Dragon Module?

[Waqas Ahmed]

Well, Ive seen a dragon module, dynamite programmer and a funcard 7 on eBay for £35.I was wondering what indeed a dragon module does? Can this only work if I buy the dragon cam? Is the setup worth the money?

Im sorry if this is in the wrong section, but I thought this section would be the best for a question like this

 

[Topper]

I regret to say the days of the equipment you are being offered are numbered as all encryption systems bar one are now totally secure that being Digi TV at 1 deg West which is in the middle of a card/encryption change. Very useful as a learning tool though but no chance of any long term viewing from it

 

[Waqas Ahmed]

Well, if it works for one month Im happy! As the programmer is probably worth £20 and the funcard a fiver(I think anyway)

 

[Mickha]

The Dragon module probably is the Dragon Cam. Find out which version it is, as the early models have problems with the later Predator files.

 

[Waqas Ahmed]

Just asked that question to the seller now. What version of the cam should I buy?

 

[Mickha]

The last version was the T-Rex 4.6 super module, the one previous was the Dragon twin 4.1 also known as the T-Rex v1.0, prior to that was the 3.01, and the earliest was the 2.06, this is the one that can't seem to handle the later Predator files.

 

[Waqas Ahmed]

The seller confirmed today it is the version 3.01. Does this one have absolutely no problem with any files?

 

[Mickha]

Only by testing it can you know that but most owners of the 3.01 use the last Predator 369 file, ask the seller which version of Predator he has loaded on it and if there is any problem with Digi TV.
Also check if it's had to have the bootloader repaired, a common problem with Dragon Cams.

 

[Waqas Ahmed]

Thanks. Ive now asked the seller the questions above. Is Digi TV the only TV provider left that a patch/cam will descramble. Or can patches or bin files open other sats. If there are no other patches/cams ah well.. still get lots of FTA channels

 

[Mickha]

Digi TV is the only real package, but there are a few other channels available, they will be listed in most modified Predator 369 files.

 

[Waqas Ahmed]

Sorry if this sounds really stupid, but then again I am a cable muppet , I have a linux receiver(Openmedia 500cs) Is it possible to transfer some BIN files to it without the need of a hardcam?

Also I emailed the seller and said

Hi, sorry to bother you again but which version of predator have you loaded on to it and is there any problems with Digi TV?

Also, does this need the bootloader repairing?

They got back to me and said

hello, the dragon can load the latest file predator 3.69,

there are, however, loads of new channels that dragon and other modules wont open, needing original cards and so on, but you'll still need the cam to load card if you have gen card

the dragon will still open loads of other scrambled channels, however.

Ive no idea what predator 3.69 is except that its probably some file that will descramble Digi TV

 

[Mickha]

Predator files are the firmware that is loaded onto a Dragon Cam so the seller should be aware of this, if he has used the cam, 369 was the last version produced, almost a year ago.
It's a little surprising that he hasn't used this file as when it was produced there were lots of channels available including Premiere, Digi TV and probably the polish package.

 

[Glenn_911]

The last version was the T-Rex 4.6 super module, the one previous was the Dragon twin 4.1 also known as the T-Rex v1.0, prior to that was the 3.01, and the earliest was the 2.06, this is the one that can't seem to handle the later Predator files.

Mickha


You can't compare the T-Rex 4.6 with the Dragon 4.1 & T-Rex 1.0 the T-Rex 4.6 got 1) a bigger memory. 2) security Update and also you can make use of the PreD 3.69 or PredaS 2.29 files

Never put a Predasaurius file in a Dragon or T-Rex 1.0 module.

 

[Mickha]

Secure updates for the T-Rex 4.6 super module never lasted very long, in fact it was the last throw of the dice from the Dragon team and they just made quick money from that cam.
The T-Rex 4.6 can use Predasaur, or Predator files, and although it is superior it only opens the same packages and has done for a long time.
It is very unlikely that there will ever be another official release of an updated Predator or predasaur file,and it does not look like they will release the source code so that others might update it.
All we can do is update keys and add/change providers, using the software tools available, which wont be enough to be useful in the future.
At the moment it can still open Digi TV, and a few other channels, but eventually the cam will be of more use as a card reader than anything else.
It's unfortunate but the way of this hobby, the same happened with the old Magic Modules, the Matrix Cams and other multi cams, and will no doubt even happen to the Diablo 2.3.
You're right a Predasaur file wont work in other Dragon/T-Rex cams but you can recover a cam that has been loaded with the wrong file, and if you check both Predator and Predasaur files in a Hex editor you wont notice much difference.
You might as well ignore Predasaur files and stick to Predator files, as they both do the same thing.

 

[Glenn_911]

Mickha

I heard your story so many times but still i believe that the Dragon 4.1 & T-Rex 4.6 will come back with more then those channels below what they receive now:


SWISS CABLE
Digi TV
RAI
MEDIATECH
GLOBECAST
TV GLOBO
EUSKALTEL
DREAM TV
CRYPTOWORKS
Kingston
BISS

Included with these channels:

TRT1 42E
TRT3 42E
EKIN TV 42E
RUSTAVI2 42E
Mick/MTV 33E
TET 5E
FOX SPORT ME 25E
NGEO GER 12.5W
ROUGE FM 13E
LIDER TV 13E
SAT 2000 9E
FOX TV 12.5W
FOX GERMANY 12.5W
ENTV 22W
1+1 Inter 4W
Megasport 4W
TV KYIV 4W
FOX LIFE FR 5W
FOX SPORTS ME 8W
DISCOVERY CHANNEL ME 8W
FOX NEWS 8W
AL RAIE 8W
MBC Inter 26E
TV CANARIA 30W
MTV TRAX 28E DCW

 

[Mickha]

That's one of the first times I've posted anything negative about the Dragon Cam, but it is very difficult to see any further official support, for the cam, as even the official sites closed down quite some time ago.
The channels, you have mentioned, are all available on general emulation and are only available because other members have updated keys, and providers, using software tools like PredEdit and even Hex editors, not because of official support, but as I've mentioned we can only do so much ourselves as the source code is secret.
At present their is nothing new available, on general emulation, and if there is a future breakthrough, maybe in Nag 3 or Conax Cas 7, then we might need the souce code to get the Dragon opening these channels, until then we can't be sure.
I wouldn't advise anyone in buying a new cam yet, and certainly not a Dragon/T-Rex cam.

 

[Glenn_911]

Mickha


I agree with you but that count also for smartcards and cheap receivers with 1 month support.


Glenn_911

 

[Crisbe]

I have just aquired a cas 3+ programmer and a couple of cams on ebay. I would be grateful for some help in trying to learn to use the cas 3 to program the cams etc.

How do you test a cam using the cas 3+ ? The online guide doesn't exactly tell you that bit. I tried the dragon 4.1 firecrypt cam in the cas 3 and got a message "no cam". Does that mean that there is a fault with the cam or that it needs software loading in to it? This may seem a dumb question but unless I ask I won't learn will I? I have downloaded and printed the cas 3 user manual and made sure I did everything the way the pictures said but, as I said, so I don't think it is a connection problem. The cam has a small sim card in the second slot. Should I remove that? Advice would be appreciated folks, be gentle with me i'm an old man!

 

[Mickha]

The Sim card is more than likely an old Access 9 mature content card, they were supplied free, at one time, when you bought a Dragon Cam.
To program a Dragon Cam with the Cas 3 you need to use the Dummy Card, the oblong circuit board that connects to your Cas 3 using the 20 pin ribbon cable, you then insert your Dragon Cam, into the Cas 3, and insert the Dummy card into the Dragon Cam, with the "Cas Inerface Dummy Card" text facing upwards.
You then start up the CAS studio 8.6c software, click on the Cam Module tab, and the Dragon Cam icons, ensure the version is set to 3.x-4.x.
Your Cam can only take Predator software, so download any version of Predator 369, the last one produced, and place predator369.dra on your computer desktop, it makes it easier to navigate to.
Click on the little icon, with 3 dots, at the end of the File Name address bar and navigate to predator369.dra, on your computer desktop.
Click open and Start Update.
Have you tried your Cam in your receiver?
If it was bought second hand it might already have Predator 369 loaded on it, try inserting it into your receiver and navigating to the Cam menu, or insert your Dragon Cam in your Cas 3, start up the CIS 8.6c software, click on the Utilities tab and the Common Interface Host icon, this should be able to read your Cam.

 

[Crisbe]

Hi Mickha, thanks for the reply,

I tried the cam in a D box with DVB2000 software and the led display gave me a message "cam sucks" so I figured that either the cam was not programmed or had the wrong software in it to be compatible. So I tried to test it in the cas 3+ but wasn't sure how to do it. I tried the repair utility and it just said "no cam" so I thought it would be better to ask guys who know before I did anything else.

Silly question: (remember I am only self taught on computing, having grown up in an age when we didn't even have pocket calculators!) Do I have to expand the dra file before loading it. What I mean is: Is a dra file something like a zip or rar file, or is dra just a name for the file?