Hacking the CTX3030

[Yeasty]

I record all my GPS tracks and significant find locations. Ever since I've owned the CTX I've been wanting to have GeoHunt track, Find and Way Point data available from XChange2 formatted for use with Google Earth rather than Google Maps. I finally figured out how to extract the wanted data directly from the CTX with the USB cable for use with GE without using XChange2. I consider XChange2 a somewhat clunky program but still use it for disc pattern and mode set ups.
Here's an example of a GeoHunt track, extracted from my CTX and formatted for Google Earth:
http://p.briggs.home.comcast.net/~p....SITES/GHX1.kmz
You must have Google Earth loaded on your computer for this to work.
Click on the X in the white box that appears on GE to see the track.

If anyone is interested shoot me a PM and I'll point you to the procedure.

[Waikiki_Sweep]

CTX3030 is cool machine and I wait for more hacks for it. I bet the best hack will be a MP3 player to let you listening to the music while you detecting and have more fun from your hobby.
I have no idea why manufacturer has created so complex detector and missed entertaining features. Every car has a CD player. And now even TV and video games. How about Tetris?

[Nupi]

CTX3030 is cool machine and I wait for more hacks for it. I bet the best hack will be a MP3 player to let you listening to the music while you detecting and have more fun from your hobby.
I have no idea why manufacturer has created so complex detector and missed entertaining features. Every car has a CD player. And now even TV and video games. How about Tetris?

I wait a while to buy a CTX3030 until there is a bowling lane on it.

[beerguy]

A cup holder might be nice. No need for a beer break!

[kt315]

after this patented greedlab troll activelly pressing QED here I sharply did change my attitude to greedlab. greedlab is satan capitalistic cult. all that reached its dirty hands
and may to restrict it will restrict necessarily.

[Waikiki_Sweep]

Like Linux is a free alternative for Micro$oft Windows there something have to be created in MD world.

Why not to get frontend from QED and hook it on smartphone?

You will have perfect metal detector with all that staff including GPS, MP3, Internet, Facebook, Geotech, light and camera - FOR FREE. Sorry no cup holder.

[Yeasty]

Interesting (typical?) replies to a post in a technical forum.
BTW, you can in fact store and play mp3 files from the CTX memory via the USB connection.
There's about 128M available.
Start saving your pennies.

[sinclairuser]

there is only about 2 threads that are non technical, so we just go with it.

[Waikiki_Sweep]

Interesting (typical?) replies to a post in a technical forum.
BTW, you can in fact store and play mp3 files from the CTX memory via the USB connection.
There's about 128M available.
Start saving your pennies.

That is interesting. Can you listening to the MP3 music with your metal detector headphones as a background for metal detector signals? That is feature I am looking for.

With my personal experience while listening to the music I can stay detecting in water several times longer and having much better mood.

It costs me a few dollars to install small MP3 player with 8GB MicroSD card and audio mixer/amplifier on TDA2822M into every waterproof case of Surf PI I have assembled.
I have started assembling waterproof detectors with MP3 players after my wife dropped few MP3 players into ocean. She never go detecting without music. It was easy on dry ground but ocean eats players if not waterproofed.

My friend has CTX3030 and once I let him listening music hits in my Surf PI headphones he asked:

WHY ??? WHY THAT COMPANY MAKES SO EXPENSIVE DETECTOR WITH GPS AND DID NOT LET IT TO PLAY MUSIC ????

So I am just repeating his question.

[Yeasty]

You would need an external mp3 player with usb capability to extract any music loaded in the CTX. One note, when the CTX has its usb connected to another device the detecting function is disabled. That's a function of the machine's firmware which cant be changed. Personally I would not want music to mask the detector's sounds.

[sled]

by the way you can extract the kernel and filesystem image from the firmware - the CTX3030 runs on linux on a i.MX 25 processor from Freescale there are some interesting things to discover! especially if you have a look at the binaries with a hex viewer

You could easily modify Text or images and repack it as custom firmware or add a script that runs on boot up.

They use the CC2500 chip from texas instruments for wireless communication

I did a lot of reverse engineering on the software but I don't know whether it's legal/(OK for Carl) to post the results here

[greylourie]

Isn't the source open and available on the manufacturers site. Thought I saw a disc image file there once.

[sled]

minelab? open source? but nothing is impossible - do you still have the link?

Found it: http://www.minelab.com/usa/opensource

I'll have a look at it, maybe it's just the source of the kernel

Edit: It's just the source code/binaries for the toolchain used, nothing proprietary from minelab in there Maybe I could try to run the CTX3030 in an emulator on my PC, without the metal detecting of course

[sled]

Correction, there is some proprietary minelab stuff in there - some kernel patches and kernel configuration

Seems like the Etrac and CTX3030 have a lot in common

-#define DRIVER_DESC "Minelab Etrac USB Storage Device"
-#define DRIVER_NAME "Etrac USB Storage Device"
+#define DRIVER_DESC "Minelab CTX 3030 USB Storage Device"
+#define DRIVER_NAME "CTX 3030 USB Storage Device"

All the data (GPS locations, etc.) are stored in an SQLite Database

Does anybody have a picture of the CTX3030 PCB? I'm wondering on which pin the data from the search head gets in..

[Yeasty]

This is great!
With my limited skills I've gotten the data I've been looking for but you guys are way ahead of me. Please post a summary of what you have found and what could be done!