
Cracking Litter Box DRM - dh-g
http://www.davidhampgonsalves.com/reverse-engineering-cat-genie-120-drm/
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dreamcompiler
I had a Cat Genie and ended up throwing it in the trash. The DRM was annoying
but it was the least of the problems with this device. The biggest problem is
that the scooper doesn't always remove all the feces from the litter, and then
when the heated air starts blowing on the litter to dry it, a very impressive
smell fills your house. You haven't lived until you've smelled baking cat shit
wafting through every room of your house. The machine has lots of other
problems (sensors that require frequent manual intervention to clean, etc).
The bottom line is that this device removes an everyday quick chore that's
slightly unpleasant but replaces it with 30 minutes of sheer unadulterated
horror at least once a week.

I've tried all the other robotic litter boxes too, and they all suck. I clean
cat boxes by hand now. The robots are not yet up to this task.

~~~
luma
This mirrors our own experience with the Cat Genie. When it works it's great,
when it fails you are elbow deep into liquified cat shit.

There has to a be lesson here: when making a device that solves a problem,
make sure that the failure mode isn't worse than the problem you're looking to
solve.

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crankylinuxuser
Not to devalue reverse engineering work...

However, knowingly buying hardware with DRM of this nature only signals the
acceptability of this utter garbage to the marketplace. The best way to "hack"
them is by not buying it at all, or disassembly if given.

I've seen 3d printers with the same scam as well; "buy _our_ special filament"
(aka: rfid chipped garbage). Thankfully those printers are usually stripped
for the nema17 motors and switches, and junked for a reprap.

I'm glad people still take to the 4th R of "reduce, reuse, recycle... Repair.
But I despise manufactured obselesence in all its forms, especially DRM and
phoning home.

~~~
vortico
Voting with your money is only effective when lots of people do it. If this
product is sold in a supermarket, 99.999% of people will have no idea how to
even parse this article, so everyone's decision in this thread has absolutely
no measureable effect on profit, certainly not enough to make a decision to
remove DRM.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
But good reverse engineering (as has been done to the iPhone or Keurig) is
consumable by the masses in a way that can be communicated back to the
manufacturer.

Too often, it's miscommunicated as "criminals keep breaking our monetization
scheme" but it's a lot more effective than shaking your fist at the sky.

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userbinator
This is just the same "cartridge with EEPROM" technique that's been prevalent
in consumer printers for literally decades, so it's not surprising it was
applied to a totally different product.

It's an ongoing cat-and-mouse(!) game. It used to be a simple counter like
this, but now the printer manufacturers are starting to use (mild) crypto.

~~~
mikestew
_It 's an ongoing cat-and-mouse(!) game_

Yeah, except it could be argued that I need to print things, and might be
willing to put up with print cartridge bullshit. [0] In this case, when the
mouse goes, "I'm over here!", the cat is going to say "I've lost interest in
the game" and scoop the cat shit by hand. A robotic cat box is a luxury, not a
necessity, and when it fails on the "luxury" part (in that my life has been
made easier and better), well, what the hell are they selling?

[0] Though in my particular case, the inkjet makers finally drove me to a B&W
laser printer. Lost that one, too, mice.

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _A robotic cat box is a luxury, not a necessity, and when it fails on the
> "luxury" part_

It doesn't really fail on "luxury" part, it simply exploits the fact that if
you can afford a luxury cat shit robot, you can also afford buying expensive,
DRMed consumables on a regular schedule. Uncharitably, it's parting fools from
their money. Charitably, it's making money on your opportunity cost.

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eclipxe
I recommend the LitterRobot. Life changing.

~~~
octorian
Agreed. While its probably one of the more expensive ones, I really like how
you don't have to buy _anything_ from the manufacturer besides the device
itself. The consumables are not proprietary, and are just off-the-shelf litter
and garbage bags. I only wish the gears were a little less noisy, and that it
took up a little less space.

~~~
blackflame7000
Hey lets add a compactor to the bottom and create and patent a competitor!

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8bitsrule
_sitting on the cold bathroom floor the CatGenie serinaded me with angry beeps
every few seconds._

I'm a little fuzzy on this whole 'angry beep' thing. But I'm delighted that
you taught the little robot a lesson it won't forget.

(I just hosed out a catbox, in the process of replacing the extremely low-odor
FelinePine litter. No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.)

~~~
dh-g
The unit beeps incessantly unless it thinks there is a cartridge inserted.

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blackflame7000
The ability to modify and reverse engineer a purchased good should be legal
and supported by the manufacturer after they have declared end of life so that
the user can turn to open source for continued support

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blackflame7000
Litter Robot is by far the best automatic literbox ive used.

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carterage

      "carterage"
    

Is that supposed to be cartridge?

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wnevets
I actually have this litter box and never noticed I was being blocked by DRM.
I just use the official cleaner and move on with my day.

~~~
King-Aaron
Personally I have a plastic box with an elasticated bag of litter in it, and I
change it by hand and move on with my day... _But_ that's not the point of the
article, the point seems to be that the author wanted to work out a way to not
need to use a proprietary cleaning agent - which I think is fair enough tbh.

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bitwize
Warning: Author appears to be Canadian. Don't try this in the United States
unless you want a five-year prison sentence and a felony record.

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
Reverse engineering is legal in the US and no circumvention of copyright
protection is taking place. This battle has already been fought with ink
cartridges.

