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Idea: "Foxy-max" PC Utility (developer needed)

Black Hole

Black Hole

May contain traces of nut
Now 1800T/2000T is reliant on Foxy as the only means to extract HiDef recordings, I think it would be useful to create a version which (instead of requiring the .hmt to be extracted to PC for modification) reaches into the Humax to access the .hmt file via FTP in place. I have suggested this before, but as we had CF for the HD/HDR-FOX by then the idea had little traction. Until a firmware update is released for 1800T/2000T (assuming it provides a way in for CF development - it might not), this is the only way forward.

What I envisage is a file browser window on the PC which allows the user to navigate the Humax My Video folder tree and list recordings, perform basic housekeeping (move, rename, and delete recordings, create, rename, and delete folders), display the size and flag status of recordings, and toggle the Enc flag. There would be no need to list individual files, a list of recordings using the same name format as used on the Humax media browser would be sufficient and least confusing, although an option to display real files and file names as an expanding tree under the recording name (as if the recording name is a pseudo-folder) could be provided.

The utility could even tap into the DLNA system and provide a decryption-on-download option for StDef recordings, and HiDef recordings once they have been suitably manipulated.

The bells and whistles need not be implemented straight away, the primary objective is a means to locate a HiDef recording and toggle the Enc flag from a PC control panel via FTP.

I don't have the skills or need to do this, nor the time or motivation. Somebody with a 1800T/2000T might have all four, and technical details of the Humax end of things could be provided. If anyone is interested in taking this up I am happy to advise and expand on the design if requested.
 
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It would be a lot less effort to FTP into the 1800T/2000T, copy all *.hmt files found in /media/My Video and it's sub directories to the P.C, change the Byte at location 0x3DC to 0x04 for each file and FTP the files back, a sort of Foxy-All
 
I agree with the above, but my suggestion is a general remote-management facility in lieu of CF.
 
Take a look here. I have not tried this myself yet, so apologies if it does not work, but it should allow the Humax FTP server to be mapped in Windows as a drive. Then you should be able to access the hmt files on the Humax through Foxy itself and remove the flags without having to copy the files over.

Edit. Reading the posts in the link, perhaps this does not do what is required. I'll have a look later.
 
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I have managed to map the Humax FTP server as a drive in Windows XP (I don't have Windows 7 or 8 at present), however you still only get the FTP options when you click on a Humax file, e.g. Cut, Copy, Paste Delete, I can't see any way of editing the file without copying it to the P.C. first
 
I think this is something that is within my programming expertise so if no one else feels inclined to take up the challenge then I would be prepared to have a go. Unfortunately I am very busy with paying work at the moment and going on holiday as well so it could be a month or so before I have time. Initially it would be targeted at Windows PCs but if the interest exists I could also produce a version for the Mac. NB Very happy for someone else to do it.
 
Ezra Pound said:
I have managed to map the Humax FTP server as a drive in Windows XP (I don't have Windows 7 or 8 at present), however you still only get the FTP options when you click on a Humax file, e.g. Cut, Copy, Paste Delete, I can't see any way of editing the file without copying it to the P.C. first
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I also had a look with Windows 7 (and a HDR-FOX). Adding the Humax 'My Video' folder as network location over the FTP connection is straightforward. For anyone who might want to avoid an FTP client such as Filezilla this is a good option as it is easy to copy over the HMT files, FOXY them and copy them back over, all with Windows Explorer drag and click type operations. In Foxy, if you click on the 'Open HMT' button, you can navigate to the HMT files on the Humax but if you try and process a file it falls over. The clue is in the name, I suppose, 'File Transfer Protocol'. The protocol was designed to move files around, not to enable the editing of files on remote servers.

I also had a look with Android. I was encouraged to do this because I found by using my favourite Android explorer programme, ES File Explorer, I could successfully edit custom firmware configuration files (e.g. smb.conf) over FTP and save without copying the file to the local device (using betaFTPd with root access). This works because when you open the text file, the explorer programme caches the file locally in a temporary folder and overwrites the one on the Humax with the modified copy when you save.

On Android there aren't many Hex editors available. I used an app called Hex Editor (does what it says on the tin!). So, if you open a HMT file as text on the Humax over FTP in ES File Explorer you can choose your editor programme (Hex Editor). There is an issue in that the ES File Explorer/ Hex Editor combination will fail to open a file with a space in the name, but if there is no space the HMT opens. Then navigate to location '03dc' and change the value '00' to '04', apply the change and save. Unfortunately it falls over at the last hurdle. During the final save process, the remote HMT file is deleted from the Humax, but the modified file is not copied back. It's a shame because a little tweaking of the explorer and hex editor apps could make this work.
 
Like MartinLiddle at least some of this is within my programming expertise. And like Martin, I'm quite happy for someone else to do this.
However, my current programming language of choice is Java (it's free, it's supposed to be portable etc.). What I'm not sure about is whether many of the users of Humaxs have the ability to run a Java program on their computer. If so, a "Foxy-max" ought to be fairly easy to produce. (By Foxy-max I mean the very narrow definition of a program that checks the "My Video" and one level of folders/directories below, examines the .hmt files changes 0x03dc to 0x04 where necessary - possibly keeping a backup of changed files, just in case - and nothing else.)
 
MontysEvilTwin : I also had a look with Windows 7 (and a HDR-FOX).
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Since posting #5, I have acquired a laptop running Windows 8.1 and have re tried setting up 'Map an FTP drive', it appears to work in as much as you can open a file in an editor, but I can't change anything without first copying the file to the laptop
 
Why don't you just use something that turns an FTP site into a mapped drive letter? Then any app. which works locally will work just the same with this i.e. Foxy.
The old version of Netdrive is free (the latest version is only a time limited evaluation):
http://www.oldversion.com/windows/download/netdrive-1-3-2
I used to use this several years ago at work for copying/syncing files and it worked reasonably well most of the time.
 
prpr said:
Why don't you just use something that turns an FTP site into a mapped drive letter? Then any app. which works locally will work just the same with this i.e. Foxy.
The old version of Netdrive is free (the latest version is only a time limited evaluation):
http://www.oldversion.com/windows/download/netdrive-1-3-2
I used to use this several years ago at work for copying/syncing files and it worked reasonably well most of the time.
Click to expand...
On the face of it, sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately, the version of Netdrive on that link wouldn't work on my computer. It couldn't map the drive and wouldn't produce a log to tell me why. So, it would seem that a more reliable method is still needed.
 
I don't think that any app will actually let you edit the file directly on an ftp server, as ftp is "file transfer protocol" not an actual file share.

Anything which appears to do this is actually making a local copy on the client machine, then copying this back to the server and overwriting the original.

Filezilla has this option, making a local copy which you edit then asking you to confirm overwrite of the server copy when you save, so this should work if you are editing the. Hmt with a hex editor
 
Geoffers said:
I don't think that any app will actually let you edit the file directly on an ftp server, as ftp is "file transfer protocol" not an actual file share.

Anything which appears to do this is actually making a local copy on the client machine, then copying this back to the server and overwriting the original.
Click to expand...
Obviously, to both points.
But it does allow files to be edited using normal tools which only understand normal file access.
 
prpr said:
Which version of Windows is "your computer" running then?
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Windows XP (and hence an old version of IE which is why I can't multi-quote).
Perhaps I should have been more exact. The program installs, gives the impression of running - but fails when connecting (Yes the IP address, username/password were correct and other ftp programs work). But I'm sure the documentation saidit was suitable for XP. Never mind - I was only testing it.

WinSCP appears to work and if you set up your "open" of .hmt files to be your favourite hex editor it gives a good impression of editing a Humax .hmt file "in place" when you right-click on a file. (Of course it copies to a temp file, edits and then saves back to the Humax.)
 
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I tested it on XP and 7 yesterday afternoon and it works fine for me, so I guess there is something specific to your system that stops it working.
 
Just a heads up that I have started to play around with this but I am quite busy with work that will pay eventually (hopefully) and a long list of non-paying tasks so I wouldn't want anyone to hold their breath in anticipation.
 
MartinLiddle said:
Just a heads up that I have started to play around with this but I am quite busy with work that will pay eventually (hopefully) and a long list of non-paying tasks so I wouldn't want anyone to hold their breath in anticipation.
Click to expand...

I have contemplated posting a similar message. I was reluctant to do so as people would anticipate something - and probably sooner rather than later. I am also looking into this - mainly to meet my own requirements, but with a view to providing some of the facilities discussed above. As nobody replied to my earlier post about something produced using Java, I assumed nobody was interested. The problem is, the more I look into it, the more it becomes bloatware!
 
Black Hole said:
Now 1800T/2000T is reliant on Foxy as the only means to extract HiDef recordings, I think it would be useful to create a version which (instead of requiring the .hmt to be extracted to PC for modification) reaches into the Humax to access the .hmt file via FTP in place...
Click to expand...
@ Black Hole

I have discovered that I can run the Perl script alternative to Foxy*¹ from within FileZilla and then upload the modified .hmt file from within FileZilla. It is an incredibly quick and simple procedure which seems to meet your "in situ" de-protection requirement entirely.

I configured and used FileZilla as follows:
  1. I selected "Settings" from the "Edit" pull-down menu, scrolled down to "File editing" then clicked on the "Browse" button to define where I had stored the Perl script. In my case since I was using Linux and the script named as "deprotect.pl", the contents of the "Use custom editor" box looked like this:
    Code: 
    /home/Bloggs_J/bin/deprotect.pl
    I then clicked on the "OK" button.
  2. I then right-mouse-button-clicked on the relevant .hmt file in the remote site and then left-mouse-button-clicked on the "View/Edit" option (as I would have done to invoke a conventional editor)
  3. I then transferred the changes which the Perl script had made to the local temporary file back to the remote site by selecting "Show files currently being edited..." from the "File" pull-down menu then highlighting the "being edited file" and clicking the "Upload" button. I then clicked on "OK".
Re-examination of the recorded program entry on the Humax via the remote controller media button showed that the Enc flag next to the HD flag had been cleared.

Footnote to all readers

At the risk of sounding patronising I suggest that any person who intends to try out this method should first ensure that the software environment and the Perl script permissions have been configured properly beforehand. This should be done by verifying that the Perl script works on your system in accordance with the standard documentation. That way, if there are any problems getting the Perl script to work, troubleshooting will be a lot simpler.

Update
  1. My apologies. I must have caused some confusion when I previously referred to Foxy but I was really talking about the Perl script alternative to Foxy*¹. I have corrected this post accordingly.
  2. Further info and GUI alternatives that I have coded in Python are available by clicking on "jbl1" (to the left of this post) then in the resulting dialogue box "Profile Page" and then "Home Page".
 
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