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https://github.com/mildsunrise/dm500-satip

📡 Kernel & firmware image to turn a DM500 into a SAT>IP server
https://github.com/mildsunrise/dm500-satip

dreambox firmware-image satip-server tvheadend

Last synced: 10 days ago
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📡 Kernel & firmware image to turn a DM500 into a SAT>IP server

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README 

        
# dm500-satip



This is an effort to build a firmware image for the Dreambox

DM500 set-top-box, that effectively turns it into a

fully-operational [SAT>IP] server, with the only job of

streaming the transport stream straight from the DVB tuner.



The SAT>IP server can be accessed directly through various client

apps, or can be fed as input to [Tvheadend]. This last option

allows you to:



 - Join multiple SAT>IP servers (and USB tuners) and use them

   as a pool: feed multiple clients, or watch TV on one while

   the other records another programme, for instance.



 - Apply DVBCSA descrambling connecting to an [oscam] server.



 - Schedule programmes for recording.



 - Filter, demux and reencode streams.



And many more.



## Install



You can download pre-made images from the [Releases] page,

or you can build them yourself, see `BUILDING.md`.



Building them yourself gives you full control over the generated

image: you can add drivers for more devices, add software (such

as an SSH server), change the default root password and more.



Some important things to consider:



 - **The firmware is provided without warranty of any kind.**

   It's been tested on multiple DM500S STBs though, and if it

   doesn't work you should be able to flash another image.

   **It has no time bombs** (see last section).



 - **This image is currently for DM500S only.** Flashing it on

   a DM500T or DM500C will get you a nice SAT>IP server with 0

   tuners, because support for the T/C frontends is missing.



   I've been unable to find a DM500T or DM500C at a decent price.

   If you have one to spare, you can donate it (contact me) and

   I'll happily implement the support, it shouldn't take much (not

   guaranteeing anything though).



If you aren't flashing via DreamUp, make sure you flash to partition

0 (labeled "CramFS + SquashFS" or similar).



### The static version



Starting at version 2.3, a 'static' image is distributed along with

the regular one.



If the regular one won't boot on your box (probably because of

corrupted flash memory) try to flash the static one. It's pretty

much the same, but uses a **read-only FS** so it'll probably work

correctly.



Because of the read-only FS, all changes you make through SSH

(including changing the root password, firewall, static IP, init

script) will go away on the next boot. If you need those changes

permanently, build your own image.



Also, a different SSH host key is generated on every boot, so you'll

need to revoke the key each time SSH gets mad.



## Usage



When powered, DM500 will obtain an IP by DHCP, and the

SAT>IP server will start. To verify that it's working, browse to

`http:///`, you should see a table listing one

tuner.



You then use it like any other SAT>IP server. For instance, to

use it with a Tvheadend server, put it on the same network and

you should see the DM500 appear in the inputs tab.



**Important:** The SAT>IP server does *not* support full TS

streaming (aka `pids=all`)! For Tvheadend users, this means you

should untick the "Full Mux Rx mode supported" checkbox if it's

ticked, in the SAT>IP server entry.



**Important:** The SAT>IP server does *not* support more than

29 concurrent PIDs! For Tvheadend users, this means you should

set "Maximum PIDs" to 29, in the SAT>IP server entry.



**Important:** The SAT>IP server does *not* support DVB-S2 (aka

HD channels)! An option [has been added in TVHeadend](http://tvheadend.org/issues/4466)

to restrict the delivery systems for a DVB card, set it.



If you found a bug or have a suggestion for the firmware image,

feel free to open an issue on this repo.



The DM500 also has an SSH server running, you can login with

`root` and password `dreambox`. Thus, **make sure the DM500 is

behind a firewall**.



## Design



**This image is not based on the official firmware.** Instead,

it's an effort to build a firmware from scratch, basing on the

efforts of the (currently abandoned) [stbx25xx-linux] project,

which ported Linux 2.6.28 to the IBM STBx25xx (the SoC in DM500).



I [forked][kernel-fork] the stbx25xx-linux project and added support

for the DM500 and a few of its hardware (reverse engineered some of

the closed-source drivers). Currently, the following hardware from

the DM500 is usable and has been tested:



 - DVB satellite frontend (STV0299), PLL tuner

 - DVB demuxer

 - GPIO (two LEDs, LNB voltage, etc.)

 - I2C bus

 - RS-232 UART

 - NE2000-based network

 - NOR flash memory



Hardware that has support but has not been tested, is not enabled

in `config_kernel` or isn't finished:



 - DVB video decoder, audio decoder

 - Audio output

 - Video output



Unsupported hardware, or hardware which hasn't been investigated:



 - DVB terrestrial and cable frontends

 - Smartcard reader

 - IR receiver



The files are put into a JFFS2 filesystem, which ends up in the

partition next to the CramFS (where a SquashFS would go, in traditional

firmwares).



The audio and video decoders need firmware blobs to be supplied, so make

sure to enable `FW_LOADER` and set `COPY_FIRMWARE` to `1` in `build-fs.sh`.

Support for the video output and audio output are also in the works.



[Buildroot] is what builds the toolchain, software, kernel, filesystem,

and calls `build-img.sh` to produce the final firmware image.



[minisatip] is the SAT>IP server implementation used by this image. It's

version 0.4 with the modifications at [the `dm500-satip-2.3` branch][minisatip-compare]

in my fork.



[SAT>IP]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sat-IP

[oscam]: http://www.streamboard.tv/oscam

[minisatip]: https://github.com/catalinii/minisatip

[tvheadend]: https://tvheadend.org/

[releases]: https://github.com/mildsunrise/dm500-satip/releases

[buildroot]: https://buildroot.org

[stbx25xx-linux]: http://stbx25xx-linux.sf.net

[kernel-fork]: https://github.com/mildsunrise/stbx25xx-linux

[minisatip-compare]: https://github.com/catalinii/minisatip/compare/0.4...mildsunrise:dm500-satip-2.3