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Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

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Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#201

Post by LeSaucy »

treesknees wrote: post #86
dhimes wrote: post #4

If Nordic is being honest that the issue is safety- preventing users from diddling with their software and accidentally making it unsafe, then they can simply install a browser so the users can view what they wish online.

It's entirely possible. The iFit app which runs on my treadmill is an embedded web browser. From "God Mode" there is an iFit Admin app which reports information such as the embedded chromium version being used for iFit. I actually walked down to the basement to test this - even when closing the iFit app while in God Mode, the physical controls on the treadmill including speed, incline, the stop button and the magneti…

C1750 treadmill, was able to drop into android launcher, install f store, dropbear. After being able to ssh into the treadmill I found the mediatek soc they use has an exploit app to get a root shell. Further decompiling of the ifit app apk shows it’s written in c#/mono, sending bytes to a usb device for treadmill control. I ran out of patience trying to intercept writes with strace and just went back to running.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#202

Post by Buttons840 »

npteljes wrote: post #164
seanp2k2 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The remedy for that will be wrapping the internal antenna in foil or cell tower emulation.

The remedy to that is that the thing will stop working after a while - like how Intel x86 CPUs turn off after 30 mins without their precious spy co-processor[0], or how Diablo 2 Resurrected discontinues working after 30 days of being offline[1]. Of course another remedy is that you're free to buy a similar thing from another manufacturer, that's not completely dropped the ball on the issue. That is, until all of the…

I don't know what scares me more, the fact that all manufacturers might go down this path, or that our society might reward them for doing so.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#203

Post by Tildey »

charles_f wrote: post #182
jabroni_salad wrote: post #26

Jeeze, I will stick with my modular solution: an ipad on a music stand. This is compatible not only with any commodity treadmill, but also bike trainers, ellipticals, and making vroomvroom noises on the motorcycle when it's too icy to actually ride. I could also swap out the ipad for a laptop, non-ipad tablet, or a collection of cute succulents should I desire it. snark aside, I'm a bicycle guy and I really like that…

> I will stick with my modular solution: an ipad on a music stand. I actually don't get the point of getting a 4000 treadmill rather than one that's half the price and an ipad

You save… uhhh… one power outlet?

But really, my understanding is that these fancier treadmills map incline/speed/whatever data to the video file to make it “more realistic”. I think there may even be a sort of MMO/live ghost feature?

Personally I think I’d rather just have music I like and work out at a pace that’s comfortable for me, but to each their own I suppose.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#204

Post by hfsh »

gorjusborg wrote: post #198
omnimus wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not that i dont agree but the Terraria example is a bit unfair. First this is issue of the platform. On other platforms you can choose version of the game. And second Terraria is example of probably one of the most supported games. The update you are talking about brings massive amount of content and updates completely for free 9 years!!! after release. Most companies would milk the product with third sequel and…

I'm not trying to pick on Terraria, but I think it's a great example for the reasons you are bringing up. Even with the 'value add' of the update, I no longer play the game. Why? Because I invested in learning and mastering the game as it was when I bought it. The forced update removed all value for me , and I'm the one who made the decision to buy it. If the product is changed significantly after purchase without my…

> without my consent

Not having read the TOS of the platform (or even ever having used it), I'll hazard a guess this isn't quite legally true.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#205

Post by amatecha »

gorjusborg wrote: post #17

This type of 'update' is one reason I tend to stay away from so-called 'smart' devices. If part of the product I've paid for is software, and the company can update it without customer consent at any time, then I can't rely on the product's features. Period. I experienced this myself on the PS4 version of Terraria. I bought a hard-copy of the game. I mastered the controls, and loved them. Terraria was updated one day…

Yeah, I completely agree. Vehicle manufacturers can't just come and change out the steering wheel and dashboard in your vehicle, for example. Why can software vendors change out the total functionality of a piece of software you paid for? Especially irreversibly, in the case of DRM-laden platforms like game consoles, iOS, etc. where you cannot undo an update once it's installed, or cannot refuse an update if you want to actually use the software. Recently an iOS app I use almost daily pushed an update that removes a feature I relied on. The dev has never fixed the issue and has made other minor changes since, subtly indicating their change is intentional and permanent, so I'm just screwed forever and lost a core piece of functionality I depended on. Great. This is fine.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#206

Post by logicalmonster »

Is there any theory as to what NordicTrack hopes to gain out of preventing customers from using the screen as they see fit? NordicTrack already has the customers' money, so why would they really care?

Are they trying to do some kind of advertising on the screen? Are just going through run of the mill security updates and there's bad communication between the customers and NordicTrack not understanding each other because of a layer of dumb bureaucracy between marketing/developers?

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#207

Post by d0gsg0w00f »

jabroni_salad wrote: post #26

Jeeze, I will stick with my modular solution: an ipad on a music stand. This is compatible not only with any commodity treadmill, but also bike trainers, ellipticals, and making vroomvroom noises on the motorcycle when it's too icy to actually ride. I could also swap out the ipad for a laptop, non-ipad tablet, or a collection of cute succulents should I desire it. snark aside, I'm a bicycle guy and I really like that…

Same. I have a couple of used treadmills that I repaired for dirt cheap and a crappy TV mounted to the wall. Treadmill cupholders make great remote holders.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#208

Post by jabroni_salad »

Tildey wrote: post #203
charles_f wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I will stick with my modular solution: an ipad on a music stand. I actually don't get the point of getting a 4000 treadmill rather than one that's half the price and an ipad

You save… uhhh… one power outlet? But really, my understanding is that these fancier treadmills map incline/speed/whatever data to the video file to make it “more realistic”. I think there may even be a sort of MMO/live ghost feature? Personally I think I’d rather just have music I like and work out at a pace that’s comfortable for me, but to each their own I suppose.

I'm a zwift user and I really like it. You can designate a course and it will adjust the resistance to match the elevation changes. There is live or ghost racing (with simulated drafting, which is cool) and other neat things, but the routes and structured training is what I'm there for.

My tacx trainer was only $300 or so when I bought it, which was comparable to non-bluetooth trainers. That said, I already owned a fancy roadbike to use with it, which is not a negligible cost.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#209

Post by bobsmooth »

logicalmonster wrote: post #206

Is there any theory as to what NordicTrack hopes to gain out of preventing customers from using the screen as they see fit? NordicTrack already has the customers' money, so why would they really care? Are they trying to do some kind of advertising on the screen? Are just going through run of the mill security updates and there's bad communication between the customers and NordicTrack not understanding each other beca…

So customers are forced to subscribe to their service to watch media.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#210

Post by mastazi »

fragmede wrote: post #160
mastazi wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I tend to stay away from so-called 'smart' devices I tried several alternatives in terms of smart TV (Apple TV, Google/Android TV, Fire TV), and I could not find any platform that let me use all of the apps that I needed without resorting to casting from my phone. And in some cases there was a long process to follow in order to get the device to do what I needed[1], which involved activating developer mode, sideloa…

> without resorting to casting from my phone I am curious, why is that undesirable for you? I'm assuming there's something more than lack of individual app support for casting.

> why is that undesirable for you?

Why is it undesirable having to go find my phone? Because I'm relaxing on the couch I guess?

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