CTX 3030 Hacking and Custom Applications.

[sitedude]

Hi guys. I wanted to start a second thread on this topic.

My good friend and I were studying the pictures posted by mypenneys showing the internals of the CTX 3030. If you look at the picture I have uploaded it appears to have not only a JTAG port but also a RS232 Port.

From looking through the source code of the CTX 3030 it runs a modified version of BusyBox. In theory we should be able to get a shell on the CTX 3030 by hooking it up through serial and execute commands on the device and possibly

run custom applications. I know there is a lot of great things about the CTX 3030 but how great would it be if we were able to create custom applications or make minor tweaks that could speed up the analysis of A specific target.

My friend is going this Friday to look at a 3030 for sale and has plans to take a poke at the PCB. I'm sure he will update any progress made right here on Findmall.

The one thing I am hoping to find on this forum is someone who might have a broken 3030 (screen broken/missing/ or even just the main PCB itself) that they would like to donate to science. Even if the machine does not turn on it would be very useful to

attempt to access the flash on the device and do a dump. We have used Binwalk to extract the filesystem from the update file but does not contain every aspect of the device. The Source code that minelab has on their website is mainly just the booatloader itself, and bits-and-pieces

of Busybox. If anyone has any technical knowledge of the above please feel free to join in on this. If anyone is interested in the idea of custom applications and has any broken 3030 components please let me know.

 

[IDXMonster]

Neat idea but not many guys are going to want to crack open their CTX to be able to watch the Kardashians on it. Most guys who have high dollar machines want to keep them intact and use them exactly as they were designed, for the purpose for which they were designed. It's simply WAY too much money invested to even be poking around in it. If you want to experiment with a single unit to see what can be done,then yeah,go for it. As far as boosting/enhancing/speeding up the analysis of specific targets....I figure the same will happen as if you would run FAST on...shorter signal,less filtering,ID suffers. The ability of the CTX to not only have great depth AND competent ID at that depth is what makes the CTX stand out already. Perhaps a more powerful processor would achieve what you're after regarding signal analysis but with that comes added cost.
The real trick is to use the machine for many hours. This will let a person see what the CTX is really already capable of. That's what most people really want to do with their machine anyway....detect.

 

[sitedude]

That's why I am hoping to find some completely useless machines that have been dead for ages and no hope of recovery. I am confident if I were able to monitor the machine via serial we'd get some useful numbers out of the 3030 reading specific targets and could eventually write our own applications to run on the 3030 that may offer deeper analysis into the targets. Plus it's great way for the community to have methods of DIY repair on the PCB for those out of warranty to better understand the internals of the PCB.

Only hoping to find some DOA internals to work with. Seen a few posts where people are on their 3rd / 4th 3030 from use, time to put those retired ones back to work

 

[FschJg]

Way to go! I am looking forward to hear more of this project. Who knows maybe this way some issues with the 3030 can be taken care of.

 

[jas415]

Sitedude, I am totally on board with that. I would love to have some safe uploadable tweaks for the machine. I am 74 years old and get to do this detecting several days a week. I think everyone understands that it cost a lot of money, and most individuals do not want to load up a program that destroys the system and voids the warranty, but If a person like you could offload the entire software process, all the different parts of it and make a downloadable executable thru a pc, that would go in and clean up the system without having to send it back to Minelab, it would be wonderful! As I have posted here before, it would save a boat load of time, and money, if a person could just plug their machine into Exchange2 and get a diagnosis, or to just 'clean' it up a bit. It could diagnose the machine, and if it was an issue that needed return, the actual process could all be completed right there and then. An RMA # could be sent to the email of the Exchange2 person, or the owners email, the SN, warranty info, all could be done instantly! No more calling! And I think Minelab would pay a ton of money for that ability, especially if they did not have to 'engineer' it themselves. Right now, our clothes washer and dryer have some sort of built in smart phone interface, pair them, dial up a number on the phone, and then run the diagnosis program, push a button on the washer or dryer and it will then diagnose and do everything needed to get a repair person sent out if needed. Why in the hell cant Minelab do a similar thing?

Heck, every car on the road nowadays is plugged into a machine and it tells the mechanic exactly what is wrong and what to change, including part numbers. Have at it Sitedude, rip one apart and do Minelab's work for them, then charge them for it, or better yet, develope your own online diagnostics program for out of warranty 3030's, a set of parts and videos of how to repair the darned thing and make yourself some money!

Anything is possible in electronics! I would love to have some sort of way to vary/boost the power of the coil into the ground on the 6" coil so I could go deeper without the footprint of the larger coils. Give me 4 or 5 more tone bins, maybe two or three ferrous bins. which will require a bit more processing so figure out a way to piggyback or install a newer and more powerful processor to speed it up to the speed of the DEus. When a mchine is out of warranty we are at the mercy of the repair services and we all know parts are about 50% cheaper if we buy and install them ourselves.

Last, thanks for the efforts. Go for it and I for one, wish you great success!

 

[amberjack]

wonder how long this thread would hang around if you did crack the code if you get a chance and find a dead coil that's what I would be interested in making a coil and yeah I forgot my biggest claim to fame is moding a compadre with coil change and sens pot and I needed help with that , think I am a long way from where this is heading.

but wish you well and will keep watching and maybe just maybe it will give minelab a bit of a hurry up

AJ

 

[digginrelics]

I've been thinking about doing this for a while but it's over my head. I'm a C# developer but never dealt with the hardware components.

I've dreamed of an open source metal detector for a while now.

 

[sitedude]

C# dev as well man. I am shocked as well no one has put a kickstarter together for an open source metal detector with custom apps. Possibilities are endless when we work together as a community. Would be nice to monitor the 3030 through serial to see if we can get some values off the coil and start to write our own app for it.

 

[CT Todd]

You guys need to actually go detecting more.Once the dog has caught the car they don't know what to do with it.
Really funny thank you.

 

[Champ Ferguson]

Everyone seems to find a different niche in the hobby, be it parks, fields, beach or technical aspects.. Gotta love that.
Everyone enjoy!

 

[dewcon4414]

Ability to process more information faster does indeed seem like the starting point on most detectors. The more they have to work to process disc and tones..... the more targets we may be missing.

 

[sitedude]

I have a theory about CTX 3030 coils that I eventually want to put to the test. I have a funny feeling that the 3030 coils may not have pre-processing abilities but instead an embedded security chip for identification. Think about it this way, what better way to prevent a ton of aftermarket coils without paying a huge license fee. Overall big win for Minelab. I'd love to know some chip or circuit that handles the 'pre-processing' on the 3030. Maybe if someone here has a broken coil we can quickly put the theory to the test.

If that were the case and I was correct in this theory, the main application that runs the detection on the 3030 is a binary called POD, we could easily modify the binary to remove security checks, and potentially create adapters to connect other FBS coils without paying huge amounts of money for licensed coils for the 3030.

If I am wrong can someone please identify for me the circuit in 3030 coils that handles pre-processing ?

 

[Jason in Enid]

I have never heard (other than guesses) that the coil performs any form of pre-processing. The process I recall is that the control module sends a digital signal to the coil. The coil chip converts the signal from binary to analog for transmission and reception, then converts the received signal back to digital to send back to the controller.

 

[amberjack]

its beyond me but if one person knows how to do it another can also..

I only have the stock coil for ctx and out of defiance I will not buy any of the others


AJ

 

[BigTony]

When the CTX came out I went to a presentation of the new machine at teh Atlantic City, Go Minelabing day.
Minelab said the chip in the coil was to boost the signal - to help with deep targets.

They also said that they wouldn't remake older machine coils and it was ok for after market companies to do so if they wanted.