Service Key description from Bob Schmanski

[Jokeyman123]

Jesse and Chris,
I think I completely overlooked this-that I found Bob on Facebook and took a chance on asking him about this elusive "service key". Here is his reply, and it shows we might be onto something. I only wish I understood what he was talking about as i am apparently not technologically skilled enough to create something like this-but i bet there is someone in cyberspace who might know.

Bob's response...

Hi Joe - sorry it took me so long to respond. I honestly don't use the FB messenger app at all, so I only really see/respond to messages like these when I happen to log into the FB website on my computer (which doesn't happen more than once or twice a year). I hope you found an answer to your query, but in case you haven't, the Alesis "service key" was designed for ADATs, so it is very old. It's a basic "challenge/response" authenticator. It just has a little microcontroller in it that responds to "challenge" messages with the appropriate response. It's based on some mathematical/cryptographic calculation on the random data in the challenge to produce a "valid" response. The challenge message data is different every time, so the valid response is different every time. I would think someone out there would have reverse engineered it by now, though. It was based on 80s/90s technology, so it can't be that cryptographically secure.

I think Winston Churchill said..."never give in, never give up!" He wasn't talking about the Alesis Fusion though.

[parametric]

I think I did mention the ADAT connection in here at some point . . . ?

Problem is, in order to reverse-engineer the item - you have to HAVE the item IYSWIM?

Perhaps a company that services ADATs might have the "key"

At the Uni where I worked, when we ditched 2" Tape we went with (2) ADATs

They were Fostex RD-8s, although on one occasion we slaved them both with an Alesis ADAT

to get 24 tracks . . . . .

Based on SVHS tech. we did have reliability problems with the RD-8s (kept having to be sent away)

and in the end Fostex provided us with an Alesis ADAT, which we eventually kept, with their consent . .

In all honesty - the SVHS hardware was never designed for the "To and Fro" it would get in a Studio

environment. The sound quality was PRISTINE, while they worked, but a chewed tape could represent

a huge loss of work - and thus TIME - in the event of "problems".

Thankfully - this misery ended when the MacPro came into the Studio, or in our case - the "Machine Room"

Where the SoundCraft 2" recorder had lived . . . .

Chris

[Jokeyman123]

I'm hoping someone with that kind of experience with the ADAT concept, and that described by Bob, might see our posts and understand what can be done, even without the service key part. For example someone like the Alsis owner who posted his DIY power supply-of which I am still sitting on all the parts he used, just been too lazy to construct one and retro-fit it in one of my Fusions especially since I don't need one, yet....

I find it hard to believe, that some Alesis technician somewhere, might still have one of these keys laying around, in their repair workshop, or might know where one is, probably gathering dust in some long-forgotten warehouse full of Alesis repair and replacement parts. since Alesis pioneered the concept of ADAT-someone besides Bob must know something, and these recorders are still around in the used market. I did buy a barcode scanner, it is sitting in my music room.

[parametric]

Perhaps a request to these guys, might give us some hope . . . . https://audiodesign-service.com/new/adat-repair/

Surely they will have that key . . . . ?

@Jokeyman - you could take your Synth to them and let them register the new Mobo/Serial No. using it?

Although it had a Part No. - I suspect it was "Special" - for internal use only . . . ?

I doubt that it was produced for sale in volume . . . That would open the door for all sorts of misuse -

juggling Serial numbers to stretch the warrantee etc . . ?

If they turn out to have more than one - perhaps they would "lend" it, if not sell it?

Either way - if anybody CAN reverse-engineer it - they will need the actual item to work on?

Chris

[Jokeyman123]

I will send a request and description-see what they can come up with. At this point, I am doing this more out of my wanting to solve the problem rather than really needing to correct this-but apparently this key can open the door to other diagnostics that cannot be done without it in "privileged" mode. Tomorrow is another day...thanks Chris

[parametric]

Maybe we should look at the ADAT Service Manual and see what it "Does"?

Chris

[Jokeyman123]

Chris-I found the service manual for the ADAT-and unfortunately not even a reference to a service key unless i missed something but I studied it pretty cazrefully. I think you are referring to a service company in the UK? I will contact them with a description of this puzzle, see what they say. This Fusion continues to work perfectly otherwise-would take a bit of explaining though if I needed to sell it or pass it on to someone else who would have no idea what this cryptic message means, and also would not be able to correct it. I just posted some more info on the Facebook webpage for the Fusion, directing yet another user to check out this user group for all the very detailed help and troubleshooting that have been saved here.

[parametric]

I think you are referring to a service company in the UK?

No - actually audiodesign-service are in California

Contact:
Phone: 818-754-0467
Email: info@audiodesign-service.com
Address: 2625 N. Ontario st. Burbank, CA 91504.
Hours: Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM PT

Chris