Mediagate MG-35 -- new firmware available [Text View] - Page 11

icabrindus

09-13-06, 05:09 PM

J.L. Do you have an internal HD ? if yes do you have something in recycler , recycled or zz_devel ?

I was able to play everything without the internal HD, as soon as I pluged my HD, the box didnt want to boot

If it works without HDD, could be that the stuff you have in phase1/phase2 is wrong.
Getting the hdd out removes the scripts, and the box boots. Take care, starting with one of the alpha versions gadgetmind added a variable in .sashrc for dvdplayer path and moved the executable, that could be your problem if you have a custom phase1.

I had a similar problem with a wrong script in phase1. The blue LED was blinking forever. Just removed the hdd, put it in anothe computer and renamed zz_devel to zz_devel1, put it back in MG35 and everything was OK.

J. L.

09-13-06, 05:15 PM

J.L. Do you have an internal HD ? if yes do you have something in recycler , recycled or zz_devel ?

I was able to play everything without the internal HD, as soon as I pluged my HD, the box didnt want to bootYes, my MG-35 does have an internal hard disk

The disk was partitioned with two primary partitions, one NTFS, one FAT.

I've done nothing with the phase1/2 folders and have no "RECYCLED" folders.

See below...

/ # mount
/dev/root on / type cramfs (ro)
none on /dev type devfs (rw)
ramfs on /phase2 type ramfs (rw)
ramfs on /var type ramfs (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid)
ramfs on /hosts type ramfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
ramfs on /usb type ramfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
ramfs on /cdrom type ramfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
/dev/discs/disc0/part2 on /cdrom/Partition2 type vfat (ro,nosuid,nodev)
/dev/discs/disc0/part1 on /cdrom/Partition1 type ntfs (ro,noatime,nodiratime,nos
uid,nodev,uid=0,gid=0,fmask=0177,dmask=077,nls=default,error s=continue,mft_zone_
multiplier=1)
ramfs on /net type ramfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /net/DELLCPX/mp3 type smbfs (ro)

cd /cdrom/Partition2
/cdrom/Partition2 #
> ls -al
drwxr-xr-x 3 0 0 8192 Jan 1 00:00 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 0 0 0 Jan 1 00:00 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 0 0 8192 Sep 8 2006 MG35-1.4.4.4-pre0
> cd ../Partition1
> ls -al
dr-x------ 1 0 0 4096 Sep 9 2006 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 0 0 0 Jan 1 00:00 ..
dr-x------ 1 0 0 4096 Sep 9 2006 Movies
dr-x------ 1 0 0 0 Sep 8 2006 System Volume Information
>

tohands

09-13-06, 05:22 PM

If it works without HDD, could be that the stuff you have in phase1/phase2 is wrong.
Getting the hdd out removes the scripts, and the box boots. Take care, starting with one of the alpha versions gadgetmind added a variable in .sashrc for dvdplayer path and moved the executable, that could be your problem if you have a custom phase1.

I had a similar problem with a wrong script in phase1. The blue LED was blinking forever. Just removed the hdd, put it in anothe computer and renamed zz_devel to zz_devel1, put it back in MG35 and everything was OK.

I dont have any phase1/phase2 stuff in my hd, only tv show

tohands

09-13-06, 05:37 PM

I tried to download it back and tried to reflash it, and this time it work, I also check the md5 of the upgrade I had, and the one I downloaded just a minute ago, and it was different.

J. L.

09-13-06, 06:08 PM

I dont have any phase1/phase2 stuff in my hd, only tv showBut do you have a "recycled' folder? Even if no phase1 stuff?

Tail end of current sashrc looks like this:

# Because of how phase1 is called, it can change this.
export dvddir=/bin

# Phase1 devel & debug
mount -t vfat /dev/discs/disc0/part1 /cdrom -o ro,fmask=0000
. /cdrom/RECYCLER/phase1 # if FAT drive, use NTFS-style recycle bin

mount -t ntfs /dev/discs/disc0/part1 /cdrom -o ro,fmask=0000
. /cdrom/Recycled/phase1 # if NTFS drive, use FAT-style recycle bin

. /cdrom/zz_devel/phase1 # the original (safer) style

umount /cdrom

$dvddir/dvdplayer.bin &
/bin/telnetd -l /bin/sh &
/bin/pure-ftpd -H -D -M -z &
/bin/httpd-start

# Phase2 devel & debug
. /phase2/phase2

Not sure of the syntax to use with the built in shell, but if we could test for the existance of the phase1 scripts before trying to execute them it might be a tad safer.

Hope you get things figured out...

Joe L.

J. L.

09-13-06, 06:13 PM

I tried to download it back and tried to reflash it, and this time it work, I also check the md5 of the upgrade I had, and the one I downloaded just a minute ago, and it was different.I'm surprised it even attempted to perform the flash. I seem to remember several checksums involved... Wow...

Glad that it now is working again.

Joe L.

teddystacker

09-13-06, 08:03 PM

Ian or anyone else,

Being a "man in the Street" type and Not really understanding many of the Functions of the "Developer Alpha" releases..

Do we have to have a "Phase1 and Phase2" file installed on the hard disk inorder for the web features etc to work?..

They are not included in the zip archive,so I presumed not?

I want to try out the webby stuff,but not really sure what i am doing...

icabrindus

09-13-06, 08:42 PM

Not sure of the syntax to use with the built in shell, but if we could test for the existance of the phase1 scripts before trying to execute them it might be a tad safer.

No, we cannot test because lash lacks the "if" command (or it's there and I didn't find it?).

OTOH, if phase1 cannot be found, it shouldn't do anything bad. Shell just responds with "No such file or directory" and continue with the next line of .sashrc.

TheKrell

09-13-06, 08:46 PM

I note from my Mediagate box that the hardware was Made in Taiwan. Given the hardware similarities between the MG-35, the Media Cowboy, and the Freecom unit, it seems likely that all 3 come from the same Taiwan company.

Anybody around here speak Chinese? I wonder what (if anything) they offer in the way of firmware or source code. Can you get away with manufacturing this thing completely devoid of any software, and expect your OEMs to add their own? And if Al Tech did not engineer the hardware, one really wonders what their 30 engineers do for a living!

J. L.

09-13-06, 09:17 PM

Ian or anyone else,

Being a "man in the Street" type and Not really understanding many of the Functions of the "Developer Alpha" releases..

Do we have to have a "Phase1 and Phase2" file installed on the hard disk inorder for the web features etc to work?..No, the web features work fine without any phase1/2 files.

In this latest alpha5 release I can invoke http://192.168.2.251/screenbmp.cgi and get a great looking screen-dump of the overlay in my browser. I am not using any phase1/2 scripts at all. (you would need to use the IP address of your MG-35 as part of the URL, I've got mine at the address shown in my example)

Joe L.

icabrindus

09-13-06, 10:04 PM

Anybody around here speak Chinese? I wonder what (if anything) they offer in the way of firmware or source code.

Do you have a web page you want to look into? I have a Chinese colleague, I could ask him to help me a few minutes in the lunch break. But I have to know what to ask him :).

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 01:14 AM

Not sure of the syntax to use with the built in shell, but if we could test for the existance of the phase1 scripts before trying to execute them it might be a tad safer.

We have two shells -
1) lash - great for command line stuff. Very lame for any scripting.
2) hush - lots of scripting support but something is broken. Fixing this is "on the list"

But I disable my phase 1/2 stuff just by renaming the files without any problems.

Ian

jayeazy

09-14-06, 01:16 AM

i have sucsesfully upgrade the firmware (by useing the tv gui) but only from mediagate and freecom when i tried this version MG35-1.4.4.5-alpha4.upgrade
the player said the file is not compatible ?? (or something like that) if have tried
in the root of the drive and in a folder both way no sucses

is the upgrading to a modified firmware an other process ?
or is it just bad luck.

Could be 2 things, or the file you downloaded was corrupted, not fully donwloaded.

Or maybe it depends on which firmware you had in the MG35.
What was the original firmware you had installed.
I upgrade mine starting at 1.4.4 and the going thru all the beta/alpha release.

Best regards
Jelte

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 01:19 AM

i would be nice if you do that for me.... , can you then also give me a hint
or a short explanation to do what with the file please ?

OK, I'll try writing mgnvfix this weekend. I'll probably get it to scan all the configs it finds in your flash and report the last one that has both the CONF and FINE strings. You can then run it a second time with a command line that tells it to restore one of the previous copies.

To use the file, you will need to be able to use the telnet (tcp/ip) terminal to run a file from the command line. This will require that you can download the file to your HD via usb or ftp, or that you can mount an smb share and run files from there.

Ian

gans

09-14-06, 03:20 AM

OK, I'll try writing mgnvfix this weekend. I'll probably get it to scan all the configs it finds in your flash and report the last one that has both the CONF and FINE strings. You can then run it a second time with a command line that tells it to restore one of the previous copies.

To use the file, you will need to be able to use the telnet (tcp/ip) terminal to run a file from the command line. This will require that you can download the file to your HD via usb or ftp, or that you can mount an smb share and run files from there.

Ian

ok thank you, but have i have to to something with my config (report) it now ?

and about the file to run,you mean i execute the file on the mediagate over a (samba) network connection ? the same way to start a movie,photo,flash or mp3

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 03:28 AM

ok thank you, but have i have to to something with my config (report) it now ?

You can if you like. If you're using a firmware version that contains mgnv, typing -
mgnv "%d" s:252
would be interesting.

and about the file to run,you mean i execute the file on the mediagate over a (samba) network connection ? the same way to start a movie,photo,flash or mp3

No, you will need to use the telnet console to execute this command. You can use the GUI to get it to mount the SMB share where the program is, but you can also do this using telnet commands.

mkdir /hosts/share
smbmount //myserverip/myshare /hosts/share rw
cd /hosts/share

You will obviously need to put your server ip and share name in there. And if your share isn't rw, use ro instead.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 04:51 AM

Do we have to have a "Phase1 and Phase2" file installed on the hard disk inorder for the web features etc to work?..

Yes, the web features are in the recent Alpha firmware.

Here is how I judge what to put in and what not to.

The phase 1/2 is really to make customisation easier for development. Phase 1 lets you replace existing applications (by changing dvddir or overlaying /bin) and phase 2 really just automates what you could do with extra telnet commands if you wanted.

After I test stuff using the phase features (and just plain telnet bashing), I then move the stuff into the cramFS and pop out new firmware.

As others get stuck in to developing stuff, I'll do the same for their output, as has happened with the screenbmp utility from Andy (which I took the liberty of renaming, as I did for my raw dumper, to avoid confusion)

What I haven't yet put into the firmware is anything that needs the phase 1/2 stuff to actually be of any real use. mgpal falls into this category IMO.

But anything else will tend to go in as I think this is the best way to get the most test coverage.

Ian

gans

09-14-06, 05:37 AM

You can if you like. If you're using a firmware version that contains mgnv, typing -
mgnv "%d" s:252
would be interesting.

No, you will need to use the telnet console to execute this command. You can use the GUI to get it to mount the SMB share where the program is, but you can also do this using telnet commands.

mkdir /hosts/share
smbmount //myserverip/myshare /hosts/share rw
cd /hosts/share

You will obviously need to put your server ip and share name in there. And if your share isn't rw, use ro instead.

Ian

is is possible that i have a firmware ( i am using 1.4.5 orginal from ALtech)
without telnet ?
when i am ping the mg-35 no problem
when i try to make a telnetsession no sucses ....

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 05:45 AM

is is possible that i have a firmware ( i am using 1.4.5 orginal from ALtech)
without telnet ?
when i am ping the mg-35 no problem
when i try to make a telnetsession no sucses ....

Al Tek have never supplied firmware with telnet enabled.

I suggest you try MG35-1.4.4.4-pre1 if you want the new graphics.
Or the older Shell-144 firmware for old graphics but telnet.

But I'm pretty much exclusively using the MG-35-1.4.4.5 alphas for all of my testing and they seem solid to me!

Ian

tohands

09-14-06, 05:59 AM

Al Tek have never supplied firmware with telnet enabled.

I suggest you try MG35-1.4.4.4-pre1 if you want the new graphics.
Or the older Shell-144 firmware for old graphics but telnet.

But I'm pretty much exclusively using the MG-35-1.4.4.5 alphas for all of my testing and they seem solid to me!

Ian

Seem solid to me too.

Zappacat

09-14-06, 06:10 AM

But I'm pretty much exclusively using the MG-35-1.4.4.5 alphas for all of my testing and they seem solid to me!

Yesterday I upgraded to alpha5 as well. SETNAS, MGNV and webserver are working perfect. (MGNV in previous alpha did not work for me with due to different flash chip, but it seems Ian nailed this as well).

Is the SETNAS only working for movies? Seems that music still has to wait for hosts.

Also screenbmp is producing nice screenpictures, I guess this will help further GUI improvements.

As J.L. said: GREAT WORK!

teddystacker

09-14-06, 07:16 AM

What I haven't yet put into the firmware is anything that needs the phase 1/2 stuff to actually be of any real use. mgpal falls into this category IMO.

But anything else will tend to go in as I think this is the best way to get the most test coverage.

Ian

Thanks Ian,made things alot clearer for me...

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 07:44 AM

Is the SETNAS only working for movies? Seems that music still has to wait for hosts.

I must admit that I just assumed it would and have never tested it!

If it calls nbtscan, and I can't see how it can avoid this, then it gets the new version. Assuming a nas server is found then the old nbtscan never gets called. I really can't imagine what's going wrong but I'll try it out tonight.

Are you setting an IP with setnas or replying on DNS?

Since I moved everything large out of bin, it's really easy to overlay a ramfs over it and everything still works fine. This makes testing new utilities very easy.

echo "Map a ramfs over /bin" >>/phase2/phase2.log
mkdir /phase2/overlay
cp -a /bin /phase2/overlay/
mount -o bind /phase2/overlay/bin /bin
cp -a $phasedir/overlay/bin /

However, if you then switch back to older firmware, the big fat bin will get copied and video playing won't work! This is when I need to rename my phase2 script.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 07:57 AM

icabrindus

09-14-06, 08:46 AM

Should the phase stuff be in all firmware?
How much does it slow booting?
Maybe it should only be in alphas?
Or perhaps I can use a launcher application that makes it conditional on something in NV? (Front panel LED on? !)

The issue is IF phase1/phase2 calls matter when they are not present or there is no HDD. We should see if trying to mount an inexistent hdd to /cdrom takes any significant time or not.

You could add a date command in sashrc, before and after phase1 stuff, and redirect the output to /phase2/boottime.log. Phase2 doesn't affect the boot time, as it is run only after dvdplayer is started.

My opinion is it has to be present in all releases, since any user could start a non-included app (e.g webserver?) in phase2, without doing any harm to the firmware. We just keep the system open for all users.

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 09:40 AM

The issue is IF phase1/phase2 calls matter when they are not present or there is no HDD. We should see if trying to mount an inexistent hdd to /cdrom takes any significant time or not.

No HD should be fast, but it might take a while if you have one. Or maybe the HD is already spun up?

Anyway, I'll leave it alone if people are happy with it.

The whole config/startup stuff needs a lot of thought.

Ian

icabrindus

09-14-06, 09:52 AM

The whole config/startup stuff needs a lot of thought.

The best in my opinion would be to have init(lash) search in NVRAM for the script to run, and if not specified/not found to use the default from /etc/sashrc. This way we can get rid of phase1/phase2 stuff, as we can use a custom sashrc script. phase1/2 was designed only because sashrc was r/o.

Since init=lash and we can rebuild it, this should be possible...

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 09:58 AM

Since init=lash and we can rebuild it, this should be possible...

init is sash, but your point is valid.

There have been a lot of good ideas on this subject over recent days. I think I need to go back through the messages, pull them all out, and propose something with enough detail for people to give a yay or a neigh.

Ian

teddystacker

09-14-06, 10:34 AM

Do you have a web page you want to look into? I have a Chinese colleague, I could ask him to help me a few minutes in the lunch break. But I have to know what to ask him :).

I also have had a email from a Chinese speaking donator asking if he can help with this... Just let us know....

teddystacker

09-14-06, 10:37 AM

Just loaded Alpha 5 - All appears to be working fine - great job Ian..

where can I find a list of all the CGI programs/other things I can run from the Web interface? , just love playing with this stuff..

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 10:47 AM

where can I find a list of all the CGI programs/other things I can run from the Web interface? , just love playing with this stuff..

The full list was in my message announcing alpha5

It's -
a.b.c.d/flashid.cgi - gets you the ID of your flash chips
a.b.c.d/version.cgi - version and date of firmware
a.b.c.d/screenbmp.cgi - screen grab using Andy's code with my trival tweaks
a.b.c.d/screenraw.cgi - raw screen dump that your browser won't like

I'd love this to be just a sampler, but that's all you get!

Anything copied to /phase2/webextras will also be served as content including additional CGI scripts. All contributions welcome!

Ian

teddystacker

09-14-06, 11:03 AM

I'd love this to be just a sampler, but that's all you get!

Anything copied to /phase2/webextras will also be served as content including additional CGI scripts. All contributions welcome!

Ian

Thanks Ian , and sorry for not RTFMing,I usually try and do that...

Will it be possible at some point to put links to all these programs on a front "Portal" page (that you get to by just typing the ip into your browser) along with a logo, external links to the Yahoo group etc etc? - Not asking you todo it,just wondered if it will be possible?.Would gladly do it myself if I had the necessary HTML skills..

My flash ID is :-

Flash manufacturer ID = 00ec Device code = 2275

Is this one of the "standard" chips?

TheKrell

09-14-06, 11:09 AM

Do you have a web page you want to look into? I have a Chinese colleague, I could ask him to help me a few minutes in the lunch break. But I have to know what to ask him :). Well, that's the real question, isn't it? Without knowing Chinese, or how to search in Chinese, I am reduced to Googling part numbers. :eek: Doing so, and looking at the automatically-translated pages, has not yet located the OEM for the Mediagate. Maybe they're not on the web, or they're not identifying part numbers, or they haven't been indexed by Google, or maybe I haven't been looking hard enough.

Could you approach your Chinese-speaking colleagues and ask them how best to proceed?

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 11:51 AM

Will it be possible at some point to put links to all these programs on a front "Portal" page (that you get to by just typing the ip into your browser) along with a logo, external links to the Yahoo group etc etc?

I've already done the links in the index.html in alpha6, but I haven't so much as made the cramFS for this and won't until there is something worth releasing.

Links to the various groups/wikis etc. is a good idea. I guess we could also link to /README but there must be a better way to drag such text in as html without me writing another CGI script!

Another nice idea might be pages explaining how to use the NAS stuff and maybe the phase stuff.

But I'm not the person who'll be doing this as I'd rather spend my time on other stuff and barely know how to spell HTML :)

My flash ID is :-
Flash manufacturer ID = 00ec Device code = 2275
Is this one of the "standard" chips?

Yup. These are handled by mgnv.

Man: 1
Dev: 22c4

Man: EC
Dev: 2275

Man: EC
Dev: 2277

As per my message 2242. :)

Ian

gans

09-14-06, 12:01 PM

You can if you like. If you're using a firmware version that contains mgnv, typing -
mgnv "%d" s:252
would be interesting.

No, you will need to use the telnet console to execute this command. You can use the GUI to get it to mount the SMB share where the program is, but you can also do this using telnet commands.

mkdir /hosts/share
smbmount //myserverip/myshare /hosts/share rw
cd /hosts/share

You will obviously need to put your server ip and share name in there. And if your share isn't rw, use ro instead.

Ian

output for the command mgnv "%d" s:252

142396 /# (thats all ??)

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 12:29 PM

output for the command mgnv "%d" s:252

142396 /# (thats all ??)

Ooops, my fault. The command is -

mgnv "%d" b:252

Sorry about that!

Ian

mikegebb

09-14-06, 01:14 PM

you guy's are amazing, can you get the MG-35 to make a cup of tea ;)

seriously if you can get it to read from the web, can you get it to read .chm or .html from the local drive? the reason I ask is "All My Movies" will generate a complete listing of movies as one long scrolling web page complete with graphics and film information. this would be ideal to show info on all the movies on the HD. I don't know if you guys can do this, just think of the posibilies, it would a first on this type of device.

Shall I run and hide under the table for a while ...... lol

cheers for your efforts, I just love reading your progress and comments.

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 01:22 PM

seriously if you can get it to read from the web, can you get it to read .chm or .html from the local drive?

At the moment, it's being a web server rather than a web client.

chm is some MS help thing. I don't know much about that but my Tech Docs team woffle about it at times.

"All My Movies" will generate a complete listing of movies as one long scrolling web page complete with graphics and film information. this would be ideal to show info on all the movies on the HD. I don't know if you guys can do this, just think of the posibilies, it would a first on this type of device.

Is "All My Movies" something that already exists? Some web site that takes a list of movies and returns all this information? We can easily get wget to pull content off another site and the serve it up. But there might be a better way - dunno! We could probably also let you click on a movie and then start it playing!

The current state of the firmware is such that anyone who knows webby stuff, and can program in C, can easily play around with all of this stuff.

Oh, I just remembered, someone wrote a clear screen utility, and there was also uptime. I guess I ought to include these in the firmware.

Ian

mikegebb

09-14-06, 01:47 PM

Is "All My Movies" something that already exists?
Ian

Yes its a stand alone proggie to help you store films in order, you type in the film name, off it goes to gather info on the web, imdb. empire and the likes, its quite good, helps to keep track of that title, I foget what the tiitle is, and what the film is all about.

sorry for over stepping your progress, but hey the speed you guys are going, its worth thinking about ....lol

cheers

Mike G

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 01:51 PM

Yes its a stand alone proggie to help you store films in order, you type in the film name, off it goes to gather info on the web, imdb. empire and the likes, its quite good, helps to keep track of that title, I foget what the tiitle is, and what the film is all about.

Well it's something to think about.

sorry for over stepping your progress, but hey the speed you guys are going, its worth thinking about ....lol

Well, the more things that are being worked on in parallel the better. As long as there are more people than projects!

Ian

andy666

09-14-06, 02:05 PM

If we could standardise a way of associating a filename with a movie name it would be quite easy to create a web site that could scrape details from e.g. imdb or amazon and interact with the MG35.

Would be quite nice to be able to browse my DVD collection from my laptop, then just click on a title to play it! The problem is that only a tiny percentage have been ripped to ISOs.

These are ideas for some time in the future though - personally I've got a list of things I want to do first, and a bigger list of things I want other people to do :)

icabrindus

09-14-06, 02:16 PM

These are ideas for some time in the future though - personally I've got a list of things I want to do first, and a bigger list of things I want other people to do :)

Can you share your big list with us? We have a wishlist page on the wiki, but it's not large enough yet to impress AlTech :)!

gans

09-14-06, 02:23 PM

Ooops, my fault. The command is -

mgnv "%d" b:252

Sorry about that!

Ian

ok, it is still shorter ... the output is now

108

Hans

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 02:31 PM

ok, it is still shorter ... the output is now
108

That's good. It's an "l" as in the 1st letter of "loader.bin"

It looks like your config is in pretty good shape.

Ian

gans

09-14-06, 02:37 PM

No, you will need to use the telnet console to execute this command. You can use the GUI to get it to mount the SMB share where the program is, but you can also do this using telnet commands.

mkdir /hosts/share
smbmount //myserverip/myshare /hosts/share rw
cd /hosts/share

You will obviously need to put your server ip and share name in there. And if your share isn't rw, use ro instead.

Ian

from this part i make a mess ..... i don't get what is a command and what is parameter ....

the first line i understand
but the second, i don't get the syntax ....... is there a space between myshare en /hosts ? and the rw ? is that a paramater or what ??

my computer ip is 192.168.1.73
one of my share names is "Share_f" so i type

smbmount //192.168.1.73/my_share /hosts/share rw
the promt returns with

sh: sbmount: No such file or directory (wich directory ?? )

Hans

icabrindus

09-14-06, 02:48 PM

from this part i make a mess ..... i don't get what is a command and what is parameter ....

the first line i understand
but the second, i don't get the syntax ....... is there a space between myshare en /hosts ? and the rw ? is that a paramater or what ??

my computer ip is 192.168.1.73
one of my share names is "Share_f" so i type

smbmount //192.168.1.73/my_share /hosts/share rw
the promt returns with

sh: sbmount: No such file or directory (wich directory ?? )

Why don't you just copy and paste Ian's commands, one by one, replacing your server and share name? This way you will see the spaces.

P.S. you should probably do
smbmount //192.168.1.73/Share_f /hosts/share rw

gans

09-14-06, 02:54 PM

wich (default) account need the permisions on the share ?
i recive the error ' Access denied"

gans

09-14-06, 03:12 PM

That's good. It's an "l" as in the 1st letter of "loader.bin"

It looks like your config is in pretty good shape.

Ian

ok .. thats fine :) :)

teddystacker

09-14-06, 03:19 PM

Yes its a stand alone proggie to help you store films in order, Mike G

Sound s a useful proggy Mike thats for sure,please can we have the name and url to its website?

gadgetmind

09-14-06, 03:42 PM

Is the SETNAS only working for movies? Seems that music still has to wait for hosts.

I can't reproduce this. My box with alpha5 browses to my NAS machine just as quickly for music as for movies. I did a power cycle and went to music first just to check and same result.

Anyone else see this?

Ian

mikegebb

09-14-06, 03:46 PM

Sound s a useful proggy Mike thats for sure,please can we have the name and url to its website?

sure

bolidesoft

c'mon you know the rest ;)

Mike G

uan

09-14-06, 03:54 PM

Has anybody taken a look at SwissCenter? This is made for the Pinnacle Showcenter but shows other players it will work with (MG-35 not included). I wish I had more technical skills in programming and I would dive right in but appreciate all the work and help this sight offers.

Thanks again

TheKrell

09-14-06, 06:41 PM

Has anybody taken a look at SwissCenter? It would appear that SwissCenter is a server component, not a new client program. The Mediagate already has no trouble reading movies from your LAN using standard protocols and no special server component whatsoever. Is there something about SwissCenter that I'm missing?

Mr.Gadget

09-14-06, 07:09 PM

uan

09-14-06, 09:49 PM

It would appear that SwissCenter is a server component, not a new client program. The Mediagate already has no trouble reading movies from your LAN using standard protocols and no special server component whatsoever. Is there something about SwissCenter that I'm missing?

I guess what I saw while looking at SwissCenter was the php scripting used with browser interface and was wondering if any could be implemented with new MG-35 firmware.

gans

09-15-06, 02:35 AM

When i use the command "smbmount" the connection faild to my share
(no access) wich userid is used when you connect to a samba share
(i try to connect to a NTFS share)

Hans

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 03:11 AM

What can AL Tech do for you?

Hey there gents - I spend a lot of time with ALTech and Mr. JY Kim... I'm not yanking your chain. Some weeks its almost nightly. And I think I've got a strong handle on all the HDD based players and those running Sigma ever - and I can tell you I think which companies did their own stack and which took Sigma straight.

Let me ask what would be the perfect relationship within the bounds of all things legal, helpful, ethical and not to time consuming on ALTech's part?

Morgan,

How has this progressed?

Any word on whether Al Tek are going to comply with the GPL or not?

A straight answer, either -
1) Yes, we take the copyrights of other seriously, and we are therefore going to release full source for all software that contains GPL components.
or
2) No, frankly we are not concerned with issues such as copyright, software licences, and such like. We will not be releasing source to the derivative works based on GPL code and don't care that this means that we're distributing such copyright code without a valid licence to do so.

Regards

Ian

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 03:53 AM

We've maybe tackled much of the low-hanging fruit.

What's next?

We could keep trying to patch-up the functionality of dvdplayer.bin with wrappers etc. (as I did with nbtscan and NAS) but I'm not sure that it's a great use of our time.

Or we could dive into serious reverse engineering that would let us replace dvdplayer.bin. We'd need to figure out the interface to fipmodule, khwl and /dev/realmagichwl0 just for starters. We should then have the fundamentals of a user interface. We already know how to bring up the network, mount hard disks, browse samba shares, drive the bitmapped display, and play anything that uses the external video players.

The bit missing part would be DVD playing with menus etc., though I understand that Al Tek are using an unlicenced copy of the Video Lan source for this.

Thoughts?
Are more importantly, volunteers?

Ian

supraeon

09-15-06, 05:31 AM

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 05:42 AM

This can't be right!
Build a serial interface - on a breadboard - RS232 - and it works first time!
Upload and flash the Alpha5 firmware - and it works first time: Telnet, webserver Etc.

Good stuff.

@Gadgetmind,
I'm not volunteering, but just letting you know that I'm having a look into mpegplayer.bin to get to the bottom of the AC3-in-MPEG problem I and TheKrell have (if Al Tech don't fix it first :rolleyes: ).
Of course this means a crash course in ARM, CRAMFS, etc.

Did you find the arm flat disassembler linked to from the wiki? It will disassemble an executable to text, or even html with links - it was *very* handy when I was working on udhcpc.

Please write up everything you find!

One immediate question - there are debug messages embedded in the code. I suspect they might be being sent to NULL or NIL. If anyone knows how to send them to a terminal, please tell!

Using "strings" on the executables shows a fair few, but mainly error messages. I'm not sure what stdout dvdplayer.bin gets from init (sash) - probably the serial console from the stock kernel, which I strongly suspect is setup at a duff speed. (My KiSS kernel has a working serial console!)

A phase1 script could run dvdplayer.bin directly and then not return. It could probably also use #!/bin/hush and therefore be able to redirect the stdout of dvdplayer to a file in /phase2

Ian

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 06:01 AM

I have been musing on a different way to have more control/understanding of the startup process.

setup doesn't do a lot.

It seems to -
1) Try and use -USR1, -USR2, -TERM, and -HUP on some process and check it's dead. I suspect it's trying to do this to udhcpc but as udhcpc is currently set to exit after getting the lease, this won't work right well!
2) Be able to rmmod hc_isp116x and dm9000x_32. The former is a USB driver that we don't have and the latter the network driver. I'm not wure why it might want to remove this driver!
3) Mount a ramfs over /hosts, /net and /usb and also mount /proc
4) Take down the network with "ifconfig eth0 down" (probably also zaps the memory locations holding the IP and netmask at the same time)
5) Either, a) Run udhcpc, or b) run ifconfig and generate smb.conf directly.

So, the "meat" is really just 3, 4 and 5 and this is trivial to duplicate later if we want to do it properly (the current approach fails to renew the DHCP lease!)

Anyway, setup can be run multiple times. It takes a few seconds, but this is no big deal. So, if we run this from phase1, and also set dvddir such that dvdplayer.bin doesn't execute, you can start dvdplayer.bin from a telnet session and get all the output.

I'll test this at the weekend, but as it's all in the phase scripts, it should be easy to play with.

There may be ways to streamline the phase stuff if we run setup early, but it needs a lot of testing.

Ian

supraeon

09-15-06, 06:12 AM

I'm using Bombur's disassembler which is pretty good but seems the data locations might be out by 0x40. Disconcerting.

I'm a noob at Linux unfortunately. :o

Typical debug message:
0031f4: e59f1084 ldr r1, [pc, #132] ; [003280] "Found Sequence Header: width = %d, height = %d, aspect ratio = %d"

Presume it uses SWIs to call driver routines: _llseek, exit, read, write, open, close, ioctl, fcntl, gettimeofday, mmap, munmap, _newselect, poll, rt_sigprocmask, getpid, kill, nanosleep, rt_sigaction, sigreturn.

Presume it uses dev/realmagichwl0 to talk to the 8511.

There appear to be 2 jump tables to handle remote key codes while a file is playing.

The data indirections hurt my head!

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 06:27 AM

I'm using Bombur's disassembler which is pretty good but seems the data locations might be out by 0x40. Disconcerting.

Hmmm, they seemed OK to me. But I was only interested in a smattering of them.

Typical debug message:
0031f4: e59f1084 ldr r1, [pc, #132] ; [003280] "Found Sequence Header: width = %d, height = %d, aspect ratio = %d"

I guess you can call the mpegplayer directly from the telnet seesion? Maybe there is a command line switch to enable debug? You should be able to find the conditional code before that printf.

Presume it uses SWIs to call driver routines: _llseek, exit, read, write, open, close, ioctl, fcntl, gettimeofday, mmap, munmap, _newselect, poll, rt_sigprocmask, getpid, kill, nanosleep, rt_sigaction, sigreturn.

Yes, but I'm not sure of the best way to work out which call into the library code is calling which library function. These library functions that often call down into the OS.

Presume it uses dev/realmagichwl0 to talk to the 8511.

I think so.

Ian

supraeon

09-15-06, 06:54 AM

I guess you can call the mpegplayer directly from the telnet seesion? Maybe there is a command line switch to enable debug? You should be able to find the conditional code before that printf.

Ian

D'oh! why didn't I think of that

BusyBox v1.2.0 (2006.08.28-07:47+0000) Built-in shell (lash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

/ # mpegplayer.bin /hdd/test/star_ac3.mpg 0
m_CurrentAudioOutput 0
Found Sequence Header: width = 720, height = 576, aspect ratio = 3
Info
00:00:24
N/A
N/A
Unknown
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2

m_TVType = 0
m_ModeX = 720, m_ModeY = 576
m_CurrentWidth = 720, m_CurrentHeight = 576, ratio = 3
4:3 Letterbox
m_Wnd.x = 18, m_Wnd.y = 82, m_Wnd.w = 684, m_Wnd.h = 411
m_Wnd.x = 18, m_Wnd.y = 77, x_Offset = 0, y_Offset = -5
Pause
SetSTC
Play
[389: Play] PLAY
PlaySubi
Time

ThanksBye!

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 08:06 AM

Someone was doing a list of which player binary was used for what. Is this now complete?

I assume that dvdplayer.bin uses something external to play the VOBs that make up a DVD ISO?

Ian

supraeon

09-15-06, 08:39 AM

Someone was doing a list of which player binary was used for what. Is this now complete?

I assume that dvdplayer.bin uses something external to play the VOBs that make up a DVD ISO?

Ian

Not so sure - fed a VOB file to mpegplayer.bin and it just ignored it. The file does play on the MG35.

Another Ian

icabrindus

09-15-06, 08:57 AM

Not so sure - fed a VOB file to mpegplayer.bin and it just ignored it. The file does play on the MG35.

Did you try something like this?

mpegplayer.bin /net/computername/sharename/dirname/VIDEO_TS/VTS_01_0.VOB 0

supraeon

09-15-06, 09:03 AM

Did you try something like this?

mpegplayer.bin /net/computername/sharename/dirname/VIDEO_TS/VTS_01_0.VOB 0

My mistake... vts_07_01.vob instead of vts_07_1.vob

mpegplayer.bin does play vobs. :D

icabrindus

09-15-06, 09:03 AM

Someone was doing a list of which player binary was used for what. Is this now complete?

I did it, it's on the wiki (http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/MG35Firmware#dvdplayerbin). It's only 70% (??) completed, but you can just play your file, then run "ps" to see the progam name and PID (say 183), and then "cat /proc/183/cmdline | hexdump -c" to see the exact parameters (replace 183 with your process ID as returned by ps command).

Regarding VOB and MP3 files, see this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8417152&&#post8417152)

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 09:15 AM

Regarding VOB and MP3 files, see this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8417152&&#post8417152)

So, when playing an ISO, nothing but dvdplayer.bin is involved? If so, this makes replacing it that much harder. :-(

Another lazy question. :) Has anyone tried the various binaries from firmware 1.4.5 to see which are same/different and if any help with any problems?

Ian

icabrindus

09-15-06, 09:34 AM

So, when playing an ISO, nothing but dvdplayer.bin is involved? If so, this makes replacing it that much harder. :-(

Didn't try ISO, just IFO. If someone tries that (or other formats we don't have in the list), please let us know the result so we can update the wiki.

The odd thing is that VOBs are played by mpegplayer.bin, but IFOs by dvdplayer. Can anyone doble-check this? Maybe I missed something...

icabrindus

09-15-06, 09:37 AM

Another lazy question. :) Has anyone tried the various binaries from firmware 1.4.5 to see which are same/different and if any help with any problems?

I did try the KiSS fileplayer, but it didn't work. Never tried those from 1.4.5.

BTW, does anyone know if the sources for the KiSS player programs (fileplayer, mpegplay, etc) are available?

chdude3

09-15-06, 10:01 AM

Alright, you guys are nuts (and I mean that with all due respect). I became interested in getting an MG-35 and stumbled upon this thread early this week. The 81 page thread was daunting, but I wanted to follow (as well as I could) what was going on, so I slogged through it - and I finally finished today, and it's grown to 86 pages!

I'd also like to offer my congratulations. There's been serious work done so far. I may not be a programmer (and especially a total *nix dunderhead), but being a hardware guy I can easily see and appreciate all the work that's gone in so far.

I have just one question before taking the plunge and picking up one of these boxes (and hopefully being of at least *some* use once I do). Please forgive me if it's a stupid question, but I haven't been able to find a satisfactory answer so far.

I realize this box is not hi-def. It's not going to decode an H.264 encoded movie file of any type. However, is it resolution-limited in any sense? I've got some HD clips that are around 1280x720 resolution, but I've transcoded them. Some went to MPEG2 and some to various Divx/Xvid, but I did not change the resolution.

Assuming that it's a DivX standard that the MG-35 can properly handle, is there any reason that it would NOT be able to play a 1280x720 (or higher) movie file? Would it DOWNconvert to a 480p output if that's what I've selected?

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 10:05 AM

I did try the KiSS fileplayer, but it didn't work. Never tried those from 1.4.5.

That was going to be my next question. :-)

BTW, does anyone know if the sources for the KiSS player programs (fileplayer, mpegplay, etc) are available?

That would be nice!

Ian

icabrindus

09-15-06, 10:08 AM

Assuming that it's a DivX standard that the MG-35 can properly handle, is there any reason that it would NOT be able to play a 1280x720 (or higher) movie file? Would it DOWNconvert to a 480p output if that's what I've selected?

Short answer: I don't know :) But if you send me a small clip (a few MB), I can try to play it and let you know the result.

TheKrell

09-15-06, 10:24 AM

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 10:43 AM

Does anyone have reproducible jerky playback of content off the network?

Here is a Q and A from the yahoo list.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> It seems kinda weird, but might have something to do with how the MG
> buffers/caches/etc... i dunno, but some useful info for anyone else
> experiencing what I did.

The MG-35 uses the following settings -
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_KEEPALIVE SO_RCVBUF=32768 SO_SNDBUF=128

These are in /hosts/smb.conf along with your IP and netmask range.

You could try tweaking them (and adding new options) by downloading a new file using ftp (when using some of our new firmware) and then playing a video. smb.conf may be over-written if you go back to the initial screen - I haven't checked.

Please report back if this works.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Someone might like to try tweaking the buffer size and/or adding IPTOS_LOWDELAY to the list?

Ian

J. L.

09-15-06, 11:17 AM

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 11:32 AM

Yes,

I have several DVD ISO images on that LAN that are "just the main title" but are still over 6/7 Gig in size. These are somewhat jerky because of their high bit-rate.

I'll need to see if I can tweak the settings.

Joe L.

One worth trying instead of IPTOS_LOWDELAY might be IPTOS_THROUGHPUT. Doubling the buffer size might also be a good idea.

This might be one of those things were there's no best setting for everyone. If so, we'll have to find a way to get it into a config file or NV ram.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 11:38 AM

Hmmmm, reading about TCP_NODELAY suggests that it's good for reading from MS servers but I'm not sure about samba servers.
Ian

J. L.

09-15-06, 12:10 PM

One worth trying instead of IPTOS_LOWDELAY might be IPTOS_THROUGHPUT. Doubling the buffer size might also be a good idea.

This might be one of those things were there's no best setting for everyone. If so, we'll have to find a way to get it into a config file or NV ram.

IanIan,
This article
http://www.dd.iij4u.or.jp/~okuyamak/Documents/tuning.english.html
gives a few more tips. Specifically, the wrong buffer size will result in a lot of lost packets.

It does show how we can add "include" lines in the stock smb.conf file that will be ignored if the file being included does not exist. (hint-hint) We might be able to add lines that include config files in phase1/2 to allow easy experimentation.

It also mentions that any "hub" or "switch" involved will also dictate packet size and performance.

So... likely no correct value is best for everyone. The best value might be different if the media server is a Windows box vs. a Linux box running SAMBA. It may also vary if any router or switch/hub is involved.

It looks like smb.conf file can include machine specific "smb.conf" files named after the machine being contacted.

I'm using an unRaid server (Linux 2.4 kernel) (http://support.lime-technology.com/forum/index.php) as my main media store. It ALSO has an smb.conf... Lots of combinations to think about and try.

Have you figured out when the smb.conf file is read? Do we need to re-start the smbd process for it to re-read the config file?

Joe L.

aljimenez

09-15-06, 12:24 PM

I realize this box is not hi-def. It's not going to decode an H.264 encoded movie file of any type. However, is it resolution-limited in any sense? I've got some HD clips that are around 1280x720 resolution, but I've transcoded them. Some went to MPEG2 and some to various Divx/Xvid, but I did not change the resolution.

Assuming that it's a DivX standard that the MG-35 can properly handle, is there any reason that it would NOT be able to play a 1280x720 (or higher) movie file? Would it DOWNconvert to a 480p output if that's what I've selected?
I have not been successful playing 1280x anything in the MG-35; typically no video, only audio. You need to use the so-called "Theater Profile" or the "High-def profile" when preparing Divx compliant files for the MG-35 (using the Divx terminology). I play files off the hard-drive, so my problem is not network related... Al

aljimenez

09-15-06, 12:27 PM

chdude3

09-15-06, 12:29 PM

I have not been successful playing 1280x anything in the MG-35; typically no video, only audio. You need to use the so-called "Theater Profile" or the "High-def profile" when preparing Divx compliant files for the MG-35 (using the Divx terminology). I play files off the hard-drive, so my problem is not network related... AlThanks for the info. I suspected as much. Thankfully the high-res stuff doesn't form the bulk of my collection, and I'm sure it wouldn't take me long to transcode my existing stuff into a suitable format, and also prep a method for any future recordings.

My primary initial goal will be ripping our DVDs, which looks like it's quite doable and well tested.

Again, thanks for the help and all the great effort so far!

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 12:42 PM

I suspect that the smb.conf is read by smbmount as the share gets mounted. This will be after you select your server in the GUI and then select a share.

Adding an include file to smb.conf is tricky - it's generated dynamically by udhcp (when DHCP is used) or setup (for fixed IP). I can easily change the dhcp behaviour as I've already hacked udhcpc.

How many people use fixed IP?

We coud replace /bin/setup with a script that calls /sbin/rbin/setup and then edits smb.conf (probably by calling a C program).

However, we first need to see if those with problems can tweak smb.conf by slapping a new version over it before drilling down to the file to be played.

Ian

tohands

09-15-06, 12:51 PM

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 12:54 PM

I'm using fixed IP, cause I want to be able to connect to my mg35 from anywhere, thru my router, and if I put a dynamic ip, I need to set it up into my router everytime

I'm using DHCP but have told my server to always give the same IP to any machine with the mac of the mg35.

Ian

aljimenez

09-15-06, 12:57 PM

How many people use fixed IP?
I use fixed IP. My MG-35 is connected to a DLINK "game-player" bridge with Wi-Fi. This is how I copy a Divx file to it. It is slow, but for the occasional gig file it's OK. Whenever I want to do lots of maintenance on the hard-drive, I bring it close for USB connection... Al

J. L.

09-15-06, 01:05 PM

andy666

09-15-06, 01:20 PM

I use a fixed ip - again connecting through a wireless adaptor (Belkin this time - but mine won't bridge NDAS which is why I'm very keen to find a samba/ntfs rw solution!)

I've only got a handful of devices on the network - the PCs (desktop & laptop) use DHCP, the other devices (NAS box, Wireless Bridge, MG35 and of course router) all have fixed ip addresses.

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 01:30 PM

OK, quite a lot using fixed IP.

I might bite the bullet and just write a new version of setup. I think we can totally ditch the old one.

But let's see if it's required first.

Ian

aljimenez

09-15-06, 01:54 PM

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 02:03 PM

I had a thought while out on a jog. I think booting from the hard-drive when available would give incredible flexibility for the future development and customization. Is this possible with the current firmware? Al

The limiting factor is the amount of RAM available, with a few complexities thrown in by uClinux. (Even if you load the binary from HD to a ramfs, a second copy is required when the executable is run.)

So, we really need to leave as many executables as possible in the flash (the cramfs) and just replace those that we want to experiment on.

This is what the combination of the phase 1/2 stuff and (nearly) everything in /bin now being a link to the real binary in /sbin/rbin. At phase1 time, a copy of the tiny amount of stuff in /bin can be made to a ramfs and this then mounted over the real /bin.

The end result is we can change (pretty much) anything we want using a few simple files on the HD while not taking a huge amount of additional memory.

A *real* boot from HD, with the kernel being loaded from HD, would require hacking of the boot loader. As we can test new kernel by downloading them directly to ram, I don't see a huge benefit.

Ian

icabrindus

09-15-06, 02:09 PM

I had a thought while out on a jog. I think booting from the hard-drive when available would give incredible flexibility for the future development and customization. Is this possible with the current firmware? Al

Partially, using phase1/phase2 scripts. You can put all that you want in phase1, and you can even call dvdplayer+telnet+ftpd if you are care to NEVER return from phase1. You can use a "read" as the last command of phase1, and it will never return.

You cannot load the kernel from the hdd, as for now. But using the serial console, you can launch a kernel loaded via tftp.

To fully boot from the hdd you need to hack the bootloader. Any mistake with that, and you have a brick. Nobody dared to try... Even more, we keep the bootloader out of our firmware releases, to avoid reflashing it.

gadgetmind

09-15-06, 02:18 PM

Partially, using phase1/phase2 scripts. You can put all that you want in phase1, and you can even call dvdplayer+telnet+ftpd if you are care to NEVER return from phase1.

I also added the dvddir variable so that phase1 can return but then sashrc will run a different copy of dvdplayer.bin (that phase1 can dragged in from somewhere)

Ian

Patrick Mayo

09-15-06, 04:48 PM

I got my 320gb Media Player 35 today. I connected it to my PC and then to my TV and it worked OK until I messed with the remote control and I pressed some buttons on the TV input set up. Now I can not get anything on my TV screen. Has anyone got advice on how I can get the menu back on the TV?
Also, I got this to play files I recorded on an Archos 700. These are .ts files. What is the easiest way to play these on the SG35? Of course unless I can get the menu back on my TV screen then I will not be able to play anything.

I am very happy with my Archos but feel a bit stupid that I have lost the TV menu for the SG35.

Patrick

tohands

09-15-06, 05:22 PM

EmuMannen

09-15-06, 05:34 PM

Finally back from Paris, but hey just away for a couple of days and you already managed to generate seven pages in the forum!!! Just amazing... :eek:

Finally taken the time to flash with latest firmware. Screen dumping works great and boy does the GUI need another overhaul! I have updated the wiki but the work needed for a new set of gfx will take some time. But it is great to be able to see it on screen and also to be able to debug. Thanks all for your efforts...

OK, let's put this bug down to team work. :)
2) Changed \r\n to \n\n when printing the cgi header (required?)

It's not really an \r\n vs. \n\n, it's about the empty line needed as an delimeter between header and content, but I guess you already sorted that one out.

I can recommend reading The Common Gateway Interface Specification (http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/cgi/interface.html)

EmuMannen

09-15-06, 05:43 PM

Has anybody taken a look at SwissCenter? ...
SwissCenter is a UPnP AV Server (Universal Plug and Play MediaServer (http://www.upnp.org/standardizeddcps/mediaserver.asp)).

You need a UPnP MediaRenderer to be able to utilize it's services. You can also use an UPnP RenderingControl to remote control a UPnP MediaRenderer.

The MG-35 is not UPnP aware, yet... ;)

Ps. Take a look at Wikipedia for links to SDK/Dev kits (some open source) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Plug_and_Play#API_.2F_SDK) (like we don't got enough to do already) :D

Pps. Dont forget to read the wiki while you'r at it... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Plug_and_Play)

EmuMannen

09-15-06, 05:46 PM

Not so sure - fed a VOB file to mpegplayer.bin and it just ignored it. The file does play on the MG35.

Another Ian
I guess it mounts the ISO file as an loop back device and just opens the IFO-file, or something like that (i.e. dvdplayer.bin might do that work before calling mpegplayer.bin to actually play the IFO-file)...

gans

09-15-06, 06:16 PM

When i use the command "smbmount" the connection faild to my share
(no access) wich userid is used when you connect to a samba share
(i try to connect to a NTFS share)

Hans

can somebody help me please ? when i use the sbmount command
i get an error.... i think it has something to do with NTFS user rights.
so what account is in use on the mg-35 on when using the command smbmount ?

i have also trouble with starting the FTP server on the MG-35
but is the speed the same as Ndas ? or is ot faster ?

thanks for your time if you help me

teddystacker

09-15-06, 06:39 PM

@gans

There is a MG-35 user From Holland, over at the Mediagate forums that appears to have somehow Bricked his machine - If he sends the unit to you and some money for return postage,would you be papared to De-Brick it for him??

If so,let me know and I wil send you a pm with his email , but thought it only fair I ask you first..

Regards

Teddy..

TheKrell

09-15-06, 06:46 PM

Also, I got this to play files I recorded on an Archos 700. These are .ts files. What is the easiest way to play these on the SG35? I use VideoReDo for transport stream to VOB or MPG conversion. You can try before you buy, but if you're like me, you'll buy because this tool is GREAT! VideoReDo is the only MPEG editor I have that doesn't force standard resolutions on me (with the concomitant CPU-intensive transcoding I don't want).

TheKrell

09-15-06, 09:28 PM

icabrindus

09-15-06, 11:08 PM

Yupeee! I know how dvdplayer and fileplayer talk! See wiki (http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/MG35Firmware#fileplayer) for details.

Anybody eager to do a CGI for audio playing via web interface?

supraeon

09-16-06, 01:30 AM

Yupeee! I know how dvdplayer and fileplayer talk! See wiki (http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/MG35Firmware#fileplayer) for details.

Anybody eager to do a CGI for audio playing via web interface?

The strings sent from dvdplayer.bin will also be accepted from a telnet console if the player is started from the console...

Another Ian

nhousty

09-16-06, 01:37 AM

gans

09-16-06, 01:55 AM

ihateu3

09-16-06, 01:56 AM

Ok guys, I think that we have all come far enough on this project too see the need for a release group name! Since this was the first (and presently only that i know of) group too hack the mg-35. We have laid down the foundation, and i think here soon other groups will use this knowledge too build upon it(which is a good thing). But we need a name so that the people that trust our development, have a guarantee that it is our work.

any propositions for a name?

I propose "NDLESS" (endless)

EmuMannen

09-16-06, 02:49 AM

Ok guys, I think that we have all come far enough on this project too see the need for a release group name!
...
I propose "NDLESS" (endless)
A release group name, how could we forget (maybe because I haven’t bothered about these tribal issues since I left the C64 scene some 20 years ago)! NDLESS might work but can’t we make it “nDLe55” or something just to get it a bit more ELiTe? :rolleyes:

Please forgive me for my sarcastic attitude but I couldn’t help my self (don’t take it personally). I will contribute with “Freegate Cowboys” as my proposition, lame but quite funny to me! :D :D :D

EmuMannen

09-16-06, 02:54 AM

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 03:05 AM

Finally taken the time to flash with latest firmware. Screen dumping works great and boy does the GUI need another overhaul! I have updated the wiki but the work needed for a new set of gfx will take some time. But it is great to be able to see it on screen and also to be able to debug. Thanks all for your efforts...

Glad you're seeing it first hand, and also that you can now quickly and accurately get the indexes. I'm looking forward to the new graphics!

It's not really an \r\n vs. \n\n, it's about the empty line needed as an delimeter between header and content, but I guess you already sorted that one out.

I went for \n\n to get the blank line and I think it should work in Windows too as the output is "cooked".

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 03:07 AM

The MG-35 is not UPnP aware, yet... ;)

Ps. Take a look at Wikipedia for links to SDK/Dev kits (some open source) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Plug_and_Play#API_.2F_SDK) (like we don't got enough to do already) :D

Pps. Dont forget to read the wiki while you'r at it... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Plug_and_Play)

It's also worth a search for djmount - this uses fuse to present a UPnP server as a filesystem. We could easily bodge nbtscan/smbmount to subvert them and get djmount called, but fuse needs a more up to date kernel than we have.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 03:10 AM

can somebody help me please ? when i use the sbmount command
i get an error.... i think it has something to do with NTFS user rights.
so what account is in use on the mg-35 on when using the command smbmount ?

I serve off a Linux box, so someone else will have to help with this one.

i have also trouble with starting the FTP server on the MG-35
but is the speed the same as Ndas ? or is ot faster ?

thanks for your time if you help me

What goes wrong with starting the ftp server? Do you have your HD formatted as fat32? NTFS can't be written via another other than USB and NDAS.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 03:12 AM

any propositions for a name?

While not entirely convinced of the need for a name, I propose "Ungated".

Ian

animatt

09-16-06, 03:18 AM

gans ,

I do not use windows either but you may want to try turning on the user guest for your windows pc, then creating a share under that user.

Oh first you may want to check that you are creating the share with read and write abilities. There is that little check box that turns on and off write abilities. I am not sure is smbmount chokes on the command that tries mounting the file system as rw when it is only ro.

Anyway sorry i could not give a definate answer, but worth a quick try. Let us know how it goes.

tohands

09-16-06, 03:23 AM

can somebody help me please ? when i use the sbmount command
i get an error.... i think it has something to do with NTFS user rights.
so what account is in use on the mg-35 on when using the command smbmount ?

i have also trouble with starting the FTP server on the MG-35
but is the speed the same as Ndas ? or is ot faster ?

thanks for your time if you help me

You have to put the Guest user as the permission on the file/folder from your PC with at least read access, and use "-U Guest" with your smbmount command

EmuMannen

09-16-06, 03:24 AM

I propose "Ungated".Ian, that's brilliant! :D

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 03:24 AM

I don't know if we ever need a web-browser but I checked for candidates and came up with retawq (http://retawq.sourceforge.net/). More information about it running under uClinux in this thread... (http://www.dslinux.org/index.php?showtopic=1296)

I'm not sure about a web browser, but if anyone is looking deeper ViewML is also worth a look as it works with nanox, which is the window manager used by dvdplayer.bin.

I did have a couple of thoughts for extras -
1) A mail reader - this could run in the lower third of the initial screen. It could read some unique pixels somewhere and know if the screen has changed due to HD/net selection and can disable itself. It could connect using a given server/account/password and display the count and subjects of any new emails.
2) A weather report. We could steal code from the Gnome weather applet so that we can display weather/forecast for a given location. Maybe also let someone enter the URL of a weather radar picture?

Ian

tohands

09-16-06, 03:27 AM

MediaGeek :P

EmuMannen

09-16-06, 04:10 AM

I'm not sure about a web browser, but if anyone is looking deeper ViewML is also worth a look as it works with nanox, which is the window manager used by dvdplayer.bin.
I wasn’t thinking about it as an ordinary browser. But I tend to remember that UPnP AV clients render the GUI out of html or something served from the UPnP server. I might be wrong on this one but rendering html content could be useful even if not intended for regular web-surfing…

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 04:53 AM

Mounting vfat and ntfs drives with different options might be quite easy.

Options -
1) Write yet another wrapper, this time for mount.
2) Hack the BusyBox mount to always have the options we want.
3) Hack the dvdplayer.bin binary to change the "vfat" string to "vfat -o rw" and the "ntfs" string to "ntfs -o exec" (is this right?)

I'm drawn to option 3. I think there are unused strings nearby to give us space.

Thoughts?

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 05:01 AM

I wasn’t thinking about it as an ordinary browser. But I tend to remember that UPnP AV clients render the GUI out of html or something served from the UPnP server. I might be wrong on this one but rendering html content could be useful even if not intended for regular web-surfing…

One of my employees wandered into my office recently and asked if I knew anything about UPnP AV. I said, "Yes, it SOAP over HTML over broadcast UDP.", to which he replied, "Yes, someone said you might know something about it."

Anyway, while there is HTML in there, there is loads more besides. There are three sources of UPnP renderer and control endpoints. 1) libupnp, which is based on the Intel GPL release, 2) The zany CyberGarage stuff from that Japanese bloke, 3) djmount, which does it all for us if we can get fuse going.

Ian

ihateu3

09-16-06, 05:48 AM

I 3rd mediageek, i like it

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 06:45 AM

I have been playing with the fip module.

Attached is fipread.zip which contains C and executable of a program that reads from the keypad/remote until you press stop. You really need to kill the dvdplayer process to use this properly!

I used this to get this list of keycode that are in the accompanying text file. It maybe needs to go on the wiki. The keycodes seem somewhat arbitrary. I think they might closely match the Ir remote signals, so it might be that we could handle commands from other remotes (assuming similar encodings)

I'll now hunt for the command to turn on/off the LED. Dunno what other functions there might be - not many.

Ian

teddystacker

09-16-06, 08:25 AM

Can any of you guys with a Freecom unit have a look at the box and see if you can glean any clues as to who actually builds the Network Media Player-35? My Mediagate box says "Made in Taiwan." This makes me suspicious that some Taiwan OEM is making the same player for Al Tech, Freecom, and Digital Cowboy. And potentially others. ;)

Krell,

My contact from China is asking to you have any China based webpage , where he can start his search for you? - maybe try and find the actual maker of the hardware? , is this what you would likle the most?

teddystacker

09-16-06, 08:27 AM

Yupeee! I know how dvdplayer and fileplayer talk! See wiki (http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/MG35Firmware#fileplayer) for details.

Anybody eager to do a CGI for audio playing via web interface?

@icabrindus

Truly great work!! , that would be a really cool feature to have...

teddystacker

09-16-06, 08:58 AM

Ian

I've had a wee play with setting up a user configurable web page using some css. I've used a background image from the img dir so if you could simlink the /img dir into the /www that would be good.

Also i've allowed for the cgi script to be put in a cgi dir.

Can you have a look and tell me what you think?

http://womble.dyndns.org/webpage_1.zip

Nick

Looking good Nick - Thanks for your work on this , is there anyway we could use the New GUI "Bootup"/"Shutdown" screen as the backdrop for the page? or any of the MG-35 pictures we have,would look so cool to have a PIC of the MG-35 on your "portal" page as well as the link and cgi programs...

Just a suggestion,but not know much about this stuff,dont really know how easy it would be for you todo,so please forgive me if I am asking too much here..

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 09:12 AM

Ian

I've had a wee play with setting up a user configurable web page using some css. I've used a background image from the img dir so if you could simlink the /img dir into the /www that would be good.

Also i've allowed for the cgi script to be put in a cgi dir.

Can you have a look and tell me what you think?

http://womble.dyndns.org/webpage_1.zip

Nick

Sorry, I somehow missed this message.

I used a bin mount to test this out, and it's looking very good. I've put it into the alpha6 directory at this end for when I do the next release.

Could you add the link to the wiki to the list on the RHS?

(edit - forget it, I've done it myself. )

Nice work!

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 09:16 AM

is there anyway we could use the New GUI "Bootup"/"Shutdown" screen as the backdrop for the page? or any of the MG-35 pictures we have,would look so cool to have a PIC of the MG-35 on your "portal" page as well as the link and cgi programs...

If you create the soft link in /www to img it does have such a backdrop.

ln -s /img img

Of course, this assumes you've mapped a bit of the ramfs over www using something like this.

cp -a /www phase2
mount -o bind /phase2/www /www

You can then modify stuff in /www as much as you want.

Ian

geos

09-16-06, 10:38 AM

Since I can’t help with this coding ill make lame suggestions for a group name

GPLGate
FreeGate (no cowboy)
GGate
AL Tech Support (may be taken)

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 10:50 AM

http://www.foxhill.co.uk/MG35-1.4.4.5-alpha6.zip

Edit: September 16th 2006 - MG35-1.4.4.5-alpha6
Ditched the lame test.cgi
Added the cls (clear screen) and uptime utilities
Put in the fancy new CSS index.html from nhousty, moved cgi scripts to /www/cgi, created link in /www to /img
/etc/sashrc now tries to copy mg35.ini from the cdrom phase directory (Recycler etc.) to /phase2
/bin/setup is now a script that runs /sbin/rbin/setup and then runs /bin/postsetup (not there yet!) in the background
udhcpc now creates /hosts/tftp.conf that gives name and IP of a bootp server and the path/name of the mg35.ini file

If you liked the web front end before, you'll love the new version! I might create a help page for the config/nas on the wiki and also link to this.

The last few changes are in preparation for some new config that Vasile Brindus and myself have been discussing off line.

If someone has a HD, they can put an mg35.ini file in the same directory as is used for phase scripts (but they don't need these scripts!) and it will be copied to /phase2 by /etc/sashrc. Future code will read config from here.

For those without HDs (or who want to store the config elsewhere) a program called postsetup will be run that can load the config from the network. This program doesn't exist yet (though /bin/setup tries to call it to aid development) but here is roughly what it will do.

1) If /hosts/tftp contains enough information, it will attempt to load mg35.ini from the given tftp server.
2) Failing this, it will use some NV information that gives server name, (optional) IP, share name, (optional) username, (optional) password and directory and it will smbmount that server/share and grab the mg35.ini from there.

Suggestions for format of NV entry for (2) very welcome!
I guess we could even just make this the smbmount command and the path to the script? However, smbmount doesn't seem to want to do a name lookup if /hosts/hosts doesn't exist, so if people want to use the server name rather than the IP, we'll have to get clever.

All feedback welcome!

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 10:57 AM

Attached is the source for my nbtscan program that implements the NAS stuff. I don't think I've remembered to release this before.

A fair bit of what's in this can be recycled to create postsetup

I've got a busy week ahead if anyone else wants a pop at creating postsetup!

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 10:58 AM

GPLGate
FreeGate (no cowboy)
GGate

CowAndGate? :)

Ian

teddystacker

09-16-06, 11:31 AM

CowAndGate? :)

Ian

"Apples and Pears" - To be honest having a name other than "The MG-35 firmware development project" or summat similar seems a little pointless - best left to the WaReZ kiddies of today..

Want to give the general impression that this is a more Adult approach of improving the box out of necessity,rather than "hacking" it for fun...

Just my .02c , but I will gladly go along with any majority decision..

TheKrell

09-16-06, 11:44 AM

My contact from China is asking to you have any China based webpage , where he can start his search for you? - maybe try and find the actual maker of the hardware? That is precisely the info I've been looking for but cannot find. Once this information is known, we would (possibly?) need a Chinese speaker (again) to negotiate any volume deals or ask further about software development kits.

My attempt to get a SDK out of Sigma Designs has fallen flat: no response from the east coast sales rep. Probably he smelled the fact that I'm not about to start selling millions of 8511-based players and ignored my question. According to a press release, their sales went up 35% last year due to soaring sales of IPTV set-top boxes. So they don't have to pay attention to small fry.

Maybe they'll talk to a lawyer if they think they're about to be dragged into court!

teddystacker

09-16-06, 12:09 PM

[url]Added the cls (clear screen) and uptime utilities
All feedback welcome!

Ian

Great work Ian , have it running and all appears to be fine , tried various file formats and browsing accross the network etc , all appear to be working fine at this moment - will do more testing later and report anything thats not correct..

One question? Were The Cls and Uptime utils supposed to be on the index page?

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 12:27 PM

One question? Were The Cls and Uptime utils supposed to be on the index page?

No, because they aren't CGI scripts. uptime could be implemented as one by wrapping with a shell script (see version.cgi for an example) but I'm not sure it's worth it.

cls is there to make life easier for people calling the video players from the command line.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 12:28 PM

Want to give the general impression that this is a more Adult approach of improving the box out of necessity,rather than "hacking" it for fun...

Just my .02c , but I will gladly go along with any majority decision..

I kind of agree, but the alternative firmware for the NSLU2 is called OpenSlug and Unslung. Which is where I got Ungated from.

But I put picking a name pretty low down in the priority list. Choosing a name for a product is always harder than actually making it. Choosing the colour and price are also pretty tricky!

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 02:03 PM

Hmmm, tftp is going to be pretty easy. Enable tftp get in BusyBox and this "just works"(tm)

tftp -g -r /tftpboot/mg35.ini -l /phase2/mg35.ini 192.168.1.65

I wonder if we need to handle the case where someone has a tftp server but their dhcp doesn't provide the bootp info?

I'll muse on a spec. for the NV command that tries to tell postsetup/nbtscan what's what and what's where and see what people think.

Ian

geos

09-16-06, 02:07 PM

Great work Ian , have it running and all appears to be fine , tried various file formats and browsing accross the network etc , all appear to be working fine at this moment - will do more testing later and report anything thats not correct..

One question? Were The Cls and Uptime utils supposed to be on the index page?

what did you do to make this run ? do i need to do more on the MG35 or am i not pointing to the proper url ?

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 02:10 PM

what did you do to make this run ? do i need to do more on the MG35 or am i not pointing to the proper url ?

Where a.b.c.d is the IP of your MG-35, point your browser at -

http://a.b.c.d/

Ian

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 02:17 PM

Can someone remind me of the syntax of smbmount when you want to supply a username and password?

I recall the syntax being non-standard but don't recall any details.

Ian

Frenik

09-16-06, 02:28 PM

I use VideoReDo for transport stream to VOB or MPG conversion. You can try before you buy, but if you're like me, you'll buy because this tool is GREAT! VideoReDo is the only MPEG editor I have that doesn't force standard resolutions on me (with the concomitant CPU-intensive transcoding I don't want).

Can also try this freeware prog for TS to PS conversion, PVAStrumento (http://www.offeryn.de/dv.htm#pvas)

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 02:39 PM

I'm considering how to let people use the NV to let them specify where mg35.ini can be found if it isn't on their HD and if their dhcp server doesn't supply bootp information giving somewhere to pull it down using tftp.

The HD case is taken care of.
The case where bootp gives valid tftp details is taken care of.

So, I want to handle the case where someone has mg35.ini in a given share/dir on a smb/samba server, the case where it's on a tftp server, and the case where they don't want to worry about mg35.ini but still use the existing NAS feature.

I propose we "overload" the string in the NV at location 252 (that's currently used by setnas) This string is 64 chars long but we overflow into another 64 char string used for the romfs path, which is fine.

Here's what's in this string for each case.

smb case
smb:name<,ip>/share path <options>
e.g.
smb:myserver,192.168.1.1/config nonmedia/misc
smb:myserver/config genfiles user norman password GthyTF
smb:,192.168.1.1/config genfiles
Notes
- in the last case the server name is omitted
- you can only omit the IP if you have working DNS

tftp case (for where dhcp doesn't supply details)
tftp:name<,ip> path
e.g.
tftp:myserver,192.168.1.1 /tftpboot/mg35
tftp:,192.168.1.1. /tftpboot/mg35
Notes
- in the last case the server name is omitted
- you can only omit the IP if you have working DNS

If an mg35.ini file can be fetched, nbtscan will look in it for the nasserver entry and use information from this.

In the case where there is no mg35.ini file to be found, nbtscan will read the normal NAS stuff.
e.g.
myserver
myserver=192.168.1.1

Ian

geos

09-16-06, 04:30 PM

Where a.b.c.d is the IP of your MG-35, point your browser at -

http://a.b.c.d/

Ian

Thanks Ian
I know its hard helping every tom dick and hary with varied skills but Im no newb so I took it personal when even that simple thing should work but does not.

I dont know where to post bugs but my MG shows an ip of 192.168.001.002 when infact my dhcp is handing out 192.168.1.102

the last octet is missing the 1 from 102

gadgetmind

09-16-06, 04:45 PM

I dont know where to post bugs but my MG shows an ip of 192.168.001.002 when infact my dhcp is handing out 192.168.1.102

the last octet is missing the 1 from 102

Can you post the output of ifconfig and also the contents of smb.conf?

If the MG-35 is set to use dhcp rather than fixed IP, then I guess something must be going wrong with udhcpc.

but Im no newb

Great, that always makes things easier.

If you like, I can tar.gz the source of udhcpc (with Al Tek's hacks, my reconstructions of their additional hacks, and my hacks on top of it!) and you can try building it with additional debug to find out what might be going wrong.

Which firmware are you using?

Regards

Ian

geos

09-16-06, 05:04 PM

LOL I said im no newb not a brain surgeon :) ill let you fine gentleman debug

1.4.4.5 alpha6

Smb.conf:

interfaces = 192.168.1.102 /24
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_KEEPALIVE SO_RCVBUF=32768 SO_SNDBUF=128

/sbin # /sbin/ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:02:A8:0C:A5:1E
inet addr:192.168.1.102 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:365 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:253 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:5

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

icabrindus

09-16-06, 05:07 PM

I did have a couple of thoughts for extras -
1) A mail reader - this could run in the lower third of the initial screen. It could read some unique pixels somewhere and know if the screen has changed due to HD/net selection and can disable itself. It could connect using a given server/account/password and display the count and subjects of any new emails.
2) A weather report. We could steal code from the Gnome weather applet so that we can display weather/forecast for a given location. Maybe also let someone enter the URL of a weather radar picture?

We can have all these and more if we can port the MythTV frontend to our device and use another PC as a backend (in the basement :)). This way we move a lot of processing to another computer, and keep the MG35 only for user interaction.

nhousty

09-16-06, 07:34 PM

I have been having a look at using some of the images out of the images directory for use of the webpage as buttons or just images and the magenta background is a bit off putting. Do we think there is any way in getting dvdplayer.bin to use real png files with it's normal transparency?

How technical do we want to be with this web server? I've noticed that it doesn't support .htaccess files. Do we want to try using some javascript to password protect certain webpages (this could be bypassed if you turn off javascript in your browser).

People who use IE will not be able to view the background graphics sorry, IE has some problems with some certain CSS items. All the text / links should work though. I'll try and get around to writing a hack so IE can also be used to view the eye candy.

Can I get some ideas of what people require the webserver to do so i can start setting out some formwork to work to. I hate it when you go to a website and it just doesn't do thing nicely.

I've got some javascript that lets you read xml files into the webpage that a friend and i wrote I use it on my works webpage http://pwta.co.nz so that i only have to update the xml files and not the webpages.

Cheers

Nick

geos

09-16-06, 07:39 PM

this will browse the network but it hangs when looking at a specific device name
www,telnet,ftp all work
i reloaded alpha6 and same prob
i reverted back to aug 27 gui v3 update and it works fine

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 01:23 AM

/sbin # /sbin/ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:02:A8:0C:A5:1E
inet addr:192.168.1.102 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0

So, it looks like the correct IP is in most places.

Where are you getting/reading the wrong one? In the GUI after selecting network? (Hint: The more info. you give, the easier debug is!)

If so, please can you grab the peek utility I posted a while ago and try -
peek 0x1FFF208
peek 0x1FFF209
peek 0x1FFF20A
peek 0x1FFF20B

This will read back the IP that udhcpc has dropped in memory for the GUI to read.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 01:28 AM

this will browse the network but it hangs when looking at a specific device name
www,telnet,ftp all work
i reloaded alpha6 and same prob
i reverted back to aug 27 gui v3 update and it works fine

Well, in those words so traditional in Technical Support, "It works here" :)

Can you try running nbtscan from the command line, checking /hosts/hosts looks sane, checking that ls /net shows the right machine names, and then try the smbmount command also from the command line?

This will effectively reproduce what dvdplayer.bin does when browsing for machine names and then mounting a share from one of them.

(I suppose we also ought to run the smbmount command that lists all the shares but I haven't used that myself and would have to look up syntax)

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 01:36 AM

I have been having a look at using some of the images out of the images directory for use of the webpage as buttons or just images and the magenta background is a bit off putting. Do we think there is any way in getting dvdplayer.bin to use real png files with it's normal transparency?

We have about half a megabyte left in the cramFS. Roughly what size of images were you ideally wanting to add?

What initially looked like plenty of cramFS is actually being wittled away. I keep considering making some stuff into multi-launch binaries a la BusyBox. The cgi scripts are ideal candidates are there is very little code in them versus the huge amount of standard library. I'd probably add the simpler ones to the guts of screenbmp.

How technical do we want to be with this web server? I've noticed that it doesn't support .htaccess files. Do we want to try using some javascript to password protect certain webpages (this could be bypassed if you turn off javascript in your browser).

You need to read the mathopd config.txt file. You can password protect Realms.

Can I get some ideas of what people require the webserver to do so i can start setting out some formwork to work to. I hate it when you go to a website and it just doesn't do thing nicely.

Using the web interface to allow the NAS/CFG string to be set might be nice.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 02:37 AM

this will browse the network but it hangs when looking at a specific device name
www,telnet,ftp all work
i reloaded alpha6 and same prob
i reverted back to aug 27 gui v3 update and it works fine

If you have time, it would be useful if you could work through the alpha releases, (and maybe also try 1.4.4.4-pre0) and see when things stopped working for you.

I have totally replaced udhcpc, wrapped nbtscan, given setup front-end script, and various other things. Clearly something in this area is causing problems with your setup and it would be very nice to get a clue which it is.

If that doesn't let me spot the problem, I can stick extra debug into something and either send you the executable or a build a test version of firmware to try and get a clue what's going wrong.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 02:40 AM

You need to read the mathopd config.txt file. You can password protect Realms.

Hmmm, hard-wired name/password is easy. Letting someone configure it will require that we get a name/password file from somewhere.

I guess postconfig could split some stuff out of the mg35.ini file?

Anyway, if someone wants to experiment with a new mathopd.cfg, I'll happily work out how to get a config file into /hosts (which we can link to from /etc or /www)

Ian

nhousty

09-17-06, 02:57 AM

We have about half a megabyte left in the cramFS. Roughly what size of images were you ideally wanting to add?

What initially looked like plenty of cramFS is actually being wittled away. I keep considering making some stuff into multi-launch binaries a la BusyBox. The cgi scripts are ideal candidates are there is very little code in them versus the huge amount of standard library. I'd probably add the simpler ones to the guts of screenbmp.

I was just hoping to use the existing icon images like vid0.png etc. that are already there. But with the magenta background they look butt ugly, is there no way of using std png transparencys with dvdplayer.bin.

Ian can you add a .PNG image with std alpha blending to the img dir and see if this works.

My box is in the lounge and i have just been mounting samba shares and pointing the web server to my machine to do the editing of the webpage.

Nick

nhousty

09-17-06, 03:01 AM

I'm currently working on making a setup page to replicate what is already existing on the MG-35. We could then with forms input information into cgi scripts which can be loaded into the flash memory.

I'm trying to currently make it one webpage but it is looking like series of pages, one per setup item.

EDIT: Here is a link for people to have a look at the work in progress mg35.womble.dyndns.org

Nick

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 04:02 AM

Ian can you add a .PNG image with std alpha blending to the img dir and see if this works.

My box is in the lounge and i have just been mounting samba shares and pointing the web server to my machine to do the editing of the webpage.

Let's check that I understand - you want to see if dydplayer.bin handles PNG files with transparency?

Thsi should be possibly by copying all of the IMG content to a samba share (or to the HD) and then mounting this over /img.

mkdir /cdrom/img
cp -a /img /cdrom/
cp /cdrom/newimages/* /cdrom/img
mount -o bind /cdrom/img /img

Do you have the URL of a PNG that you'd like to test?

Ian

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 04:05 AM

nhousty

09-17-06, 04:17 AM

Do you have the URL of a PNG that you'd like to test?

http://mg35.womble.dyndns.org/img/lib/menu_set.png should work.

Nick

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 04:47 AM

MG-35 New Graphics Theme - "New Generation" (rev. G) (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mg-35_firmware_mods/files/MG-35%20Graphics/)
The "Ungated by the Mediageeks" edition (with an all new monocromatic color scheme)...

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 05:28 AM

http://mg35.womble.dyndns.org/img/lib/menu_set.png should work.

Nope, doesn't seem to.

Sorry!

Ian

nhousty

09-17-06, 05:40 AM

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 05:46 AM

Now available at
http://www.foxhill.co.uk/MG35-1.4.4.4-pre2.zip

Edit: September 17th 2006 - MG32-1.4.4.4-pre2
Built by Gadgetmind
Added rev g graphics
New mgnv that supports Spansion flash and is also better if things go wrong

I threw in the new mgnv, but there's not much point using it in this release as nothing uses it.

Looks very nice here. Tested by playing an avi off the network and by flashing back to an older release.

I'd love quick feedback on whether this is all now OK as we could go final with 1.4.4.4 and also drop the new graphics into the latest 1.4.4.5 alpha.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 05:52 AM

Some early feedback of my own - the help text at the bottom of the setup screen is blue on grey - not very easy to read.
Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 05:55 AM

How Much space do you think we can have for website graphics if we can't use the files out of the img dir? We should beable to fit the website and images within 100k depending on the usergroup requirements. Cgi scripts would be on top of this i would think.

I guess it depends on how much other software we need to fit in. I don't think that 100k is a silly budget.

I think we should definitely aim to make all CGIs into one big multi-launch binary. I'm not sure what of the currently functionality (other than screenbmp) we want to retain but putting all of this into screenbmp shouldn't increase its size by much.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 06:03 AM

fat32 problems

I did this -
cd /cdrom
cp -r /img .
ls img

I've had the copy die, the ls die, all kinds of problems. These also occur on my 1.4.4.4-pre2 firmware.

I need to try going back a few versions and see when this started to go wrong. Maybe it's always been broken?

It only seems to happen when there are lots of files in the directory.

Ian

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 06:05 AM

Some early feedback of my own - the help text at the bottom of the setup screen is blue on grey - not very easy to read.
IanYes I knew it might be an issue. This is one of the two things I might need to correct in a new version (let's see if you manage to find the other one)... :p

nhousty

09-17-06, 06:42 AM

EmuMannen

One thing my wife pointed out is that the yellow around the icons would look nicer if it was a grey. I'm not sure if you want to have a look at how easy it is to read being in a grey. But other than that she finds it a whole lot nicer than the original.

I might take you up on your offer for some graphics for the webpage, i'm tryin to do everything using css but I am having problems with IE being able to view it properly. Firefox has no problems at all (but then again i design with firefox not IE).

If you have a look at my website I posted you can see what i'm trying to do with the graphics. ( I have removed the magenta background for a transparent one).

Nick

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 07:01 AM

I might take you up on your offer for some graphics for the webpage...

Nick
Nick, just give me a brief description of what you want it to look like (e.g. video screen, banner or whatever) and the size you want (e.g. 32x128). You could also specify a max or target file size (less migh impact quality). Please also indicate if you want transparency but keep in mind that backgrund color of web page might impact (if using alpha on edges, I usually use anti-aliasing but I could avoid it if you want transparant background but still want the freedom of changing the background color trough CSS, it might affect edges of any graphics but can usually be sorted).

Your wife is right. Grey would be nice but I designed to the original wish of "blue and gold" (not blue and silver) :p

Please let her take a look at the latest version since I found the one I originally did (without seeing it on a tv-screen) a bit too colorful and "busy". It will be a bit more toned down from now on and I wouldn't mind making a "blue and silver" clone out of it (but keeping some yellow works quite nice)...

Thanks for the feedback anyway...

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 07:05 AM

Feeling productive today. Made a new gfx-pack to tackle the issue reported by gadgetmind. MG35-144-ENG-THEME-NG#H.zip is uploaded to Yahoo Groups (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mg-35_firmware_mods/files/MG-35%20Graphics/). It uses the same palette as rev. G so no need for another patch of dvdplayer.bin. Just replace the gfx-files with the ones in rev. H.

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 07:09 AM

Yes I knew it might be an issue. This is one of the two things I might need to correct in a new version (let's see if you manage to find the other one)... :p

Well, the Size: and Date: at the bottom of the list screens is also blue on grey.

I'm afraid that I don't use the MG-35 for photos or music or DVD ISOs, so haven't explored many other bits.

Ian

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 07:15 AM

Well, the Size: and Date: at the bottom of the list screens is also blue on grey.
Also corrected in rev. H :D

What about the dialogs with a check- and x-mark (now pale blue background), is there still a fauling box drawn to erase background when moving left and right between check- and x-mark?

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 07:52 AM

http://www.foxhill.co.uk/MG35-1.4.4.4-pre3.zip

No changes other than graphics.

Looking very good!

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 07:56 AM

What about the dialogs with a check- and x-mark (now pale blue background), is there still a fauling box drawn to erase background when moving left and right between check- and x-mark?

No, these now look great. In fact, it all looks great!

I just wish I could solve my fat32 problem. I've gone back to newgui3a and it still happens. I think it might be due to unmounting and remounting the disk. Or something!

It's not a huge issue, but it is of concern.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 08:28 AM

fat32 problems

I did this -
cd /cdrom
cp -r /img .
ls img

I've had the copy die, the ls die, all kinds of problems. These also occur on my 1.4.4.4-pre2 firmware.

Now solved. busybox only had the default 4k of stack. Now upped to 32k and seems OK. Will have to ponder whether, 1) This is enough, 2) Whether anything else I built needs more.

People tend to chuck 262144 in as the stack size for elt2flt but this just seems mad to me.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 09:23 AM

If you have a look at my website I posted you can see what i'm trying to do with the graphics. ( I have removed the magenta background for a transparent one).

The index.html text colours need a tweak to handle the new graphics.

jpeg atteched to show the issue. I guess I can just hand edit the CSS file if you tell me what to change.

Ian

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 09:36 AM

No, these now look great. In fact, it all looks great!
Yes, looks like we finally naild it... Only one thing I want to change, it will be done in next pack (rev. I).

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 09:45 AM

Yes, looks like we finally naild it... Only one thing I want to change, it will be done in next pack (rev. I).

New palette? If not, it's dead easy for me to pop out a new version. I'll probably also release a new alpha with these graphics in at about the same time (subject to new CSS colours)

I'll also patch the flthdr on BusyBox in both 1.4.4.4 and 1.4.4.5 as it's a very benign activity that doesn't require a rebuild of the code.

Ian

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 09:49 AM

Revision I just uploaded to Yahoo Groups (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mg-35_firmware_mods/files/MG-35%20Graphics/). New palette (dvdplayer.bin needs to be patched) and some minor tweaks. This will be the last revision for this theme if everything works ok.

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 10:14 AM

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 10:33 AM

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 10:55 AM

Is there anything obvious I should check to make sure I got the right graphics/palette in?

Ian
Yes, dialogs with check and x-mark is now grey (for better contrast of labels in info OSD). Thats it...

geos

09-17-06, 11:08 AM

for the firmware download in the yahoo group there are currently 2 groups
Developer Releases
Non-Developer Releases

which is good for the person building and coding the firmware but from this side of the fence (new owners of a mg35 ) may i recommend changing the groups

#1 Developer Releases - use at your own risk
#2 Testing Release - please report bugs to ??? use this list of items to test and so on
#3 Stable Release - Enjoy and please contribute if you can

in the versioning system currently you use alpha,pre
I would also recommend dev,tst,stable to match the grouping

this will keep thing as plain as day for new people that want to help test

teddystacker

09-17-06, 11:26 AM

geos

09-17-06, 11:43 AM

I'm lucky to have matching socks so im not going to comment on hues and shads of color.

telnet - ok
ftp - ok but does act funny depending on client (blaze ftp,cuteftp)
www - not running

local and network movies - ok
ip in fucntion selector is proper
ip in network settings still last octet wrong

for help tesing we need to name screens this may be done in the yahoo group pictures and # them all or soemthing like that

still testing

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 11:47 AM

ip in network settings still last octet wrong

Is this the IP in the GUI? What gets displayed in the lower RHS of the 1st screen after selecting the network?

If this also happens in 1.4.4.4, then something *very* odd is going wrong as very little is new in this build.

But the www not working is fine. There is no web server in 1.4.4.4 :)

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 11:52 AM

A photograph of the bad IP screen, or a BMP from the web browser if using a recent alpha, might let me better understand what's going wrong.

Ian

teddystacker

09-17-06, 11:55 AM

Ok, Tested MG35-1.4.4.4-pre4.zip

Presume something went wrong here?

Sky blue backgroud no where near as nice as previous versions - Royal blue stood out much better and loked awesome..
White txt on gray backgound at the very bottom of the browser almost impossible to read..
Overall graphics look very washed out , no where near as vibrant as all previous releases..

Presume the Pallet got screwed soemwhere

Have not tested any functions , as family want the MG-35 for the evening and we already moaning about the GUI (Thats good I guess , as they must have been so impressed with the V 3.0 gui)..but I gues this is what testing is for..
'

teddystacker

09-17-06, 11:57 AM

I fully intend that this be renamed/versioned 1.4.4.4 final and released to Yahoo groups, so please give it a right good test.

Ian

hope not :-)

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 11:58 AM

I am happy todo this, if Ian and the other guys agree - I am still geting 4-5 emails a day on average asking "which is the best formware for me" - and I am sure this would help reduce this even further..

Whatever works for people. I'm not sure that we really need three levels of software, but it's not really any more work.

I keep copies of *all* the upgrades I release (but not all my internal testing ones) and can easily do a slight tweak to any version.

Someone has just PMd me regards a Linux upgrade builder, which will make life massively easier for me. I have currently automated updating VERSION and building the IMG, but after that it's by hand. I can have the script also build the final zip (with README extracted), archive the release, and even send it to my web site.

If it can also post to this forum, I can retire. :)

Ian

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 12:09 PM

You know the score, here's pre4

http://www.foxhill.co.uk/MG35-1.4.4.4-pre4.zip

Graphics i and busybox with larger stack.

I fully intend that this be renamed/versioned 1.4.4.4 final and released to Yahoo groups, so please give it a right good test.

Thanks

Ian
Functionality seems ok, graphically fair but still far from perfect. The problem is that it will always be a tradeoff between the dialog boxes and info OSD for example. At least we now know how to handle it.

What I would like you all to think about is the following. We could stick with the current theme (rev. I, with grey dialog) or the one before that one (rev H, with pale blue dialog). There is one more option as I se it and that would be to drop-in the default pale yellow dialogs (but with current glyphs for yes and no). What do you think?

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 12:10 PM

ip in network settings still last octet wrong

Um, do you mean the network settings screen in setup?

Do you have dhcp turned on? If so, everything else (IP, netmask, etc.) is totally irrelevant - these are the settings that are used if dhcp is off.

Ian

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 12:13 PM

Ok, Tested MG35-1.4.4.4-pre4.zip
Presume the Pallet got screwed soemwhere.
Good for me that I kept a copy of the "Royal Blue" theme but give the new one a chance, I bet it will grow on you... ;)

teddystacker

09-17-06, 12:27 PM

you think?

@Rob,
Doubt it will grow on me, and I am So grateful for all your work here,so please dont think I am "putting you new theme down"

I have been amazed my the reaction from my family , as they also loved the royal Blue theme , as its so easy to read..

For Me MG35-1.4.4.4-pre1 (Not sure what Rev Letter that had) was almsot there ,I can live with dialogues not being quite right , but the overall colours very VERY good I think - the Blue backgrounds was nice and vibrant and really made things like the movie reel and musical not graphics really stand out.
As I say,the sky blue just makes alsmot everything washed out and looking more akin to the GUI of the Original al Tech,as oppsed to your superb "upgrade" in MG35-1.4.4.4-pre1...

As I say I am just tell it from what me and my family see it , and by no means it a criticism of all the hard work you have put into this..

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 12:35 PM

hope not :-)

Hey, I'm keeping out of it!

But I quite like the new graphics and have upgraded our main box to alpha6.

Anyway, it's easy enough for people to drop whatever palette/graphics they want into firmware should they want a different "theme".

Ian

teddystacker

09-17-06, 12:40 PM

Hey, I'm keeping out of it!

But I quite like the new graphics and have upgraded our main box to alpha6.

Ian

but Alpha 6 has the old Royal blue theme? - not the Sky Blue one? , am I missing something here? or did my box get screwed somehow? ie are we seeing different graphics?

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 12:45 PM

Now solved. busybox only had the default 4k of stack. Now upped to 32k and seems OK. Will have to ponder whether, 1) This is enough, 2) Whether anything else I built needs more.

Yes, lash needed a stack boost. Everything now seems happy.

The symptom was odd errors while running shell commands and the prompt getting corrupted. Please report any other similar issues.

Sadly, boosting the stack didn't help hush or msh. :(

New BusyBox stack size in 1.4.4.4-pre4 and both in latest (unreleased) alpha.

Ian

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 12:45 PM

As I say I am just tell it from what me and my family see it , and by no means it a criticism of all the hard work you have put into this..
It's all about taste. Royal Blue was too vibrant for me but I will finish it for you and your family! I will submitt both the "Royal Blue" and "Sky Blue" and maybe we can have firmwares with both?

teddystacker

09-17-06, 01:04 PM

It's all about taste. Royal Blue was too vibrant for me but I will finish it for you and your family! I will submitt both the "Royal Blue" and "Sky Blue" and maybe we can have firmwares with both?

Phew! , I am glad about that , and I know many others will be,its been a real treat to see the Royal blue evolve over the last few weeks from its first version and to loose it would have been a great shame indeed..

Ian says that its "easy Enough" for people to add their own pallets and graphics to make themes , well sadly, me and I would reckon 95% of Mg-35 userts dont have those skills,and will continue to rely on guys like you and Ian to provide these for us.. So I am VERY grateful you are willing to support both themes..

You are correct when you say "its a matter of taste"..

Later on I will do some screen shots of the New Skyblue theme and post them at the Yahoo group , and then create a poll to see which users like best , will be a good indication for us all..

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 01:10 PM

It's all about taste.

For me, it's mostly about readability and not having any colours that are obviously bogus!

Ian

PBee

09-17-06, 01:12 PM

Updated to 1.4.4.4-pre4 and i like the colorscheme.

In earlier versions some text was difficult to read (the files in the directories)

but everything is clear and readable now.

geos

09-17-06, 01:16 PM

Um, do you mean the network settings screen in setup?

Do you have dhcp turned on? If so, everything else (IP, netmask, etc.) is totally irrelevant - these are the settings that are used if dhcp is off.

Ian

yes that is what i mean
so going to the network settings does not actually show you the IP
great :)

then this is fine

geos

09-17-06, 01:21 PM

It's all about taste. Royal Blue was too vibrant for me but I will finish it for you and your family! I will submitt both the "Royal Blue" and "Sky Blue" and maybe we can have firmwares with both?

just thinking out loud

does the filename.upgrade just unpack files into folers ?

if so could we not make theme_A.upgrade with just the files needed ?

mikegebb

09-17-06, 01:23 PM

Hi chaps

The upgrade went well, graphics are fantastic, my wife thinks I've purchased a new box, she nearly started divorce procedings ....lol, then I showed her the how it was upgraded ..Phew!! ... I live to tell the tale ;)

Again chaps, spot on with those graphics, it has taken away the cheapness of the box. spot on. :p

cheers

Mike G

teddystacker

09-17-06, 01:34 PM

mikegebb

09-17-06, 02:17 PM

@Mike,

Are you talking about the Graphics in 1.4.4.4-pre4 ?? or a different version of the GUI?

sorry in my excitement forgot to mention it was the latest upgrade 1.4.4.4-pre4

tried all functions, ndas, telnet, usb. all is working well, I had a problem with the stock firmware showing photo's and playing background music, played one track and it stopped playing music :( , but the new firmware is fine :) , it continues to play on, what a great bunch of chaps you all are, I thank you all, might even buy another one now ;)

Mike G

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 03:05 PM

just thinking out loud

does the filename.upgrade just unpack files into folers ?

if so could we not make theme_A.upgrade with just the files needed ?

Not really.

All of the files are packed into an archive called a cramFS and this is then packaged into the .upgrade.

The process of building a .upgrade with new graphics is -
1) Unzip the graphics to get the palette file, img directory and logontsc.jpg
2) Run a utility to stick the palette in dvdplayer.bin
3) Copy the the new img dir, logontsc and dvdplayer.bin over to the directory with the rest of the release.
4) Run mkcramfs
5) Make the upgrade (currently a copy and a utility but about the get easier)
6) Test it

OK, so there are a few steps, but so does typing your shoelaces!

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 03:08 PM

so going to the network settings does not actually show you the IP
great :)

The easiest way to get your IP is just to select the network icon and look in the bottom RH corner of the screen.

I'll cross this one off the bug list. :)

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 03:10 PM

maybe we can have firmwares with both?

It looks like every other feature of 1.4.4.4 has been settled, so I'm happy to build releases with both sets of graphics.

But I *really* don't want to do this for the 1.4.4.5 alpha series - I'm far more interested in functionality and giving everyone a good development base for their own personal ideas/projects.

Ian

teddystacker

09-17-06, 03:24 PM

It looks like every other feature of 1.4.4.4 has been settled, so I'm happy to build releases with both sets of graphics.

But I *really* don't want to do this for the 1.4.4.5 alpha series - I'm far more interested in functionality and giving everyone a good development base for their own personal ideas/projects.

Ian

Well I guess being as some of us dont have the skills , we have to go along with what you guys are papared to to build for the masses... Maybe as a compromise would be:- -as the "user in the Street" features are added to the PRE releases , then maybe two differnt Gui versions can be built.I dunno , I am just thinking out loud really , just dont want to stop using (and promoting to the masses) / testing the latest builds , just bacause I dont like the GUI.. maybe its time for me to stop the testing etc and just wait for final builds?

Ian , do you plan to Use the New Sky blue graphics in alpha7?? or keep the Royal blue ones?

EmuMannen

09-17-06, 03:25 PM

It looks like every other feature of 1.4.4.4 has been settled, so I'm happy to build releases with both sets of graphics.

Ian
Royal Blue still need some polishing, I do it as soon as I get some time off (next week looks extremly busy I'm afraid)...

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 04:08 PM

Ian , do you plan to Use the New Sky blue graphics in alpha7?? or keep the Royal blue ones?

The newer graphics have fewer duff colours, but it doesn't really matter to me. As long as I don't have to do both ...

The rate of 1.4.4.5 alpha releases really depends now on the rate of submission of new features. There is some stuff I've got planned regard config, but we really now need to get stuck into reverse engineering so we can get a new GUI and improved video playing IMO.

With the base we've got in 1.4.4.5, pretty much anything can be prototyped, developed and tested without producing new firmware.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-17-06, 04:22 PM

but it doesn't really matter to me. As long as I don't have to do both ...

Dunno why I said that. Once the new Linux based .upgrade builder is available, I can write a script that will build as many .upgrades as I want with different themes, and automatically make a ZIP with them all inside with different names.

As long as people don't mind a slightly longer download, you can choose which you decide to use. Other than graphics, they will all be the same.

Whew, major schism avoided - that was close! :)

Ian

teddystacker

09-17-06, 04:38 PM

Dunno why I said that. Once the new Linux based .upgrade builder is available, I can write a script that will build as many .upgrades as I want with different themes, and automatically make a ZIP with them all inside with different names.

As long as people don't mind a slightly longer download, you can choose which you decide to use. Other than graphics, they will all be the same.

Whew, major schism avoided - that was close! :)

Ian

Sounds great , everyone remains Happy, and gives users a choice - if you continue to make the initial release to Foxhill and then post here , I will then do the uploading to yahoo and my Rapidshare archive....

geos

09-17-06, 05:23 PM

The rate of 1.4.4.5 alpha releases really depends now on the rate of submission of new features. There is some stuff I've got planned regard config, but we really now need to get stuck into reverse engineering so we can get a new GUI and improved video playing IMO.
Ian

are the codecs hardwired ? any chance of adding the missing divix codec ?
im not sure where the todo/suggestion list is going but
#1 is support more codecs if posable
#2 make the ftp end user proof (like usb function) default hdd/
#3 i could see playing mp3 via the web front end
#4 the time out from the network seems too fast (back to the start)
#5 the new look is killer but if it can be better id take that too
#6 forget ftp and ndas make a folder to map to
#7 any util for hard drive moniter like s.m.a.r.t. (temp hd maybe)

personally i dont see the need for email/weather if i wanted this i would have got an xbox i need simple for the wife and old ppl/parents (wife and parents that dont use puters much)

any thought of GPL ing this before al tech makes it there own ?

ihateu3

09-18-06, 12:58 AM

[QUOTE=geos]
personally i dont see the need for email/weather if i wanted this i would have got an xbox i need simple for the wife and old ppl/parents (wife and parents that dont use puters much)
QUOTE]

If you ever used the xbox media center, you would relize that the weather at least is not a disruption to user friendliness at all. The weather is just presented on the screen as you navigate. It is very unobtrusive, and a very nice feature. Also a caller ID program would be nice

P.S. Shouldn't PBarette be back soon? He will be so proud of all the work that has been done sice he has been gone!

gadgetmind

09-18-06, 01:14 AM

#4 the time out from the network seems too fast (back to the start)

Yes, I keep meaning to hunt for this one. But my initial attempts to hex edit dvdplayer.bin suggest I need to better understand the flat file format!

Ian

gadgetmind

09-18-06, 02:59 AM

I guess palette patching is easy enough?

Now we have a Linux .upgrade builder*, I ought to write a Linux palette patcher. This way, I can re-organise the layout of a decompressed firmware build to have themes and kernel in the top level and everything else in a root directory.

I can then write a script that for each theme -
1) Puts the firmware name and build data into root/VERSION
2) Unzips the theme, puts logontsc.jpg and img/ into root/ directory and dvdplayer.bin into sbin/rbin/
3) Puts the theme name on the end of /VERSION
4) Builds the cramFS
5) Builds the firmware with the theme name stuck on the end.

and at the end -
6) ZIPs up all the upgrades and root/README

Should be dead easy. I'll write the palette patcher and then this script.

Ian
* - mailed to me by new member who can't post links yet. I'll stick on my web site. I haven't tried to build it yet, but it should be dead easy.

gadgetmind

09-18-06, 03:12 AM

* - mailed to me by new member who can't post links yet. I'll stick on my web site. I haven't tried to build it yet, but it should be dead easy.

Now built and works an absolute treat! Looks like it will build and run on pretty much anything.

http://www.foxhill.co.uk/mg35tool_v0.1.zip

Ian

mcowher

09-18-06, 12:55 PM

I'd like to start a similar Firmware re-write for the Modix HD-3510, but I'm not sure where to start...I have copies of various versions of the firmware.

Modix HD-3510 Firmware Page (http://www.divxtech.com/support_hd3510.html)

This player does NOT have a network jack, so I know I won't be able to Telnet/Ftp into it, but I'd like to start adding my own features if possible.

Any guidance on where to start?

I have a fair amount of electronics experience, a very small amount of Linux experiance, and I'm a programmer, but not in C....

TheKrell

09-18-06, 01:14 PM

Did anybody ever get a response from any of our direct inquires to Sigma, Al Tech, or Freecom regarding their GPL obligations?

mcowher

09-18-06, 01:22 PM

I've opened up the ".DUH" firmware upgrade file for the HD-3510 and I see some strings that lead me to believe the firmware is very, very similar to the MG-35's.

Here are some examples:

"rom1fs"

"DVDPLAYER 0.0.0 2005. 12. 24. (Åä) 13:11:34 JST"

"/home/kimskr/EM85xx/uClinux-2.4/include/linux/dcache.h"

"kernel_version=2.4.17-uc0 description=Remote control and front panel driver module author=Vincent Trinh, Fabrice Gautier license=Proprietary. Copyright (c) 2002 Sigma Designs Inc. All rights reserved. kernel_version=2.4.17-uc0 kernel_version=2.4.17-uc0"

Also, the HD-3510 supports M3U playlists, so you guys might be able to snag some code from there if we can get the source code somehow.

What can I do to pressure Modix to release the source code? Are they under the same obligations to release source code since they are using Open Source code?

gadgetmind

09-18-06, 02:24 PM

Did anybody ever get a response from any of our direct inquires to Sigma, Al Tech, or Freecom regarding their GPL obligations?

Al Tek and Freecom stopped replying to me. This is when I started the violations wiki page.

I've also been chatting to some organisations who can help, but we'll need the violations *very* well documented before they will proceed.

Ian

gadgetmind

09-18-06, 02:30 PM

Any guidance on where to start?

I have a fair amount of electronics experience, a very small amount of Linux experiance, and I'm a programmer, but not in C....

If you can program, then learning enough C to stick simple stuff together takes very little time. Trust me, I've just done it!

Your 1st jobs are -
1) Work out the .duh file structure.
2) Work out how to use a "backdoor" to reflash the box if you "brick" it.

There is a *very* strong chance that you have a very similar serial load to the one on the MG-35.

As for generally how to proceed, look back in this thread to maybe message 30-40 and then keep reading. See what we did and emulate!

Ian

Zappacat

09-18-06, 03:24 PM

2) Work out how to use a "backdoor" to reflash the box if you "brick" it.

There seems to be a backdoor on the modix manufacturer (dtsinfo) page, it works by attaching a CD-rom player to the IDE port and creating a boot disk from a iso file.

The iso file is available from ISO firmware update at dtsinfo (http://www.dtsinfo.co.kr/bbs/zboard.php?id=pds&page=2&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=10) .

By the way, is this iso file usefull for MG-35 development? It unpackes to a folder structure where I can see busybox and hkwl.o. There is no dvdplayer.bin however.

geos

09-18-06, 03:45 PM

What reason would al tech not give there code away ?

if it was freely available to mod and hack all the current mg-35 software there sales would go through the roof

they would not lose any sales
its a win win for them unless they cant keep up to the demand.

I don't get it

geos

09-18-06, 04:14 PM

After some down time I find all of you playing over at this hidden gem
http://mediagateusa.s10.forumsplace.com

is this better/suggested rather then a 3000 reply thread ?

TheKrell

09-18-06, 04:20 PM

I don't get it Actually, you do get it! It's Al Tech management that doesn't get it.

julian2875

09-18-06, 04:22 PM

hey where i get the pre 4 firmware,thx.......... :)

Teran

09-18-06, 04:28 PM

My thinking on Al-Tech...
As a manufacturer, the value of their product lies in taking off-the-shelf components and building a product that is, if not unique to the market, unique to those components. That has been the value of their product.

They should have recognized that the products proprietary value will decrease over time as designs using those components become common. Therefore, they rush to sell as many as they can before other manufacturer figure out their device. If they need to add new features, they build a new product (MG-350). Doing so moves them to a newer platform, which makes it harder for their competition to catch up. It also leaves behind any competition that can't afford to make the move.

If their competition had access to the software necessary to build the MG-35, Al-Tech would quickly have competition against that product from other manufacturers and would have to compete purely on component prices, labor, and efficiencies of supply chain, manufacturing and distribution.

They would lose what little "cash cow" they had in the product. Even worse, to them there would be an open development kit available that could be used to disassemble their current product. Any possibly their next one.

Selling more doesn't mean much when you are making that much less on each unit.

Should they release most of their code under the GPL? Sure. Are they going to?
They were sloppy and got caught cheating with the MG-25, MG-35, and even the MG-350. Rather than come clean, they are probably stalling long enough that by the time they deliver the goods on the MG-25 and MG-35 they will be ready to end-of-life those products. They'll probably either do a re-write of the MG-350 (doubtful), wait until the next product generation to properly encapsulate their proprietary code, or get out of this market space completely.

If this approximates their business thinking, then is there an alternative we could suggest that builds value for them?

I like the idea of $50 Mediagates available from lowest cost manufucturer, but I don't see why Al Tech would when they don't really own any of the rights.

Sorry to lay it on in my first post to the thread. Just doing my duty. I've read all the posts, installed your firmware, hit all the websites (really needs moving to sourceforge), and just had to chime in.

teddystacker

09-18-06, 04:29 PM

hey where i get the pre 4 firmware,thx.......... :)

Just take a look back at post #2685...

http://www.foxhill.co.uk/MG35-1.4.4.4-pre4.zip

gadgetmind

09-18-06, 04:30 PM

hey where i get the pre 4 firmware,thx.......... :)

http://www.foxhill.co.uk/MG35-1.4.4.4-pre4.zip

Ian

julian2875

09-18-06, 04:41 PM

:D thx teddy............any ideea how can i make the ndas connection faster?....iso's kinda sluggish and xvid it gets stuck when i go ff,rw..........thx julian.......

geos

09-18-06, 04:45 PM

julian2875

09-18-06, 04:46 PM

hey do you guys play xvid with ac3 audio i can't hear anything and i've seen some mpeg's that i can't hear eyther.............

Teran

09-18-06, 05:00 PM

if selling more lowers the parts cost and offereing only glp for support then lowers it more, then 15% profit now on a $100 machine vs. 15% of $50 on twice the numbers of players is still 15% profit

With an open source front end they would soon have a handful of SE Asia competitors bringing their profit down. They would soon be competing on pure price and would be lucky to keep 5% profit.

It would take a visionary leader to turn a manufacturing company into a company of the masses. I'm not sure they understand the true value of standards, much less open ones. They could still drive the market, but they would have to do it through excellence.

I'm don't think that is who Al-Tech is.

TheKrell

09-18-06, 05:47 PM

With an open source front end they would soon have a handful of SE Asia competitors bringing their profit down. From what I can tell, there are already more than a handful of competitors making very similar boxes. There are certainly a number of networked DVD players and a number of non-networked media players. All of these compete with dirt-cheap HTPCs and converted Xboxes running open source front ends.

geos

09-18-06, 05:58 PM

DELL-35 :D

hehehe

teddystacker

09-18-06, 06:09 PM

@Todd,

Welcome to the forum..

Great first post - well thought out,all seems to add up and have to agree with most of what you say..

I am sure its only weeks or months (at the outside) before we see the MG-35 cease production and I VERY much doubt we will ever see another major firmware upgrade for it from Al Tech - as I said in a post a longwhile ago here,the best we can hope for is improved firmware from the Likes of Ian,PB,EmuMannen.
With Brand New Mg-35's going for $119.99 delivered On Ebay,its pretty clear that no one is making a great deal of $ out of it.
Having said the above,i still believe is a great shame that Al tech did not develope the firmware more (adding MU3 support etc etc) , but understand the reasons they have not..

mcowher

09-18-06, 07:03 PM

There seems to be a backdoor on the modix manufacturer (dtsinfo) page, it works by attaching a CD-rom player to the IDE port and creating a boot disk from a iso file.

The iso file is available from ISO firmware update at dtsinfo (http://www.dtsinfo.co.kr/bbs/zboard.php?id=pds&page=2&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=10) .

By the way, is this iso file usefull for MG-35 development? It unpackes to a folder structure where I can see busybox and hkwl.o. There is no dvdplayer.bin however.

WOW! This is a great find....Wonder if we could make the changes directly to the contents of the ISO file to incorporate new firmware changes?

teddystacker

09-18-06, 07:08 PM

WOW! This is a great find....Wonder if we could make the changes directly to the contents of the ISO file to incorporate new firmware changes?

But that would be pointless as the hardware is almost bound to be different - the device that this was designed for,was designed to be booted from IDE and update.Its from a totally different maker , so I very much doubt that the MG-35 will be capable of doing this , but having said that, you never know - if by some chance it was, this would indeed be a great find

I am sure the programming guys will look into it just on the off chance..

mcowher

09-18-06, 07:33 PM

the device that this was designed for,was designed to be booted from IDE and update.Its from a totally different maker , so I very much doubt that the MG-35 will be capable of doing this , but having said that, you never know - if by some chance it was, this would indeed be a great find

As a Modix HD-3510 owner I'm mostly interested in how to update the firmware for it, but I'd bet this approach will work for the MG-35 as well...My guess is that the only things that will need to change are the actual .bin files inside the ISO image, but that the process will work for both models...

icabrindus

09-18-06, 07:41 PM

Hi, everybody!

Our sourceforce project is online at http://sourceforge.net/projects/mg35tools . Took a few days (never knew they are hand-approved :) ).

I don't know yet how to use CVS/SVN with it, but I will figure it out. Here (http://sourceforge.net/docman/?group_id=1) is the documentation of what services we can use. For the beginning, I think we can use at least CVS/SVN and the download space. If you agree, we can also use the tracker (for bugs) and their forum.

Unfortunately, I think you have to register if you want to post :( (I'm not sure, I have to read more about configuring the forum).

Anyhow, I think it's useful especially for developers, but everyone is welcome. I think I will start with loading AlTech's kernel into CVS, just to have a starting point (it's then easy to diff if we ever get the right sources from them). We should also upload the the code of the utilities written by gadgetmind, pbarette and all the other.

P.S. Forgot about that... For now I'm the admin ( and the only member :) )of the project, but anyone who want to contribute will get the admin privileges.

icabrindus

09-18-06, 08:01 PM

What do you prefer on the project, CVS access or SVN access to the source code? SVN alows a few more operations (e.g. file renaming), but if the majority of developers like CVS, we will use it. For now, CVS is active.

mcowher

09-18-06, 08:05 PM

Cracked open the ISO file for the HD-3510 and then cracked open the romfs.bin file and got this file listing at the root:

09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> .
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> ..
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> bin
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> cdrom
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> dev
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> disk1
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> disk2
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> disk3
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> disk4
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 43,614 dts12k.fnt
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 283,392 dts24ek.fnt
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 16,128 dts24es.fnt
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 1,076,992 dts32ek.fnt
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 14,336 dts32es.fnt
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 21,094 dtsinfo.jpg
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> etc
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 570,356 fileplayer.bin
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 8,229 fipmodule.o
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> fonts
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> img
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 331,108 khwl.o
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 357,367 linux.bin.gz
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 37,988 minimod
09/18/2006 08:54 PM 133,248 mpegplayer.bin
09/18/2006 08:54 PM <DIR> proc

All the subfolders are empty except for "bin", which has only one file called "init" and "img", which has a boatload of jpg's and png's...

Great...I'm not getting to bed anytime soon tonight...