HELP! - Rookie USB key not in KOP

[Nadav Zingerman]

Sorry, but I think that uploading an image of the drive is a violation of U.S copyright law, as well as the EULA that nearly all teams "agreed" to.

[IronBenderII]

Thanks Fletcher!

[Fletch1373]

Originally Posted by Nadav Zingerman

Sorry, but I think that uploading an image of the drive is a violation of U.S copyright law, as well as the EULA that nearly all teams "agreed" to.

would you mind pointing out why you feel this way? I realize the image contains a copy of windows that may not have expressly paid for(not exactly sure which parts of the kit was paid for by the $6500), but this image will ONLY work on the Classmate PC we received in the 2011 kit(without a significant number of missing drivers at least). In the spirit of FIRST, I don't see any issues with hosting this online for other teams to use.

[Fletch1373]

ok here's an update:

I have the files hosted! I was having a lot of trouble(making the original ISO, then trying to get it onto my server). I was forced to split the ISO into 16MB files( ) in order for the server to let me upload it(it likes to timeout...).

I've tried to make the process fairly easy, but if you have any questions please send me a message or post here.

1. download this executable
2. Run it. It will unzip a few files into a directory of your choosing.
3. Open the folder you chose and run the "RUNME.bat" file. It will handle the downloading of the various parts of the ISO as well as start an application that joins them back together.
4. When a prompt pops up asking you for file locations(titlebar should read "The File Splitter"), simply click the "OK" button
5. Your ISO file should now reside in the folder you originally unzipped everything in. It should be called "FRC2011Rookie.iso"
6. Move the ISO to a location of your choosing and delete the folder and it's remaining contents

If the download freezes, or breaks somehow, most of the way through, don't waste your time rerunning the application as it will re-download everything. There is a file called "files.txt" that contains a list of all the necessary files. Simply download the rest of the files manually and run the "Create_FRC2011Rookie.exe" file to join the parts together.

Please note that there are 206 parts, each being 15.5MB. This means you will be downloading over 3GB, which WILL take a while. Testing on my laptop shows that it took a little over an hour at ~800KB/s

[Nadav Zingerman]

Originally Posted by Fletch1373

would you mind pointing out why you feel this way? I realize the image contains a copy of windows that may not have expressly paid for(not exactly sure which parts of the kit was paid for by the $6500), but this image will ONLY work on the Classmate PC we received in the 2011 kit(without a significant number of missing drivers at least). In the spirit of FIRST, I don't see any issues with hosting this online for other teams to use.

The issue is not a GP one. It is in the spirit of FIRST to help teams get missing software. However, the issue is a legal one, because it basically contains expensive software for free, in violation of copyright laws.

The proper procedure for obtaining a missing USB key is through FIRST. If they had reported the missing key immediately (did they?) they would probably already have a replacement.

[winglerw28]

Originally Posted by Nadav Zingerman

The issue is not a GP one. It is in the spirit of FIRST to help teams get missing software. However, the issue is a legal one, because it basically contains expensive software for free, in violation of copyright laws.

The proper procedure for obtaining a missing USB key is through FIRST. If they had reported the missing key immediately (did they?) they would probably already have a replacement.

This is, unfortunately, correct. It is a violation of U.S. copyright laws and is the same reason the RIAA has filed major lawsuits against several individuals for upwards of a million dollars for a few MP3s.

It is also worth noting that the image inside the .WIN file can be applied to any PC through a little work, seeing as it still has the general x86 and drivers.

[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by Fletch1373

would you mind pointing out why you feel this way? I realize the image contains a copy of windows that may not have expressly paid for(not exactly sure which parts of the kit was paid for by the $6500), but this image will ONLY work on the Classmate PC we received in the 2011 kit(without a significant number of missing drivers at least). In the spirit of FIRST, I don't see any issues with hosting this online for other teams to use.

I'll answer a question with a question... Why didn't FIRST post the downloadable image with instructions to make your own key? Beyond the minimal cost of the key, there is a significant logistical expense that they incurred to make and distribute the usb keys.

Answer: They were forced to...

JMHO,

Mike

[Daiane]

Hi,

I'm from team 1772 from Brasil, our kit has not arrived yet and our classmate was stolen.
I need to use other computer for Drive Station, bur i don't have the drive station software to put in the computer.
I want to know:
if the software that Fletch1373 posted here to download will work in my 2010 robot or i need to have the 2010 drive station for my 2010 robot run?
if i need the 2010 drive station, someone can help us posting the 2010 drive station for i use in a other computer??

thanks

Daiane

[Fletch1373]

While I do agree with all your points, I am opposed to paying for software. This occasionally leads to software piracy, however I try to avoid that to the best of my ability. In an effort to try to avoid legal issues for ChiefDelphi, FIRST, and myself, I will remove the files from my server. I believe I was right in trying to help, and I'm sure there are many people that would agree, however I'm sure Microsoft's lawyers wouldn't be in that group haha

Originally Posted by Daiane

Hi,

I'm from team 1772 from Brasil, our kit has not arrived yet and our classmate was stolen.
I need to use other computer for Drive Station, bur i don't have the drive station software to put in the computer.
I want to know:
if the software that Fletch1373 posted here to download will work in my 2010 robot or i need to have the 2010 drive station for my 2010 robot run?
if i need the 2010 drive station, someone can help us posting the 2010 drive station for i use in a other computer??

thanks

Daiane

hi Daiane,

No, the files I had posted will not help you with that specific issue. Instead, you only need to install the driver station application. Instructions are posted by username TanyaV here

[IronBenderII]

Fletch. You did help us! We finished the download last night and are trying to update our site. If anybody else needs the software, please IM me and I will host it and password protect it to keep the copyright complaints down.

To the others. I don't agree with your assumptions and your reverse engineering. It very well could be that FIRST didn't put it on their site for download because getting 3k teams to download 3 gigs of data at the same time and then supporting the ability to join 206 15 meg files together to create one 3 gig file would have been difficult to support.

Once again Fletcher - thank you for the support, you've shaved several days off of our timeline.

Good luck teams!

[Fletch1373]

Thanks for your support IronBenderII. I'm glad that you were able to complete the download. I was forced to split the file into 206 parts because of a restriction on my web server disallowing me from continuing an upload after a timeout. I believe FIRST wouldn't have that restriction. However, having hundreds, if not thousands, of teams downloading 3GB each would cause some mild bandwidth issues. They can't even keep the site online after kickoff without the 3GB, what would they do with it? haha

[vimota]

Fletch, I applaud your attempt to help others, I was unable to download it in time but we appreciate it!

Also, what should the final USB drive look like? We received the files on a CD and we are trying to make the USB now, do we just copy the files onto the USB or must we make a bootable USB?

We have 2010 Classmate, but it's been formatted.

[LMD3130]

DropBox is a great software you could use to give the files to the team in need so if any rookie team abides by the rule of gracious professionalism then you should make a DropBox to give them the necessary info it would be great.

[Fletch1373]

Originally Posted by vimota

Fletch, I applaud your attempt to help others, I was unable to download it in time but we appreciate it!

Also, what should the final USB drive look like? We received the files on a CD and we are trying to make the USB now, do we just copy the files onto the USB or must we make a bootable USB?

We have 2010 Classmate, but it's been formatted.

If you have an external USB DVD drive, you could use that and boot to the DVD. Otherwise I would just put a blank USB drive into a computer(min 4GB) and copy the files over from the DVD you have. I can't promise it will work, you may have to make it bootable, but it's worth a shot.

Originally Posted by LMD3130

DropBox is a great software you could use to give the files to the team in need so if any rookie team abides by the rule of gracious professionalism then you should make a DropBox to give them the necessary info it would be great.

I use dropbox frequently, however, although I have the 3.12GB of free space required by the files, new users won't, so I wouldn't be able to share the folder with them. Thanks for the suggestion anyway

[scienceguy22]

Hey Fletch,
I'm a member of a rookie team in Michigan. There was a mix-up and we didn't get our rookie kit right away (we still got the parts veteran teams get). Later we got the rookie kit , and, to our dismay, there was no USB key. We still don't have it and I decided to be proactive and look on here. I saw your link and just lit up, and then error 404. My computer couldn't find your webpage with the downloads and if there is any other way for you to post it I would be eternally grateful.