Closed Poll Do you use the modified firmware?

[af123]

Just out of interest, here's a quick poll to see who is using the modified software. So far I have seen 27 downloads of mod 1.08 for the HDR and 4 for the HD.

 

[Black Hole]

Soon!

 

[WYNIR0]

No, not yet.

I'd certainly consider trying it. I work in IT, am relatively clued up (enough to root and flash custom ROMs on my Android phone) but TBH I'd like to see a potted 'idiot's guide' to its features and installation before I take the plunge. It must be very daunting to the completely non techies.

 

[neilleeds]

It's fantastic what has been achieved and the potential is even greater, thanks for all your work.

 

[Black Hole]

No, not yet.

I'd certainly consider trying it. I work in IT, am relatively clued up (enough to root and flash custom ROMs on my Android phone) but TBH I'd like to see a potted 'idiot's guide' to its features and installation before I take the plunge. It must be very daunting to the completely non techies.

If it's any help, I'm in a similar position and steeling myself to dip the toe in the water (but I have many other priorities too and don't want to commit time to recovering from setbacks). I will be blogging progress as I go so that should act as a trail guide for others to follow.

 

[neilleeds]

No, not yet.

I'd certainly consider trying it. I work in IT, am relatively clued up (enough to root and flash custom ROMs on my Android phone) but TBH I'd like to see a potted 'idiot's guide' to its features and installation before I take the plunge. It must be very daunting to the completely non techies.

It's easier and less daunting than flashing Android, very little risk as I understand it (can reflash if something goes wrong). I would recommend giving it a go. It does require a bit of command-line/linux knowledge at the moment though.

af123, maybe the instructions can be put on a wiki which people can contribute to? People without linux experience may require a bit more assistance. Also now the web interface covers package management, maybe it could be included by default so people can be straight up and running without touching telnet?

 

[af123]

Also now the web interface covers package management, maybe it could be included by default so people can be straight up and running without touching telnet?

Unfortunately, that's not really practical as the web interface is on the hard disk and fairly large (in terms of the available space in flash) by the time the dependencies have been pulled in.

I think some sort of bootstrap wizard would be a good idea though, maybe it could run a very simple web server that only allows you to download and install the real one. I'll have a think about what is possible.

I posted some step by step instructions on the hummypkg.org.uk homepage a while ago, although they need updating now that telnet is bundled everywhere rather than a separate package.

For most users, the telnet part shouldn't be too daunting. After installing the firmware, it is effectively:

C:\> telnet <ip address of humax>
Trying 192.168.0.1...
Connected to 192.168.0.1
Escape character is '^]'.
humax# opkg update
humax# opkg install webif

That could trivially be simplified to:

...
humax# install_webif

But I'm not sure that's really the stumbling block.

I think the best thing would be a step by step account by someone who isn't as close to the project as me, so Black Hole's blogging plans sound good!

 

[MattC]

For me, I'd love some kind of guide+index to all the modules that are available, together with screenshots of them in action (where applicable).. then I know what I'm getting before I take the plunge.

 

[ChrisDaniels]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as WYNIR0. I work as an IT Developer, but i really dont have the time to devote to fixing things if it goes wrong and also the girlfriend would be throwing a fit if Eastenders was unavailable lol.

I would love a dummys guide or a wiki, but i would also like integration with the humax osd so that i can perform actions from the remote.
Being tied to using telnet and web interfaces makes it pretty daunting and and time consuming for me.

 

[Black Hole]

I've started my ramblings here: http://hummy.tv/forum/threads/black-holes-trail-guide-to-hdr-fox-t2-hacking.306/

 

[Dan]

I use it and would rate myself as reasonable savvy although not very experienced outside of a windows environment (I have a linux box in the house but its mostly a dust trap). Id be happy to contribute to a userguide / wiki.

For those considering taking the plunge I would say that its easier than I expected and apart from teaching my other half to also check the virtual folder for recordings (where my unencrypted stuff is) I don't think she can really tell the difference. Ive had no failed recordings since I installed the new firmware and I havent (yet) crashed the box.

That said I do use the web interface to switch features on and off as I need them and my main usage is having the hummy show up as a drive and dragging and dropping things as I need them. I don't stream very often, I just normally wait the two minutes to transfer it to my pc.

The web interface is nice and has great promise but if I'm being honest I just use it to turn on and off SAMBA (windows file sharing for the none techies). Im waiting for remote recording where it will really come into its own. Personally one feature I would love would be if we could get a sexy looking icon for people who add it to their iphone /ipad (I wish I had one!) home screen.... (done via: <link rel=”apple-touch-icon” href=”http://127.0.0.1/icon.png”>).

edit: it doesn't seem to let me not have the above as a hyperlink.

 

[af123]

... if I'm being honest I just use it to turn on and off SAMBA...

Me too Although I'm usually toggling Transmission.

Other features I use regularly are:

• Check which films are coming up over the next week;
• See what's on now/next (often I can't bring up the OSD guide because someone is watching the end of whatever is on now and I prefer the Humax web interface to radiotimes.com or similar;
• Browse around my media to see where my disk space has gone.

Personally one feature I would love would be if we could get a sexy looking icon for people who add it to their iphone /ipad

Anyone able to knock one up? And a replacement favicon for standard web access would be nice.

Long term, I may write a native iPhone/iPad app for remote scheduling.. but that's a little way off.

 

[chapelhill]

No need to hold off using this modified firmware, all the standard features work as normal, so the only risk to stability is when trying to use advanced features,it is easy to revert back to stock too.
One of the best features is the web interface to manage the recordings. I found the standard remote control inetrface awkward to use and ended up deleting many programs I wanted saved.
Ability to transfer recordings is also a huge benefit, although I have not found the best way of replaying the HD recordings on other devices.

Many thanks to af123 and the other contributors.

 

[Jfirth8187]

I have installed it today. Both on my HDR and HD. My main reason is a poor feature set from Humax I.e the poor (in my opinion) media server just released by Humax. The custom one is a lot better. Also I use FTP access a lot and now have it on my HD. I'm chuffed with it on both my boxes. Keep up the good work.
Would it ever be possible for cover art using this custom software? I.e film covers eventually tv series data, but maybe parsing tv data might push resources?
Anyway I'm happy with the media server. Thanks all.

 

[bixieupnorth]

i'm frightened!! not sure what it is or what it does that the box doesnt already do for me?? i used to use mystuff all the time on toppy, but the basic box was shockingly barren, the fox t2 i think is close to perfect

perhaps if someone could produce a msytuff type guide to why we should be updating to it then i may well be tempted? everyone sounds pleased with it tho, so im very grateful that you techies have managed to crack the codes and improve the best pvr out there

 

[Black Hole]

i'm frightened!! not sure what it is or what it does that the box doesnt already do for me??

I think the main impetus was to get media server functions running that Humax were so long doing anything about. Typical that the latest update from Humax adds DLNA functions, but I can't say I'm impressed so far and the custom version may well be better.

If you are happy with what you've got, that's fine. No need to do anything. On the other hand, if you want:

• No encryption restrictions for HiDef content
• Web browser interface to view the EPG and recording schedule
• Potential future email reminders of EPG programmes in a watch list
• Potential future web access to schedule recordings

...then you need the mods. (All I can think of at the moment, I'm sure somebody will tell you of more.)

 

[fenlander]

Just installed it.
First off, my Vista laptop wouldn't install the Windows telnet client, so I googled for an alternative and installed Putty.
Downloaded and installed the upgrade file - no problem.
Checked in Filezilla and could see the whole Hummy file system - as advertised. OK so far.
Started Putty pointed at 192.168.0.5 (manually set IP on my system). Connected.
At this point, being a linux numpty, I was a bit lost. Found a newby syntax guide here: http://www.unixguide.net/linux/linuxshortcuts.shtml
Installed hmt and auto-protect, then virtual-disk and webif. Didn't need the syntax guide as I just copied the commands on this forum.
A few minutes later, all the Enc flags had been cleared on the Hummy, the virtual disk is available when copying a file via the OPT+ button and through FTP and the web interface is available when I point my browser at 192.168.0.5. After a quick look, I get the impression that anything else I want to add can be done through the browser. Cool.

That'll do for now. I'm impressed. I'll probably take a look at mediatomb tomorrow. The whole process was quite painless and the Hummy has not apparently suffered in any way. The only thing that didn't work smoothly was when Vista couldn't install Telnet!

 

[rogdog]

Have been using it for a few weeks mainly for unencrypting films so that they can be transfered onto my xbmc box. Also like the web based EPG but really looking forward to remote scheduling and auto series filter.

Great work af123

 

[af123]

Ok, here's a brief list of what is available once you have loaded the customised firmware. There are a lot of packages which are aimed at developers or people who want to hack around with the internals so the general rule of thumb is that if you don't know what a package is then you probably don't need it. These are the ones that I think are for end users.

• FTP Server - the custom firmware includes a modified FTP server which has the restrictions added by Humax removed. It allows access to the whole filesystem.
• FTP Server package - for the HD model which does not have a built in one.
• Web Interface (webif).
  • Browsing of the recorded media from a computer with a handy summary of how much space each folder and file is taking up. You can view details about the recorded programme too (like using the info button on the remote control). Options to lock/unlock, delete, download files. There is also an option to rename the file and change the title which is shown in the on-screen EPG - much easier from a real keyboard.
  • View the list of scheduled recordings with links off to see details of what will be recorded for each event. Quite useful too to bring up on screen before doing a rescan so that you can quickly re-enter the recordings. Next version will include backup/restore of the schedule with automatic resolving of channel changes (already half written).
  • EPG interface, shows now/next, allows searching and showing by channel or genre. Single click searches taken from the keywords you have defined via the remote control. Clicking on a programme opens an information window, again like using the info button on the remote control. EPG display can be restricted to a set of favourite channels defined via the remote control.
  • Service management - quickly turn installed services (see below) on and off and control whether they are started automatically at boot time.
  • Package management - a little basic at present but allows packages to be installed, removed and upgraded.
• EPG Keywords web interface plugin (webif.epgkeywords). Allows you to define keywords and then you will receive an email every 6 days showing you matches in the EPG so, for example, you can set it to check for 'Doctor Who' on BBC1 and email you once it appears in the EPG. You can also view matching entries on demand via the web interface.
• Automatic removal of ENC flag (auto-unprotect) - background task which periodically scans the disk for new HD recordings and removes the ENC flag so that the Humax will remove the encryption when the recording is copied off to an external disk.
• Virtual disk (virtual-disk) - Creates a virtual disk to which recordings can be copied, triggering the removal of encryption. Since the copy is disk-to-disk, it is much faster than disk-to-USB. Once decrypted, files can be streamed to other devices on the network using mediatomb or downloaded via the web interface.
• Mediatomb (mediatomb) - A media server which can stream content from the Humax once decrypted.
• Samba (samba) - Windows file sharing server - allows access to the Humax disk via windows file sharing so that it appears as a drive (works from a PC, MacOSX, Linux and other UNIX systems).
• Transmission (transmission) - a Bit Torrent client with a nice web interface.

And for more advanced users:

• De-duplication (dedup) - a command line tool allowing consolidation of programmes in a folder. Duplicates are removed and programmes are renamed to match the episode name. Very useful for folders of children's programmes or things like American Dad and Family Guy where episodes are repeated often.
• Dropbear (dropbear-ssh) - an SSH server allowing secure file copy on and off the Humax.
• Rsync (rsync) - file synchronisation server to make it easy to keep the Humax in sync with another device.
• CIFS (cifs) - allows the Humax to mount drives from windows servers.

Also, neilleeds got me thinking and the next custom firmware version will include a tiny web server, running by default, that does nothing more than allow you to confirm successful initialisation of the firmware, install the full web interface and view logs. That will remove the need to use telnet completely.

The big feature that people want is the ability to schedule recordings remotely. The next phase of development for the web interface is going to attempt to add this but it isn't going to be straightforward. Once that's working, I'm going to look at a practical way of scheduling recordings while away from home, probably using an intermediary service. (not everyone can create a VPN back to their home network to do it via the web interface!)

Let me know if anything doesn't make sense or if I've missed something out!

 

[Black Hole]

Thanks very much AF, you've boosted it up my priority list!