its Hall2000 with that red ring light omg hahah i found some terrestrial smart boxes online that can do DVBT2-EU//UK Bands and the USA Atsc bands for when ur traveling tho its only now that i learnt about them
also the youview ended service tho the freeview can work but some old boxses can be updated so it can get smart apps by ee or so but i still think an generic good brand is best especially for the USA and UK Bands option in settting s
Recently picked up a box at Best Buy in the states, claims it can do all kinds of countries, but it doesn't have the capabilities of the HUMAX, requires an external drive, won't let you watch while recording, only pulls the schedule for 2 days out. The HUMAX would record two programs at once and let you watch at the same time, pull down the schedule for weeks in advance. At least this box just warns you "recordings are for personal use only" rather than actually encrypting them.
I eventually hooked mine up to the internet. It updated, supports all kinds of streaming now, but much of it is not available outside the UK. Even a VPN didn't fool the BBC, though it did fool Sky. One day I'mma hook up a USB port to the internal USB headers and see if I can "expand its capabilities." Too many other projects on the boil at the moment.
@@ghohenzollern mines a Humax HDR FoxT2 it has a custom firmware by HummysTV on it now tho ive not seen any major apps or 3rdparty apps for it it did have a few packages to make it read USB thats formatted to >exFat and NTFS< but no 3rdParty Apps as of yet eg: a browser prob be a cool add on. i got mine last week after watching you're vid and a few others as i find the interface using a PC to the box interesting in its self. im sure there be more Addons later unless the developer has stopped but it works wonders.
I've managed to tune in and record an HD broadcast. And indeed the resulting file will not play on any players except my HUMAX. I've had a look at the file. It appears to have normal-length Transport Stream packets which are internally encrypted. I ran a simple scan looking for repeating bit patterns, and compared those patterns with ones from an SD fie. A number of different bit patterns repeat throughout the HD file. They are 64-bits in length. The most common one is 1F9A104D51BE22E8, though a few others are somewhat common. In the SD file by far the most common repeating patterns are 0000000000000000 and FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. This would suggest that the encryption algorithm is a substitution cypher that maps each unique 64-bit number to another unique 64-bit number using the key in some way to determine the mapping and that 1F9A104D51BE22E8 is the encryption of either 0000000000000000 or FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. I've tried simply XORing the contents of the file with 1F9A104D51BE22E8 but that doesn't work. Because none of the other repeating sequences are consecutive to 1F9A104D51BE22E8 I suspect the algorithm must be more complicated. Therefore it is unlikely that 1F9A104D51BE22E8 is the actual key, though if I knew the algorithm, it should be quite possible to use it to find the key. Note: each individual PVR has its own key. So even if this worked, you'd need to look at the files yours produces to find the number that might tell you its key.
I've also noticed that the box now occasionally displays the text 'looking for updates" and has successfully upated its own clock without me connecting it to any network. I therefore wonder if perhaps it is set up to detect and use British Telecom wifi for such purpose. BT wifi is definitely set up like some cable wifi in the states that allows any BT customer to freely use 'public' BT wifi when present. It is therefore possible it may have updated its software despite my attempts to stop it, but I'm not sure how I would know for sure.
I've now tried capturing in HD with a video capture device from the HDMI port. It does a check for something called "content protection," but it only does it when it starts playing the program, so if I start a program connected to TV or monitor, wait for the check to happen, then swap to my capture device and rewind the program, I am able to capture it in HD. However, if there is any serious reception trouble on the recording, it performs the check again, so I can only do this with almost perfectly received programs.
Too much cable swapping has convinced the HUMAX to no longer output HDMI. It does briefly when initially switched on, but then goes dark, and I have to use the other outputs. I've tried resetting it, and putting the old drive back in, neither fixes the HDMI problem. I have not made any progress on the encryption, and am making do with the SD recordings for now.
I have found a free way to access the drive from windows once it is hooked up to a windows PC. The partitions are in XFS format which linux recognizes by default, but not so for Windows. I found that the trial version of a program called PowerISO allows the partitions to be read, without purchasing the pay version.
I've not had any problems recording series on it, but that was only with the old version of the software. I've not been in the UK since updating to the new version. Perhaps a factory reset will restore the old software and the functionality you're used to? But then you'll also have to prevent the software from updating as well.
@@djpaul146 Ain't technology wonderful? I remember there being something weird about how it determines what a series is. Like if there is a special episode, it might not get recorded. Or if a show is being run daily but also weekly, you might have to set it to record the daily and the weekly broadcast separately or something like that. And I wouldn't be surprised if there are internal codes that channels use to mark things as part of the same series that the PVR doesn't even show you. So they may have just gotten those codes wrong and you would never know. :(
@@ghohenzollern my box has just broken it just keeps saying please wait and that's all it saying I even left it overnight but still the same.but I managed to get one for £5 working it's a slightly different menu layout but still works but I can't get the horror channels. I get 177 channels
@@djpaul146 Hmm, sounds like the file system may have gotten corrupted, in which case a factory reset may fix it. If not, the disk may have gone bad. You could try swapping in a new disk and doing the reset again. Or maybe a cable is just loose. I found that the channel detection thing is a bit finicky. If you need to get your files off the old one before doing the reset, you can try hooking the drive to a linux machine and hopefully the files are there and not corrupt. Even if they are there, something may have gone wrong with the part of the disk where other data is stored. If you are missing channels you want, sometimes all it takes is scanning again. You can also try aligning your antenna while looking at the signal strength to make sure you are getting a good signal. Only problem is at least on the old one, the interface won't show you the signal strength for channels it doesn't detect. :(
Thanks for letting me know. Looks like this one can use WiFi as is, it was just that at that office I had to give every device individual permission to use the WiFi. It was just the way it worked at that office. Also I wasn't trying to have it connect to the internet because I was worried that an update might change the way it worked. Anyhow, I'm not in the UK anymore. Here's part 2: studio.ua-cam.com/users/videouK6F4NuO6ks/edit
I can granted that Youview is still around 😉
Love your vids man
Thanks!
its Hall2000 with that red ring light omg hahah i found some terrestrial smart boxes online that can do DVBT2-EU//UK Bands and the USA Atsc bands for when ur traveling
tho its only now that i learnt about them
also the youview ended service tho the freeview can work but some old boxses can be updated so it can get smart apps by ee or so but i still think an generic good brand is best especially for the USA and UK Bands option in settting s
Recently picked up a box at Best Buy in the states, claims it can do all kinds of countries, but it doesn't have the capabilities of the HUMAX, requires an external drive, won't let you watch while recording, only pulls the schedule for 2 days out. The HUMAX would record two programs at once and let you watch at the same time, pull down the schedule for weeks in advance. At least this box just warns you "recordings are for personal use only" rather than actually encrypting them.
I eventually hooked mine up to the internet. It updated, supports all kinds of streaming now, but much of it is not available outside the UK. Even a VPN didn't fool the BBC, though it did fool Sky. One day I'mma hook up a USB port to the internal USB headers and see if I can "expand its capabilities." Too many other projects on the boil at the moment.
@@ghohenzollern mines a Humax HDR FoxT2 it has a custom firmware by HummysTV on it now tho ive not seen any major apps or 3rdparty apps for it
it did have a few packages to make it read USB thats formatted to >exFat and NTFS< but no 3rdParty Apps as of yet eg: a browser prob be a cool add on.
i got mine last week after watching you're vid and a few others as i find the interface using a PC to the box interesting in its self. im sure there be more Addons later unless the developer has stopped but it works wonders.
I've managed to tune in and record an HD broadcast. And indeed the resulting file will not play on any players except my HUMAX. I've had a look at the file. It appears to have normal-length Transport Stream packets which are internally encrypted. I ran a simple scan looking for repeating bit patterns, and compared those patterns with ones from an SD fie. A number of different bit patterns repeat throughout the HD file. They are 64-bits in length. The most common one is 1F9A104D51BE22E8, though a few others are somewhat common. In the SD file by far the most common repeating patterns are 0000000000000000 and FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. This would suggest that the encryption algorithm is a substitution cypher that maps each unique 64-bit number to another unique 64-bit number using the key in some way to determine the mapping and that 1F9A104D51BE22E8 is the encryption of either 0000000000000000 or FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. I've tried simply XORing the contents of the file with 1F9A104D51BE22E8 but that doesn't work. Because none of the other repeating sequences are consecutive to 1F9A104D51BE22E8 I suspect the algorithm must be more complicated. Therefore it is unlikely that 1F9A104D51BE22E8 is the actual key, though if I knew the algorithm, it should be quite possible to use it to find the key. Note: each individual PVR has its own key. So even if this worked, you'd need to look at the files yours produces to find the number that might tell you its key.
I've also noticed that the box now occasionally displays the text 'looking for updates" and has successfully upated its own clock without me connecting it to any network. I therefore wonder if perhaps it is set up to detect and use British Telecom wifi for such purpose. BT wifi is definitely set up like some cable wifi in the states that allows any BT customer to freely use 'public' BT wifi when present. It is therefore possible it may have updated its software despite my attempts to stop it, but I'm not sure how I would know for sure.
I've now tried capturing in HD with a video capture device from the HDMI port. It does a check for something called "content protection," but it only does it when it starts playing the program, so if I start a program connected to TV or monitor, wait for the check to happen, then swap to my capture device and rewind the program, I am able to capture it in HD. However, if there is any serious reception trouble on the recording, it performs the check again, so I can only do this with almost perfectly received programs.
Too much cable swapping has convinced the HUMAX to no longer output HDMI. It does briefly when initially switched on, but then goes dark, and I have to use the other outputs. I've tried resetting it, and putting the old drive back in, neither fixes the HDMI problem. I have not made any progress on the encryption, and am making do with the SD recordings for now.
I have found a free way to access the drive from windows once it is hooked up to a windows PC. The partitions are in XFS format which linux recognizes by default, but not so for Windows. I found that the trial version of a program called PowerISO allows the partitions to be read, without purchasing the pay version.
Ive got one of these boxes and when i want to record a series it wunt do it like it used to and and I've got 75% hard drive space
I've not had any problems recording series on it, but that was only with the old version of the software. I've not been in the UK since updating to the new version. Perhaps a factory reset will restore the old software and the functionality you're used to? But then you'll also have to prevent the software from updating as well.
@@ghohenzollern i don't know what was wrong but its managed to fix itself 🤔🤨
@@djpaul146 Ain't technology wonderful? I remember there being something weird about how it determines what a series is. Like if there is a special episode, it might not get recorded. Or if a show is being run daily but also weekly, you might have to set it to record the daily and the weekly broadcast separately or something like that. And I wouldn't be surprised if there are internal codes that channels use to mark things as part of the same series that the PVR doesn't even show you. So they may have just gotten those codes wrong and you would never know. :(
@@ghohenzollern my box has just broken it just keeps saying please wait and that's all it saying I even left it overnight but still the same.but I managed to get one for £5 working it's a slightly different menu layout but still works but I can't get the horror channels. I get 177 channels
@@djpaul146 Hmm, sounds like the file system may have gotten corrupted, in which case a factory reset may fix it. If not, the disk may have gone bad. You could try swapping in a new disk and doing the reset again. Or maybe a cable is just loose. I found that the channel detection thing is a bit finicky. If you need to get your files off the old one before doing the reset, you can try hooking the drive to a linux machine and hopefully the files are there and not corrupt. Even if they are there, something may have gone wrong with the part of the disk where other data is stored. If you are missing channels you want, sometimes all it takes is scanning again. You can also try aligning your antenna while looking at the signal strength to make sure you are getting a good signal. Only problem is at least on the old one, the interface won't show you the signal strength for channels it doesn't detect. :(
You can buy a Humax wi-fi dongle
Thanks for letting me know. Looks like this one can use WiFi as is, it was just that at that office I had to give every device individual permission to use the WiFi. It was just the way it worked at that office. Also I wasn't trying to have it connect to the internet because I was worried that an update might change the way it worked. Anyhow, I'm not in the UK anymore. Here's part 2:
studio.ua-cam.com/users/videouK6F4NuO6ks/edit