Rick M asked;

What about the Code Programs found on the Internet?

There are many myths floating around on the internet about Car Audio Decoding, and many years ago, somebody decided to compile the myths onto an E-Mail and they bounced around the Industry, things like putting the Radio into the freezer to name the most popular. Many Car Audio Dealers, including ourselves thought that these myths were so funny that we all started to add a few of our own, knowing them not to work, and the comical E-Mails just grew and grew.

But a few clever people went a stage further, and as a means to generate some repair work, turned some of these myths into little executable programs, which in turn were compiled onto CD-ROMs and distributed across the Internet for Free. These little programs asked you for a serial number and gave you back a supposed Code number, except that it was not usually the Security Code number, but the Engineers back door Code number allowing access to the main programming menu of the head unit. And after a few guided button presses, Hey Presto, the Radio was Codelocked, and the only way to fix it was to take it to a Repair Centre. For us, this was brilliant, and generated a lot of work for us in resetting these Radios as it was so easy to spot the ones that people had been messing about with.

But these programs then took a turn for the worse. The people that had originally written these as a source of income soon realised that the repair work was being given to places like us instead, so the programs were then re-written. As you are reading this on a computer, you will be aware of terms like Trojans and Viruses, well these programs could now infect the Car Radio with a similar condition, and often erase the internal memory completely. In many cases the Radios are not actually recoverable, as it was decided that if these people were not going to get the repair work, then nobody else would either.

Most of these programs soon disappeared, but thanks to a few idiot E-Book sellers who decided to redistribute these again through eBay, they are doing the rounds once more. If you are a frequent user of eBay, then you may know about the recent changes made to the eBay Rules & Policies regarding digital media and E-Book distribution, and the fact that the Trust & Safety department are enforcing this very heavily. Ever wondered why? Well a lot of it is largely due to the damage being caused by the distribution of these Car Radio Code programs and the number of people complaining to eBay after their equipment has been written off.

Think very carefully before entering a code number generated from a 99p eBay disc into a Radio worth many hundreds of pounds. Would it not make more sense spending an extra few quid with a reputable Decoding Centre that has invested more into their Decoding equipment that you have probably spent on your house?

-Dave Watts