Beta [iplhack] BBC iPlayer resurrection

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/df

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After September 28 2020, the BBC iPlayer app on (apparently) all Humax free-to-air set-top boxes stopped working owing to an expired client certificate. So far Humax haven't provided the necessary OEM firmware update with a revalidated client certificate for HD/HDR-Fox T2 models.

Meanwhile, this package provides a work-around, by regularly redirecting the failing Web API to a generic site, as used by iPlayer in your desktop browser, that doesn't require a certificate.

Pending restoration of the beta repository, the installation package is attached.

Possible issues:
  • media formats might be offered to the app that are incompatible, eg too wide (I think these are filtered out in the iPlayer app itself);
  • the DNS cache is cleared every 10 minutes, possibly increasing external Internet traffic and marginally delaying access to external sites;
  • the package offers an interface to the service-control package (as on the Service Management WebIf page) but it doesn't reflect the dependency of its service on the cron service;
  • the busybox package is a dependency (needed for nslookup), but installing this gives you two subset POSIX shells on your system neither of which is a subset of the other, which can lead to surprising results for command-line users;
  • the BBC might change the substitute site so that it doesn't support the same URL paths as the broken site;
  • the package name might be unduly inflammatory, if accurate.
As iplfix solves this properly, I've deprecated this package. The attached version is the final one and fixes a typo that prevented it being fully uninstalled.
 

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  • iplhack_0.9.2_mipsel.opk
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Last edited:
You should probably provide some installation instructions!

Possibly:
using telnet, putty or webshell to get a command line
download the opk and copy it to /mod/tmp directory on your humax
(can we provide wget or ftp syntax for direct download)
install using
Code: 
opkg install /mod/tmp/iplhack_0-9-0_mipsel-opk/
 
Beta testers are supposed to have gained a magical insight into these things ... as you showed.
MymsMan said:
(can we provide wget or ftp syntax for direct download)
Click to expand...
I think wget would need your session cookie from a browser login.

I was able to log into the forum using the lynx text-based browser (that I built ages ago) running on-box, but attachments don't appear as links correctly (manually entering the attachment link copied from a PC worked), and anyway that would just have set up the same problem again ...
 
Last edited:
/df said:
Beta testers are supposed to have gained a magical insight into these things ... as you showed.
Click to expand...
If I had magical insight I would have known the best way to cope with the download step. :)

And I have long learnt that it virtually impossible to write clear, simple and foolproof instructions - there are some very obtuse fools out there

It may no be possible to wget from a forum or wiki attachment but is there somewhere else we can store files and wget them?
The problem with forum attachments it that while they are easy to download onto the PC it is not so obvious how to get them across to the humax.
Not everyone will have the humax disk mounted allowing for a simple copy and I don't think all operating systems come with an ftp client these days
 
Update 0.9.1 (in beta repo, thanks @af123)
  • further fix integration with service-control (support non-auto-start, maintain auto-start status, remove non-auto script with package).
 
Last edited:
I'm having problems with iplhack. What I have done is:

Updated all installed packages, rebooted.
Updated the custom firmware to the latest version, rebooted (everything worked fine)
Installed iplhack from the WebIf interface & rebooted

Only on one occasion was I able to use iPlayer with success. Every other time I have tried the usual warning appears and the programme doesn't stream.

I have tried both with the New Portal and with the native Humax portal.

The iplhack log showed the following entries, but I think they relate to disable-ota as the Last Modified time is 04:31:31

nslookup: can't resolve 'open.live.bbc.co.uk'
nslookup: can't resolve 'open.live.bbc.co.uk'
Click to expand...

Any suggestions?

(I was wondering whether there might be a clash with other installed packages)

By the way, many thanks to all the developers and others who have made the custom firmware, etc into something very special indeed.
 
It's saying that the box's DNS isn't working somehow, unless you are accidentally hitting some glitch in the BBC's service each time (++unlikely).

Is there a valid DNS IP address in the Humax's LAN Settings?

If you are able to open a telnet session to your box or start a webshell session from the Diagnostics Webif display (if Webshell package installed), please let us know the output of these commands: ls -l /etc/resolv.conf, cat /etc/resolv.conf, which nslookup, nslookup open.live.bbc.co.uk

Like this:
Code: 
# ls -l /etc/resolv.conf 
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 30 Apr 26  2017 /etc/resolv.conf -> ../var/lib/humaxtv/resolv.conf
# cat /etc/resolv.conf 
search bad
nameserver 127.0.0.1
nameserver <DNS IP address from Humax LAN settings>
nameserver <external DNS server IP address>
...
# which nslookup
/mod/bin/busybox/nslookup
# nslookup open.live.bbc.co.uk
Server:    127.0.0.1
Address 1: 127.0.0.1 localhost

Name:      open.live.bbc.co.uk
Address 1: 212.58.244.78 bbc-vip123.telhc.bbc.co.uk
Address 2: 212.58.249.157 bbc-vip095.lbh.bbc.co.uk
#
 
Thanks for your reply - I appreciate it - and the example was especially helpful.

The telnet results were:

humax# ls -l /etc/resolv.conf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 30 Apr 26 2017 /etc/resolv.conf -> ../var/lib/humaxtv/resolv.conf

humax# cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 192.168.1.1
nameserver 0.0.0.0
nameserver 208.67.222.222

humax# which nslookup
/mod/bin/busybox/nslookup

humax# nslookup open.live.bbc.co.uk
Server: 192.168.1.1
Address 1: 192.168.1.1

Name: open.live.bbc.co.uk
Address 1: 212.58.244.78 bbc-vip123.telhc.bbc.co.uk
Address 2: 212.58.249.158 bbc-vip096.lbh.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...
and my LAN settings are:

Configure IP: Manual
IP Address: 192.168.1.200
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway address: 192.168.1.1
DNS address: 192.168.1.1
Click to expand...
 
As an experiment I changed the LAN settings from Manual to DHCP, rebooted and ..... iPlayer seemed to be working OK (after the initial warning when loading iPlayer).

I changed back to Manual settings and iPlayer failed again.

Changed back to DHCP and iPlayer worked.

When I checked the settings allocated in DHCP mode the only difference was that it had allocated IP Address: 192.168.1.103 instead of 192.168.1.200.
 
Running the same telnet commands as before now gives:

humax# ls -l /etc/resolv.conf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 30 Apr 26 2017 /etc/resolv.conf -> ../var/lib/humaxtv/resolv.conf

humax# cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 127.0.0.1
nameserver 192.168.1.1
nameserver 0.0.0.0
nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220
nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4

humax# which nslookup
/mod/bin/busybox/nslookup

humax# nslookup open.live.bbc.co.uk
Server: 127.0.0.1
Address 1: 127.0.0.1 localhost

Name: open.live.bbc.co.uk
Address 1: 212.58.249.160 bbc-vip098.lbh.bbc.co.uk
Address 2: 212.58.244.80 bbc-vip125.telhc.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...
 
Where are you getting nameserver 0.0.0.0 from I wonder? This is never going to yield useful results.
The IP address of the Humax changing is irrelevant, but changes to the DNS servers will give strangeness that you seem to be experiencing.
 
Where are you getting nameserver 0.0.0.0 from I wonder?
Click to expand...
Based on the code in /usr/share/udhcpc/default.script, it looks like it's coming from your DHCP server actually, so presumably your router. You should check its config. (it appears to be setting 192.168.1.1 and 0.0.0.0)
 
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Black Hole said:
@johnb hasn't mentioned what networking method he is using - it might be material, considering the weird things my WiFi does.
Click to expand...

I gave up trying to use wifi on the HDR Fox T2 years ago because it behaves so badly. I even have an external ethernet to wifi relay for the one box I need wifi occasionally for at my aunt's.
 
Black Hole said:
I don't find it too bad, but it has a habit of occasionally flipping from manual to DHCP and getting allocated a different IP address. https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/hdr-lan-wi-fi-settings-mysteriously-corrupted.9511/
Click to expand...

I find the wifi dongle's ability to actually find and connect to the wifi network to be terrible. I have several real Humax ones and several of the others that are compatible. They're all as bad, even the one with a high gain antenna. I've tried them in several different HDR Fox T2s, and several different wifi base stations, all to no avail. Based on my experience it is a mystery to me how anyone uses wifi on the HDR Fox T2 without it driving them mad.
 
Owen Smith said:
I find the wifi dongle's ability to actually find and connect to the wifi network to be terrible. I have several real Humax ones and several of the others that are compatible. They're all as bad, even the one with a high gain antenna. I've tried them in several different HDR Fox T2s, and several different wifi base stations, all to no avail. Based on my experience it is a mystery to me how anyone uses wifi on the HDR Fox T2 without it driving them mad.
Click to expand...
What channel number is your WiFi using?
 
MartinLiddle said:
What channel number is your WiFi using?
Click to expand...

I tried several different ones, in three different locations. I tried 1, 6, 11 and 13. Made no difference that I could detect at the time, this was years ago. One location is very quiet, at my aunt's retirement apartments there is only one wifi network visible. But there I'm using my iPad Air2 hotspot and I have no control over what channel number it uses.
 
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