piece. I like the one piece much better.

 

I had thoughts about that myself. The heck am I paying for a cable that yes I can get on Ebay for around $50 or so. I ws concerned because the software can be downloaded for free so I was like umm.. $775 for what now? lol Makes tons more sense now

 

There are two main types of cables in this respect, dumb interface cables (yes that's the technical term) and smart interface cables. Dumb interface cables are simply data transfer devices, they don't store any firmware on the cable itself. Smart interface devices store the firmware within a microcontroller on the cable. The UpRev cable is a smart interface cable, the firmware is stored on the microcontroller in the cable.

The license information isn't REALLY stored on the cable. The CableInterface.dll actually stores how the license information is handled, and defines what type of cable it is (the only reason I'm posting this openly is because this is pretty standard practice) The dll references specific addresses in the firmware, and then defines how to handle the values pulled. The data is pretty easily manipulated to return different values, I'm surprised UpRev hasn't taken steps to prevent this.

 

Way to use a bunch of big words to make yourself sound super smart, without actually adding anything of value to this thread.

Uprev's software is proprietary, and hasn't been hacked since they released it back in what, 2004? so I would imagine that YES, they have taken steps to prevent whatever it is that you are insinuating.

If you had a legitimate method to exploit their software to create new licenses or upgrade cables for free, then I guarantee that you would not be out here on the public forum talking $hit about their software, but shopping it around to people who would pay dearly for it.

 

There's always that one guy...i should have expected it.

Reverse engineering and writing a whole new software are two different things. UpRev's software has been "hacked" most likely plenty of times. It was written on the .NET framework which is one of the most easily decompiled frameworks out there. Anyone with half a brain and thirty minutes of google can view their source code, and most likely plenty have.

I have directly edited their code with MSIL injection, which is slightly more complicated but still just about anyone can do it who cares to learn.

I reverse engineer because i enjoy it. Can i create licenses? Sure. And i have. But i don't even use them on my personal vehicle because that would be what the smart people call "illegal". I do it because I'm curious, and i enjoy it. I've edited uprevs software to where i can view any password protected ROM, open a ROM without the cable plugged in, etc, but I've never used this for illicit purposes.

If someone wants to learn MSIL injection in a general sense, I'll absolutely teach them. But i won't teach you specifics because i don't want to be sued and it's purely for academic purposes

 

Well congratulations then, you're a thief with a conscience. Or you're just talking out your A$$. Who knows

 

I know, and that's all that matters to me.

You call it thievery, I call it reverse engineering. One is illegal, the other isn't (take a guess which one applies to each option).