Kaba Ilco Marlok

[unlisted]

So, I made a "blind purchase" on ebay (no photos, no actual product description in the ebay ad) and it looks like I lucked out- sorta.

I won a Marlok mortise with key. Here are some photos. I'm hoping someone knows more about this, and can provide me with some info, including how I could possibly get it into a "working" condition. (whats needed, etc)

And photos:












Oh and totally unrelated.....















Seriously, who doesn't?

[freakparade3]

Can't help you with the lock but if you end up needing other cams for it I got you covered.

Also, I never once put out cookies for Santa. My dad told us Santa preferred peanuts and beer. No joke.

[mh]

Marlok is like a little punch card in the form of a key, tiny holes read out using infrared beams when the key is inserted.

It won't do much without a proper Marlok controller, though.

Cheers
mh

[Solomon]

Reminds me of Prison Break. In season 2, there was a key very similar to that featured in a couple of episodes.

[raimundo]

cut a rectangular hole in a piece of cardboard the size of the keyblade, then step into a darker area and put a flashlight under that cutout, and put the keyblade over the cutout and you will see the tiny red lights, that would make a good closeup photo. if a camera can handle it.

[loki-aka]

[*]

The device is part of an IR based access control system. The cyl. acts as a reader and the "key" replaces the
more commonly seen CR 80 type swipe or prox cards (plastic cards-credit card sized) used other systems.

Mfg contact info as follows: belived to be current- have not verified.

Marlok Division of Ilco Unican
2491 Indiana Ave., Winston Salem NC 27105

Telephone
(910) 725-1331, Facsimile (910) 725-3269),

[Eyes_Only]

I never put out milk and cookies for Santa. My parents told me from the very start, "don't be stupid like the other children, Santa isn't real and you know that".

[greyman]

Nice photos and a very interesting lock. Wish I could get one
It's an infra-red reader for little holes in the three strips in the key. I believe that all the cable does is carry the signals from the IR sensors in the cylinder. You can't do much with these without the rest of the lock electronics (as mh pointed out). You could open it up and try to see what type of IR sensors it has inside then google a technical specification. If they are easy to hook up (eg they might just be like a photocell but sensitive to IR light), you could probably make a little circuit to read the keycode. It will need an analogue front end to talk to the sensors and a digital part to compare the key code with a stored copy.

[sfodd]

Nice photos and a very interesting lock. Wish I could get one
It's an infra-red reader for little holes in the three strips in the key. I believe that all the cable does is carry the signals from the IR sensors in the cylinder. You can't do much with these without the rest of the lock electronics (as mh pointed out). You could open it up and try to see what type of IR sensors it has inside then google a technical specification. If they are easy to hook up (eg they might just be like a photocell but sensitive to IR light), you could probably make a little circuit to read the keycode. It will need an analogue front end to talk to the sensors and a digital part to compare the key code with a stored copy.

I don't know if you are familiar with Arduino or other microcontroller type systems. It might be possible to use something like that to control/interface with lock. It would be my guess that what comes out of the connectors are already converted to digital signals, its not good practice to send analog signals over a distance.
Now beyond that how complex they get is unknown, It could be as simple as 1. Put in the key 2. lock sends "encoded" signal to controller 3. controller sends back go/no go. Or it could be a more complex handshake like 1. Put in key 2. lock sends signal that there's a key present 3. controller sends "challenge code" 4. lock encrypts key code using challenge code in some way 5. Sends this to controller 6. controller sends go/no go.

There are 6 wires going into this, my guess for what they do is 2 for power/ground, obviously, probably 2 for input/output to base controller, but for the other 2, I'm not sure, perhaps for connecting to an electronic door strike.
I would need to look at it closer to have more of an idea. Maybe if you could partially dissemble it and get shots of some of the circuitry you could find out more of what its doing. I don't know if that's possible to do without really breaking it. I tried searching a bit for more info on it but have thus far came up with nothing.

I'm very interested on how it actually works and would be glad to help.

[raimundo]

In the photo its possible to see one of the two pins that seem to be part of the lock, are these only for positioning the holes positively or do they affect the ability to turn the key, and one assumes that turning the key may be for operating the boltworks, or perhaps the infrared readers do not operate until the key is turned,
I would think that the pins are a mechanical lock that only allows key removal in the topdeadcenter position.
let us know if you can answer these questions.

[zrichards]

Not sure what sort of options you have out there as for who provides systems for those, however, I do know of one and unfortunately it is pretty expensive.

A tiny bit of history is relevant to this first though. "Marlok" has evolved quite a bit from the beginning. Originally, when it was part of the Kaba-Ilco conglomerate, it had its own type of data transmission and did not interface well with other systems. In fact, they only made standalone units so it was actually impossible to interface with other types of systems. It was called Marlok Solitaire. They eventually came out with more developed systems and split from Kaba Ilco. They became an independent company called Millenium Group (http://www.millennium-groupinc.com/). However, Kaba Ilco still manufactures some of their products.

As it stands, they do not make Marlok Solitaire units anymore, at least I don't think they do. If they did, in order to get your reader in working condition, you would need a lock to put the cylinder in, something that a relay would trigger (either a electronic mortise lock or a electric strike), a Solitaire board, a 12VDC power supply and an onsite programmer. Good luck trying to get the Solitaire board and onsite programmer though. However, you might still be able to find them.

If you were to go current, your options become much more complex. They can be as advanced as being able to be controlled via a network. In this case, you would need Millennium software, a sever to run the software, a site controller (SCU), a door controller to translate the key data and to trigger a relay (DCD), a 12VDC power supply to power both and the locks, etc. Once you have these, your challenge becomes inputting the key data.

The marlok key itself is actually a complex little deal. The black stripes cover and protect the holes that are punched in the key. When the key is inserted, the code is read near the front of the reader in a sequence. There are 2^24 or 16777216 possible keys available, though because of mechanical limitations, only 11 million or so are actually available. The combinations of holes create 6 bits. Thus, a code of a marlok key translated into the system might be something like 16043282, which would convert to F4CD12 as you would see it in the system. So how to read the key you have?

If you get your system online, you can poll the history of the system after you've tried your key. The code will show up as an invalid user. You can then use the code to put it into your door controller. The only other way is to use a reader that interfaces with your computer. I believe that these units are being phased out and are hard to come by.

I hate to be a downer, but using this might end up being a very expensive endeavor. Please let me know if you have any more questions about marlok or millennium and I'll do my best to answer your questions. Also, let me know if anything here was unclear at all.

ZR

[mh]

There are 2^24 or 16777216 possible keys available, though because of mechanical limitations, only 11 million or so are actually available. The combinations of holes create 6 bits. Thus, a code of a marlok key translated into the system might be something like 16043282, which would convert to F4CD12 as you would see it in the system.

Hi, 6 or 24 bits? Thanks mh

[raimundo]

So if I cut a strip out of a CD with all those lazer pits and taped this to the front of a red lazer, then put it in that hole and started jiggling it,
well the key must be based on the places where light cannot shine through, because if it only needed red lights in the active holes, then any little light would open it.
I would really like to see this lock in pieces, to see if there are different parts installed where the holes in the key are, or if its just got receptors all along that keyway,

I understand that this lock may open to a number of different keys and has the capability of reporting on whos key was used at a given time.

[zrichards]

There are 2^24 or 16777216 possible keys available, though because of mechanical limitations, only 11 million or so are actually available. The combinations of holes create 6 bits. Thus, a code of a marlok key translated into the system might be something like 16043282, which would convert to F4CD12 as you would see it in the system.

Hi, 6 or 24 bits? Thanks mh

24 bits, my mistake.

So if I cut a strip out of a CD with all those lazer pits and taped this to the front of a red lazer, then put it in that hole and started jiggling it,
well the key must be based on the places where light cannot shine through, because if it only needed red lights in the active holes, then any little light would open it.
I would really like to see this lock in pieces, to see if there are different parts installed where the holes in the key are, or if its just got receptors all along that keyway,

I understand that this lock may open to a number of different keys and has the capability of reporting on whos key was used at a given time.

Not quite...

Technically speaking, you could forge a key by cutting a CD and putting holes in it, but the chances of actually producing a key that is allowed to operate the lock you want without prior knowledge of a working key is pretty much zero.

I think that you're confused about how the "light" works. Visible light is not used in this lock, only infrared light is used. The infrared light is produced near the front of the keyway by the lock itself. There are three beams that are produced. When a key is inserted, the holes in the key provide the means for the infrared beams to be blocked or not. This produces a binary sequence which is translated into a code readable by whatever controller board is being used to verify access for this lock.

Apart, this lock doesn't look like much to be honest. It's a hollow keyway big enough for the key. The keyway has absolutely nothing special about it except for three holes on each side near the front. It is through these holes that the infrared beams pass. Wrapped around the keyway are two very small circuit boards that are connected. These boards have the infrared beam emitters. The whole contraption is glued and tapped together. Off of the board comes six wires tied together with a male amp plug. Really not all that amazing a lock; just a pretty amazing function when you think about it.

By the way, I reread my previous post and I was wrong about something. You have a rotating reader, not a stationary one. This reader actually contains a solenoid and will act like a mortise cylinder. So, if you have a mortise lock, you can make this work assuming you have the aforementioned controller equiptment. You don't even need a relay to be triggered in this case!!