checkitout

Thanks everyone.

Obviously it is clear that the BF unit is not essential, however it goes without saying that having one allows you the flexibility to be able to use a decoder such as a Hummy etc in an IP environment.

Here a few things I plan on doing soon to hopefully lick this problem:
1. Use Greywolf Midnight instead of GW863b
2. Replace the Hummy with another decoder eg Opentel
3. Use another season interface instead of the mini season interface

If these two actions do not fix my problem I will consider getting a BF Unit and see if that makes a difference.

Is there anything else that I have missed?

Many Thanks in advance

fandtm666

1:have you tried a different serial cable as others have had issues only to find the cable was at fault.

2:if the hummy is running zic - azir - mic it will either not work at all or drop out

3;if the hummy has L207 or L209 loader it will drop out as well

4:the mini season you have i tested for 4 days straight with out a drop out prior to shipping as i do with them all

5:863b is by far the most stable

checkitout

Thanks fandtm666

.....will do shortly

Just got this info from the Hummy:

H/W version OAK-II-L 2.0
S/W Version AZIR 1.0.5.03
Device Driver AZIR 1.0.5.03
S/W last update 25 March 2002
Loader version 5.15.12.16003
Current Service History

I assume that the AZIR info may be an issue. Please confirm !!
(Does this explain why the Vertical channels do not drop out but horizontals do?)

The loader version above does not seem to match either L207 or L209. Please confirm !!

About Items 4 and 5 .... I also agree on. Thanks for the feedback

checkitout

Ok here is an update -

Changed the serial cable with a brand new one supplied by one of our members here and it still drops out when on any Horizontal channel.

If the card is placed in the Hummy card slot directly rather than through Grey Wolf it does not miss a beat.

Have not had time to try the other elimination steps. For the moment I am leaving the hummy set to a vertical channel so it does not miss a beat.

I assume my loader is only 2.0 so atm I am not sure if this is OK or not.

BTW I had a message come up today on the screen with words to the effect of :

"Please contact Austar urgently regarding an important issue with your subscription"

I will place this in a new thread as well - curios to know if anyone has seen this before and or is this a sign of problem times ahead.

Chieflets

Piss grey wolf off and start using Newcs with card splitter.

Chieflets

z80

Wait till you see the little surprise that awaits you with newcs...

reset...ding...reset...dong...reset...ding...reset ...dong.

__________________
Disclaimer:
(all my posts are my,opinions etcetera and prone to gross
errors,ommissions,lies,generalities,and more lies or prejudices as suits me on the day )

checkitout

I have to say Greywolf is still looking god for me. My problem is unique and I will lick it sooner or later.
Having said this if I leave my Hummy on a vertical channel, my setup does not miss a beat. (and I am not using a BF unit)
Pixelation is no longer a problem for me at the moment either.

NewCS with a card splitter may be OK, but I do not have a card splitter and the last time I had NewCS going it did not give as good results as what Grey Wolf has given me so far.

LeroyPatrol

Just some feedback. Mine hasn't missed a beat over the past few weeks apart from an obscure networking issue which turned out to be the switch getting it's self in a knot! If your Humax is not being used for viewing then just leave it on a 'V' channel. Out of curiosity can you view all your H channels on your Humax? Are signal levels also good like V?

Leroy

checkitout

Yep - I can view all my Horizontal channels.

The Horizontal channels in fact also have a slightly stronger signal the vertical channels.

I will likely get a season interface soon anyway.
Once I have this I can try my Opentel box and see if that makes a difference.

Leroy
What are the versions on your Hummmy? Mine are as below:
H/W version OAK-II-L 2.0
S/W Version AZIR 1.0.5.03
Device Driver AZIR 1.0.5.03
S/W last update 25 March 2002
Loader version 5.15.12.16003
Current Service History

Thanks

LeroyPatrol

I've got the same.

Leroy

checkitout

Thanks Leroy

Now that is interesting. So you never have the hummy dropping out if you leave it on a Horizonatal channel for over an hour / over night etc?

If your setup never drops out I can rule out the Hummy as being a problem.
Now you do have a BF Unit and I do not!



Maybe z80 is right... only thing is that I can not see why the BF unit would make a difference.

As the BF unit does a serial to IP conversion and vice versa I can only think that the BF unit might have some better "synchronisation" or "stability" to always communicate with the hummy serial signal.
Obviously direct serial comms between the grey wolf and hummy may not be as compliant.

I think I will still try directly with the Opentel when I can anyway.

LeroyPatrol

It's been on a H channel for 3 weeks now. BF is the only diff. Maybe I should remove it from the loop for the exercise I have to see why the display stoped showing the channel tomorrow anyway.

Leroy

Dave001

My GWM 0.071b Gamma server hasn't fallen over yet.

ADB 8776 with hard wired season is keeping it updated, we only use the ADB to keep the server updated though, it stays on TV1 (Hor) all the time, EMM's are switched off for the all other clients, which are all running CCam 1.7.1, I hardly ever see any pixelation, and even when I do, it's very minor.

Dave

z80

you obviously never read the thread about bf430 on the old forum?



The aim was to not use pc's at the client ends....period.

Greywolf polls the bf units, the clients have NFI what the IP of the server is.
That was very important so that the guy running the server wouldn't get a visit....also each remote bf430 has a dyndns function so that the guy running the server can always find the IP of the clients...

How's that for a good reason to use bf430's on client ends?

If you can get a remote client with bf430 and humax to NOT connect I will fall off my chair.
You can power off the link, the bf, the set top, anything and it will recover brilliantly.

It is a brilliant bit of software in the way it keeps running around resetting hardware to get it to reinitialize.

So a good deal of emphasis was placed on using a BF430, a world first in that it uses a modified protocol of partial handshaking while controlling the DCD line for card reset, as per a season interface.
That remains the single reaqson why no-one could get it working with RS232/IP converters before the BF430 came along.
And they still can't....
All this was in a huge thread on the old forum with at least 100,000 hits, 1000posts etc.

There is still no program that can connect such a wide variety of clients as well as the Greywolf program.
The author deliberately limited the program to NOT be useful for commercial card sharing operators.
That was v863.

In GWM it was decided to appease the Dreambox fan club by not requiring a Humax` or Bf430 in the mix....however brecent developments have made it an essential tool.
GWM is also a beta version that will remain unfinished.

You will not get any more updates to Greywolf.

__________________
Disclaimer:
(all my posts are my,opinions etcetera and prone to gross
errors,ommissions,lies,generalities,and more lies or prejudices as suits me on the day )

LeroyPatrol

I hadn't twigged to the polling of the BF units hence not identifying the server. I have noticed that powering off the box or BF or resetting the card has resulted in a reconnect with pics. works well. Obviously with a serial connection you won't get these features.

What's the main reason for 'Mr GW' not developing this any further?

Leroy

Dave001

Looks to me like your definition of "ESSENTIAL" is actually a lot different to most peoples mate.

z80

essentially you are spot on as usual

__________________
Disclaimer:
(all my posts are my,opinions etcetera and prone to gross
errors,ommissions,lies,generalities,and more lies or prejudices as suits me on the day )

checkitout

Hi z80 - Yes you are right - I did not read that thread as I did not have the need.

Since the forum crash I now have the need and now been looking at this solution and asking the question/s.

Thanks for your input - Your explanation is great.

I will order a BF unit shortly.

checkitout

Finally got round to putting the BF into my setup last night and sure enough it has not missed a beat either on vertical or horizontal channels.

Thanks z80 you were right ....no doubt as you always are.

I believe this thread can be closed. Thanks everyone for your input.

gw1

z80's description of the BF430 is spot on, and he deserves credit for the BF430 working as well as it does. He provided the manufacturer with the technical requirements and feedback they needed to implement its season handshaking mode. Without his effort they never would have done it, as evidenced by the fact that it's exclusive to the BF430/450 family of products. No other serial converter on the market is able to do it.

The BF430 is also, in my opinion, unbelievably cheap for what it is and what it does. To try and build an equivalent device yourself, quite apart from its complex four or six layer PCB and nice metal case, would cost you twice the price. And that's not counting the many months of work its firmware represents. I'm not associated with the manufacturer or any of its distributors and I'm not saying it's any better or worse for card sharing than other approaches. But that the manufacturer is able to offer such a niche product for the price they do is quite amazing. (It'd be even better if they were able to open their source, but they probably license libraries which they're not able to distribute.)

Those points by z80 are true - Greywolf maintains an address book of its clients and pushes data out to them, meaning that the BF430 client doesn't need to be configured with the address of any server (all it does is publish its IP address at dyndns). That's the opposite to other cardsharing software, such as newcs with newcamd clients, where clients are configured with the server address and the server needn't know anything about where its clients are.

I'd like to caution people not to depend on that configuration architecture for security. Just because it doesn't contain a server address doesn't mean police can't locate the server if they find a BF430 being used for piracy. They may be too ignorant, incompetant or lazy to do so, but technically it's quite straightforward to achieve. I won't spell out how here but it's obvious to anyone who understands the technology. The risk of a pirate server operator getting caught using BF430 clients is less than if he uses Dreambox clients, and they're arguably easier to get going than Dreamboxes, but he's not absolutely safe and shouldn't think he is.

The BF430s are great for sharing your subscription card with other receivers for your own personal use, say in different rooms of your house or with your shack down at the river. It's great not having to carry your smartcards around, remembering to pack them when you go away for the weekend etc. There's nothing illegal about using the BF430 in that way, that's fair use, but if you take the next step and share your subscription with friends or relatives homes you're violating copyright law. An individual doing it on a small scale is unlikely to get caught but technically it is possible. Those who do it on a larger scale are at greater risk and even though Pay TV company losses due to internet-based piracy have been miniscule compared to that from wafer clone cards, courts issue penalties for their deterrence effect as well.

The least risky piracy option is probably borrowing a subscriber's second receiver, but even that is traceable: electronic serial numbers inside cards are indelible. So I tell everyone - if your friends or relatives want Pay TV but can't afford Foxstar then SelecTV is the way to go. The price SelecTV charge is fair for what they offer and those who care about the satellite TV industry ought to support companies trying to do the right thing.