Exclusive Report: EFI-X Mac Booter, A Scam?

Status
Not open for further replies.

an0n

Distinguished
May 15, 2009
17
0
18,510
*Gasp*
A company that helps you violate the EULA of a software package is not on the level?! What has this world come to. The next thing you know, drug dealers will be short changing their customers.
 

jellico

Distinguished
Apr 17, 2009
622
0
18,980
[citation][nom]warmon6[/nom]Hmm.. something tells me that that wont work to well.[/citation]
Oh, I'm sure some slick lawyer will be able to find something in that onerous piece of crap law known as the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) that they can use to harass the poor guy (i.e. force him to spend a lot of money defending himself against baseless accusations).
 

Major7up

Distinguished
Aug 17, 2009
446
0
18,780
I think that this is a great example of why Apple so ferociously protects its IP. I had once considered buying one of these modules but now I am glad I didn't. I kind of hope they do sue the guy who opened up his module just so more of their dirty secrets come out and then maybe the gov't can jump in too.
 

SAL-e

Distinguished
Feb 4, 2009
383
0
18,780
[citation][nom]jellico[/nom]Oh, I'm sure some slick lawyer will be able to find something in that onerous piece of crap law known as the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) that they can use to harass the poor guy (i.e. force him to spend a lot of money defending himself against baseless accusations).[/citation]
Actually DMCA has second provision: Removing the copyright notice is violation. This case ASEM has violated DMCA by removing the GNU GLP license. I guess FSF will have all their lawyers working against ASEM and they could be very persistent also.
If I am ASEM, I will find plastic surgeon and disappear and stay away from any authority institution.
 

xyster

Distinguished
Dec 6, 2005
233
8
18,695
that's really depressing to hear; I really liked the idea of a powerful plug n play bootloader. oh well. Thanks for alerting us all, Tuan.
 

geoffs

Distinguished
Oct 24, 2007
276
0
18,780
Of course, the DMCA has no authority outside the US and it's protectorates, so if ASEM and/or AsereBLN aren't located in the US, then good luck getting anywhere with a DMCA based claim.

Personally, I hope ASEM does file a DMCA based claim, and that EFF takes up the defense. That will provide a good basis for getting another anti-circumvention exception added. Circumventing DRM for the purposes of demonstrating suspected copyright infringement should be exempted from DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions.
 

rcmaniac25

Distinguished
Jul 20, 2009
64
0
18,630
1. Sucks for those who bought EFI-X, unfortunetly unless a lawsuit occurs they will probably keep producing the modules and people who don't know about them will buy them.
2. Finally a real news article from Tom's. Good.
 

geoffs

Distinguished
Oct 24, 2007
276
0
18,780
[citation][nom]xyster[/nom]that's really depressing to hear; I really liked the idea of a powerful plug n play bootloader. oh well.[/citation]Of course, instead of paying $280 for an EFI-X dongle and $129 for a retail (upgrade) of Mac OS X and installing it on unsupported hardware and violating the EULA, you could just buy a Mac in the first place.

 

opensky

Distinguished
Sep 14, 2008
11
0
18,510
This is great coverage of how things have been going down. I bought one of these devices 6 months ago to do a comparison with Chameleon and Boot132 on my blog. I read the EFI-X forums every day to stay abreast of new developments and issues. Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the device. However, the lack of customer support, bad attitudes of the developer and some of the mods, and the increasingly bad habit of the devices to just up-and-die on people got me worrying. I decided to go ahead with my original comparison, and did the Chameleon install. It took a little effort and time, but my system is more stable and runs more consistently than it did with the EFI-X. The best part is not having to worry that my $240 "dongle" will croak, leaving me without my main system. The EFI-X had the potential to fill the niche of people who wanted a little more out of a Mac, but don't necessarily have the time to invest in keeping up with the knowledge required to build and maintain a Chameleon-based Hackintosh. I personally don't mind, and actually find the process rather fun and rewarding. But a company that treats their customers so badly, and runs their business like ASEM does, is not going to survive in this age when word spreads fast, and disgruntled customers will go out of their way to make their experiences known. I say, good riddance ASEM! They would truly need a miracle to erase this stain from their image and win back the support of their customer base, who are no dummies. What were they thinking?
 

cliffro

Distinguished
Aug 30, 2007
1,282
1
19,660
[citation][nom]geoffs[/nom]Of course, instead of paying $280 for an EFI-X dongle and $129 for a retail (upgrade) of Mac OS X and installing it on unsupported hardware and violating the EULA, you could just buy a Mac in the first place.[/citation]

And spend an extra $1000+? If I were even remotely interested in Mac(I'm not), I'd try the Software based one, and maybe even pay for OSX. Not waste over a grand just to have a "legit" version of OSX.

Besides my neighborhood is smug-free, I have no interest in breaking that tradition. ;)
 

opensky

Distinguished
Sep 14, 2008
11
0
18,510
[citation][nom]CChick[/nom]this is what you Mac fags get for dying to use a garbage OS.[/citation]

Wow. Very insightful.
 

blppt

Distinguished
Jun 6, 2008
569
89
19,060
[citation][nom]Uncle Meat[/nom]Did anyone ever think it was anything else?[/citation]

I *think* EFI-X was making claims that there was some custom cpu on board emulating the EFI interface...supposedly the software way (i.e. Chameleon, etc.) causes a small performance hit. This is why they *had* to charge $280 or whatever for this cpu. Turns out there is no such thing on board.

From this site:

Davide: I’m happy to explain that our module is perfectly legal, for a number of reasons, most of them technical. So we can reattach to the tech discussion too. First of all, the EFiX is absolutely not related to the hackintosh underworld. It doesn’t use a single line of patched code, and I am going to explain to you why.

The EFiX is not a pen-drive at all. Inside it, there is a very powerful CPU and several gigabytes of dedicated static RAM. The module has its own code, language and endless functions. So there is absolutely no way that we even thought about using the patch-a-boo approach of "hackintosh".
 

shadow_x

Distinguished
Sep 9, 2009
1
0
18,510
The moment I've read the post about the all of sudden "incompatibility" between V1.0 and V1.1 Modules was the moment where I took the initiative and switched back to Chameleon (running 10.6, what even V1.1 useres can only dream of).

Since then many posts appeared on the offical board including the links to AsereBLN's eye opening findings and some helpful guides on how to install SL using Chameleon. Theres are still one or two mods active, but the Owner has vanished since then....

The module did its job, but if they really took code from the community the money would have better gone to other people.
 

skrufulous

Distinguished
Sep 9, 2009
2
0
18,510
Tuan is spot on with his reporting of this situation. I have two of the modules and, in general, I was very pleased with them. Then, things started to break down over at ASEM...no communication, some of the mods treating us all like vermin, new firmwares that were few and far between and when they did come, they broke more than they fixed. In reality, what is going on over at ASEM kind of makes Bernie Madoff look like a boy scout. No offense, Bern.

I have since migrated to chameleon, and I'm very glad I did. My system is much more stable and over at the efixusers forum, people there are genuinely helpful, non judgemental of noobs (like me) and not trying to scam people with fake upgrades to a USB stick.

Take from one who has been there...don't buy Efix.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.