Glossary of Terms

[falcon]

DSS Terms Dictionary
This was just quick job.Let me know if i missed anything and it will be added.

3m is a hack that enables absolutely every channel, with the exception of local channels, as it is only possible to receive local channels from one region at a time. This hack works by going to the channel authorization area of the card and making the card answer “yes” whenever the IRD asks for authorization.

Activation is a form of hack that enables most channels, but not all of them. This enables about the same amount of channels as a DTV paying subscriber. This hack works by modifying certain memory locations on the card so that they look just like a subscriber’s card. This enables as much programming as a subbed card. If you want to watch pay-per-view you will have to use the remote and “buy” it.

ATMEL a small chip thats a very essential to your loader. This is where the flash code is stored that allows you to get into the HU cards. Most loaders today have an inline flasher, meaning you can flash the ATMEL while its in the loader. Some of the early loaders, were just modified H unloopers, and their ATMEL needed to be taken out and flashed with a devise called an ATMEL programmer. This was a small devise that you plugged your ATMEL chip into and then plugged it into your computer parallel port; from there it was flashed from DOS.

ATR is a sequence of 20 numbers that the card transmits back after its RESET pin is toggled. The values of these numbers aren’t important yet, but they do have meaning. For the newbie, one would think learning about an ATR is irrelevant. However, the ATR is actually a health indicator for your card. If your card is broken, it will not give you an ATR.

Bin file is a image of a card, it can just be a nonhack image or it can also be a hack. Typically, a CAM ID gets copied along with it, making it an easy target for Dave. But most of the bin files you find on the net have been patched with a 3m. There is a way however, to apply your original CAM ID to another card image which will increase this hack’s lifetime.

Blacklist is when DTV sends a list of invalid CAM ID’s through the stream and tells the IRD to compare the CAM ID of the card to all the ones in the blacklist. If there is a match, you will have a “Call ext 745” message on your screen, and a denial of video signal.

CAM means “conditional access module” and is simply the term for the smart card. The words CAM , smart card, HU Card, test card, and access card can all be used interchangeably.

CAM ID is a unique serial number for the CAM printed on the back of the card. If you had a virgin card and called DirecTV and actually paid for a subscription, you would read them the CAM ID of the back of your card, then they would activate it through the downstream. DTV knows all CAM ID’s including which ones are subscribed and which ones aren’t.

Cardswap is a major event that has only happened 3 times in DTV history. This is when Dave succumbs to defeat and mails ALL his millions of paying customers a new version of access card. After all his legitimate customers have new cards, the only people left using the old card are testers. At this point the entire stream of instructions for the old card is discontinued, leaving testers with invalid cards. This is a last resort for Dave since it costs tons of money to produce the new cards (plus it hurts his morale), mail them, and provide phone support for the technologically illiterate generation of people who can’t figure out how to put their new card in.

Cloning/Clone is the process of taking the CAM ID and ZKT off of one card, and placing it on another.

Datastream is the data and computer instructions coming from DTV’s satellites. This consists of encrypted video data and instructions that are routed to the CAM . However, the stream usually means just the CAM instructions. Common testing news is, “New CMD82’s found in the stream,” and this is referring to certain instructions found going to the CAM.

Dave is the entity at DirecTV (aka Signal Integrity) that monitors testing and formulates ECM’s by disassembling the hacks posted at testing sites. Dave does not speak to testers, but he definitely browses almost all freeware locations.

DSW - Dynamic Status Word On the HU card, they are recorded in a counter called the Dynamic Status Word, or DSW.Standard Updates occurs when DirecTV sends down a package of data (think of it as a ZIP file) and opens it up on the access cards. For organizational purposes, the card keeps count of the number of updates it currently has installed. This count is reflected on a counter in the card's EEPROM known as the Update Status Word, or USW. This method is hardly used anymore to update cards. Dynamic Updates have pretty much replaced standard updates. They differ from standard updates in that they are "installed" on-the-fly. As soon as a dynamic update is sent down, its effects are felt. There is no lag time between the sending of the "package" and the running it, like a standard update. This "lag time" is important, as it used to give hackers a fair warning before any updates took action. This is not the case anymore.

ECM is short for “electronic counter measure”. This is a sequence of computer instructions put in the stream that are then sent to your CAM . These instructions examine data on your card to determine if it has been “hacked” and if so, erases the hacked data area, making the card temporarily non-functional. Once an ECM is conceived, it appears constantly in the stream, so that if a tester re-applies the same hack, the ubiquitous ECM will immediately return the card to un-usable state.

Flash- this is the code that lets you glitch into the HU card. This is code that is stored in your loader's ATMEL, and allows you to glitch into the card. You can flash your loader from DOS by running the .exe. Or if you’re running Win2K or XP, you can use a program called; XP Flasher or ATMEL Flasher (same program different name) to flash the ATMEL from Windows.

Freeware is a class of computer software that is available to anyone who wants to download it. The files include programming software, utilities, text articles, and other tools of the trade. Most importantly, freeware includes activation files and 3m’s that are available to the masses, including our buddy Dave. Dave formulates ECM’s by downloading freeware from the same sites the tester uses. For this reason, freeware hacks do not last long.

Glitching is the electronic process used by the unlooper or loader to gain access to the card.

Hack is a general term that can be applied to a variety of things. Typically, in the context of testing, it will refer to a small file that is programmed into the CAM enabling free channels. In abstract, a hack is an item, method, or procedure, tangible or intangible, that, when applied to a system, produces a preferred or desirable effect, or suppresses negative effects or states of that system.

Hash(ing) The term applies to the act of getting your signal interrupted by Dave, either a prelude to an ECM or as a result of an ECM, so that you lose the audio or and or video.

Hex file is a hack applied to a card. This file consists of a sequence of hexadecimal characters that change specific locations in a card’s memory enabling access.

HU Cards are the primary cards in use today by DirecTV clients. HU Card is synonymous with Access Cards. Access Cards are DirecTV’s means of providing certain programming to certain households, depending on what is paid for. The access card has memory on it, which means it can store data. Specifically, the card stores the data which determines what programs can be descrambled, and what programs cannot. The card is technically known as a "Conditional Access Module," or CAM.

IRD is an “Integrated Receiver / Decoder” and just means the video decoder box where you put your card.

IVAC is an abbreviation for “insert valid access card” which is one message an IRD returns when something is wrong with the CAM . The CAM may have been hit with an ECM, it may not be married to that IRD, or it may be looped. It usually means the IRD knows that something was inserted, but whatever it was, it is not acting like a regular CAM .

LNB is a “low noise block” converter. This is the waveguide and small box that rests on the end of the satellite dish. This is what the coax cable plugs into and converts the 12 GHz signal to a lower frequency for your receiver. A “dual feed LNB” is an LNB having two coax cable connections, enabling two receivers to run from one dish.

Loader is the actual piece of hardware that communicates to the smart card. It is a simple interface that connects via a COM port. Since legitimate access to HU cards is protected by a mathematical sequence similar to a password, cards cannot be directly written to and read from. Instead, they are accessed by severely confusing the card with random abnormal electronic signals such as variable clock timings and voltage levels until the you get into the card. Loaders can be purchased from dealers or can be built yourself if you are very experienced with building electronic circuits. If you build or buy a loader, you will also need to “flash” the controller on it, which is easily done using DOS-based flash software available from freeware sites.

Looped card is a CAM that had instructions written to a location in memory critical to the card’s functioning. This term comes from the earlier version of cars wherein an ECM would write a “loop” of computer instructions, making the sequence continue forever (thus not completing the rest of its duties and not decrypting video), i.e. at location B it will read “jump to C”, and at location C it will read “jump to B”. This broke the card, but it could be recovered by “unlooping” methods described later in this section. Nowadays, a “looped” card just means any card that has a critical problem far beyond that caused by most ECM’s.

P4 Card-In August 2002, DirecTV began distributing a fourth generation access card, known as the "P4" card or the "Period 4" card. The Period 4 card was the result of two years of development efforts by DirecTV and NDS and contains sophisticated proprietary technology of DirecTV never before used in any smart card application. DirecTV has invested more than $25 Million to develop the Period 4 access card. Representatives from DirecTV who have confirmed that there are presently no known compromises of the Period 4 security features; the Period 4 access card is presently secure, although numerous Internet websites post information and techniques to support those attempting to develop ways to circumvent the security features of the Period 4 card.

Private files are hacks applied to a card, just like freeware, except the files are obtained for a fee or are traded amongst private groups with the intent of keeping Dave out of them. These files usually come from dealers or pay-testing (an oxymoron) sites. Once a tester releases a private file to the public, it becomes freeware and it will be counter-measured soon. This is disadvantageous to all the other people using that particular file because they all will experience denial of service due to the one bastard that leaked the file. Because of this, private files are heavily guarded and only traded among mutually trusted groups of testers.

Sub card is a CAM that is legitimately subscribed to DirecTV.

USW A standard Update occurs when DirecTV sends down a package of data (think of it as a ZIP file) and opens it up on the access cards. For organizational purposes, the card keeps count of the number of updates it currently has installed. This count is reflected on a counter in the card's EEPROM known as the Update Status Word, or USW. This method is hardly used anymore to update cards.

Virgin card is a CAM that has no testing information, i.e. no “hacks”, applied to it. It is a card that receives preview channels. A test card can be returned to “virgin status” by putting its original information back onto the card, although a purist may disagree.

Zero Knowledge Table (ZKT) As you know, each card has a unique CAM ID. What, then, would prevent someone from simply programming their neighbor’s CAM ID onto their card as well, thus giving them a free subscription to DIRECTV? The answer is the zero knowledge table (ZKT). The ZKT is basically a mathematical form of encryption that can be used to verify the validity of a number (in this case, the CAM ID). A very basic example of a ZKT could be this: A house has an address (ID) of 1, but the number 1 appears nowhere on the house. When you ring the **** and ask the owner what address the house is, they respond, “They didn’t lose the game, they *won*”. How, then, are you supposed to know the address of the house from this response? Well, notice the asterisks next to the word “won” that I placed for emphasis. One and won sound exactly the same, so the person did give you the address to their house—“1”— it was just a little encrypted. Notice also how they gave you the address of their house without revealing anything about the number 1. This is the concept of a ZKT. Of course, the ZKT uses math…lots of it, and is probably infinitely harder to decrypt that the simple message above, which wasn’t even Mathematical. The receiver checks to see if the card owns the CAM ID it is displaying by asking the ZKT to verify the number. The ZKT lets the receiver know that the number is real, or if it is copied, fake. If the ZKT confirms the validity of the CAM ID, the receiver continues to read the card as normal. If the ZKT shows the CAM ID to be fake, it gives a “Insert Valid Access Card” message on the screen, and doesn’t read the card any further. Each card stores its ZKT as well as its CAM ID.