Get your Howto's here....

[Anonamice]

Firstly let me start by saying I am a complete novice and what I am posting here is largely the work of others, in fact one in particular (cmoore) who has been very helpful. If you want to purchase any hardware I highly recommend his pricing and level of after sales service. You can find him at dreambox@amnet.net.au

I'm writing this Howto because despite the amount of research that I did in here there are some very knowledgeable people who show an elitist attitude to intimidate and refuse to help people like myself. I first came across this attitude 12 months ago (under a different username) because of this attitude became scared to try and instead chose to buy a pre-configured factory imaged box from the same gentleman who has helped me now when it broke. At the time I posted several well thought out and researched questions that were either ignored totally or shot down by particular individuals .

My attitude is to share the knowledge and pass it forward, this way when I need something in return hopefully I will have inspired someone enough to encourage their hobby and perhaps they can teach me something in return when I need it as some point in the future.

Well enough of my rant and onto the good stuff.

My Hardware:
I have a DM7025 with dual tuner (Satellite and Terrestrial), internal hard drive and a fully paid up standard Foxtel satellite installation and subscription with Gemini image.

My problem:My machine despite 12 months of good service had a corrupt image and would not boot, my symptoms were the boot sequence would progress to approx 3/4 and never finish, with the LCD screen showing "Booting". In order to resolve I needed to blow it all away and start again, in doing so I needed to learn the how’s and why’s and so these are my findings.

Now for the Howto.....You will need some basic PC and Linux skills to do this but I can assure you that despite all the doomsayers it is not that hard.

Re-imageing:
An image is the operating system of the Dreambox which is essentially a customised linux kernel with some fancy GUI interface and software written specifically fit for purpose as a decoder and PVR device. Similar to the real linux community there are multiple distributions (images) each written by different community factions and all slightly different to each other, with different features and functions. Choosing your image comes down to personal preference and your linux skills in general. By re-imaging your Dreambox you are re-installing the entire brain of the machine so beware that you will lose all of your current configuration.

Image variants include:
Original Dreambox image -
Gemini image -
Pli image -

Personally I chose the Pli image as it has more wizards and hence more friendly to newbies such as myself. Having said that I am also familiar with the Gemini image having used it for 12 months and also tried the latest version in attempting to solve my problem above. The rest of this document will refer to the Pli image, but the principles will still apply to Gemini it's just that the feature may be called something else or located in a different location (try blue-panel by default when lost on Gemini).

To re-image your machine you have 2 basic methods, "Dreamup" over a serial link and a "Null modem" and over the LAN using a web interface. I used the web interface as it is quick and simple but BEWARE that from my research it is possible to turn your Dream into a toaster using the web interface. The Dreamup method can take as long as 45 minutes to update an image verses 2 minutes for the web interface, but it is much more reliable.

To use the Web interface you will need to link your Dreambox via network cable to your LAN, and preferable have a DHCP server to issue IP addresses. Once you have that, turn off your Dreambox at the rear and then turn it on again whilst holding the "up" button on the front panel for a few moments. On the LCD panel you will see an IP address, take note of it and then go to your PC and open a web browser and add that address.

This will open up a simple one page web form, with a link to "upgrade image". Browse to the image you chose to download previously and then click the "Flash" button. BEWARE - DO NOT DO ANYTHING TO THE DREAMBOX UNTIL THIS IS COMPLETE. Once it reaches 100% then you can safely reboot your Dreambox.

On first start up the new image will start a wizard to walk you through basic setup of the machine. Do not panic at this stage, if you don't know an answer we are going to reset it in a moment anyway. If your image allows you to cancel the wizard altogether then that is ok to do.

Terrestrial (Free to air TV):
Depending upon where you live in the world the way TV is broadcast for free to air is different. To cater for this the Dreambox has a concept of a "Terrestrial file" which has all of the different world standards. The Terrestrial file that comes with most images does not cater for all areas of Australia so you will need to replace this file with an updated version, and then once this is done tell the Dreambox what area of Australia you live.

Firstly download the following file to your PC - This version is not completely up to date but covers all capital cities and major regional towns so should work for 95% of you.

You will now need to upload this file to your Dreambox and save it in the following location - /etc/tuxbox

To upload the file you will need to know some basic FTP skills. This can be done through a DOS prompt, click on Start then in the RUN box type "CMD". From here easiest thing to do is change directories to where you saved the file on your PC as it will save some heavy typing at the next steps. In the DOS screen type "FTP", then type "OPEN ipaddress" where ipaddress is the IP address of your Dreambox. You will now be prompted for a username and password. Depending upon your image this could be different but should be as follows (username: root, password: dreambox). Now use the "put" command to copy the terrestrial file to the location I indicated above e.g. "put filepath\terrestrial.xml" where filepath is the location the file was saved (not needed if you are in that directory already).

Alternatively you can use "Dreambox Control Centre" or any windows based FTP program and log into the Dreambox and use the File transfer options provided to move the file into the appropriate area.

Once you have made the changes, reboot the Dreambox via the main menu system to save the settings, as Linux does not save anything until you do a safe shutdown, otherwise if you just shutdown via the rear power switch or have a system hang up and have to reboot via the rear power switch you may find that your previous setting have not been saved.

Now from your remote hit the "menu" button, scroll down to "Setup", then "Service searching", "Tuner configuration" and chose your terrestrial tuner (DVB-T), scroll down to "Terrestrial Provider" and using the sideways buttons chose your geographic location (Brisbane for me). Then exit back 2 levels and select "Automatic Scan". Ensure the DVB-T tuner has a "yes" and then press the "ok" button on the remote. All going well it should scan and find the available channels....EASY

Foxtel (via satellite):
Firstly you need to have a valid Foxtel subscription card. This is not piracy, simply accessing your service using new hardware with better features than the standard Foxtel box. If you are wanting pirate TV then you need to hunt harder than this to get it.

Similar to the Terrestrial setup, each satellite has a different configuration which is stored in the same location as the terrestrial.xml file /etc/tuxbox. Most images will have northern hemisphere satellites so upload this file to get the ones for Australia -

Foxtel uses the Optus C1 satellite, as does Austar and Aurora. I can only vouch for this working with Foxtel but the process should be similar for the others. You will need Internet connectivity for the Dreambox for this next few steps.

Firstly a Softcam is a software emulator to mimmick the decoder within your standard satellite box, it decrypts the signal and turns it into a standard picture. You will likely need a different softcam for each service you try to decrypt (Foxtel, Austar, Aurora, etc). Foxtel uses the CCcam softcam to decrypt and Aurora uses SCAM, not sure about Austar.

From the remote hit "menu", select "plugins", select "Green" button on remote to download plugins, scroll down to "Softcams" and click "OK" to expand, then chose CCcam to download. Once complete, exit back 2 levels and select "setup", then "softcam/CI", "Softcam setup", and then use the left/right buttons on remote to chose "CCcam" option, then "Green" button on remote to save and exit, go back 2 levels again to "service searching", "Tuner configuration", select "DVB-S" tuner and then configure as per below:
- Configuration Mode: Advanced
- Satellite: Optus C1
- Voltage mode: (don't change)
- Tuner mode: (don't change)
- Tone mode: (don't change)
- LNB: LNB 1
- DiSEqC mode: (don't change)
- LOF: User Defined
- LOF/L: 10700
- LOF/H: 10700
- Threshold: (don't change)
- Increased voltage: (don't change)

N.B. Depending upon your satellite dish installation the LOF/L & LOF/H lines may be different. Go into your Foxtel box setup and lookup the configuration for LNBF and use the settings you find here.

If you plan to view multiple satellites, you will need to change the LNB LNB1 to LNB2 etc etc for each additional satellite. Unlike the DM500/600'7020 LNB configuration where one LNB setting can be used on each satellite, the DM7025 has to be setup individually for each satellite.

Now exit back 2 levels again to "service searching", "Automatic Scan" and then ensure the DVB-S tuner has a "yes" and then press the "ok" button on the remote. All going well it should scan and find the available channels.

That's it...DONE.

As I said earlier I am a novice so if I have made a few mistakes here then at least you have a damn good place to start and you can research with a sound base within the forums to find the missing info.

Enjoy

P.S. I would love to see this thread develop into a list of multiple Howto’s as a single reference point for newbies like me to come. It could be a step by step howto such as mine, or alternatively just a link to an excellent thread already posted (even on another site).

Some ideas I would like to see include:
• Card Sharing to other box’s in the house
• How to use AutoCam to switch between multiple satellite services
• EPG guide
• etc

[admin]

Great post. Its a pity no one else has bothered to thank you for it. Although its something I already know how to do , I am share there will be some members that will benefit from it. I have left some positive reputation for you.

[jonc]

Firstly let me start by saying I am a complete novice

A great read, keep up the good work.

[admin]

Great post. Its a pity no one else has bothered to thank you for it.

Except for jonc who posted at the same time

[LeroyPatrol]

It's good to have tutes, well done.

Leroy

[best4less]

Maybe the Mods can start sticking some of these good posts in the
tutorials section

It looks a bit bare in there


Ohhh By the way Anonamice that's a nice post and will help many
new users as they come to this site
looking for help.... thank you

[jamesv]

yep, totally agree b4-, thks Anon... could have done with this a couple of years ago.

specially important as this forum is not the same fountain of "written" knowledge as it used to be pre-crash (hd's not the idiot ).

cheers

[Oscar]

Havent got into that stuff but its got to be a big thankyou for helping people out.
Cheers

[Hillsbysa]

Maybe the Mods can start sticking some of these good posts in the
tutorials section

It looks a bit bare in there

Yeh, good idea. There have been some good tuts that disappear off the bottom of the list, requiring people to use the right search words. It might also reduce the incidence of the same frequently asked questions and responses that tick off some people.

[hawk]

Anonamice I just came across this while looking for information and would like to say a big thanks.

Shame its not in a FAQ or commonly asked questions section.

There seems to be a critical shortage of this sort of post and level of putting together information so less knowable members can understand whats going on.

[jonc]

Anonamice I just came across this while looking for information and would like to say a big thanks.

Shame its not in a FAQ or commonly asked questions section.

There seems to be a critical shortage of this sort of post and level of putting together information so less knowable members can understand whats going on.

If you use the Pli software in your box you will find a huge resource in our Wikipedia pages for all E1 & E2 boxes. See this link;



I have just added a pile of stuff for the E2 boxes - DM7025 and DM800
Webif
Streaming
Multicasting
and much much more

Happy viewing


PS: Anonamice's note above is on the DM7025 pages FAQ on the Pli-Wikipedia

[thatslife]

Thanks Anonamice,
Indeed this site needs people like you; I personally know how it feels to be
Intimidated. I like this site & happy to be part of it, but most of the time I feel unwelcomed. You are an asset to Austech and I wish you well, thanks for being so thoughtful.

[OzBlackKnight]

Excellent work Anonamice. I hope it inspires others, and you get all the help you need in the future.

[Godzilla]

Yeah, great work and as a fellow DM newbie found it very educational.

[zeke.damien]

now that was a great read good job

[Anonamice]

Folks,

Thanks all for the positive posts, but rather than post them here simply provide me some positive feedback on my profile will be thanks enough.

I wanted this thread to develop with other people's HowTo's so please add these here and develop this one thread into a killer list for Newbies.

Keep up the good work.

Anonamice