Media & File Server Bundle for the Foxsat HDR - Release 4.0

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Most HD recordings are encrypted - shown as "Enc" in Media on the HDR.

Unless of course you have the modified settop executable, that mysteriously makes recordings like below...

hummy.png
 
modified settop executable ... hmm interesting... do you have details or are you going to force me to use my brain and google it?!

:D
 
Record everything unencrypted and on a schedule so you can put it anywhere, that's how TV should be.

Oh, side note: be careful when adding non-Freesat channels to the regular Freesat EPG using the web interface. You lose now/next EPG data on any non-Freesat channels which don't also pick up on regular Freesat, plus if you add too many you can lose the entire channel list for both modes. It's a mistake I've made a couple of times.

To be honest though, unless you're in dire need of more foreign language/religious/porn channels there isn't really much of value on non-Freesat with a regular static dish pointing towards 28.2/28.5 satellites. And even European HD channels which used to broadcast FTA seem to be going encrypted now...
 
Record everything unencrypted and on a schedule so you can put it anywhere, that's how TV should be.

Oh, side note: be careful when adding non-Freesat channels to the regular Freesat EPG using the web interface. You lose now/next EPG data on any non-Freesat channels which don't also pick up on regular Freesat, plus if you add too many you can lose the entire channel list for both modes. It's a mistake I've made a couple of times.

To be honest though, unless you're in dire need of more foreign language/religious/porn channels there isn't really much of value on non-Freesat with a regular static dish pointing towards 28.2/28.5 satellites. And even European HD channels which used to broadcast FTA seem to be going encrypted now...
My next project was investigating how to include non-Freesat channels - more research methinks before I take the pill.
 
Updated 4.1.1 + NASmount
Installed & operational
Excellent - Truly Many thanks

For information -
Web interface shows: "Total space: 890.2G Used: 759.8G (90%)"
Media List shows: "HDD 85%"
df shows:
/dev/hda4 25806300 234108 24261288 1% /mnt/hd4
/dev/hda3 933451388 796658816 89375924 90% /mnt/hd3
/dev/hda2 102772 4140 93412 4% /mnt/hd2
/dev/hda1 2071416 70104 1896088 4% /mnt/hd1
 
Pretty impressive solution on the whole. I'd also noticed that the disk free figure in the web interface didn't match the list on the box. I had the Humax box go away in the middle of a copy the other day which was annoying - couldn't quite work out why that happened.

Only comment I'd make is about something in the README. There are instructions for running fix-disk to check things over - thought I'd do that first, but the instructions don't mention explicitly that you need to install the telnet daemon before you can telnet to the box. Pretty obvious in a way but when my telnet connections bombed, I then wondered whether I needed to install something and found the telnetd in the list of available packages.

Other than that, liking it so far and wondering why I didn't install it ages ago!
 
Custom firmware is indeed marvellous. I barely used the box before I installed that, now it's getting an hour or two use a day rather than per week.
 
as you know there is an option via the web interface / EPG to set a recording, after you do that, it prompts you that in order for it work you need to reboot, is there any way round this, like when you do it via the web interface it will take immediate effect just like as if you were using the GUI on the box itself

i *presume* the reason for this is its reliant on a file being written that probably doesnt then get invoked till next boot, but am interested to know what this file is and to explore the possibility of some workaround for reloading this file on the fly

thanks for any info :)
 
as you know there is an option via the web interface / EPG to set a recording, after you do that, it prompts you that in order for it work you need to reboot, is there any way round this, like when you do it via the web interface it will take immediate effect just like as if you were using the GUI on the box itself

i *presume* the reason for this is its reliant on a file being written that probably doesnt then get invoked till next boot, but am interested to know what this file is and to explore the possibility of some workaround for reloading this file on the fly

thanks for any info :)

The recording schedule is stored in a schedule file on the hard disk. (reserve.info if I remember correctly). The foxsat reads this file at boot up. It's this file the CF edits. Without actually hacking into the Humax settop application which controls the box presumably it's the only way to force the file to be re-read. Apart from the encryption hack all the CF runs on top of the Humax code.
 
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Yep, assuming the recording isn't same day and you're going to be switching the box off anyway it's not a big deal. At least with the web interface or telnet you can do a warm reboot so you're not stop/starting the hard drive.

Only problem I'm having with the web interface is that it seems to get sluggish during FTP transfers and/or completely drops requiring a telnet "service stop mongoose / service start mongoose". Installing the servermon plugin didn't seem to help sadly.
 
Yep, assuming the recording isn't same day and you're going to be switching the box off anyway it's not a big deal. At least with the web interface or telnet you can do a warm reboot so you're not stop/starting the hard drive.

Only problem I'm having with the web interface is that it seems to get sluggish during FTP transfers and/or completely drops requiring a telnet "service stop mongoose / service start mongoose". Installing the servermon plugin didn't seem to help sadly.

Works for me, if I stop Mongoose it re-starts by itself. There was a bug in the first released version. Have you checked for an update ?

http://www.avforums.com/forums/17881740-post630.html
 
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What I like to do in these cases is find what causes the crash in the first place but I don't know enough about the Foxsat HDR to guess anything other than "out of memory" issue.
 
What I like to do in these cases is find what causes the crash in the first place but I don't know enough about the Foxsat HDR to guess anything other than "out of memory" issue.

General consensus is that the processor hasn't enough grunt :D
 
Fair enough, seems like a solid point. As I said in another thread, I'm still amazed that the Foxsat HDR is capable of outputting through four video connector types and five audio types simultaneously while also recording 2 HD channels and watching another HD recording on top of that while also streaming a HD clip or two across the LAN so I'm not about to complain. :D
 
as it happens, often, the recordings are the same day, and the box has never been switched off in 4 years. and as people are watching their programmes in one part of the house invariably when i wish to set a recording remotely via the web interface for that night, there isnt a choice of rebooting (as i wouldnt know when there was someone in the middle of watching something)

just goes to show everyone and their needs are different :thumbsup:

hence me asking my original question, thanks to Graham anyway for clarifying what i thought would be the case

shame the custom firmware cant use the same protocol for setting a scheduled recording (ie, sets it for recording without needing a reboot), instead of a file that only gets read at boot

but its a small point, the cherry on top so to speak of what is a great job by all involved!

:smashin:
Yep, assuming the recording isn't same day and you're going to be switching the box off anyway it's not a big deal. At least with the web interface or telnet you can do a warm reboot so you're not stop/starting the hard drive.
 
Thank you so much for this fantastic software, its simply brilliant.
That said, here are a couple of tweaks that would really gild the lily:

  • Multiple file select in web media view. Especially if it had a "select all viewed option". I manually prune videos and this would save me time.
  • A "Save as Pushmail alert" (if installed) button when searching the EPG.
  • Delete empty folder when last file deleted in the web interface.
And finally, a non web interface one:
  • RSYNC (would be useful with NASmount)
Thank you!
 
as it happens, often, the recordings are the same day, and the box has never been switched off in 4 years. and as people are watching their programmes in one part of the house invariably when i wish to set a recording remotely via the web interface for that night, there isnt a choice of rebooting (as i wouldnt know when there was someone in the middle of watching something)

:

As is my understanding, it's a good idea to have the box off overnight so it can boot at 3am to do a housekeeping cycle.

Potential future feature request there though - ability to see what the box is recording/playing/sharing, perhaps at the top of the page just under the pie chart for HDD free space or something. I'd find that useful too. Only a small thing though.
 
as it happens, often, the recordings are the same day, and the box has never been switched off in 4 years. and as people are watching their programmes in one part of the house invariably when i wish to set a recording remotely via the web interface for that night, there isnt a choice of rebooting (as i wouldnt know when there was someone in the middle of watching something)

The web interface does warn you if it's recording when a reboot is required, but not playing back, I think.

cheers, Martin
 
The web interface does warn you if it's recording when a reboot is required, but not playing back, I think.

cheers, Martin
Both in fact. It performs a simple check for TS files in use in the video folder (excluding 0.ts of course) so will warn for both recording and playing back.
 
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