Hacking the Xyron Design Runner
Chapter 1: Homebrew USB Card Reader/Writer
This launches a series of articles on a truly neat device, the Xyron Design Runner. This device is a mini handheld printer, using a optical-mouse type motion detection and custom inkjet cartridge driver to print little designs and phrases on scrapbooks and such, just by sliding the device sideways across the page. Cool!
Fig 1 – The Xyron Design Runner
We’ve had one collecting dust in the “To-be-hacked” pile, and finally got around to actually getting something working. Truth be told, we put a bunch of effort into it a year ago and only got abysmal read/write speeds with lots of data errors. That crappy reader has been mothballed in favor of using a Teensy, and it works like a freakin charm!
Here’s our Teensy plug (and no, we don’t get free shit from them. Although we’d totally accept it!)
Teensy Rocks. You should get one
Hahaha. In all honesty, we respect the Arduino and all the awesome development that it has enabled. Like blinky LED’s. But for this project, you’ll really want the speed of USB comms. Not that our little reader firmware couldn’t be ported back to Arduino, just that it would be dog slow. Feel free to, if you like. This project could also be easily ported to any of the other USB AVR devices, and probably just recompiled for another ATMEGA board if it even requires a recompile at all. Might just run on a breakout board without any changes. But still, get a Teensy.
Back to the story of the XDR (Xyron Design Runner). Like early-generation ebooks, this device rose and fell due to overenthusiastic DRM. You can only print what’s on the little memory cards, and you can bet your ass that the retail value of fourty pieces of crappy clip art is exponentially inflated by putting it on said little card. Now a hundred bucks for a cool little printer is a price that is fair to both buyer and seller. But $49.99 for each card kills the buzz pretty quick. That cute little teddy bear just ain’t worth a whole dollar, no matter how many times you print him around the border of your memo. And with no way to send clip art from the PC to the little card you’re pretty much stuck with what Xyron gives you.
There is also a second category of memory card: Font Cards. With one of these, and another $100 device (The Xyron Disc Maker) you can generate your own phrases using a font of Xyron’s choosing. Assuming you shell out another $50 for a “Xyron Blank Disc” to write to. The concept is certainly cooler than clip art, but fonts get old quick as well. It’s like the 80′s – everyone wants to write one Christmas card using 6 different novelty fonts, but a month later you type everything in Arial because that’s the default and none of the others is interesting enough to reach up and click the selection box. Meh.
Now of course those cards LOOK tempting – just like SD cards – but like we, you, and every other joe that’s ever seen one knows: They can’t be read in a normal SD card reader. Wooo, mysterious! Untold goodies and technical intrigue (and clip art) that we can’t get our hands on – so frustrating!
Well you’re lucky you dropped by, as all mysteries will soon be revealed. But the XDR story continues..
The thing that is really interesting about all of this is that there seems to have been a little cross-pollination in a company called PrintDreams. Presently, they are developing hand-held printers that blow the doors off the Xyron – random swiping and all kinds of technical excellence. It appears they were the design team for the Design Runner, and later launched their own (non-Xyron) product called XDR PC-Link. This is a card reader and software package to write your own clip-art and phrases onto the Xyron Blank Cards to be used in the Design Runner. Neat. We hope they got blessing for this from Xyron, because launching an unlicensed product using the detailed technical information generated during a round of consulting is a giant flaming no-no.
As tells the rise and fall of the Design Runner. It’s almost impossible to find in brick-and-mortar stores nowadays, and will probably die out entirely soon as the print cartridges (also way overpriced, but the world tolerates ink that costs more than gold) are becoming harder and harder to find. The prices for the XDR have fallen to about $70 from Amazon.com or even cheaper from ebay. Not quite fire sale, but we can see the supply outweighing the demand. So get one now if you’re interested, they may not be around for long.
Now we know you’re not here for story-time. You want us to shut up and dump the technical details on the card, the schematic, the firmware, and the source. So you better browse over to page 2, dearies, and get cookin.
Continued on Next Page…
Jump to Page 2
By David M. June 7, 2011 - 3:43 pm
I spent a few hours today looking into the image format.. I cheated to discover the message, its in plain text at the end of the file. I assume the letters are mapped to the corresponding letter in the font which would explain why it was readable.
I couldnt quite figure out the FAT table, but I found two that look quite similar. One at the very beginning, starting after the first 4 bytes. (set your hex editor to show 14 bytes across and you’ll see the pattern). Then, after the initial bunch of FFs and 00s, you’ll see a bunch more series of bytes with a repeating 20 FF, then the chars “SAVE”. I believe this marks the end of the FAT.
Beginning immediately afterwards is some bitmap data. I couldnt quite figure out the stride.
I did discover the preview images, which are stored with 13 leading and trailing FFs, in a 104 x 31 PBM-type format (1 bit per pixel, left to right, top to bottom).
Before the preview image is what the message looks like in the keyboard tool, like “54. abcdefghijkl”.
I assume the actual bitmap begins immediately after the preview image, but again, I was not able to figure out the interleave or stride.
-David
By David M. June 7, 2011 - 3:44 pm
The secret messages are
“xxx xxxx xxxxxxx xxx xxxxxx xx xx” and
“xxxxx xxx xxxxxx”
By David M. June 7, 2011 - 9:00 pm
Also, using “strings” on the executable for the xdr program reveals an embedded copy of ImageMagick (hmm I don’t see the required copyright notice….).. I’d be willing to be their image format is one of those supported by IM.
The actual bitmap that is printed seems to be interleaved is my best guess. Try as I might to figure out the stride I can’t get anything sensible; but it’s clearly a regular pattern.
I note also that IM does have an interleave command, which would be convenient.
By Hacking the Xyron Design Runner Chapter 2: Card FAT Format « Openschemes June 8, 2011 - 5:04 am
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By John Smith June 14, 2011 - 5:09 am
Anyone noticed the free xyron programming software from printdreams.com?
By openschemes June 15, 2011 - 3:53 pm
It’s mentioned in the article. XDR PC-Link. BTW, it saves as bitmap images and does not interleave the data until (presumably) it xfer’s to their reader. So it’s no help in decoding the image format, but is a nice target for what a good open source project should be able to do.
By Justine July 17, 2011 - 2:14 pm
As the owner of a XDR and noticing that they are appearing to discontinue the item in the stores (no ink cartridges, clearances on the discs, etc), I would really appreciate any more information on the aforementioned “reader” for the PC link software… as in how to avoid having to buy one! Also, if there is an ink jet cartridge out there that is compatible to the one the XDR uses. I’ve read this thread and the one on “space” and will continue to check in to see if you brilliant minds have made more progress! Thanks!
By openschemes July 17, 2011 - 4:50 pm
Well we sure hope to give you what you want to know. Our reader is based on Teensy, but is probably compatible with any Atmega Arduino clone. As for the inkjet cart – you’ve got the right idea.. It costs an arm and a leg and will certainly kill this device if it’s completely discontinued.
What we do know is that the inkjet hardware in the XDR is made by Lexmark. So we are hoping that it’s some sort of standard Lex cartridge.. But short of buying every one we can find and looking at them, we’ve got no ideas on how to determine if a suitable replacement exists..
By Justine July 20, 2011 - 8:23 am
hhmmm.. I have a lexmark printer… I’ll check to see if that cartridge fits and let you know. Thanks for that information!
By Mike November 29, 2011 - 1:18 pm
Did the lexmark ink cart fit?
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By mr. Alex Y September 15, 2011 - 2:49 am
pls i”ll like to know how i can get this product for buying . i based in nigeria. and i have a demand for an orget installation,thanks
By openschemes September 20, 2011 - 8:50 pm
The printer? Amazon. Teensy? PJRC.com
How is the crafts industry in Nigeria, anyway? All I ever hear is that it’s filled with rich princes who simply can’t get their money out.
By Toni February 24, 2012 - 7:55 pm
Just bought a XDR on clearance and am finding out fast that the ink cartridges are scarce & expensive. Was anyone ever able to determine if there was a Lexmark cartridge that is interchangable?
By openschemes February 25, 2012 - 7:53 pm
We never got a chance to properly research it, actually. If you get a chance to look in to it, it would sure help everyone if you could post your findings!
By abe April 22, 2012 - 12:13 am
Hi, I hope this isn’t too late to help people. After doing some research, I have found that the ink for the XDR is a *slightly* modified Lexmark 32/34 (the only difference between 32 and 34 is the initial ink level from the factory…34 has more). I figured this out by comparing the shape, size, pattern and holes under the label, and the design of the contact pads on the back to images of different lexmark cartridges I found on the internet.
The modification is in the tabs that stick up from the bottom of the top the cartridge (that sounds confusing, just look at a cartridge or find an image, its obvious – they are the only protruding things on the top of the cartridge). The standard lexmark cartridge has two tabs that are next to each other, but the left tab on the XDR cartridge is offset by a few millimeters.
This is not a big deal – you will need to do one of two things: 1) file down/cut the offset tab off your new ink cartridge or 2) carefully file down/cut the piece of plastic blocking the insertion of a standard cartridge inside your XDR
Alternatively, the standard lexmark 32/34 cartridges are very easy to refill, and refill kits cost less than a new off brand cartridge. This means the XDR catrdige should be just as easy. I took the label off mine, and all the refill holes are right where they should be. Just google “refill lexmark 32″ and you’ll find numerous pages explaining how to do it. It is possible that the XDR cartridges are designed to NOT be refillable – I am not sure.
I have not confirmed this info yet. I currently have a half full XDR cartridge, and I ordered a generic “compatible” lexmark 32 cartridge and a refill kit today. I could be wrong – its possible the XDR uses different software or another method to detect rouge cartridges, but I don’t think so.
I am planning on using the XDR a lot, so I should know about refill-ability soon. As soon as the new cartridge arrives, I’ll file off the left tab and see if it works. I’ll make a new post with my results.
One last thought – lexmark does not make single color cartridges like this. I think the color ones (red and green) were custom made for the XDR. Assuming both the new cartridge as well as refilling XDR methods work, this means to get color you’ll either need to buy 1 original XDR color and keep refilling it, or take your chances refilling a black cartridge with color ink (bleh). I am pretty sure the color cartridges won’t work (although I don’t know) – I think their contacts on the back and computer chips on the inside are different.
Thanks for this blog! This is what inspired me to dig out my XDR again and start fiddling!
By Aoife March 26, 2013 - 7:35 am
Hi Abe,
Any luck with the Lexmark cartridges?
Aoife
By Damon Haukaas May 22, 2012 - 8:10 pm
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By KS August 2, 2012 - 5:28 am
Great writeup.
Just wondering if there are any updates re: the format used for the pictures?
By openschemes August 2, 2012 - 2:43 pm
No, not yet – project got buried under other stuff! Try your hand at decoding it, we’d be happy to post any info you come up with!!
By John L Smith September 20, 2012 - 7:47 am
Hi, As i have only a few original cards for this machine, and dataflash cards are rare and expensive, I decided to experiment using the AT45DB161D soic equivalent. I managed to wire one into a micro-sd adapter. It was recognised by my version of the OS cardreader/writer (Mattairtech instead of Teensy), and subsequently by the XDR.
The AT45DB161D is still cheaply available at RS Components (#696-3083).
Substitute cards could easily be made with a PCB suitably designed to fit the sd socket.
—- OS only —-
I have a photo available of the modified sd adapter if you have an email address for me to send it.
By openschemes September 27, 2012 - 2:22 pm
Great work! Sure, send your pic to xyron at openschemes, we will post it in a follow on article If you have any other description or pics of the work you’ve done, that would be fantastic as well!
By Hcg December 5, 2012 - 7:23 am
Love your site. Thank a lot for doing such a good job. I’ll return to this site to see what’s new and tell my friends about your posting, hcg.
By openschemes June 8, 2011 - 5:03 am
Top work, David! The real prize is rendering these messages as a bitmap. It looks like it will be a race between us!
By openschemes June 8, 2011 - 5:08 am
Hey, very nice work! We also spent some time working out the FAT (XAT?) table, the results are posted on the main page. And we agree, the actual bitmap data must be interleaved somehow. Our best guess so far is that it’s a variable number of columns, to make the data transfer between the card and printer driver easy – as you know, it prints from side to side so physically it seems as if it’s just dumping vertical print data to the print head as the X-axis is incremented