# Token Master's whereabouts?



## jsanchez335 (Jul 31, 2015)

Does anybody here know what happen to the TokenMaster? He is unreachable through his reliable email address. Without him, E-sys will eventually be affected. Hopefully everything is alright and he is ok.


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## SergAA (Jul 16, 2013)

Unfortunately i have same question and same hope that he is Ok.


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## jackylooo (Nov 26, 2014)

The last mail I got from him is about 3 weeks ago , hope all is ok with him, he did make big contribution on the bimmer coding world.


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## ImpetuousRacer (Nov 16, 2012)

Yeah, he seems to have vanished. Health Issue, FBI arrest, vacation? Who Knows. No responses on his blog or from his email. Hope all is ok. Hope someone can update what happened to him. Figured if he left the game he would post to let everyone know?


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## tifosielia (Dec 17, 2015)

Well some say the definition trimming was because of him... Bmw was cool with individuals coding and more tech savvy charging the less tech savvy for the time to code, but when TokenMaster monetized their program and started modifying their program they were not happy. How true this is who knows but I wouldn't be surprised if they caught up with him and made it pretty clear it was over through legal authority's/ lawsuits.

Him reverse engineering their IP would certainly be illegal.


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## Almaretto (Nov 17, 2015)

tifosielia said:


> Well some say the definition trimming was because of him... Bmw was cool with individuals coding and more tech savvy charging the less tech savvy for the time to code, but when TokenMaster monetized their program and started modifying their program they were not happy. How true this is who knows but I wouldn't be surprised if they caught up with him and made it pretty clear it was over through legal authority's/ lawsuits.
> 
> Him reverse engineering their IP would certainly be illegal.


TokenMaster makes it perfectly clear that you got ripped off if you paid for his solution so I believe you incorrectly characterized his work when you used the word monetize.


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

tifosielia said:


> Well some say the definition trimming was because of him...


This claim is absurd. CAFD Trimming was done solely to reduce size of PSdZData, which has now ballooned to 60 Gb in its UNTRIMMED state. If BMW wanted to kill off coding, all they would have to do is simply secure two E-Sys files, rather than Trim thousands of individual CAFD files.



tifosielia said:


> ...Bmw was cool with individuals coding and more tech savvy charging the less tech savvy for the time to code, but when TokenMaster monetized their program...


In the beginning, before E-Sys Launcher, TokenMaster sold a Token Solution, as did at least a dozen other people. He then developed E-Sys Launcher, and E-Sys Launcher Premium version was Free for all and E-Sys Launcher PRO version was Donationware to a choice of established official non-profit Charity organizations. To say it was monetized is a bit of a stretch.



tifosielia said:


> ...and started modifying their program they were not happy....


Unlike all other token Solutions before him, TokenMaster developed a unique patchless token solution that left all E-Sys files original and in tact, and he incorporated this same solution into his E-Sys launcher program. He was adamant about leaving all E-Sys security in place and highly critical of other solutions that patched E-Sys files. I am not sure how his Cheat Codes were implemented in newer versions of E-Sys Launcher, whether is is 100% his code or modified E-Sys code; however, even if E-Sys Code was modified, it was limited to the GUI, with the actual FDL coding of the ECU using native and secured E-Sys functionality.

---------------------------

I have no idea what has become of TokenMaster., but I am almost positive his disappearance has nothing to do with BMW or any related legal matter. Whatever the case may be, I just hope he is alive and in good health. His contributions to this community were great, and I am thankful for the years he was here and hope his absence is only temporary.


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## botho (Jun 3, 2014)

shawnsheridan said:


> I have no idea what has become of TokenMaster., but I am almost positive his disappearance has nothing to do with BMW or any related legal matter. Whatever the case may be, I just hope he is alive and in good health. His contributions to this community were great, and I am thankful for the years he was here and hope his absence is only temporary.


+1
:thumbup:


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## tifosielia (Dec 17, 2015)

shawnsheridan said:


> This claim is absurd. CAFD Trimming was done solely to reduce size of PSdZData, which has now ballooned to 60 Gb in its UNTRIMMED state. If BMW wanted to kill off coding, all they would have to do is simply secure two E-Sys files, rather than Trim thousands of individual CAFD files.
> 
> In the beginning, before E-Sys Launcher, TokenMaster sold a Token Solution, as did at least a dozen other people. He then developed E-Sys Launcher, and E-Sys Launcher Premium version was Free for all and E-Sys Launcher PRO version was Donationware to a choice of established official non-profit Charity organizations. To say it was monetized is a bit of a stretch.
> 
> ...


Thank you, I was incorrectly informed.

If he isn't trying to make money off of it, why does he have two versions with the easily accessible one restricting use to one car every few days? Why have better features in the pro version? He just does it to have people donate to charity??

We're the definition's that big?? I'm surprised that it made a significant difference. How many GB's did it shave?

Just really curious


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## aboulfad (Jun 5, 2015)

tifosielia said:


> Thank you, I was incorrectly informed.
> 
> If he isn't trying to make money off of it, why does he have two versions with the easily accessible one restricting use to one car every few days? Why have better features in the pro version? He just does it to have people donate to charity??
> 
> ...


Curious, read here. The pro version is what it is for the pros, I.e. For people that want those additional features and are coding many different car types and charge for that, ... For those people or others, he asks them to make an insignificant donation to their local children/breast cancer hospital which is detailed in his email, I think that's honourable.

For most people like us hobbyists, we don't need those additional features and are content with the free version and don't need to change the model type that often. We are thankful and pray to God that a person like TM that has done so much for free for us in the BMW community, (like also others have done), is safe and sound ... Thank first, read a lot, then maybe ask questions. :thumbup:


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

tifosielia said:


> Thank you, I was incorrectly informed.


I think you had it right with just this.

Not sure why you had to come back and edit your post to add all this though:



tifosielia said:


> ...If he isn't trying to make money off of it, why does he have two versions with the easily accessible one restricting use to one car every few days? Why have better features in the pro version? He just does it to have people donate to charity??


Why do you find it so hard to believe that he felt that the Pro version was for commercial use, and as such, those benefiting financially from his tool make a charitable donation? That seems perfectly reasonable to me.



tifosielia said:


> ...
> We're the definition's that big?? I'm surprised that it made a significant difference. How many GB's did it shave?


Well, 54.1, the last Untrimmed version has only 2264 CAFD files totaling 1.66 Gb whereas 59.0, the latest Trimmed version has 3086 CAFD files totaling only 169 Mb, so the size reduction is significant considering it's 822 more CAFD files and totals 1.5 Gb less space. And when we talk size reduction, it is not just a concern for distribution of the files, it is the limited Java memory space for which these files are used that matters most. An Untrimmed FEM, BDC or NBT CAFD can be problematic.

Again, this notion that BMW would stop coding by Trimming 3000 plus CAFD files when they can simply secure E-Sys by fixing two .dll files is simply idiotic.


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## m.bux (Jan 11, 2016)

In consideration of all of this, I have question. A very genuinely newbie question, 'cause I have not followed how the distribution of e-sys launcher started and developed.

As I understanding e-sys launcher is a tool to overcome restrictions within e-sys. These limited e-sys usage to a selected group of people, with e-sys launcher e-sys becomes available to the wider community.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I think Tokenmaster's effort in this is very honorable and deserving a lot of gratitude. However, with time, Tokenmaster has built into e-sys launcher some similar restrictions too: an activation code to install the tool that needs Tokenmaster himself to respond to an email. This made the whole community totally dependent on Tokenmaster. But obviously Tokenmaster, from time to time, has more important things to do in life than helping the community, the same as we all do. So now we are back to e-sys restricted to a smaller group: those who could alreay use it before and those who have e-sys launcher installed on a laptop (until that laptop needs replacement).

Why would you develop a tool to make a piece of software available to the whole world and then make the tool restricted and dependent on you responding to emails from the whole world itself? The more I think it, the less I get it.

Bizarrely enough, now we would need another tool to remove restrictions within e-sys launcher. An "e-sys launcher starter". Any volunteer for that? :yikes: If any of you were to do it, would you take the same approach as Tokenmaster, with activation codes etc?


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

m.bux said:


> ...Why would you develop a tool to make a piece of software available to the whole world and then make the tool restricted and dependent on you responding to emails from the whole world itself? The more I think it, the less I get it.
> ...


Actually E-Sys Launcher Premium requires Activation only in 3 Countries (Italy, Russia, and China) as far as I know. You can thank some of your fellow citizens for that. In these places, TokenMaster found people selling his E-Sys Launcher Premium, which he developed and gave away for Free, and as you can imagine, he was not pleased with that. His solution was the Activation Code. So as usual in life, you have the actions of a few spoiling it for the many.


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## aboulfad (Jun 5, 2015)

m.bux said:


> ...Why would you develop a tool to make a piece of software available to the whole world and then make the tool restricted and dependent on you responding to emails from the whole world itself? The more I think it, the less I get it.


The answer and much more in his blog, here's his thoughts why he enabled activation codes for some countries. Some may think it's a bit harsh, the many have to now pay for the greed of the few but we can't judge as it is his work, effort and time.


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## m.bux (Jan 11, 2016)

shawnsheridan said:


> Actually E-Sys Launcher Premium requires Activation only in 3 Countries (Italy, Russia, and China) as far as I know. You can thank some of your fellow citizens for that. In these places, TokenMaster found people selling his E-Sys Launcher Premium, which he developed and gave away for Free, and as you can imagine, he was not pleased with that. His solution was the Activation Code. So as usual in life, you have the actions of a few spoiling it for the many.





aboulfad said:


> The answer and much more in his blog, here's his thoughts why he enabled activation codes for some countries. Some may think it's a bit harsh, the many have to now pay for the greed of the few but we can't judge as it is his work, effort and time.


Thank you, guys. It's much clearer now. I didn't realise this happened only for certain countries, including Italy, and why.
I still struggle to understand why one should feel this policeman duty instead of just letting lazy people (who don't bother searching and verifying what they're getting) being ripped off by dishonest people.
But as aboulfad said, this is his own work. And, who knows, he may have been blamed by the same lazy guys who were ripped off...


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## tifosielia (Dec 17, 2015)

shawnsheridan said:


> I think you had it right with just this.
> 
> Not sure why you had to come back and edit your post to add all this though:
> 
> ...


Cool I was just wondering. I understand I was completely off base. Appreciate you explaining it.


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

I have great news to report. I have heard from TokenMaster and he advised he is out of the country, and has no access to his personal email during this time, and hopes to be back in 2-3 Weeks. :thumbup:


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## aboulfad (Jun 5, 2015)

shawnsheridan said:


> I have great news to report. I have heard from TokenMaster and he advised he is out of the country, and has no access to his personal email during this time, and hopes to be back in 2-3 Weeks. :thumbup:


It's great to hear he's safe and sound, he must be in a mine deep down with no internet access


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

aboulfad said:


> It's great to hear he's safe and sound, he must be in a mine deep down with no internet access


Sounds like Heaven....


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## aboulfad (Jun 5, 2015)

shawnsheridan said:


> Sounds like Heaven....


:lmao: I guess you also want to go and hide deep down a mine!


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

aboulfad said:


> :lmao: I guess you also want to go and hide deep down a mine!


Sometimes I sure do.. :bigpimp:


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## Almaretto (Nov 17, 2015)

shawnsheridan said:


> I have great news to report. I have heard from TokenMaster and he advised he is out of the country, and has no access to his personal email during this time, and hopes to be back in 2-3 Weeks. :thumbup:


Thanks for the update.


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## SergAA (Jul 16, 2013)

That's cool! Thank's for information!


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## jsanchez335 (Jul 31, 2015)

great news. Thanks @shawnsheridan


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## rogaa (Sep 30, 2015)

Good to know he is all healthy!


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## myfxp (Jun 19, 2014)

shawnsheridan said:


> Actually E-Sys Launcher Premium requires Activation only in 3 Countries (Italy, Russia, and China) as far as I know.


You also need an activation code - in every country - if you need to extend your token because it has expired. This extended token will then work on this particular machine only.

Therefore I hope that he'll be back soon as I'm going to exchange my laptop.

But I'm glad to hear that he's alive and in good health at least.


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## ImpetuousRacer (Nov 16, 2012)

shawnsheridan said:


> I have great news to report. I have heard from TokenMaster and he advised he is out of the country, and has no access to his personal email during this time, and hopes to be back in 2-3 Weeks. :thumbup:


Any update? Is he back yet?


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

ImpetuousRacer said:


> Any update? Is he back yet?


No.


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## SweetBMW (Dec 12, 2014)

Irrelevant post.


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

SweetBMW said:


> There are rumours going on other forums that he passed away... Seems odd to me.


Rumors, all unsubstantiated.

As I commented on them elsewhere:

5 Weeks ago, Eli (TokenMaster) emailed me this:

_"On Thu, Jun 30, 2016 at 7:15 PM, Eli...wrote:
Hi Shawn,

I'm Ok. I'm in the other side of the globe for a while now and can't talk much. Hope to be back in 2-3 weeks. I can't read any of my personal emails.

Hope all is Ok with you too and thanks for the concern.

Thanks,
Eli"_

Hardly sounds like a man suffering from a lengthy illness and on the verge of death.


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## myfxp (Jun 19, 2014)

shawnsheridan said:


> Hardly sounds like a man suffering from a lengthy illness and on the verge of death.


Hopefully not.

But I'm wondering how you could approach him and how he could reply if he doesn't have access to his personal e-mails? :dunno: Apparently there is Internet...

Also that he is going to the "other side of the globe for a while" from one day to the next without any announcement is a bit irritating.

I'm not sure if he is really OK. But I do also not have any proof of the opposite, of course.


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

myfxp said:


> Hopefully not.
> 
> But I'm wondering how you could approach him and how he could reply if he doesn't have access to his personal e-mails? :dunno: Apparently there is Internet...
> 
> ...


I don't doubt what he wrote me, but the content of the email is not the point. The point was he was alive and in seemingly good health 5 weeks ago.


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## SweetBMW (Dec 12, 2014)

shawnsheridan said:


> I don't doubt what he wrote me, but the content of the email is not the point. The point was he was alive and in seemingly good health 5 weeks ago.


Thats why I also edited my post, as i didnt want to continue to fuel the rumours after i saw you had replied on other boards.


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## myfxp (Jun 19, 2014)

shawnsheridan said:


> The point was he was alive and in seemingly good health 5 weeks ago.


The points are also how he could read and respond to your email if he _"can't read any of [his] personal emails"_ (as I mentioned already). And why he _"can't talk much"_. And that he _"hope[d] to be back in *2-3 weeks*"_ - *5 weeks* ago. And since then, no word from him anymore...

I mean, it's no wonder that rumours are coming up, given these points. Don't you think?

I really hope that the rumours have no substance.


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## Almaretto (Nov 17, 2015)

myfxp said:


> The points are also how he could read and respond to your email if he "can't read any of [his] personal emails" (as I mentioned already). And why he "can't talk much". And that he "hope[d] to be back in 2-3 weeks" - 5 weeks ago. And since then, no word from him anymore...
> 
> I mean, it's no wonder that rumours are coming up, given these points. Don't you think?
> 
> I really hope that the rumours have no substance.


Stop trying to read into and over analyze second hand messages or discuss rumors as well as stick to facts rather than random postings and you will limit the kindling that fuels them. Plus, others have reported to have spoken and heard from him more recently.

There are plenty of other reasons to be unavailable. Even when he is around, Tokenmaster does not actively participate on boards and focuses his efforts elsewhere. I personally delete hundreds of emails a day so it is easy to understand how it might take time to catch up. And, I have been away on trips with flexible return dates along with take trips to both third world countries without any internet access at all and first world countries where I just opted not to pay high fees or use my time to check personal emails.


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## shawnsheridan (Jan 10, 2009)

myfxp said:


> ...I mean, it's no wonder that rumours are coming up, given these points. Don't you think?....


I can't say it is a wonder to me, but I can say it is disappointing just the same. Unless someone knows something with certainty, they should not be speculating publicly about it, or worse initiating or repeating things unproven as if they are fact. :thumbdwn:


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## myfxp (Jun 19, 2014)

Almaretto said:


> Stop trying to read into and over analyze second hand messages or discuss rumors as well as stick to facts rather than random postings and you will limit the kindling that fuels them.


First of all: It is *not* my intention to "fuel" (as you say) any rumours.

Second: I'm not "over analyzing" anything. I'm not even analyzing anything at all. I'm just reading a text "as is".



Almaretto said:


> Plus, others have reported to have spoken and heard from him more recently.


Good! :thumbup: Who is it and what exactly means "more recently"? And how did they do that?



Almaretto said:


> There are plenty of other reasons to be unavailable. Even when he is around, Tokenmaster does not actively participate on boards and focuses his efforts elsewhere.


Ehm - I have been in direct touch with Eli for 2 years now, and always received an instant (within 1-3 days) response.



Almaretto said:


> And, I have been away on trips with flexible return dates along with take trips to both third world countries without any internet access at all and first world countries where I just opted not to pay high fees or use my time to check personal emails.


OK, that is you. But that's apparently not the case and still doesn't explain how anybody can read an email and respond to it, if he claims that he can't even read any of his (personal) emails. Be it with or without Internet access. But as he read Shawns message and could respond to it *via email*, he has to have Internet access. Right?

Then he could have sent a one-liner to this or any other forum as well.



shawnsheridan said:


> I can't say it is a wonder to me, but I can say it is disappointing just the same. Unless someone knows something with certainty, they should not be speculating publicly about it, or worse initiating or repeating things unproven as if they are fact. :thumbdwn:


ACK. And which I'm not doing. I'm just trying to get the facts straight.

But stating "I can't read any emails, but thanks for your email" and even *responding by email*, is simply, well, illogical.

*That* - besides the other points I mentioned - is what concerns me and which has nothing to do with "over analyzing".

I really hope he is well.


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## dracon (Nov 5, 2009)

It also quite possible he only has limited access to his email and internet so he's answering emails to certain/select people. 

If sure he gets a ton of emails from people asking for all sorts of stuff (tokens, activation codes, free stuff, blah, blah). I know if I was him and had limited access to internet, I wouldn't spend the time I had answering every email. I'd respond to people I talk to on a regular basis, maybe check in with family/friends and leave the rest to wait until I had time.


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## myfxp (Jun 19, 2014)

dracon said:


> It also quite possible he only has limited access to his email and internet so he's answering emails to certain/select people.


Sure. But that's not what he wrote to Shawn. He wrote instead:



> I can't read any of my personal emails.


"Any" - you see...?


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## dracon (Nov 5, 2009)

myfxp said:


> Sure. But that's not what he wrote to Shawn. He wrote instead:
> 
> "Any" - you see...?


You're a real literal person, eh? If someone says it's raining cats and dogs, you look outside and expect animals to be falling from the sky?


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