NefMoto

In particular, the file definitions and stock file image sections are an unsearchable mess.

Whatever happened to setting up simple ftp server and putting files in a useful hierarchy?

I swear to god forum software has made people dumber.

 :D ;D 8)

I just use a google site-specific search. I rarely get useful results searching from within the forum.

Which doesn't really help me if i'm trying to build a coherent library of images and definition files... there is NO way for me to even dump all the uploaded files from a section (that I can tell)

Can probably be done with wget...

Talk to Tony, he can probably give you a huge tarball of all of the attachments.

why not use a wiki type of page, and store the files on something like dropbox ?

Just setup a wiki and separate by Make/Model/ECU type?

The problem isn't setting up the page; the problem is extracting all the files from the forum software

A normal *plain*, file only, webhost with directory indexing turned on is just fine.

Just made this small script for you which should get all the stuff you want. Just modify the regexp to your needs. It should recursively walk the forum and I hopefully managed to get all the necessary links.

http://pbot.rmdir.de/2f8dcdad06d55a5781055cf3d2a7155e

Of course you have to have you cookies exported to ~/cookies.txt . This works fine for that: http://tokland.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/chromium/chromium-cookies-to-netscape.sh

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And if we want people to upload to a nice central place I think a FTP can be provided... I won't register/install just to be able to use dropbox.

Oh and I a almost forgot: I am not sure if uploading files containing map switching for example is 100% okay in case someone gets sued by the holder of the patent. I am not familiar with the exact law but I am not sure if the host of the file cannot be forced to shut down. Highly unlikely I guess but still.

I think this forum software specifically has a really really poor search function, I have pulled my hair out over this as well. 

guys, this isn't a search problem. This a problem when forums are used to archive a lot of files that would be better stored in a directory hierarchy.

this would be solely for stock images and definition files.

If you want to provide this i am happy to mirror it. Also i am happy to provide storage for this as well.

I agree to some extent, but compared to vbulliten this search script blows on this software.  If you aren't searching from the main forum index no results even render most of the time... Just saying.

I don't care how good/bad the search is. The fact is that message boards are making people retarded when it comes to hosting files. Wrong tool for the job. Files should be stored in a hierarchy, like a normal filesystem.

The only rational substitute is a searchable database *dedicated* and *specifically designed for* ECU images and definition files.

And I hate forums being a platform for broke noobs who expect and sometimes even get a free "tune".

If anything, a forum *facilitates* that over other mediums.

I'm frustrated because so many people think keeping binaries in a forum *as an archive* is somehow a good idea.

Are people really not understanding what I'm saying?

Do you keep your important documents and files (say movies and music) stored in a forum?

Also I'm getting super tired if people bitching and moaning about noobs. If you don't like it, ignore them. Instead, how about helping out with the 30 zillion things that need work?

Like... sorting through the binaries and definitions forums and maintaining an archive?

My script is crawling through the original ecu files topic at the moment. we'll see how it turns out. Obviously I will have to go through them by hand and sort them by at least car make ... http://nerd.hu/nefmoto/

I agree, but how will you handle administration of the archive and verification of the quality of files posted?

The only plus for the forum is that there is the opportunity for feedback on what is posted.

I'm trying to keep all of the ME7.1x files on my site... i dont have enough knowledge of other versions of motronic to do the same.

BTW i'm hoping having a good library will help with the checksum tool as well. I wish setzi was around to help us with it.