DIY Resound Cala 8

I’ve decided to go in the direction of DIY with my Costco Cala 8 HAs. I purchased Noahlink Wireless and it arrived today. I have also installed smartfit_1.5.0.62_releaseversion.zip and the Noahlink Wireless driver that came with the device. Right now my heartburn and grief is that I cannot get the HAs to be discovered. The Noahlink Wireless is recognized by my system but when I try to connect, the right and left green lights on top of the Noahlink Wireless just blink. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

I think it’s Aventa software for those, as they are the same Linx 2, hopefully there not locked to Costco?

This will likely get moved to the DIY sub-category.
The Aventa software for those Costco Cala’s is locked to Costco.

I’m installing Aventa software and I will see if that makes a difference. If it is locked, anyway that can be bypassed or faked out?

iirc it’s that Costco got their own version of Aventa to work with those own-named aids. (not house-brand)

As stated It they are locked, you simply won’t be able to do anything without the unlock code (pin number or specific software for Costco) your best bet for DIY programming is get the later models from ReSound Linx2, Linx3D or Quattro,as these aren’t locked.

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I recommend that you try “NLHL”, “Resond Branded Standard PE”, “Resond Standard PE” in the market selection screen when installing smartfit,and try connecting to your Costco Cala 8 HAs again.
To be clear, I don’t have Resound hearing AIDS sold by Costco, so I haven’t tried the same thing. I hope you can share the results of your attempt.

I know that hearing aids G500 is rebrand by OPN 1, they’re locked, But when you install Genie 2, the country of your choice is USA, they can be successfully connected.

Hey that would be great if that works, by the way what does NLHL stand for?

I’m sorry I don’t know.

I installed Smart Fit 1.5 again and chose NLHL as the Market Selection. The only difference from when I selected United States was the language (Scandinavian?). When I ran Smart Fit the end results were the same, the green lights blinking on NLW when connection was in progress. Thanks for your help. I am open to ANY suggestions.

Is this counseling a crime?.. reverse-engineer the software and edit the hex code in it to bypass that part.
I think you’re outta luck though.

Thank you for your feedback!

I would suggest if there is a crime here, it is committed by Costco for selling a customer a product and preventing the customer from having it serviced by anyone but Costco. Something like consumer rights that most retailers understand.

Status update: When I discussed the Cala 8 HA not being accessible for fitting by anyone but Costco and that the newer Costco HAs could be fitted by someone other than Costco, the manager of the HA department denied that and said that all of the Costco HAs were locked as far as he knew. Reason being, since they are so cheap, being locked is a burden the customer must bear. When he checked with his Phonak rep, much to his chagrin, he was told that the new Costco HAs were in fact not locked. Well, as it turned out, none of Costco (Kirkland) HAs are “locked”. I was told this by a Costco Regional Manager. There is a procedure in place to allow a non Costco licensed fitter a way to obtain the software to access the Costco HA’s. Of course the manager threw in some discouragement: Costco will adjust for free. If a non Costco licensed fitter does it they would have to delete the SW they use to fit, install the Costco SW, then delete the Costco SW and reinstall the SW they normally use. Of course for the time and trouble, the fitter would probably charge you a lot. Anyone who understands SW & HW and how a system is maintain will notice that this is BS with a very strong odor. I suggested that they give me access to the SW and the reply was that is probably not likely to happen (of course in the interest of public safety) since I do not have a license. In any event, the manager will check this out and get back to me. I also suggested that Costco could make me a happy customer if they would let me exchange my Cala 8 for a pair of HAs that didn’t require “special” Costco SW. Of course this suggestion was rejected immediately. The reason I guess is Costco’s investors must be protected and this could bankrupt the company. And the beat goes on…

Have had no luck finding case studies of the horror stories. :face_with_monocle: By contrast, this search turned up many results. snakes in car dashboards - Google Search I know which one I’m more worried about. :roll_eyes:

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Status update: Conversation with Costco regional manager. License HA fitters can obtain Costco’s fitting software (Smart Fit?) by contacting Resound’s customer support and requesting the software.

All others would need to work around this blockage by maybe having a licensed fitter obtain the software and give them a copy (any volunteers?). In the mean time, Resound will have one of their fitters meet with me and refit my Cala 8 aids. I am looking forward to this fitting. Setting aside Costco’s amateur attempt at social engineering, hopefully this will solve the problems I am having with the aids. I must complement Costco for their willingness to work on solving the problem. The meeting will take place March 24th and I will report on how the fitting turns out.

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I’m still trying to find costco Fitting sw for these aids. ANY help will be greatly appreciated.

I am still hoping to get the Fitting software for my Costco Resound Cala 8 HAs. I have put my email address in my profile and would greatly appreciate it if someone has access to that software and would email it to me. It will be kept in strictest confidence.

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Status update: I had a licensed HA fitter call Resound Customer Support and request the software using the S/N for my hearing aids if he needed them. Guess what, Resound Customer Support gave him the ol’ run around. They told him he would have to go thru Costco. When that led to a dead end, and he tried to talk with Resound Customer Support again, they would not answer his phone calls. Put on a happy face: :wink:

Does anyone have the version of ReSound fitting software that Costco uses and are willing to share it. Thanks in advance.