If you are having trouble with the FairUse4WM/mirakagi programs read on.
Mirakagi.exe is used to recover the encryption keys used for digitally protected music on your computer (see more details here). Unfortunately, mirakagi is currently one step behind content publishers. The DRM encryption used on your computer has a version number associated with it (referred to as its “IBX Version #”). Currently, mirakagi only works with IBX version numbers up to 11.0.6000.6324. If the version on your computer is greater than this, mirakagi will fail.
To find out the IBX version on your computer:
- Run mirakagi.exe
- Press “START!”
- Look in the text box in the middle of the program window for “Version:” The number following this is the current IBX version installed on your computer.
Again, if the version you found through the steps above is greater than 11.0.6000.6324, mirakagi and FairUse4WM will NOT work.
This problem does not seem to be specific to any one operating system or Windows Media Player version. Sometime a third party music player (MusicMatch, RealPlayer, etc.) will update the IBX version. One possible solution is to “roll back” your computer to WMP 10, but the steps to do this are beyond the scope of this post.
There are other tools available that do work with IBX versions above 11.0.6000.6324. See this post for details.
19 responses so far ↓
1 Joel // Mar 13, 2008 at 1:24 PM
Thanks, I’ve been looking for why it quit working, and this is the first strait answer I could find.
Do the mirakagi people regularly update it, or am I never going to get past 11.0.6000.7000?
2 Ryan Adams // Mar 13, 2008 at 6:57 PM
Joel » Unfortunately, it seems that the mirakagi is no longer being updated. Also, I believe it is closed source, which means an updated version from a third party is unlikely.
The good news is that there are other tools which can work with the latest versions of the DRM. The bad news is, they are a bit more complicated as most are command line only tools. If you spend some time searching with Google, you will find numerous websites and forum posts that detail these tools.
3 Corey Brunk // Apr 1, 2008 at 10:22 PM
Hello, I’m having loads of trouble with Mirakagi and FairUse4WM. After downloading from your zip hyperlink, I followed steps 1 – 3 verbatim but have been stuck on step 4 for quite some time. I have taken many paths described in forums to deviate from this error but to no success. Here is my error when running Mirakagi:
Mirakagi starts, code version 0.9
Found 0 keys in keyring.
—————–
Processing “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\DRM\cache\Indiv01.key”
Version: 11.0.6000.6324 …
XML – Cert: 84 bytes, Key Storage: 1392 bytes.
DLL 1000/101acc @ ac01000 && 103000/2d494 @ ad03000
Cannot locate encrypted code chunks.
It is finished.
I have read through your forum along with many others but I don’t see any example that relates to my situation. I really would like some help!
Thank you for your time,
Corey Brunk
Windows XP
WMP version11.0.5705.5043
4 Ryan Adams // Apr 1, 2008 at 10:54 PM
@Corey Brunk: Honestly, I’m not sure what that error means. The only thing I can think of is that “cannot locate encrypted code chunks” means that, well it can’t find the encrypted code chunks. You computer might be using a different encryption than mirakagi is expecting, or perhaps mirakagi doesn’t have proper access to the file (perhaps due to a virus scanner, user permissions, etc.). Try disabling all running programs and logging in as an administrator before running mirakagi.
5 Rob Runner // Apr 3, 2008 at 11:56 AM
I have the exact same problem as Corey Brunk. I recently upgraded to vista SP1 and I believe MS upgraded the DRM. Before the upgrade, I never had a problem with mirakagi extracting the keys.
6 Patrick // Apr 8, 2008 at 6:19 AM
Great post! Can’t wait to hear about those other tools you mentioned at the end of the post. Those will probably solve all of my problems!
7 naj // Apr 11, 2008 at 10:52 AM
I still have an IBX version larger than what is acceptable after removing wmp 11 and downloading 10. How can I adjust this?
8 Ryan Adams // Apr 11, 2008 at 12:09 PM
@naj: This is a tricky process. Your best bet is to read the instructions here: http://all-streaming-media.com/faq/media-players/faq-Windows-Media-Player-Uninstall-and-roll-back-to-previous-version.htm
9 ursula skaggs // Apr 15, 2008 at 3:08 AM
i’m glad to see that DRM continues to be broken. However, your best bet is to simply not buy this crap in the first place. It’s all a big WTF and it doesn’t belong on anyone’s computer or MP3 player.
I purchased a proper media player from Cowon that supports the USB mass storage protocol. However it defaults to “MTP” mode for file transfer, meaning it is compatible with Microsoft DRM. This allows them to put the words “PlaysForSure-compatible” on the box. Don’t even try to copy files to it in this mode, because more often than not it will cause Windows explorer to crash. Also, you will not be able to copy or otherwise manipulate the files on the media player once you transfer them.
PlaysForSure and MTP are a marketing scam to trick people into accepting DRM. Since my media player does not suck, I can turn off DRM-encumbered mode and use my media player like a standard USB flash drive that also happens to play audio and video.
Avoid all Microsoft formats (WMA, WMV, WMxxx) and all Apple formats as well. DO NOT BUY A ZUNE OR AN IPOD! Make sure your media player supports “mass storage controller” or “usb mass transfer” mode before you buy it. Rip your own music from CD or download from a proper non-DRM source. You will be much better off in the long run as you won’t have to wait for someone to “unlock” your music for you.
My $0.02
10 Ryan Adams // Apr 15, 2008 at 9:19 AM
@ursula skaggs: Very true. If at all possible, stay away from DRM all together. This post was a follow up to my guide on removing DRM from Ruckus downloads. Ruckus is a free download service for students, so, in that case, waiting to have DRM broken may be worth the money saved.
11 Ryan Adams // May 17, 2008 at 12:30 PM
I’m still looking for a more reliable, yet simple, way to remove DRM when FairUse4WM fails.
12 Rolf Ernst // May 28, 2008 at 3:55 PM
The latest Windows update seems to ‘downgrade’ IBX back to 11.0.6000.6324. However, Micro$oft apparently thinks the un-DRM community is dumber than their engineers. In fact this latest level is and *upgrade* from 11.0.6000.7000. So everyone that goes bonkers over the fact that they ‘just can’t make it work’ although the version numbers match, yada yada yada, be patient, the community is already working on a solution. Unfortunately, services like Netflix (and others) require this level of WMP. So, for now, you can only sit tight.
13 Fred // Jun 2, 2008 at 10:38 PM
@Rolf Ernst:
so Ruckus just got upgraded and FairUse4WM stopped working… time will tell right?
14 Ryan Adams // Jun 2, 2008 at 11:00 PM
I haven’t noticed an upgrade to Ruckus recently. My version is 3.6.1 and has been so for several months. The instructions I posted at https://blog.ryantadams.com/2008/01/20/playing-music-downloaded-with-ruckus-in-other-media-players/ still work for me. But, as pointed out, this doesn’t mean it will work for you.
There are other, more current ways to remove the DRM, but so far, none of them are what I would call “user friendly.” Once the development of these tools reaches a stage where their use can be explained in a post, I will provide instructions.
15 whit3fir3 // Jun 9, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Rolf Ernst,
I have seen a few other people talk about the “new” IBX version using an older version number. My question is do you know the Microsoft Update that does this? The closest thing I have found is Microsoft KB929399 but I am not 100% sure this is the right update. The executable for the update is available for download on the Microsoft page and there is even an undocumented /uninstall option which can be done from the command line if you download the executable. I am just wondering if this is the update that you were talking about.
16 Rolf Ernst // Jun 9, 2008 at 11:27 AM
@Fred,
yes, he must have re-individualized or the process was otherwise triggered (say you ran ResetDRM you will be upgraded to the new old 6324). It’s not a software update, it’s an IBX (individualization) update.
Unfortunately stream-recorder.com seems to be shut down which was a prime source of information.
17 Ryan Adams // Jun 9, 2008 at 1:14 PM
@whit3fir3: The update you mentioned (929399) does deal with DRM. However, I don’t think this update alone affects the IBX version. I have that update installed on my computer (Windows XP MCE SP3), and mirakagi still works. I should also point out that I have all of the latest “critical” updates for Windows installed.
18 Fred // Jun 9, 2008 at 1:26 PM
So I fixed my Ruckus by re-individualizing, BUT I found the source of the problem, I had to delete the blackbox keys.txt which I didnt do before. I rolled back to WMP10 before and couldn’t fix it. All is perfect now.
19 Matt // Jun 15, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Fred, can you explain the process you used to unlock you Ruckus files? I’ve read about the re-individualizing and rolling back WMP, but I haven’t heard about the blackbox keys.txt. I would greatly appreciate your help.
20 Jersey // Jun 19, 2008 at 11:21 PM
I ran Mirakagi, and this is the error message I got:
Mirakagi starts, code version 0.9
Caution! Getting Keys failed for 20 – The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
What does it mean, and how do I solve this?
21 Ryan Adams // Jun 19, 2008 at 11:44 PM
@Jersey: I have heard that one before. Based on what it says though, it sounds like the file containing your keys is in use. Try restarting your computer. Then make sure no media players are running (even minimized to the system tray). If that fails, try restarting your computer in safe mode and running Mirakagi.
22 Jersey // Jun 20, 2008 at 5:44 AM
Thanks– that worked.
23 Rolf Ernst // Jun 20, 2008 at 7:01 AM
I am a bit confused – You are at WMP11, reindividualized and then deleted blackbox.keys.txt? It is important to me to run at WMP11 – have you managed that and if so – how?
24 Ryan Adams // Jun 20, 2008 at 9:56 AM
@Rolf Ernst: I am running WMP11 and Mirakagi still works. I am by no means an expert in the DRM arena, I just know what works/doesn’t work for me.
25 Timothy // Jun 27, 2008 at 11:26 AM
“There are other tools available that do work with IBX versions above 11.0.6000.6324. These tools and methods will be discussed in a later post.”
As of today, is there any way to get DRM off of files if you have IBX 11.0.6000.6324?
26 Ryan Adams // Jun 27, 2008 at 11:18 PM
@Timothy: Sort of… There is a new issue however. Microsoft released an updated IBX file, but used an old version number. I imagine they did this to confuse everyone who checks their IBX version. Hopefully, we will have some new tools availible shortly. I’m in the process of writting my own program now, but as you can imagine, finding a solution that works in all cases is hard.
27 ACE // Jul 18, 2008 at 1:28 PM
I’m having trouble working it too. It used to work perfectly on my laptop which burned up, but I had the black-box.txt file backed up. Now when FU4WM uses that old black box, I have an error in it saying, [music file]”requires a different private key.”
Anyone have the new private key?
28 Ryan Adams // Jul 18, 2008 at 2:01 PM
@ACE: The “private key” is unique to your computer. Copying it from another computer will not work. You can try to get the right key for your current computer by running mirakagi again. IF that fails, it is for the IBX version reason discussed above.
29 Ryan Adams // Jul 18, 2008 at 3:07 PM
As promised, here is a new way to remove DRM: https://blog.ryantadams.com/2008/07/18/the-fail-safe-but-lossy-way-to-remove-drm-from-audio-files/
30 Jesse // Jul 26, 2008 at 11:13 AM
i’ve had the same problem as ACE with the “new private key”…. i’m guessing there is now way around this by using fairuse?
31 Grant // Jul 28, 2008 at 10:18 PM
Well, I’m having some problems liberating a few of my files.
I’ve avoided ever updating WMP past 10.00.00.4058, which means my DRM keys are 10.0.0.3646. I’m using Ruckus, and have all the keys.
When I run mirakagi, I get the following error:
Processing “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\DRM\cache\Indiv01.key”
Version: 10.0.0.3646 …
Cannot handle XML file!
Same for Indiv02.key
So, is there any solution for this? Or am I stuck?