Mac OS 9 Lives

Digital Audio Workstation & MIDI => Digital Audio Workstations & MIDI Applications => Logic Audio by Emagic => Topic started by: Windoze on April 14, 2024, 11:16:02 AM

Title: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: Windoze on April 14, 2024, 11:16:02 AM
After a lot of work I'm proud to present a full XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6.
Please read the included Readme for Installation & Removal Instructions.

This is for OS 9 only. I might make an OS X Version some time later but this needs some Research first...

Since my XSKey had to die for the greater good I'm searching for a spare.
I don't care which Licenses it has or even only Demos. Let me know if you have one you don't need.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: Knezzen on April 14, 2024, 11:17:47 AM
Wow! Great job, Windoze! Finally :D
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: hoovers@dawn on April 14, 2024, 03:25:36 PM
well if this works then hats of to you man!  8)
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: hoovers@dawn on April 14, 2024, 03:38:42 PM
just tried it it booted straight up no key 6.4.3

looks like the emagic team have had there legacy crushed! what next "pace Ilock" ?
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: hoovers@dawn on April 14, 2024, 10:30:24 PM

Since my XSKey had to die for the greater good I'm searching for a spare.
I don't care which Licenses it has or even only Demos. Let me know if you have one you don't need.

I have a "emagic" logic "audio" not "pro" 6 dongle spare will that do? if you need more to sacrifice let me know i have few...

As a geniune "legit" Emagic logic platinum/pro user since version 4 (yes i got a bank loan for it in my early 20's) I really appreciate what you've done here & im spinning out that it fully works, I never thought i'd see the day & alot easier than the traditional emulators (programs that need to be turned on & targeted) just drop it into the logic folder & your off & racing!!!  what a great day for os9lives welldone windoze this will benefit the os9 community greatly...

now i better upload the OS9 Logic Pro 6.5.0 emagic leak....

show your appreciation people this is the crack of crack acheivements in history!!!!!

cheers
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: Knezzen on April 15, 2024, 03:19:47 AM
now i better upload the OS9 Logic Pro 6.5.0 emagic leak....

Yes!!!! Please do!
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: AtariMan on April 15, 2024, 12:23:22 PM
After a lot of work I'm proud to present a full XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6.
Please read the included Readme for Installation & Removal Instructions.

This is for OS 9 only. I might make an OS X Version some time later but this needs some Research first...

Since my XSKey had to die for the greater good I'm searching for a spare.
I don't care which Licenses it has or even only Demos. Let me know if you have one you don't need.
Thank you very much for your work! We are looking forward to XSKey for Mac OS X. It would be cool to flash the extracted firmware into a blue key with demo versions.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: lp33 on May 21, 2024, 07:35:37 PM
Yes!!! Can confirm it works with Logic 5 downloaded from the Garden on OS 9.2. So much love and gratitude for this.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: chietronix on August 30, 2024, 01:47:31 PM
I really appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: JohniMacG4 on August 30, 2024, 06:16:23 PM
Wow! 

It is incredibly impressive that you have managed to do this.  Thank you for your time and expertise and your sacrifices.  This is huge.

I lost my original Blue Emagic XS Key years ago, but I still have my original Logic Pro 7 retail box and install discs.  After over a year of looking everyday,  I finally managed to buy a white Apple Logic Pro 7 XS Key on the used market.  I now have Logic Pro 7 installed and running on my sweet little iMac G4 under both 10.4.3 and Sorbet Leopard. 

I am of course building out an OS 9 partition as well.  I have an iMac G3 running OS 9.0.4 that I have installed Pro Tools Free v.5 onto.  And my OS 9.2.2 partition of my iMacG4 now has a working version of Pro Tools LE 5.2.  I still had my original install disc and authorization number, but I had to buy another old original MBox.  It's fantastic.  I am looking forward to adding Logic Pro 6 to this OS 9 build on the iMac G4.

I have heard that the white Apple XS keys, if authorized/activated in their day for Logic Pro 7, will work for authorizing all previous versions of Logic Pro, and all the way back to Notator.  I have not tested this.  I count my self lucky that I got a working Logic Pro 7 XS Key.  An OS X virtual XS Key for Logic 7 would be out-of-this-world.

Well done Windoze!

-JohniMacG4
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: refinery on August 31, 2024, 06:02:46 AM
Finally had time to try this out on my machine today. This is extremely impressive, I.. honestly can't believe we've gotten this treat 20 years on. Amazing, amazing work.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: ivanshpak on November 03, 2024, 11:58:02 AM
Checked! It works on 6.4.3!
This is great, thank you!
This is really important, because it frees up the sometimes very necessary USB port!
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: smilesdavis on November 04, 2024, 02:43:59 PM
its sad usb dongles cant be cascaded like the adb ones :)
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: IIO on November 04, 2024, 08:44:30 PM
it´s called hub. :)
3 euro for x3 - 150 euro for x24.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: smilesdavis on November 05, 2024, 04:16:55 AM
it´s called hub. :)
3 euro for x3 - 150 euro for x24.

the beauty the...

Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) is a proprietary bit-serial peripheral bus connecting low-speed devices to computers. It was introduced on the Apple IIGS in 1986 as a way to support low-cost devices like keyboards and mice, enabling them to be connected together in a daisy chain without the need for hubs or other devices. Apple Desktop Bus was quickly introduced on later Macintosh models, on later models of NeXT computers, and saw some other third-party use as well. Like the similar PS/2 connector used in many PC-compatibles at the time, Apple Desktop Bus was rapidly replaced by USB as that system became popular in the late 1990s; the last external Apple Desktop Bus port on an Apple product was in on the Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White), though it remained as an internal-only bus on PowerPC-based PowerBooks and iBooks with the built-in keyboard and touchpad.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: sarnau on December 03, 2024, 04:26:31 AM
Congratulations! I expected that somebody would eventually decap the CPU and dump the firmware, but at the time there was no other USB microcontroller with the required specs available. It lasted over 25 years, so I consider that "good enough". I looked at your implementation: clearly different from my own reference implementation of an emulator for the Mac, but the code seems 100% correct based on my quick check with Ghidra.

If you need some XSKeys, I probably still have a couple hundred in a box somewhere. Send me an email…

You might want to return 0x00 for the first 16 bytes of the EEPROM (the first 2 are part of the serial number) and return 0xFF for all bytes between 0x10 and 0x2F (this enables all potential products permanently). The rest should return 0x00 (demo timers, etc)

As a ROM serial number you might want to return $0FFFFF, which has not been used and is a "VIP XSKey" – to make it extra fancy :-)

BTW: xskey.apple.com was shut down in December 2012 (which allowed users to repair and update XSKeys), after we discontinued the use of the XSKey in 2007 with Logic Pro 8.


Cheers,
Markus Fritze, Inventor of the XSKey
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: Knezzen on December 03, 2024, 04:45:48 AM
Wonderful to have you here Markus and thanks for the XSKey insight! :)
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: IIO on December 03, 2024, 06:05:03 AM
aha, der nächste apple spion! wir warten schon die ganze zeit drauf, dass tim eine keynote zu unserem mac mini OS macht. :P

yeah, ghidra speaks PPCs since a while.

myself i used almost exclusively custom apps for audio, but it feels really great to have things "complete".

thanks for your kind words and the offer.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: ssp3 on December 03, 2024, 12:32:05 PM
I expected that somebody would eventually...

Lecko mio! See what happens when you post you works in public space  :D

Welcome, Markus!

It also shows how good the work of Windoze and those who collaborated with him is.


P.S. Markus, if your idea with XSKeys was to donate them, then what about giving them to people only after they have written something valuable for the MacOS9Lives! front page? They pay shipping etc., of course.
If you had something else in mind, then just ignore what I wrote.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: Windoze on December 03, 2024, 12:46:53 PM
Die Welt ist halt doch recht klein, das man hier gefunden wird :)

The reverse engineering of the XSKey was a very nice project for me and I'm still proud of the resulting emulator.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: Knezzen on December 03, 2024, 11:12:33 PM
...and I'm still proud of the resulting emulator.

You should be! It's awesome! I lost my blue XSKey in moving a few years ago and have yet to find it anywhere. This just works and there's no need for the XSKey anymore :)
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: smilesdavis on December 03, 2024, 11:18:21 PM
Bist du deppat die welt ist echt klein 🤣

Ich mach mal fotos von allen logic dongles die ich habe ich denke mir könnten vielleicht noch ein pasr frühe fehlen (oder nicht)
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: cyberish on December 04, 2024, 08:10:24 AM
Is there any hope for a soon to be released Mac OS X version of your superbe dongle Emu WINDOZE? Thank you for your stunning efforts!
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: Windoze on December 04, 2024, 08:16:06 AM
Is there any hope for a soon to be released Mac OS X version of your superbe dongle Emu WINDOZE? Thank you for your stunning efforts!

Yes I still want to make an OS X version. I already got it partially working but not good enough for a general release.
I don't have that much time for it at the moment so it will take some time until it is finished.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: k-Tracker on April 30, 2025, 12:57:56 AM
Windoze,
thank you for your work.
It's running perfectly with Logic 5 and 6 including TDM plugins with PT5.
I'm so excited that I no longer need to worry about losing xskey and can use it on several systems at a time.
The only piece that's missing for me in OS9 is USB MIDI Class Compliant devices support. But I understand, this is not a wish list for Christmas :)

I believe it was a lot of work to get xskey emulated. I appreciate if you could share a story behind it. What did it take to emulate it, what tools didn't you have to use, etc. Thanks again.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: Windoze on May 01, 2025, 07:33:37 AM
I believe it was a lot of work to get xskey emulated. I appreciate if you could share a story behind it. What did it take to emulate it, what tools didn't you have to use, etc. Thanks again.

Hi!

Yes it was a lot of work :)

I got in contact with one of the guys that decapped and reversed the atari cubase dongle.
They managed to extract the firmware of the microcontroller on the xskey.
After that it was basically understanding the assembly code of the xskey and reimplementing it in c.
This is of course very abbreviated.
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: smilesdavis on May 01, 2025, 08:05:32 AM
ill email you rather soon windoze
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: tomcita on May 09, 2025, 03:13:36 AM
Hi !

thanks so much windoze for your work, it works so well.

Tested and work on a G4 with Mac Os 9.2.2:
- Logic 2.5.4 (68k)
- Logic Audio 2.5.1, 2.6 (68k & PPC), 2.6.2 (68k), 2.6.6
- Logic Audio 3.0, 3.0.17
- Logic Audio Platinum 3.6, 3.7, 3.7.2
- Logic Audio Platinum 4.5.1, 4.6.3, 4.7, 4.8.1

Not working on Logic 2.0, Logic 2.5.0, it freeze the system when launching.

At start I install the Logic XSkey Driver for the 4.8.1 and I put the USBManangerLib in the system folder because it says that it need the xskey when booting mac os 9 to launch 4.8.1.

It was strange that it works on versions that use the ADB Dongle, if you have an explanation, I would like to know.

Do you know where to find the Logic 2.5 PPC ? hard to find on my side ...
Title: Re: XSKey Emulator for Logic 5 & 6
Post by: Windoze on May 10, 2025, 06:25:49 AM
Installing the Emulator into the system extensions is not tested nor recommended, this might interfere with other programs that use USB.
As long as it works for you you can continue using it this way but if you get problems with USB devices try removing the emulator from the extension folder.

As far as i know, the "Logic 4 XSKey Driver" is basically an emulator for the ADB dongle so that is why it also works with the older versions.

I don't have any older versions of logic available, so I can't help you there. Sorry!