Any updates on Eye-Fi?

About a year ago I received the email everyone else did but it happened during the long break I've been taking off photography. I was taken aback by the announcement (obviously) but in the email it did say that the cards would still be operational in the "Direct Mode". Since it was the only mode I ever used my Eye-Fi with my Nikon D800, I just went on with my life w/o dwelling on the subject.

 

I haven't done any shooting in almost two years. But now that I have a few upcoming shooting projects I thought to take all the gear out and give everything a dry run. And as you would guess, the Eye-Fi card is no longer functional. No Direct mode, not any mode.

 

I went online to see what was up and realized that I had "missed out" on the whole drama. But the way I see it: if they're gone - they're gone. Whining about it won't bring them back. I do get the whole "obsolescence" side of it and - good riddance! But the thing is, currently with the camera that I have, Eye-Fi used to be the best solution for wireless photo transfer. Nothing else came close to the amount of versatility I used get out of shooting with one regular CF card and the Eye-Fi loaded into the SD slot. When it still worked it was super convenient, time-saving and at times simply necessary. It was awesome. I loved it!

 

I would very much like to get my Eye-Fi card working again. There are numerous posts about alternative software but all the links are dead and their site is down. So, there's no way for me to know if that even was an actual thing or just empty talk. If there was such a software does anybody know of someone hosting it somewhere?

 

Alternatively, I would pay a reasonable amount of money for a 3rd party software but I'm pretty sure there is no such thing.

 

I'm on Windows 7 and my card is the Pro X2 16GB. *I only need the Direct mode functionality.

 

As I foresee this discussion potentially going several non-productive directions I must ask from all the participants to stay on the topic of making the "obsolete" Eye-Fi cards work again. *I know what else is out there and no, I'm not interested in any other "similar" products.

 

Thanks!

Edited July 15, 2017 by david_r._edan

I don't know ow helpful this is but I find the mobi type on sale at amazon.

What's changed to make the Eye-fi card non-functional? The company can't magically suck its software out of your equipment.

 

If the hardware and OS remain unchanged in a year, and the application software is still installed, where's the problem?

 

Withdrawal of support or further updates doesn't suddenly stop stuff working as it did before. For example, I still have an old Windows 98 laptop that chugs along as sedately as it did when brand new. I can't play COD on it, but it'll still read an old Word document or Spreadsheet.

 

So what's changed to make the Eye-fi card stop working?

What's changed to make the Eye-fi card non-functional? The company can't magically suck its software out of your equipment.

 

If the hardware and OS remain unchanged in a year, and the application software is still installed, where's the problem?

 

Withdrawal of support or further updates doesn't suddenly stop stuff working as it did before. For example, I still have an old Windows 98 laptop that chugs along as sedately as it did when brand new. I can't play COD on it, but it'll still read an old Word document or Spreadsheet.

 

So what's changed to make the Eye-fi card stop working?

 

 

Obviously you don't own the product in question. If the subject really interests you it is all covered in great detail on the internet but the gist of it is such: This particular 'hardware' is software dependent. The "Eye-Fi Helper" (software) must connect to the server and obtain a go-ahead in order to function and to be able to accept the photos from the wifi card. No server - no go-ahead. So, basically, at this point everyone is stuck with their perfectly functioning Eyefi card desperately trying to transmit photos that don't go anywhere.

 

The sever(s) has been down for quite some time now. I assume that the aforementioned go-ahead involves some sort of encrypted key, otherwise Eye-Fi Helper would have been hacked a long time ago. Plus, that key is probably needed to decrypt the photos themselves... Very clever and quite sinister.

Edited August 9, 2017 by david_r._edan

There's this you could try - The Peak Oil Poet: How I saved my Eye-Fi X2 Pro from uselessness on Android - if you have an Android phone. The app is still available. If you can find all the bits and pieces, it appears it will work but not in direct mode.

"I assume that the aforementioned go-ahead involves some sort of encrypted key,"

 

Yes, the card is coded with a changeable Pre-Shared Key - PSK encryption.

 

So your card will have its last used upload key frozen into it, and it appears it's only the ability to change or read the key that's been blocked by lack of access to Eyefi's server.

 

Direct mode access should therefore still work unless some change has been made to the hardware/software/network that was used prior to Eyefi's server shutdown.

 

There appear to be a few geek workarounds to retrieve the key and allow the card to work again as a simple file transfer device.

 

Still, it was a shoddy move on Eyefi's part, and it's to be hoped their sales have suffered as a consequence.