What is a flashcode?
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What is a flashcode?
For those of us who don't get to work with high end radios..... I have seen people talking about flashcodes. What exactly IS a flashcode? I mean, a codeplug contains channel and system information, and I am somewhat familiar with the options that you can turn on and off, in the codeplug. But, how does a flashcode differ from a codeplug?
Simply put - you can compare the flashcode to options in a car:
When you buy a car, you buy it with a set of features, or usually an options package. Lets say you are looking at a Ford Explorer (I have one, so I guess It's as good as an example as any).
Mine happens to be a V6, 4-door, 16" wheel option, sport package, standard cd-player, XLT, etc.... That's how it came from the factory. So lets come up with a code like - XLT4DSP for Explorer, 4 door, xlt, sport.
So lets say you want to upgrade the stereo, you go out, buy stereo, install stereo, use stereo. Think of that as the process of flashing. You purchased a flash upgrade, you installed the upgrade, you play with upgrade.
But lets say you have a V6 explorer, and want a V8. Hmm. Well, you can't jam a V8 into a V6... it's just not possible! So what do you do? Upgrade your memory! You have to remove the old V6, and install the new V8.
So in that scenario, think of the V6 as a 512k vocoder board as the v6, and the 1mb vocoder board as the V8.
There are different features you can load into the 1mb (mostly 9600baud trunking) over the 512.
So you can only go so far with the options you have. But compare it to buying a car - you can only use the features that you drive off the lot, or have installed in it. You might drive it the same (think program), but the features may be different.
Oh, and the flashcode would be equal to the options package you have... Like a P71 Crown Victoria is a Police Interceptor. 591008-4f1e00-1 or whatever is the "whored" out radio, with a feature set that doesn't work together
-Alex
When you buy a car, you buy it with a set of features, or usually an options package. Lets say you are looking at a Ford Explorer (I have one, so I guess It's as good as an example as any).
Mine happens to be a V6, 4-door, 16" wheel option, sport package, standard cd-player, XLT, etc.... That's how it came from the factory. So lets come up with a code like - XLT4DSP for Explorer, 4 door, xlt, sport.
So lets say you want to upgrade the stereo, you go out, buy stereo, install stereo, use stereo. Think of that as the process of flashing. You purchased a flash upgrade, you installed the upgrade, you play with upgrade.
But lets say you have a V6 explorer, and want a V8. Hmm. Well, you can't jam a V8 into a V6... it's just not possible! So what do you do? Upgrade your memory! You have to remove the old V6, and install the new V8.
So in that scenario, think of the V6 as a 512k vocoder board as the v6, and the 1mb vocoder board as the V8.
There are different features you can load into the 1mb (mostly 9600baud trunking) over the 512.
So you can only go so far with the options you have. But compare it to buying a car - you can only use the features that you drive off the lot, or have installed in it. You might drive it the same (think program), but the features may be different.
Oh, and the flashcode would be equal to the options package you have... Like a P71 Crown Victoria is a Police Interceptor. 591008-4f1e00-1 or whatever is the "whored" out radio, with a feature set that doesn't work together
-Alex
In the simplest of terms...
The radio itself is capable of doing everything. The flashcode determines what the user can actually use.
For example, an MTS-2000 can do MDC decode, QC-II, trunking, etc etc. But mine is not flashed for any of that so it won't do it. I can have it flashed and the features will become available.
The radio itself is capable of doing everything. The flashcode determines what the user can actually use.
For example, an MTS-2000 can do MDC decode, QC-II, trunking, etc etc. But mine is not flashed for any of that so it won't do it. I can have it flashed and the features will become available.
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Them: "A very nice CB at 900Mhz speed!"
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Dale Earnhardt
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nc5p
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On some radios you have to use a "smart rib" to flash. It is a rib that has a microcontroller in it, not just a level translator. I opened one up once and it's got a lot more inside than the 4008. I'm not sure why Motorola did it that way, other than to foil hackers? EF Johnson radios (Summits, etc.) had a switch on their "rib" that makes the LED glow a different color when you flash. If you tried to flash or plain program with the switch in the wrong position it wouldn't work.
Doug
NC5P
Doug
NC5P
From what I gather, a flashcode just "tells" the radio what you are "allowed" to access.
IE, you can buy an XTS3000 that JUST does analog, no trunking.
The radio itself is capable of digital, trunking, and all those goodies, but unless the flashcode is in the radio, you can't access these features.
That begs the question - what does the SmartRIB actually DO? To "upgrade" the flashcode, all you'd need to do is get your hands on an S-Record from a radio that has the flash options you want and dump it in your radio with a regular RIB. So where does the "smart" put of the RIB come into play here?
-Mike
IE, you can buy an XTS3000 that JUST does analog, no trunking.
The radio itself is capable of digital, trunking, and all those goodies, but unless the flashcode is in the radio, you can't access these features.
That begs the question - what does the SmartRIB actually DO? To "upgrade" the flashcode, all you'd need to do is get your hands on an S-Record from a radio that has the flash options you want and dump it in your radio with a regular RIB. So where does the "smart" put of the RIB come into play here?
-Mike
Ha! we all wish we could do that. Sadly, no. The flashcode is pretty protected by Big M. It is no easy task to add features. Generally, when a customer buys an upgrade, they send the MSS doing the upgrade a dongle that is pre-programmed to do a very specific number of upgrades. once they are all used up, the dongle 'dies'. Do a search on the Batlabs site for 'toolproofing' - this is how M ties the Flashcode into the firmware of the radio. If you try changing one, the information between the two places will no longer match and you will get the infamous FAIL 01/93 or "paperweight code" since that is about all your radio will be good for.Gman Posted: Let me get this straight.So if I have radio (A) with limited options,and I borrow radio(B) with the options that I want,I can make radio A just like B.....Thanks,new to this flash code stuff,very informative post though...
hope this helps!
-werdnuts
Flashcode dongle cheat.
Hello.
Not saying anybody like you would do this.
The /\/\ dongle used for flashing has a number of "uses" loaded.
Now, there is really nothing special about the dongle.
If, you were to get the nifty software that gets rid of the dongle, by way of making a soft-dongle, make a copy of the dongle file, purge the woking copy when it gets "used".
Then, you could make however large a number of upgrades you wanted, but only what the original dongle let you do.
But, I know for a fact that no batlabber would ever do this.
Not saying anybody like you would do this.
The /\/\ dongle used for flashing has a number of "uses" loaded.
Now, there is really nothing special about the dongle.
If, you were to get the nifty software that gets rid of the dongle, by way of making a soft-dongle, make a copy of the dongle file, purge the woking copy when it gets "used".
Then, you could make however large a number of upgrades you wanted, but only what the original dongle let you do.
But, I know for a fact that no batlabber would ever do this.