re: my wrong-headed thinking - SI reset tool schematics...

["Aaron Bohnen" <bohnen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,

I must say I didn't expect this response to my little 
"defense-of-the-common-man" semi-tongue-in-cheek post scriptum:

I wrote:

> >p.s. - and intellectual property be damned on this. Anyone who thinks
> >that Peake Research's or BMW's device's circuit should remain concealed
> >in the mist is ONLY correct as regards commercial exploitation of those
> >circuits by competitors. I'm sorry, but we deserve to know how this SI
> >reset thing really works. You own the car you should have free access to
> >the information.

In case it wasn't clear I mean here that if the device is patented then as 
long as we don't intend to commercially exploit the intellectual property 
contained therein that we are in the clear to examine it, even copy it to 
whatever extent we desire or are capable of. But that's not really the 
heart of what I was getting at here - I was hoping that the implied message 
would get through. Namely I was suggesting that what Peake likely did was 
find out from BMW somehow or other (want to guess how?) what the car 
needs to see at the diagnostic connector to reset the SI and oil change 
lights. Now THAT information should be available free to all of us. We own 
the cars, do the oil changes and should be able to reset our own SI lights 
as frequently as we desire. 

My sincere hope is that there is more to the reset tool than a male 
connector with jumper wire between pins one and seven. This would justify 
the prices of these things. Now I know that the recent BL/SS thread has 
been acrimonious to say the least, and for the record, I support Ben's 
enterprise. I DO NOT, however, support the idea that we should be paying 
$US 45 and up for a jumpered connector with a fancy name on it. If 
that's what the Peake or BMW tools are then it is downright ridiculous! 

Now (as I mentioned in my original post) if there is a timer in there then 
I don't care about it at all and I think most of the rest of us won't 
either. We'll likely go about using our existing methods.

The point is that I want to know how the BMW SI reset system is supposed to 
work - namely what does the CAR want to see? Investigating the BMW or Peake 
tool is merely a means to that end. I am interested in learning how the car 
works. 

Well anyway, in response to my original little post, Kevin writes:

K> Aaron,
K> 
K> I guess being a CE explains it but let me get this straight:

Let's not get personal here! I don't quite see how that explains 
anything... 

K> 1. You aren't willing to put down the $45 yourself to find out what 
K> makes the Peak Res. tool work but you want someone else to do the 
K> dirty work for you.

Nope - I'm not willing to put down the $$$ - you're correct about that. But 
NO, I'm not interested specifically in how it works, but really rather how 
the car works. If Peake's tool or BMW's tool or someone who really knows 
can help me out with that then I'm delighted. 
 
K> 2. You see no value in the legitimate work that Peak has put into their
K> product because you happen to be in the market for its use. 

Nope, that's not true either. I hope there is a lot of good science, 
research, development and testing behind the Peake product. I hope it does 
the job much better than my jumper wire. It sure should! Now I am NOT in 
the market for the Peake tool's use. I don't want to copy it. I want to 
know how the CAR works. The tool can help us decipher that. Wouldn't you 
like to know how the car works as well? 

> Do me a favor
> call up Intel and tell them becuase you have a PC you want them to send you
> full schematics and construction details on the processor. And while you're
> at it call MicroSoft and tell them to ship you the source code.
> 
> Oh and call Coke and tell them because you drink fluids you would kindly
> like the formula to their drink.

Of course these are ridiculous suggestions. 

Regarding the Intel CPU: you would certainly be within your rights to ask 
what voltage your CPU needed to run at, or what you should connect to pin 
37 of the processor - and Intel would be very happy to supply that 
information, just as they do to the manufacturers of all of the pentium 
motherboards. In fact, they happily publish white papers on these things - 
encouraging you and I to develop new applications for their technology. 
Understand the difference here is not that you want to copy their 
technology, but rather that you want to know what needs to be done to it 
from the outside to make it work right.

Regarding Microsoft and their source code - it is not a relevant 
comparison. I don't want the source code, the inner secrets. I am only 
interested in knowing what it is supposed to DO. If we could find that out 
then the circuit diagram wouldn't even be relevant. Remember at least for 
me it is a means to an end. If we were to accept the Microsoft analogy, I 
just want to know which keys to press to make it go. Think they'd be 
willing to tell me?

Finally, as far as Coca-Cola is concerned - the ingredients are on every 
can. You can copy it to your heart's delight, find out what makes it what 
it is and utilize that information for your own non-commercial use as much 
as you like. Don't try to copy it for commercial exploitation, however... 

Remember, I don't really want to copy anyone's tool. Really. I just want to 
know HOW THE CAR WORKS. If all the reset tool does is jumper pin one and 
seven then we are all laughing. If the reset tool jumpers pin one and seven 
with a timer then we can learn from this how long the jumper should be in 
place. If there is something else going on then it will give us good reason 
to examine our jumper wire scheme.

I don't pose a threat to Peake or anyone else selling reset tools. I just 
want to know what the car wants to see to reset the oil and SI lights. 
That's all.

Thanks, and sorry for the long-winded reply. :>

best regards,

Aaron
___________________________________________________________
Aaron Bohnen                     email: bohnen@domain.elided
- -Ph.D. Candidate, Civil Engineering Department, U.B.C.
- -Technicraft Engineering Services

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