21/04/2018: This article is now in need of an overhaul, as the encryption algorithm and method of key generation for HDR-FOX and HD-FOX are now known to us (credit af123). This means that encrypted recordings can be decrypted using any computer independent of the Humax decryption system, with knowledge of the serial number and MAC address of the unit that originated the recordings. Facilities for this are available for Linux (including on the HD- or HDR-FOX itself), and Windows.
The major benefits of this discovery are:
- Recordings made on an HD-FOX can be decrypted without temporarily forcing it to run HDR-FOX firmware and therefore becoming inoperable for other purposes;
- Users of HD-FOX and HDR-FOX previously unaware of the issues with decryption, who find their unit has failed and the recordings on the HDD are unplayable when exported, can now be helped to recover their recordings;
- Undecrypted recordings exported by FTP or network file share (thereby bypassing decryption), or HiDef recordings copied to USB (which do not decrypt unless the protection flag has been cleared), can now be decrypted independently without re-importing them to the originating unit.
We can expect new facilities to be incorporated into the Custom Firmware, and off-line utilities made available, over the course of the next few months. This article will be updated to reflect them when the situation stabilises. Meanwhile, see the relevant discussion:
Note that the on-box offline decryption requires the (currently) beta version of stripts, so to use it you will need to check out the notes about beta packages here:
However, as this independent means of decryption is entirely software based, it will always be substantially slower (when run on the low-power HD- & HDR-FOX processors) than the hardware-assisted methods for decryption described below, which remain valid and the first choice - particularly for HDR-FOX. That said, it's still quick enough to be usable!
Further, through the WebIF settings it is possible to replace the encryption key for any particular HD- or HDR-FOX. The benefit of this is to make recordings encrypted by unit A decryptable by unit B (in any of the scenarios listed below), or by making all your units have the same encryption key, they can all share recordings even while encrypted. This is a temporary change, automatically reinstated by the WebIF each boot. NB: changing the encryption key for a particular unit makes any undecrypted recordings on that unit unusable (because of the differing key). It is advised you ensure all existing recordings are decrypted first, so they remain compatible after the encryption key is switched. Of course, the key can easily be switched back again.
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For reference, here is a definitive guide to decryption.
All recordings made by the HD-FOX or HDR-FOX are encrypted, and cannot be used elsewhere without taking measures. For an introduction, expand the quote box below (taken from
Things Every HDR-FOX Owner Should Know).
Encrypted Recordings
The HD/HDR-FOX encrypts (ie securely scrambles)
all recordings in the process of storing them to disk. This is transparent to the user, because they are decrypted (unscrambled) again in the process of playing the recording back to TV or streaming it out to another media player on the home network. It causes a difficulty if you want to copy the recording out for other purposes*, in summary here's what you can do and what you can't (
HDR-FOX only, for HD-FOX see below):
- Standard Definition recordings are decrypted when copied to a USB drive (using the OPT+ button on the remote control handset); HiDef are not and will be useless for anything other than playback on the original recorder (not even another HDR-FOX). A third party PC utility called Foxy can make HiDef recordings decryptable, by manipulating one of the files that make up the set before the decrypt-copy. Decryption works either way, so content will be decrypted equally well when copied from USB to the internal HDD.
- StDef recordings are decrypted when streamed to a DLNA-compliant media player on the home network; HiDef are decrypted when streamed but will only be streamed to a compliant player able to negotiate protected delivery - the only devices we are aware of able to do this are another HD-FOX or HDR-FOX (but probably extends to newer Humax PVRs).
- Recorded content is accessible by FTP access, but only as it is and if it is encrypted it will remain so. An external drive can be accessed by FTP, so decrypted recordings can be downloaded from there (or simply connect the external drive to your computer). FTP access is useful for Foxy.
- A different HDR-FOX cannot play the encrypted content, even if the HDD is transplanted into it.
- Installing the customised firmware widens the possibilties for decryption. For complete details (with or without customised firmware), see HERE (click). The only way to decrypt recordings is to use the hardware decryption built into the unit that originally encrypted them (the keys are unique to each individual unit, and the algorithm is surmised but unknown to us). Neither is there a way to prevent recordings being encrypted in the first place.
HD-FOX users recording content to an external USB drive have no means to make decrypted copies at all
, and no ability to stream content to the home network. For more information about the technical limitations of the HD-FOX (and decryption) see
HERE (click).
* Limitations addressable by customised firmware.
The information below applies to HDR-FOX only. For HD-FOX see HERE (click). HDR-1800T and HDR-2000T users see footnote 10. Neither does this apply to FOXSAT-HDR, for which there is no means of decryption after a recording is made (for info see HERE - click).
Most of the methods assume the Custom Firmware is installed;
non-custom users should read footnotes 5, 6, and 7 before proceeding further. For information about Custom Firmware see
Quick Guide to Custom Firmware (click).
In order to produce decrypted files (this information is on the
Wiki and other places):
Method 1 (auto-decrypted recordings using unencrypt**):
Note: this method is no longer the preferred means to auto-decrypt. See comment below**.
- See note 12;
- Ensure content sharing is turned on (Humax settings, see note 3);
- For HiDef ensure auto-unprotect is installed (not necessary for StDef recordings);
- Ensure unencrypt is installed**;
- Configure unencrypt using unencryptsetup - see package notes in the Wiki HERE (click);
- Ensure the unit is turned on between 1am and 6am - or edit the cron schedule to suit yourself*.
Note that if unencrypt is unleashed on an HDR-FOX that has accumulated a significant volume of recordings, it will take several days to decrypt the content.
* By default unencrypt is cautiously set to decrypt one subject file every 30 minutes, between 0100 and 0600. This can be altered by editing the /mod/var/spool/cron/crontabs/root file in the WebIF.. Diagnostics.. File Editor, to run any time without problems. A recording is only a candidate for decryption provided the "Enc" flag is not present (see note 2) and it has been indexed (see note 3). These may not be resolved for some time after the recording is complete.
** A alternative to unencrypt exists in the form of Auto-decrypt (Method 2), which can be set in the WebIF apply to a folder or a whole folder tree. Auto-decrypt runs at all times the HDR-FOX is not in standby, except when the TV Portal is active. Method 2 is now preferred over Method 1, except where the HDR-FOX is not connected to a network and has to be managed by loading package bundles via USB.
Method 2 (WebIF-mediated auto-decryption):
- See note 12;
- Ensure content sharing is turned on (Humax settings, see note 3);
- For HiDef ensure auto-unprotect is installed (not necessary for StDef recordings);
- To decrypt everything (wherever it is within My Video), use the WebIF media browser to view the Media folder (the top level) and set the "recursive auto-decrypt" flag on the OPT+ button for the My Video folder. Similar options are available to decrypt subsets of the folder tree by setting "auto-decrypt" (folder only) or "recursive auto-decrypt" (folder and all sub-folders) selectively on specific folders.
A recording is only a candidate for decryption provided the "Enc" flag is not present (see note 2) and it has been indexed (see note 3).
Note that if auto-decryption is unleashed on an HDR-FOX that has accumulated a significant volume of recordings, it could take several days to decrypt the content. Particularly if your HDD is almost full (or has file system faults), you may notice normal operations becoming sluggish while decryption (or other queued auto-processes) is being performed in the background. Auto-processing can be restricted to certain times of the day or locked out while a recording is taking place or imminent via WebIF >> Settings >> Auto-Processing Settings (but note processing cannot proceed while the unit is in standby).
Progress and status can be monitored by viewing the processing queue: WebIF >> Diagnostics >> Queued Tasks
Method 3 (manually decrypted recordings):
- See note 12;
- Ensure content sharing is turned on (Humax settings, see note 3);
- For HiDef ensure auto-unprotect is installed (not necessary for StDef recordings);
- Providing the "Enc" flag is not present (see note 2) and the recording has been indexed (see note 3), use the WebIF media browser OPT+ button "decrypt" option. (NB: there are multiple ways to initiate a manual decryption through the WebIF, or for other custom firmware packages to initiate decryption themselves, but all do essentially the same thing and have the same requirements.)
Method 3 is effectively a manual version of Method 2, and the comments for Method 2 apply.
Method 4 (recording decrypted on download):
- Ensure content sharing is turned on (Humax settings, see note 3);
- For HiDef ensure auto-unprotect is installed (not necessary for StDef recordings);
- Providing the "Enc" flag is not present (see note 2) and the recording has been indexed (see note 3), use the WebIF media browser OPT+ button "download" option.
Note that this method will result in the downloaded file having the name <number>.TS, which is the DLNA index reference. While one could rename the file manually or assign a different name in the "save as" dialogue, decryption by one of the other methods (1, 2, 3, or 5) prior to WebIF download will result in the default name for the saved file being the same as the recording filename.
Method 5* (recording decrypted by copy):
- For HiDef ensure auto-unprotect is installed or use Foxy (see note 6) to clear protection (not necessary for StDef recordings);
- Providing the "Enc" flag is not present (see note 2), use the remote control handset to perform an OPT+ "copy" operation to USB drive or virtual drive (not "move"). Multiple recordings and folders containing recordings can be copied as a batch by selecting them using the handset Red button in the media list.
* See footnote 5.
Method 6* (recording decrypted by stream capture):
- Ensure content sharing is turned on (Humax settings, see note 3);
- For HiDef ensure auto-unprotect is installed, or use Foxy (see note 6) to clear protection and then use the remote control handset to perform an OPT+ "move" operation to move the recording to a different folder (not necessary for StDef recordings);
- Providing the recording has been indexed (see note 3), determine the DLNA URL for the recording (see note 7);
- Providing the "Enc" flag is not present (see note 2), use wget (or other utility) to download the recording.
Note that this method will result in the downloaded file being saved as <number>.TS, which is the DLNA index reference, unless the user renames the file manually or assigns a different name in the "save as" dialogue.
HDR-1800T/2000T users also note that this method (steps 1 and 2) makes HiDef recordings available to stream to a suitable DLNA client; ordinarily the HDR-1800T/2000T does not allow HiDef recordings to be streamed.
* See footnotes 5 & 7.
Notes
- These are the only known methods for obtaining decrypted recordings. Some custom firmware packages initiate decryption automatically (eg detectads), but must use a variation of the above methods to achieve this (usually Method 2).
- auto-unprotect needs time to do its scan when first installed, and when a new recording is completed. The WebIF "Enc" icon will be removed when a file is available for decryption (this does not mean that it has been decrypted, the "Dec" icon is applied to decrypted recordings). This only applies to HiDef recordings, StDef recordings do not have the "Enc" flag. auto-unprotect does not decrypt, it only removes the protections which prevent HiDef content being decrypted or streamed, allowing HiDef to be decrypted as if they were StDef (and streamed to a DLNA client without HDCP).
- Content sharing is enabled on the HDR-FOX via Menu >> Settings >> System >> Internet Setting >> Content Share = On. For all methods except Method 5, a recording only becomes available for decryption once it has been added to the DLNA index (shown in the WebIF media browser listing with a DLNA icon). This may not be resolved for some time after the recording, particularly if it has been moved from its original location, such as by flatten or sweeper. The DLNA server is critical to the custom decryption processes, and Content Share = On is the control for enabling the server (and enabling indexing). The DLNA server is not active when the HDR-FOX is in the HALF-AWAKE state (ie recording from standby). The DLNA server is also known to turn itself off occasionally, spontaneously.
- The decrypt options on the WebIF media browser are unavailable if content sharing is not enabled or there has not been enough time for the recording to be indexed. The WebIF DLNA icon will be applied when a recording has been indexed.
- Methods 5 & 6 are the only means for obtaining decrypted StDef or HiDef recordings without the custom firmware.
- For information about Foxy (a means to access decrypted HiDef recordings without using the custom firmware) see HERE (click) or the Wiki HERE (click).
- For information about Method 6 see HERE (click).
- Decryption cannot be performed by any method while the TV Portal is in use. Obviously methods involving the handset are out of the question, but the TV Portal also inhibits the DLNA server - preventing any of the custom methods because they rely on the server being available.
- The complete list of icons is available on the Wiki HERE (click).
- HDR-1800T and HDR-2000T users (for which there is currently no custom firmware available) can use Methods 5 & 6 with the Foxy option. See HERE (click).
- USB copy operations or network transfers which include decryption in the process of copying or transfer, run more slowly than copies or transfers when the file has been pre-decrypted. Auto-decryption can be performed in the background (by various methods specified above), without being attended, after which the user will have to wait less time while transfers are being performed.
- Methods 4 & 6 imply a network is available. Methods 1, 2, & 3 require a network connection is present, despite there being no interaction with other network devices. In the absence of an existing network connection, this can be accomplished by inserting a loop-back plug* into the Ethernet socket on the rear of the HDR-FOX. Only method 5 does not interact with a network (or the Ethernet socket) at all. * For details see https://tikkiweb.net/1997/05/make-your-own-ethernet-loopback-connector/, or buy one off eBay.
