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Loading Card Manager (was RE: Card Manager 0.2.3)



Not a stupid question.  I tried very hard to have this product and information about it disseminated in a professional matter this time around.  This failed.  My apologies, especially to Knecht.  I have learned my lesson.
 
There is an application, downldr.exe, used to download the firmware onto the Spyrus unit.  I'll put it on the ftp site, password bn4sdkk8ofbqd.  You'll need the special Spyrus cable to connect the reader to your computer.  Here are the instructions:
(0a) Connect cable to computer's COM1 port, and to the reader
(0b) Install downldr.exe somewhere in your path
(1) Power on reader with CALC/OFF
(3) On the reader, press down three times to DownloadApp menu item
(4) At the windows command prompt, change directory to the location of r2ae.hex and enter:
            downldr -s9600 -pcom1 r2ae.hex
(5) On the reader, press enter.
Do not install the windows software that comes with the Spyrus reader.  If you install it, then COM1 will be locked out by the driver, and downldr.exe won't work.  My hope is that the Spyrus CD and instructions be removed from the box in McKinney before shipping so this confusion is avoided.
 
Note that distributing this software is extremely dangerous.  Our smart card format has absolutely no security, so if someone were to get a copy of this software and a reader, they could stand at the ballot station and quietly burn new voter cards all day.  Of course that's also the case with PollBook.exe, but a notebook computer is a little harder to smuggle into a polling place, and besides most of our staff has trouble setting up a poll book, let alone outsiders.  The Card Manager (Spyrus) is actually simple to use.  Anyway, I can see the cover of USA Today in my head.  Consider everyone warned.
 
Good luck,
 
Ken
 
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-support@gesn.com [mailto:owner-support@gesn.com]On Behalf Of Tari Runyan
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2001 10:07 AM
To: support@gesn.com
Subject: Re: Card Manager 0.2.3

Dumb question #1 -  Where do we put this file -On the TS or in Gems or on the Spyrus ?
Ignorantly yours,
Tari
----- Original Message -----
From: Ken Clark
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001 3:07 PM
Subject: Card Manager 0.2.3

This is the first release actually out there in the field.  Password is 1mf8iabvl12dx.  Changes since 0.2.2:
  • Fix bug in where cards would not load correctly, and hence subsequent cards created would fail to work in Ballot Station
  • Change behavior so that loading of cards is only possible immediately after manager reset.  This prevents poll workers from accidentally overwriting the keys.
Ken