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Happy Birthday to the Customised Firmware!

af123

af123

Administrator
Staff member
Happy Birthday to the Customised Firmware!

Believe it or not, it's a year today since I released the first version
of the Customised Firmware. The first version only had a few
packages and a very basic example web interface and required at least
some familiarity with the command line. Some things from it are still
recognisable today; the package management system was there right
from the start for example.

At the beginning, some people questioned what could be done (by legal
means) with a box that encrypts all of its recordings.
We have the answer now - plenty!

I've searched through the forums to compile a list of key milestones
during the past year and here it is. Sincere apologies if I've missed
anything or anyone out - there are a lot of forum posts on here - please
let me know and I'll update the list!

NB: This list is now maintained on the Hummy.tv Wiki at http://wiki.hummy.tv/wiki/Timeline
  • 23/02/2011 - raydon teased us all! - http://hummy.tv/forum/posts/2096
  • 14/04/2011 - first customised firmware released - HDR only (af123)
  • 16/04/2011 - virtual disk trick (fjk3489tb)
  • 23/04/2011 - customised firmware now available for the HD model (af123)
  • 05/05/2011 - Foxy (raydon)
  • 08/05/2011 - EPG database format unravelled (csudcy)
  • 12/05/2011 - auto-unprotect (af123)
  • 10/05/2011 - Samba (raydon/xyz321)
  • 14/05/2011 - CIFS (xyz321)
  • 09/06/2011 - web interface gets going in earnest (af123)
  • 26/06/2011 - seriesfiler (SamWidges)
  • 17/07/2011 - web-based bootstrap process (af123)
  • 18/07/2011 - Black Hole starts the Trail Guide.
  • 20/07/2011 - Writable NTFS (xyz321)
  • 24/07/2011 - technique found to decrypt via DLNA server (ratx)
  • 15/08/2011 - Wiki set up (Ezra Pound/af123)
  • 18/08/2011 - HDR Mode on a HD (Drutt)
  • 22/08/2011 - NFS Server (xyz321)
  • 22/08/2011 - iPhone optimised web interface (Tawny)
  • 16/09/2011 - Remote Scheduling Portal (af123)
  • 21/09/2011 - Web interface ported to Foxsat (adrianf26/raydon)
  • 13/10/2011 - better auto-unprotect (xyz321)
  • 22/10/2011 - First custom-portal (ChrisDaniels)
  • 28/10/2011 - Dynamic DNS Client (af123)
  • 01/11/2011 - progbackup utility (SamWidges)
  • 03/11/2011 - unencrypt - decrypt in place (SamWidges)
  • 04/11/2011 - on-box editing via nicesplice (Drutt)
  • 07/12/2011 - AV2HDR (raydon)
  • 03/01/2012 - Multimode recording (af123)
  • 04/01/2012 - Improved FTP server - passive mode! (af123)
  • 22/01/2012 - undelete (af123)
  • 25/01/2012 - network-shares-automount (Drutt)
  • 05/02/2012 - Second custom portal - portal-xtra1 (Spayz)
  • 16/02/2012 - web interface running (sort of) on DigitalStream (davidgu)
  • 21/02/2012 - Remote Scheduling Portal goes mobile (af123)
  • 23/02/2012 - Customised firmware version 2.00 released (af123)
  • 29/03/2012 - Redring (af123)
  • 14/04/2012 - Customised firmware version 2.10 released (af123)
  • ??/??/???? - who knows what will come next?
What are your favourite features?
 
I think this has been a great community project, Although I have to say af123 has put a hell of a lot more work in than everybody else ! !

Favourites (Most Used) Items :-
EPG Keyword E-Mailing
Undelete
Redring
 
The custom portal is my fave (no bias intended). I only wish I had the time to make it do more!
Can't believe it's been a year!
 
What follows is sincere and does not intend to insult.
I remember the times last year when I was following with much interest what could be done on our Humax. The fount of all knowledge in my mind was Raydon. He had previous successes with the Foxsat.
And then a new name,af123, appeared with some comments which to me appeared hilarious. Here was nobody, asking his eminence Raydon implying that he could somehow help, with the innocence of beginners methought.
Of course pretty soon I realised what a heavyweight af123 was and cynical me was taken another rung down. And here we are a year later with so much achieved by this team.
Wonderful example of good internet.
All this of course comes from my perspective of a consumer of development.
 
Favourite features have to be the RS Service and the ability to get recordings off the box to use on any other device.

Alongside all the amazing scheduling stuff it does, the RS service has the additional bonus of being able to tell Murdoch's Gimps that the money they are shelling out each and every month just aint worth it - "yeah but" they say "I can program my box from my phone" - never get tired of seeing their faces when I do the same thing on my Freeview box. Plus of course the EPG search - my standing 'Jackie Chan' search term found me one of his early films I'd never heard of which was being shown in the middle of the night on Film4, I'd never have spotted that myself but thanks to RS it was all scheduled up for me when it appeared in the EPG and I got an email letting me know it was already programmed! Uber-Like for that one.

Getting Recordings off the box? Well even the mighty Sky+ won't allow that (or should that be Why+?). An inferno of Fireman Sams, a traffic jam of Roary the Racing Cars and a sausage factory of Peppa Pigs all decrypted, downloaded and stashed on the laptop to take wherever we need to get the kids to sit still for half an hour without having to mess about with DVD's (especially where there is no DVD player!!). In fact now that the Grandparents have a new TV I can even fill a 16gb memory stick the size of my little finger with most of it and just play them from there*. Now that is bordering on Roddenberry like capabilities (I'm now holding the mouse like a microphone and saying "computer" in a canadian version of a scottish accent).

Thanks to all the BYT's (and any BOT's that might be out there), and long live those with the bravery to tweak.

*Sequence shortened, additional steps involved ;)
 
oijonesey said:
Favourite features have to be the RS Service and the ability to get recordings off the box to use on any other device.
Click to expand...
Yes, RS is one of my favourites too, but there are quite a lot that I wouldn't want to lose:
  • RS;
  • undelete (it's saved my hide at least once!)
  • redring (if only for the permanent clock I can have);
  • auto-unprotect (for stopping me from having to think about HD/SD differences);
  • betaftpd (an FTP server that works!);
  • ssh/rsync (easy remote login + file transfer);
  • BootHDR (for decrypting files on my HD);
  • portal-xtra1 (access to Sky Player);
  • multimode (to stop losing bits of programmes on C5 while still retaining the significant benefits of AR elsewhere);
  • nicesplice (on-box editing!);
  • ntfs-3g (writable NTFS);
  • poweron-channel (always come back at 100% volume and on CITV);
  • vim (...).
(in no particular order) - and there are probably more if I thought about it...
 
I only use a few of those, and even fewer on a regular basis (even the RS web site only emails me hits rather than setting up a recording)... but I'm still an enthusiastic supporter (as if you didn't know)!
 
An addition I'd like to see is Raydon's AV2HDR utility compiled for the HDR and placed as an option in webif. You then copy over mpgs via Samba to the video folder and get the side car files added using an option in OPT+.
 
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