Topic: Sony Dash service?

Does anyone know if the Sony Dash is still working? I was thinking about buying one but have only heard they had problems. I just need to know if they in fact work at all. It is hard to get real answers on the Sony site. If they are dropping the service I would like to  know.

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.

Re: Sony Dash service?

Sorry, I have no information about the current or future status of the Sony dash service.

3 (edited by demarks51 2015-10-22 08:33:35)

Re: Sony Dash service?

I thought there might be a Sony Dash person on this forum who could verify the service was operational or not. I may have found a good opportunity to get a collection of them. But if the service is out,  no point.

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.

Re: Sony Dash service?

I've got a Dash in my living room that still boots and runs apps.  I've not tried to reconfigure anything on it for a long time, so I don't know if that's still active on Sony's website.

5 (edited by demarks51 2015-10-22 09:05:29)

Re: Sony Dash service?

Thanks that is helpful. I didn't want to invest in a paperweight.
I bought an Ambient Baseball Scoreboard a while back for my dad. He moved to a retirement center and left that at his old house. Come to find out Ambient just dropped the service (weather, stocks and sports scores) and decided to go a different direction. No service now. BUT these units are still being sold on eBay.

The last I looked Sony still has an app list and a way to register.

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.

Re: Sony Dash service?

Yeah, I don't think there's anyway to update apps there anymore, so when they bitrot, you've just got to delete them.  Most of my displays on the Dash are just animations, so it's not hurt those too much.

Re: Sony Dash service?

Don't have a dash but would like to try one. But I'm too cheap for even the eBay prices.

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.

Re: Sony Dash service?

If anyone's interested, I found a subreddit where someone had managed to hack the Dash. https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyDash/comme … heres_how/
Apparently, all you need to do is add the start_sshd.sh script to the crontab in a firmware update's psp.tar.gz file and reflash. The default login is root with no password.

Re: Sony Dash service?

Check out the Dash forum.

10 (edited by demarks51 2015-10-24 08:09:21)

Re: Sony Dash service?

I have gone there but their forum is chaotic. Which are the most recent posts? Like finding a needle in a haystack.

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.

Re: Sony Dash service?

I've got a Dash that I bought fairly recently so that I could complete my Chumby set.
It works well and I have been able to register it to my Sony account and add channels, and then modify those channels. It's a bit slow to act on changes made on the website, but it will get there eventually.
One thing I particularly like about it is that you can set the display to show clock and weather on one half and widgets on the other. For this reason, it has a prime position in the kitchen.
Its timekeeping is a bit off - it's usually one to five minutes slower than all my other Chumbys and Infocasts. If it's power cycled and set to the correct time, then told to set the time off the internet, it will revert to the wrong time. It doesn't continue to drift further and further away from the correct time - it remains within five minutes of the correct time, so it's as if it's getting bad information from its time source.
In short, if you want a Dash and can get one for a good price (which you should, they're not getting very high prices on Ebay at the moment) then go for it. Eventually, one can only assume that they will stop working when Sony loses interest. But it hasn't happened yet.

12 (edited by demarks51 2015-10-26 15:59:25)

Re: Sony Dash service?

A most helpful post. Thanks. Now I need to find a good deal. See ya!

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.

Re: Sony Dash service?

steelpaw wrote:

I've got a Dash that I bought fairly recently so that I could complete my Chumby set.
It works well and I have been able to register it to my Sony account and add channels, and then modify those channels. It's a bit slow to act on changes made on the website, but it will get there eventually.
One thing I particularly like about it is that you can set the display to show clock and weather on one half and widgets on the other. For this reason, it has a prime position in the kitchen.
Its timekeeping is a bit off - it's usually one to five minutes slower than all my other Chumbys and Infocasts. If it's power cycled and set to the correct time, then told to set the time off the internet, it will revert to the wrong time. It doesn't continue to drift further and further away from the correct time - it remains within five minutes of the correct time, so it's as if it's getting bad information from its time source.
In short, if you want a Dash and can get one for a good price (which you should, they're not getting very high prices on Ebay at the moment) then go for it. Eventually, one can only assume that they will stop working when Sony loses interest. But it hasn't happened yet.

I put a bid on one on eBay. If I get it, I'll try to packet capture whatever protocol it uses and (attempt to) replicate it. I doubt it uses SSL or anything fancy.

Re: Sony Dash service?

Somebody was selling 64 new in boxes as a bulk. He said he needed the space in his office storage area. Tried to get him to quote a price to ship. It's in SF area. $200 for bulk units but for p/u or ship yourself. I just want one but for the right price.....

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.

Re: Sony Dash service?

I've got 2 that work fine but not all of the widgets and services work.

Re: Sony Dash service?

I finally got one. Very cool new addition to gadget family. Does have some gaps compared to chumby. Worth getting one though. Duane actually has some for sale now. New in boxes. Recommend getting one from store before they're gone. Few negatives and lot of pluses. Dash has more video sources and different music sources. Display is very nice. Sound is not quite as good as C8 or I8 better than small chums.

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.