Well, my Mk2 finally arrived yesterday, after a delay in customs (They've obviously heard about the empeg, and just had to open the package to take a look =)

First impressions (from a Mk1 owner's point of view)
The sled doesn't seem to be finished quite as well as the sled on my Mk 1, with a number of rough patches (The unit comes mounted in the sled for those of you who didn't know, so it’s the first thing you see). Hardly a significant problem, but I mention it anyway (remember, I'm also a Mk1 owner, and I'm comparing the two... =).
However, the unit slides in and out much more easily than before, so that’s a definite plus... =)

Anyway, on to the unit itself... It looks even better in the flesh than the pictures. The handle is very nicely sculpted (if a little on the thin side compared to the Mk1), and has matching curved bits to the face (You’ll see what I mean… =). The face looks very good and the buttons on the left look very nice. I'm not too keen on the rotary control though, as it either seems to stick out too far, or needs to change colour (It looks unfinished in a way)... I’d prefer the buttons in a nice blue colour, but I’ll survive... =)
The buttons click positively, and sound quite chunky. The rotary control also clicks, but felt a bit tight... The reason became clear when I looked a bit more closely (The rotary control is binding on part of the faceplate for 3/4 of a revolution)

Now we plug the unit in... No surprises that the boot up looks the same.
The screen is a bit darker compared to the Mk1, however, it’s a nicer shade of blue (IMHO) with better contrast.
Unlike the Mk1 default disc, my Mk2 didn’t ship with any tunes on (the Mk1 came with a track from an MP3.com artist). Maybe that’s just for this batch, I don’t know.

So next I got the latest software image, tried to upload it and hit my first error (Invalid flash block code, or something similar). I then loaded emplode, and tried again from the tools menu... This time it upgraded ok...

The clone tool was next, and it had trouble finding both empegs. Rebooting them in sequence, standing on my head with a black cat on the floor, rebooting yet again and it found them both. (A new clone tool has been released, which should fix the problem).
Also I got the Error –2 problem, which was fixed by syncing with emplode 11a on both empegs in turn.

The clone took about 11 hours for 4 gigs of data, which might indicate a problem with my PC... Hardly a problem though, as I ran them overnight.

So, waffle over, what’s the verdict…
It’s an empeg, it looks a different on the outside, but it works and plays the same... (A simple statement I know, as many people would kill to get such a usable system into the market... =)
I haven’t run it in the car yet (due to the long sync) but fitting the cage didn’t take more than 30 mins. The wiring is also quite a lot thinner than the Mk1, which should help those with limited space.

Until the speech recognition is released, there isn’t much in it between them, at least from my quick play yesterday (I’ll see today how it performs on the road), so don't worry if you can't upgrade for a while.

Nice one all at empeg...

Jazz
(List 112, Mk2 12 gig #40. Mk1 for sale 4 gig #30, apply within)

I got the latest software image, tried to upload it and hit my first error (Invalid flash block code, or something similar)

that's really funny, I got the same error on my first upgrade.
And after the second upload the screen on the empeg was all garbled and empeg didn't respond to button presses. Emplode said that the update had been applied correctly, and after pulling the plug Mark came up OK.

These things may well have been sorted by the new releases for emplode and the player, but I'd like to suggest that the empeg guys try this out once more before they ship the next 1,000

Henno
mark2 nr: 006

I got that screen garbage as well... I just didn't remember when I did the review, and I didn't have time to email empeg at the time (was running late for a meeting... =)

Tried it in the car, and got the settings forgotten bug, which resulted in no volume, and a scratched head for 5 mins until I remembered... =)

Everyone agrees it looks sweet... =)

Jazz
(List 112, Mk2 12 gig #40. Mk1 for sale 4 gig #30, apply within)

The "bad flash ID" message isn't really avoidable - basically, the mk2 powers up *much* quicker than the mk1 did, which means that unless you push the power plug in *very* quickly (or leave the DC power jack in the empeg and then plug it into the wall) the empeg can think it's running on DC power and it won't allow you to go into the flash utility.

We're working on making future upgrades work via emplode, so you can do them by serial/usb/ethernet, which gets round this problem and also makes them faster.

Hugo

The "bad flash ID" message isn't really avoidable ( . . ) future upgrades work via emplode

The quick boot is noticeable, espeically in the car. Nice.
Until it's resolved, you'd better tell everyone (release notes?). Some clients may think they broke it and panic.

Henno
mark2 nr: 006

We're working on making future upgrades work via emplode, so you can do them by serial/usb/ethernet

Thanks! This would totally rock. Serial ports, baud rates, and IRQs are like black magic. For a while I couldn't be on the internet and upgrade my Empeg at the same time since my modem shared an IRQ with that COM port. Now I've got a copy-protection dongle hanging from that serial port which I have to physically remove if I want to upgrade the Empeg. It's supposed to pass-through but of course that doesn't work when I'm trying to upgrade.

I understand that if I somehow hosed the upgrade that I'd need to revert to serial as a last-ditch thing, but for normal day-to-day upgrades, having USB/Ethernet would rock.

Not to mention that it'd cut down on tech support for you guys: No more walking a customer through configuring their COM ports...

___________
Tony Fabris

Of course, if your ethernet-connected empeg could find a route to www.empeg.com, we could get it to auto-update ;)

Hugo

Of course, if your ethernet-connected empeg could find a route to www.empeg.com, we could get it to auto-update

Stop it, Hugo, you're starting to scare me.

___________
Tony Fabris

...as you can do with Cisco or Lucent/Livingston routers. Excellent idea. They use a TFTP/BOOTP combination, though - can the empeg support this?

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

Edited by schofiel on 6/7/00 09:59 AM.

No, shouldn't need anything special. If you unplug it during an update it will be toast and require a standard (serial cable) upgrade to get it back.

Hugo

I was thinking more along the lines of a menu option which contacted empeg, and upgraded the unit directly from the TCP stream. I suspect it'll stay on the wishlist for just a while, though...

Hugo

Even so..
this feature seems to have escaped all of us til now. This is just so sweet!!

____________________________
Murray

What software are you using that requires a serial dongle? I didn't know any still existed, or did you pull that disk and dongle out of the closet recently?

What software are you using that requires a serial dongle? I didn't know any still existed...

Actually, there are a lot of programs that use dongle-based copy protection. However, they're usually the more expensive high-end programs where the number of sell-through units is low so the need for copy protection is much greater. For example, many high-end CAD and 3D rendering programs use dongles. Currently, dongle protection is still the best trade-off between maximum secuirty and minimum legit-user-hassle. It's just that it's rare because it's more expensive to ship a dongle+CD than it is to ship just a CD.

In my case, the software is Logic Audio, a multitrack digital recording studio with realtime effects. Remember about a month ago when I was complaining about not being able to open a 24-bit wave file? Well my solution was to just get Logic Audio and be done with it. It can handle the 24-bit files natively.

___________
Tony Fabris

Currently, dongle protection is still the best trade-off between maximum secuirty and minimum legit-user-hassle. It's just that it's rare because it's more expensive to ship a dongle+CD than it is to ship just a CD.

What program is it? I have yet to see a program that required a dongle that hasn't been cracked... In fact, I have yet to see a program created that hasn't been cracked in some way or fashion.

(O|||||O)

I have yet to see a program that required a dongle that hasn't been cracked...

Hmmm.... then you haven't seen some of mine, then

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

What program is it? I have yet to see a program that required a dongle that hasn't been cracked... In fact, I have yet to see a
program created that hasn't been cracked in some way or fashion.

Most of the high-end CAD programs (Cimetron, MicroStation, UniGraphics, Catia) have had cracks attempted against them. However, ALL of them fall painfully shy of doing an even semi-decent job. As such, I have to pack up the dongles and bring them home to work over the weekend. *Sigh*

I have yet to see a program that required a dongle that hasn't been cracked... In fact, I have yet to see a program created that hasn't been cracked in some way or fashion.

You're right about that. My old axiom is "if it can be executed on the machine with the copy protection, then it can be executed without the copy protection, too". There's no such thing as an unbreakable protection scheme or an impenetrable security system. Because in either case, you want legitimate users to have reasonably easy access while keeping the crooks out. It's impossible to have 100 percent of both. The best you can do is to strike an appropriate balance between the two.

My point is that dongles are currently the best balance between those two contradictory requirements. They're breakable, but not without quite a bit of work in most cases. And, as was pointed out elsewhere, many times the dongle crackers do a sloppy job and cause the cracked program to be unstable.

___________
Tony Fabris

Weeks of work, corrupted just because of a bad crack

It is impossible for me to feel any sympathy in that situation. Wouldn't you agree?

___________
Tony Fabris

What's the history of that? Out of curiosity?

Calvin

Clever!

Calvin

Reading these posts gave me an idea for a copy-protection scheme that might be more effective than most...

Quake III now requires that the game CD be in the CD-ROM drive before the game will play -- it checks for a valid authentication number. However, anybody with a CD-burner can make his own copy of the CD, and install and play the game pirate-style.

Id Software (the Quake people) wouldn't even have to do this -- they could just say they had done it and it might deter piracy: If they printed a warning label on the CD, something like: WARNING: This CD contains a hidden sector that will NOT copy. Copied CDs without this sector will delete executable files in your Windows directory."

Or, they could actually do it (is that technically possible?) but there might be unpleasant legal ramifications.

I would certainly be reluctant to make or use an illicit copy of a CD under those circumstances! (Not that I would in any case... :-)

tanstaafl.



"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

This reminds me of "Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards" - one the golden oldies

If you pirated a copy, ostensibly it allowed to play without any arguments. However, for the unlucky few who had the persistence to complete the whole game, the prize for finishing was that it asked you for your registration number, and whacked the MBR of your disk if you couldn't supply it!

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

I don't think its possible to hide tracks from those programs that do sector copying. There are other ways of protecting your programs. Theif (and I'm assuming Theif II, but I haven't bought that one yet) managed to do something to the FAT on the CD. It says one of the files is 2 gigs =) Just to see if it actually worked, I tried copying it, and it wouldn't copy. I thought that was pretty clever.

...There was a pirating game (can't remember the name) that my friend had loaned me recently.. I actually tried to copy it but it was protected with disksafe... - it wouldn't copy, using Nero, progb, progy3, or progyD
-mark

...proud to have owned one of the first Mark I units