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RCA / Thomson Modem Hack Discovered

Posted by Hemos on from the the-joy-of-hacking dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Those un-employed modem hackers are at it again. The group known as TCNiSO has released a very interesting hardware modification for RCA / Thomson cable modems. The modification is done by grounding the bus clock on the serial EEPROM which throws the device into a diagnostic panic mode. Then by using the debug tools from the embedded console to reprogram the EEPROM, a user can permanently enable a developers menu which gives complete control of the modem, such as modifying the hardware addresses or flashing new firmware. Now if only these guys can figure out how to enable the Bluetooth features on my v710 phone..."

10 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. As a Technology Demonstration... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The group's website is being served through a hacked cable-modem connection.

  2. Re:Dangerous, and probably illegal. by Neophytus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Please note cable modems do not connect to the telephone network. They connect to the cable company's private wires.

  3. Re:Dangerous, and probably illegal. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    why would it be a DMCA violation in the first place?
    do you even know what it stands for

    I believe it stands for "YHBT".

  4. WOOOHOOO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    i cant wait for a few days until all the people that try this hack, are kicked off the network allowing my service to go faster.

    yay for stupid people.

  5. Article content by PuppiesOnAcid · · Score: 2, Funny

    Warning: mysql_connect(): Can't connect to MySQL server on 'engdb.agava.com' (61) in /home/t/tcniso.hosting.agava.com/WWW/db_connect.ph p on line 10
    Can't connect to MySQL server on 'engdb.agava.com' (61)

    =)

  6. 2400 bps modems? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've got a box-full of old 2400 bps modems and it would be great if these guys can find a way to tweak some speed out of them.

  7. Hold up! by El+Camino+SS · · Score: 3, Funny


    The group known as TCNiSO has released a very interesting hardware modification for RCA / Thomson cable modems. The modification is done by grounding the bus clock on the serial EEPROM which throws the device into a diagnostic panic mode. Then by using the debug tools from the embedded console to reprogram the EEPROM, a user can permanently enable a developers menu which gives complete control of the modem, such as modifying the hardware addresses or flashing new firmware. Now if only these guys can figure out how to enable the Bluetooth features on my v710 phone..."

    Whoa, slow down.

    Corky here can't handle frontpage paragraphs like that first thing in the morning.

  8. Also Discovered by Jozer99 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It was also discovered that by permanantly grounding the clock, the RCA cable modem could be turned into a full fledged Radeon 9700 Pro...

  9. Re:Great way to lose your service. by papasui · · Score: 2, Funny

    There was some other factors surrounding this, but I can't discuss it.

  10. Re:Great way to lose your service. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    You mean like the factor about how you made the whole thing up?