DB500 Pants

[hda5]

Any ideas on what I can do please ?

Also without sounding dumb here but there has to be about 20-30 different people that have bought these boxes and not one has left negitive feedback. So I take it that these people either know they are buying fakes or they are not checking? Maybe it's me, i dunno.

Those customers WILL leave positive feedback m8 - they received what they ordered but not being fully clued up on whats going on in the market don't realise they've just bought a cloned box as indeed you didn't until you read this thread. So there will be lots of possitives from dudes who arn't clued up on what they've actually bought.

Another thing to think about too which is a bit scary is the MAC address on the clone boxes.

Now on the early clones all the boxes had the same MAC address which ended with 1f:A7:8B

This makes it easy for killer software to be released that checks the MAC address matches that of the clone and kills the box. You all remember what happened with Magic Modules & Titanium 1 This could be done to these boxes if they all use the same MAC address

The newer HK clones may have individual MAC addresses now but the earlier ones didn't. Ignore the MAC address printed on the side of the box as this could also be fake. To see what the true MAC address of your box is use DCC (Dreambox Control Center) and telnet to your Dreambox and type

ifconfig

Look at what is displayed in HWAddr and see if the last three digits match the one above. Like I said this may have been fixed in the newer clones so don't think if you have individual MACs you don't have a clone. This is just something extra to test.

Those of you who think you have a clone do the ifconfig test and post the last two digits in this thread for comparison.

The Hollogram Test

The clone holograms don't show "Dream on Valid" when you move the box.

When you look at an official hologram on the cardboard box straight on you will see nothing in the window the w izard is holding. When you tilt the box under the light the words "Dream on" then "Valid" will animate in the hologram.

If the hologram is static - just displays "Dream on" in the window then it's a fake hologram.

Attached is a DCC screen capture so you can see where to look for the HWaddr.

[Dreamlife]

Thanks hda5 for re-opening the thread and helping us all out, i'm really greatfull. I'l post my MAC address within the next few hours in this post, i just need to sort out my router.

[cueboy]

my mac is 1f:12:38

[hda5]

The easiest way to test if it's a clone is the cardboard box hologram test...

The clone holograms don't show "Dream on Valid" when you move the box.

When you look at an official hologram straight on you will see nothing in the window the w izard is holding. When you tilt the box under the light the words "Dream on" then "Valid" will animate in the window.

If the hologram is static - just displays "Dream on" in the window then it's a fake hologram.

As I said in the earlier thread the newer clones could come with individual MAC address so don't put to much faith in the MACS it's the hologram and the price you paid that seals it.

If you paid around £99 for a brand new box it's either been nicked or a clone. It's impossible to retail a genuine DM500 at that price. Like I said do the hologram test and that way you'll know what you've bought for certain.

Always buy from a trusted source such as Goldwafers in order to guarantee the genuine article.

[Dreamlife]

My hologram states,

Dream on
Dream on
Dream on

All in capitals letters. I'm gonna e-mail the seller now and give them 24 hours to refund me the price of 99.99. Then I will send them the box back. If they fail to refund me then i'l file a ****/paypal complaint and basically complain til I can't complain no more. Thanks hda5 and everyone else for your input.

[hda5]

Happy to help m8 thats what we're all here for

[xanadu]

If I remember rightly PayPal and credit card companies only refund if the purchase price was over £100.
For this reason you may struggle to get a refund, and this maybe the reason the price was deliberately set below £100.

I have never had any luck getting refunds from Paypal but that is another issue.

[Dreamlife]

hda5

Could you please tell me where you got the information about the holograms from m8? Have you read it from somewhere, it's just so when I complain iv'e got some kind on source to go with.

Thanks m8.

[gov400]

to get a refund mate it will take alot of work

u will need to send the item by recorded delivery
fax the posting do***ents to paypal HQ
Wait about 4 weeks
and u will get it

btw dreamlife can u name and shame the guy here cos i jus ordered a 500s 2 months back from fleabay for 125 quid

[hda5]

hda5

Could you please tell me where you got the information about the holograms from m8? Have you read it from somewhere, it's just so when I complain iv'e got some kind on source to go with.

Thanks m8.

I have a genuine 500S m8 and thats what the hologram is like.
Anyone who owns an official DM500S will tell you the same.

If the person who supplied you is unwilling to refund you then quote the following text from the Dream website and highlight the bit about the 10,000 euro reward:

An older release of the DM 500 mainboard from 2004 has been copied and this illegal DM500 version is not CE certified and hence, has no approval.
“Dreambox, Dream Multimedia”, and the Dream logo are registered trade marks and may be used solely by Dream-Multimedia on genuine products.
We explicitly state that we will take legal action against the manufacturers, distributors, and providers of the Dreambox-copies. For successful prosecution and conviction of this illegal trade rings we offer a reward of €10,000 for each individual case.
In case you have any information about manufacturers, distributors, and providers of the Dreambox-copies please contact our head office in Luenen/Germany immediately at tel. +49 (0) 231 900387-0 or by e-mail. Upon request your statements will be treated confidential.
We do not issue a guarantee nor shall be liable for any damages of or caused by the faked boxes and/or arise from our original software to these items.

[hda5]

If you have a laser pen you can also find some hidden things inside the genuine hologram like the Duck.

[Dreamlife]

Thanks hda5, iv'e sent them the e-mail now so i'l see how it pans out. Iv'e given them 24 hours to refund me or i'm gonna start complaining.

[hda5]

You'll have to return the item back to the supplier before they'll issue a refund m8. Suppliers don't issue refunds until the goods are returned.

You'll need to return it with proof of posting i.e. special delivery. The supplier is under no obligation to refund you whilst you still posses the goods.

[simonuk]

Well apart from them being fake, what else is wrong with these boxes? Do they die easily or what?

[Dreamlife]

Well apart from them being fake, what else is wrong with these boxes? Do they die easily or what?

They could last a few weeks and then have faults or you might be lucky and have no problems for a long time. The thing is once they do have faults or they die, the only thing their good for is the dustbin. Plus iv'e hears dream-multimedia are switching off the cloned boxes they know about.

[simonuk]

Inside an apparant fake unit, what do you's think?

[simonuk]

I phoned Dreammultimedia, I'm not sure if the language barrier was the problem but the guy didn't know anything about the dream valid thingy in the hollogram. He said the only way to test is using the lazer pen.

[hda5]

Simon can you get a shot of the actual main circuit board in detailed hi-res m8? your picture doesn't show enough detail of the main board.

The cloners are constantly upgrading the boards so as new info is released on the net as to what to look for to spot a clone the HK company make changes to the boards to look more like the genuine article. So as each new batch is produced they become harder to spot.

As far as I know they haven't sucessfully cloned the hologram yet so this is the easiest way to spot a clone at the moment by seeing if the hologram animates "dream on" and "valid" when you tilt the box.

I've asked a mate to try and record video footage of the hologram animation on his camera phone so you can see how a genuine hologram is supposed to animate the words "Dream on" and "Valid" as you tilt the box. If this can be sucessfully shot on a camera phone the footage will be uploaded later on.

[simonuk]

Simon can you get a shot of the actual main circuit board in detailed hi-res m8? your picture doesn't show enough detail of the main board.

The cloners are constantly upgrading the boards so as new info is released on the net as to what to look for to spot a clone the HK company make changes to the boards to look more like the genuine article. So as each new batch is produced they become harder to spot.

As far as I know they haven't sucessfully cloned the hologram yet so this is the easiest way to spot a clone at the moment by seeing if the hologram animates "dream on" and "valid" when you tilt the box.

I've asked a mate to try and record video footage of the hologram animation on his camera phone so you can see how a genuine hologram is supposed to animate the words "Dream on" and "Valid" as you tilt the box. If this can be sucessfully shot on a camera phone the footage will be uploaded later on.

No I cant, that pic was of one of the sellers listings, Dreamlife has done the lazer test and so far so good

[Dreamlife]

hda5

If they can't clone the Dream on Valid then surely the duck thing on the wall would be harder to clone? I can just about see the duck with my pen, but need a 2nd person to do it as my hands shake badly.

Done the MAC tests now to, on the dreambox packaging it ends 83 OB, on the dreambox it ends 83 9A, and the HWadder ends 61 5F. So all in all I got 3 different MAC codes.