VuGo hacking - first impressions
I bought a VuGo – a personal video & MP3 player – as sort of a video pacifier for my two young children ages 3 & 5. Sometimes my wife and I would like to be able to eat a meal out at a location without a play space for children. I paid about $120 at Wal-Mart, which is about $10 above retail. My VuGo has a firmware ID of v1.5.0.25. It also has a 10-digit, apparently all numeric, internal ID. See note at end of article. The unit seems reasonably sturdy and like most children’s toys, there are screws holding the battery covers on. Oddly, there are two battery compartments, each holding two AAA cells apiece. The 110V power adapter is also included and is pretty standard – 6V DC positive tip 500ma. It should not be a problem to find a replacement from Radio Shack, and certainly a car adapter is no problem. There is a space for a SD/MMC card, and I purchased a 1GB SD to go with the player, along with the optional vinyl carrying case. Be warned – the carrying case has those powerful “rare earth” magnets to close it; you’ll eat a credit card magnetic strip or even an SD with it if you’re not careful. Why they chose magnetic closures on what is basically a computer is beyond me. Not smart. The actual system requirements listed on the README.TXT file are much more stringent than those listed on the box – specifically, Microsoft IE 5 or later (only for the help file!), Intel Pentium 800 MHz or equivalent (Pentium 1.6GHz or higher recommended), and 120MB free hard disk space. The VuGo desktop application install takes about 12 MB – not the 120 MB recommended. The space you need for file conversion shouldn’t exceed the storage you have available on the VuGo itself (off the shelf with 128MB). The software on the included CD is for a Windows PC. The Mac software is NOT available online despite what the owner’s guide says – shame! The VuGo.com customer service FAQ is rather sparse. Hasbro lists 1-866-752-6284 as the tech support line for this product. You can e-mail Hasbro through the customer support web site – but only if you provide them with your street address (I’m not making this up!). I contacted Hasbro – their response: “Hi Roger, Thank you for contacting Hasbro, Inc.. We do apologize that the Mac software is currently not available. The Mac software for the VuGo should be available in time for the holidays. Please continue to check VuGo.com for availability. Again we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” So if you don’t have a Wintel box, you’ve got a problem. The support web site itself is a little questionable; it is heavily graphic (all Flash), no text only version or Bobby certified version. Clearly this product is not designed for the disabled. You must start the desktop application before connecting the VuGo. The screen shows a constant “USB CONNECTED” when you’ve connected to your PC – this seems to be tied to the power connection. The VuGo PC Windows desktop application (all we have at this point) creates a “My VuGo” folder in the “My Documents” folder. Beneath that it creates separate Music, Photo, and Video folders. These will contain the files that are brought into the VuGo. File types supported refer to what the desktop application will convert to the VuGo’s format – not what the device itself supports. The device only supports its own internal file format, likely the same as the VideoNow player, its distant cousin. Don’t bother copying files into these directories – they have to be converted by the desktop app. The Windows desktop app installs easily and includes an uninstaller available from the Control Panel. The software isn’t too hard to use, though it doesn’t support drag and drop, an odd omission. The software requires you to “register” your VuGo with your computer, and the software and user guide says that the VuGo can only sync to a single computer. That’s awkward, and probably easy to work around. The software will support up to 2 VuGos, though you can only connect to one at a time. The first time the software connects to the VuGo, it also asks if you want to register with the Internet site – I told it “no” and was informed that I wouldn’t be able to purchase & download content from the VuGo site. I can live with that. The process is pretty simple – click the “get files” button and a browse dialog allows you to select multiple files. Importing pictures brings a thumbnail into view – a nice feature. The VuGo uses what appears to be a FAT file system – 8 character names, please. The extensions are all significant and the system doesn’t allow you to change extensions anyway, but does insist on showing you those extensions – even though they have no meaning for the end-user. The desktop application allows you to sort by name, date, and size – but will only display the name, not the size or date. That’s just wrong. There is no way to set your user name in the desktop application. Must be done on the VuGo itself using the very awkward interface. The desktop application includes a nice video viewer that includes a video file splitter. When it splits files, it suggests names too long for the internal naming limitations, thus generating its own error. The splitter might be a handy quick editor on rare occasions, but if you’re planning to rip videos and put them onto the VuGo, this tool will not meet your needs. When it “splits” a file, the original is retained – thus using up twice the space. The desktop application does not allow you to preview any video item recorded on the VuGo itself – you can delete items, but you’d better be certain about what you are deleting. It’s easier to delete them on the VuGo. Transferring files across the USB takes time – the “writing file” portion of the cycle takes at least an extra 3 – 5 seconds regardless of file size. I used a splitter on the headphone jack to accommodate my two preschoolers. The VuGo drove two headphones with no problems, nice and sufficiently loud. The audio is reasonable. If you want a real adult ‘wow” system, this isn’t it, but it is usable. The brightness control is on the left-hand side of the unit, clearly marked as such in the manual, but it is easy to mistake as the volume control. The video display is raw and not very crisp even when set to high quality – seems to use the same cheap LCD from the failed Mattel Juicebox (I haven’t opened the case, this is a guess.) Adults, think French impressionism rather than HDTV. The screen has roughly the same resolution as a Gameboy Advance – but the recording is analog through RCA connectors, and not crisp like digital. While video input through composite is simple with the adapter cable provided, there is no provision for video output except through the onboard screen. Be warned – this isn’t a file storage system for a digital camera. Video captured on the VuGo cannot be played upon the desktop even within the VuGo desktop application. This is likely due to some internal stamping of the file with the VuGo internal ID. This is unfortunate because after recording video from a source onto the VuGo, you might want to trim out commercials, titles, etc. – can’t do it. The solution is to record and edit elsewhere – like on a PC – and then move the video to the VuGo. The VuGo file system defaults to one of two areas – the internal 128MB of storage or your own SD or MMC cards. You set this in the system set-up of the VuGo under “Memory preference”. This determines where captured video will go and where the file management tools automatically point on the VuGo itself. If you want to look at a directory of all video files on both the internal and external memory, you have to change the system set-up default to the memory you want to look at (onboard or SD). Awkward. The VuGo user interface is simple and generally intuitive. When editing text on the VuGo, the back/cancel button will perform destructive backspaces until it cancels. This is documented in the manual and is intuitive once understood. There is a timer recording function in the VuGo that I haven’t tested yet. Recording from a video source creates a “play through” on the VuGo – you can’t have it record silently. I simply plugged in the double earphone plug adapter to silence the unit. The screen will stay on, period. The built-in stand puts the screen at about 45 degrees to the surface. Lateral viewing angle is good for about 45 degree off center in all directions. Resolution appears to be about 160 X 240, not so great for anything that requires fine line resolution (such as highly detailed animation). Video can be started and paused but not forwarded or rewound. You’ll want to keep your videos brief, no more than 30 minutes because of this. The built-in speaker is sufficient and loud. Recording in stereo appears to return a stereo output, but I do not have the equipment to verify this and my hearing isn’t the best. Software install note: When I installed the desktop application on Windows XP, it created registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Hasbro\VuGo Desktop Application entry: (default) REG_SZ (value not set) Firmware1 REG_SZ (blank) Path REG_SZ C:\Program Files\Hasbro\VuGo Desktop Application\ VuGoID1 REG_SZ 458687537 VuGo ID as appears on software is 0268483575. If we can get a few more users to look at their registry and compare with the key the software says, we can probably understand the algorithm used.

i saw a comercial for these things. they look interesting, have you tried opening them up and looking for any interesting bits like a jtag connector?

Nice observations..... I seriously thought about buying a few of these for the kids, but held off after remembering how short lived the life span was for the Mattel Juiceboxes I bought last Christmas. It's a shame Mattel or Hasbro hasn't released a PVP like this with open standards as far as file formats go. I really think they would sell a ton more of them for that reason alone. It seems that lately everyone bases these devices on the ipod/itunes sales model of paying for content. I myself, would rather encode my own videos and music. Not saying that it can't be done (because I know it can), but they just always seem to make everything buggered up. (like using proprietary software to manage the media) I'll keep my eyes out after Christmas to see if the prices fall, and if it's enough of a drop (perhaps like the Juicebox clearances for $9.99), then I'll get a few to tinker with. :)

More VuGo info...
I haven't opened the case - yet. My wife insists I wait until after Christmas - it is as Christmas present for the kids, after all... :? The file system is definitely FAT16. After Christmas, when my wife lets me unwrap my Juicebox to hack, I'll also look at the SD RAM internals from the VuGo and see what else I can discover. When the record function completely fills the available internal RAM storage, it automatically starts a new file in the external SD RAM storage and continues to record - a nice feature. This means that theoretically you could record something big and long - like Gone With the Wind - and use both the internal RAM and the SD RAM to have a bigger aggregate space. It took me about 6 hours of recording to fill the lower 128 MB plus the 1GB SD RAM at high video quality. The internal video format sure looks like the same scheme as the VideoNow - if someone out there has a copy of the old VideoNow record-your-own software, that would be useful, we coud look at the video with that tool. More info as it develops! If you're lurking and you have a VuGo, post your registry key value and your VuGo ID so we can begin to figure out the internal ID scheme.

Looking for software to help - MyStuffNow by Adivo
The software that might unlock VuGo video is called MyStuffNow. It was produced by a company named Adivo - they don't sell it anymore. My guess is either that Hasbro threatened them with legal action (reverse engineering) or bought them out and repackaged the software as VideoNow Media Wizard (which converts files but is much more restricted than MyStuffNow.) I am also looking for alternative tools. Re: tag connector - I will look after Christmas. I am a software geek, not hw. Sorry! BTW, I shot some video with my CVS cam and loaded it to the VuGo (just to stay on topic) and it played fine, no problem. :wink:

If I remember correctly, MyStufNow only worked for the B&W VideoNow. At least with the VuGo, you have a better chance of figuring out the video format since you should be able to read the SD card with a PC. The Juicebox video format was never formally identified, mostly due to video only being available on the Juiceware carts. Bah...... I agree though, it would be interesting to know if there are any mystery contacts on the VuGo board.

VuGo internal formats
The MyStuffNow app is gone, so its academic. There are at least two good approaches for creating your own VideoNow disks, including a hack called VideoNowToGo which uses off-the-shelf freeware plus your burner (tested with Nero). The issue is mostly academic - it would be nice to be able to share or trade what you've recorded. The VuGu desktop app wrongly protects whatever it records... meaning that it prevents you from sharing content that you may very well own. That's not nice. Seems like the folks at Hasbro would have learned after the weak marketing model of the VideoToGo. :x A work around (and a more logical one to my mind) is to discover how the VuGo is stamping the unit ID onto the files it records (if that is indeed what it does) and how that ID is entered or encoded into the registry key already located. Then we can look at moding the files or the key so as to preserve the captured content for use on another device. My intent is NOT to reverse engineer the VuGo application. If the application worked as reasonably expected (or as in the case of the Mac version even existed) these steps wouldn't be needed. :?

Latest words from Hasbro re: VuGo software for the Macintosh
From the earlier post you'll remember that the VuGo.com site does not offer the Macintosh version of software necessary to place files on your VuGo, despite what it says on the box. When I e-mailed Hasbro customer service, the response I got was a little weak - We do apologize that the Mac software is currently not available. The Mac software for the VuGo should be available in time for the holidays. Please continue to check VuGo.com for availability. OK, maybe I should have taken the brush-off, but I didn't. My response: I bought a VuGo to give as a Christmas gift. Today is the last workday before Christmas. The box says Mac software available for download, so does the help file on the disk and the web site vugo.com - but the Mac software is NOT available. When I emailed customer service, the response said "The Mac software for the VuGo should be available in time for the holidays." and the status was marked resolved. The status is not resolved - the software is NOT posted. The software should be available BEFORE THE SALE, not before the holidays. OK, we've missed Channukah and we're about to miss Christmas. If you can't give any fixed deadline like "by January 1", why not say so? Well, they did respond quickly, within hours. But the answer was a bit surprising... We are sorry for the inconvenience of not having the Mac software available. We anticipate it will be ready within the next 4-6 weeks. We’d be happy to send you an email just as soon as it is available. I guess the holidays in question in their first answer were Valentine's Day or President's Day. :lol: This is just wrong. You don't sell a product you don't have. If they'd release the appropriate info, a Mac hack would appear on the 'Net quickly. Instead, they're marketing something they don't have. Shameful enough, but then they're also putting out misleading info about when they will fix the problem. :x After all, they're only stealing from kids, right? :?: Love those emoticons. I will retain my VuGo for now, but will start bugging the Hasbro guys after Feb 14, I suppose.

Notice they didn't say by Christmas of what year?

Chinese New Year's is January 29, 2006. Maybe that's the holidays they were shooting for... :lol: Sounds like the usual software development tardiness.

More VuGo notes
I took some time to explore the external media I use on a VuGo. VuGo file structure on external SD Ram (in this case a 1GB San Disk) is a FAT16 file structure, looks plain vanilla to me. Three subdirectories - Music, Photo, VIDEO. The VIDEO was created by the VuGo itself during an extended record operation designed to fill the available base RAM, so I surmise that the directory creation was done in all caps. Probably is case insignificant. Video files are exactly as they appear on the VuGo directory - 8.3 character DOS file names extension TVV. Internal video file format is not MPEG, AVI, or DVix. On the externals scene - my three year old grabbed it and watched intently for at least 40 minutes. Getting a 3-year old to do anything intently for more than 10 minutes is a challenge. This was worth the $ if it stays attractive. --------------- To all who celebrate it - Merry Christmas! I'm off to the police & fire stations with cookies now.

Hasbro - maybe I was a bit hasty...
:shock: I'm not sure I can believe this... but it is true! I just got a call from Hasbro customer services - they are sending me a $50 gift certificate by way of apology for the Mac software not being ready for the Vugo. That's a nice deal - I only paid $120 for the unit to begin with. :) They also assured me that they are getting the software ready quickly. When the Mac software appears, I will update this post.

Amazing. Dell used to be good and worked well with people, but it's just gotton sloppy.