Thesissample.pdf

8/12/2019 Thesissample.pdf

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Module Number

Module Title

Thesis Title

Student Name

Student Number

Supervisor Name

Submission Date

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the degree of Your Programme


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Table of Contents

LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................................... 5

LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................... ............................ 7

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................... 8

ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................... 9

Chapter 1..................................................................................................... ........................................ 10

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 10

1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 10

1.2 Background................................................................................................................................... 10

1.3 Problem Definition....................................................................................................................... 11

1.4 Aims of this Project...................................................................................................................... 11

1.5 Methodology................................................................................................................................. 11

1.6 Contribution.................................................................................................................................. 12

Chapter 2..................................................................................................... ........................................ 13

LITERATURE OVERVIEW..................................................................................................... .......... 13

2.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 13

2.2 Card Sharing the Basic Concept............................................................................................... 13

2.3 Pirate Decryption......................................................................................................................... 13

2.4 Multiple Receiver Use................................................................................................................. 14

2.5 Political Issues............................................................................................................................. 14

2.6 Smart Card Piracy....................................................................................................................... 15

Chapter 3..................................................................................................... ........................................ 16

SATELITTE CARD SHARING REQUIREMENTS........................................................................ 16

3.1 Laptop: Acer Aspire V5 Thin and Light Specifications........................................................... 16

3.2 Internet Connection: Virgin media Super Hub........................................................................ 17


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3.3 Dreambox 500 Satellite receiver............................................................................................... 18

Dreambox Ethernet Specifications.................................................................................................. 18

3.4 Satellite Dish................................................................................................................................. 19

3.5 20m Ethernet Cable CAT 5 or 5E............................................................................................. 19

3.7 Software: Laptop or Desktop Operating system..................................................................... 20

3.8 OSCAM (Open Source Conditional Access Module)............................................................. 20

Chapter 4..................................................................................................... ........................................ 23

STEP BY SETUP............................................................................................................................... 23

4.1 Planning and downloading phase............................................................................................. 23

4.2 Connecting Dreambox to TV...................................................................................................... 27

4.3 Sky Card/Box Key....................................................................................................................... 28

4.4 CCCAM Edit................................................................................................................................. 28

4.5 Using personal Sky Card............................................................................................................ 31

4.6 Card Sharing in your Home....................................................................................................... 32

4.7 What is a C line?.......................................................................................................................... 32

4.8 What is an F line?........................................................................................................................ 33

4.9 External Card Sharing my contribution.................................................................................... 33

4.10 Setting up Dyndns Name......................................................................................................... 34

4.11 Restrictions................................................................................................................................. 34

4.12 IP and Mac Address Rules...................................................................................................... 34

Chapter 5..................................................................................................... ........................................ 36

How to use your Satellite box..................................................................................................... ...... 36

5.1 What are these options for?..................................................................................................... .. 36

5.2 How to Use the Remote............................................................................................................. 36

5.3 How to Access the Video........................................................................................................... 38

5.4 How to Use the EPG (Electronic Programmer Guide)........................................................... 39

5.5 How to Setup Up an EPG........................................................................................................... 40

5.6 What is the Bouquest/Favourites? And how to use Bouquest/ Favourites......................... 40

5.6 How to Use the Bouquest/ Favourites Function..................................................................... 41

5.7 How to use the web interface built into the Dreambox.................................................. ........ 44

5.8 How to you use the web interface............................................................................................. 45

5.9 What are some of these links?.................................................................................................. 46

5.10 The ZAP option.......................................................................................................................... 47

5.11Timer and Edit options..................................................................................................... .......... 50


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5.12 Satellite Box Control Options (Sending a message to your TV)........................................ 50

5.13 Using the Online Remote Control........................................................................................... 51

5.14 Configurations Option..................................................................................................... .......... 52

5.15 Channel Information Option..................................................................................................... 53

5.16 How to use the Web built interface on your mobile phone................................................. 56

5.17 Controlling your Dreambox from your smart phone............................................................. 57

5.18 Smart phone control section.................................................. .................................................. 58

5.19 Smart phone Timer/Record function...................................................................................... 59

5.20 How to Setup and Run You Personal Movie Player/Media Centre................................... 60

5.21 Movie Player First time setup.................................................................................................. 60

5.22 Web interface..................................................................................................... ........................ 62

5.24 The Movie Player Options and Settings................................................................................ 65

Chapter 6..................................................................................................... ........................................ 66

Discussion of results.......................................................................................................................... 66

Chapter 7..................................................................................................... ........................................ 67

Conclusion........................................................................................................................................... 67

Chapter 8..................................................................................................... ........................................ 68

Recommendations for further work................................................................................................. 68

............................................................................................................................................ 69


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LIST OF FIGURES

F 1 A ............................................................................................................................. 16

F 2 ........................................................................................................... 17

F 3 D 500 ......................................................................................................................... 18

F 5 E ......................................................................................................................... 19

F 4 D ........................................................................................................................... 19

F 6 ...................................................................................................................... 20

F 7 ..................................................................................................... 20

F 8 H CA .................................................................... 21

F 9 C D ............................................................................ 23

F 10 D ............................................. 24

F 11 ................................................ 25

F 12 D 500 ........................................................................................ 26

F 13 F D .......................................................................................... 27

F 14 D C C .................................................................................. 29

F 15 D C C ........................................................... 29

F 16 D C C I ...................................................... 30

F 17 D C C I ............................................................. 30F 18 D C C .............................................................................. 31

F 19 B ........................................................................................................... 32

F 20 1 H D 500 ................................................................................... 37

F 21 2 H D 500 ................................................................................... 37

F 22 , G, B B ......................................................... 39

F 23 EG (E G) ...................................................................................... 39

F 24 B/ ..................................................................................................... 41

Figure 25 Creating Bouquest/favourites......................................................................................... 41

Figure 26 Type of Bouquets/favourite............................................................................................. 42

Figure 27 Adding a new Bouquets/Favourites............................................................................... 42

Figure 28 Creating Bouquest/favourites......................................................................................... 42

Figure 29 The type of Bouquest/favourites.................................................................................... 43

Figure 30 Types of satellite within the Bouquets/favourites.................................................. ...... 43

Figure 31 New Services.................................................................................................................... 43

Figure 32 Selecting channels to add to Bouquets/Favourites..................................................... 44

Figure 33 Online web interface........................................................................................................ 45

F 34 1 I ....................................................................................... 46

F 35 2 I ...................................................................................... 46


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Figure 36 Selecting the ZAP option................................................................................................. 47

Figure 38 Selecting a Radio Station using the online interface.................................................. 48

Figure 37 Selecting a TV channel using web interface................................................................ 48

Figure 39 View Movies stored on hard drive.................................................................................. 49

Figure 40 View route files and folders............................................................................................. 49

Figure 41 Using online web interface to edit timer........................................................................ 50

Figure 42 Control Tools..................................................................................................... ................ 51

Figure 43 Sending a message to Dreambox using web interface.............................................. 51

F 44 .......................................................................... 52

F 45 C ........................................................................................................... 52

F 46 C ........................................................ ............................. 53

F 47 C ............................................................................................. 53

Figure 48 Web interface Screen shot of Sky sports..................................................................... 55

Figure 49 Using web interface to stream audio............................................................................. 55

Figure 50 Using a smart phone to access web interface............................................................. 56

F 51 .......................................................................... 57

F 52 ................................................ 58Figure 53 Smart phone control using web interface..................................................................... 58

Figure 54 Using smart phone to select satellite............................................................................ 59

Figure 55 Timers smart phone web interface................................................................................ 59

Figure 56 adding a web interface to VLC player........................................................................... 60

Figure 57 adding a web interface to VLC player MAC version................................................... 62

Figure 58 Setting up the stream function........................................................................................ 63

Figure 59 Setting up the stream function second image.............................................................. 63

Figure 60 Adding the movie player plug-in..................................................................................... 64

Figure 61 Selecting the movie you like to view.............................................................................. 64

Figure 62 Rewind, play, pause and forward option...................................................................... 64

Figure 63 Video buffering.................................................................................................................. 64

Figure 64 Additional information about the film you are watching.............................................. 65

Figure 65 Making small changes which can improve performance........................................... 65

Figure 66 Results from testing the system over one week.......................................................... 66


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LIST OF TABLES

1 A ......................................................................................................... 17

2 ....................................................................................... 17

3 D 500 .................................................................................................... 18

4 D 500 E ..................................................................................... 19

5 D ....................................................................................................... 19 6 E C .................................................................................................... 19

7 D F I F ....................................................................... 21

8 D F I F A ..................................................................... 21

9 D F I I B & D ......................................................... 21

10 C .... 22


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Over the ??? years I have studies at university of Middlesex there has always been

people which have stood by me in my education, success can only be achieved with

valuable support and advice of family, friends, students and members of staff. I

would like to take this moment to thank the Lord God Almighty for his abundant

Grace and Mercy which has seen me through my education. Secondly I would like to

thank the following people which have been a constant support from the beginning

????. Finally I would like to thank my supervisor ???? who has given me great

support throughout the life span of my project without his guidance it would have

been extremely difficult to complete this project.


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ABSTRACT

Over the past five years I have realised the extra monthly cost subscribers incur

when adding an additional satellite box which receive the same channels to their

current subscription. I have also bared whiteness to the financial strain this can place

on a family or individual which wishes to have more than one point of access to a

pre-paid TV services. Through this project I will demonstrate how users can break

free from the extra month to month cost of a multi room subscription and further

more demonstrate how they can share their subscription with other family member

which does not have a Sky or Virgin Media connection. Unfortunately due to thenature of this project there is not much information on the web or in books

concerning the history or the future of this type of technology. This has made I am

very much limited to my own personal study and experience of making and using this

type of system.


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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

In this chapter I will discuss the background of the technology used to implement a

card sharing network including the evolution of satellite communication and the

internet. I will also discuss the following: problem detention, aim's of the thesis,

methodology and my contribution.

1.2 Background

Satellite Television has come a long way from the first satellite signal which was

relayed from Europe to the Telstar satellite which was over North America in 1962.

Satellite television signals are normally high geostationary orbit roughly 35.000km to

37.000km above the earth's equator. Satellite television starts with a transmitting

antenna which can be found in any uplink facility, the satellite dishes used at uplink

facilities are extremely large as much as 10 to 13 meters in diameter which causes a

more accurate aiming and very much improved signal strength for the satellite in

adverse weather conditions.

Now in the 21st century mainly across Europe and North/South, American satellite

television has quickly become the normality for many people to have within their

home or business.

The internet as we all know is a global system which host many interconnected

computer networks the use the internet protocol suite which is TCP/IP to serve

billions of users worldwide. The internet began in the 1950s with the development of

electronic computers, packet switched networks like ARPNET and Telnet where

created in the late 1970s using many different protocols. Within the year 1982 the

internet protocol suite which is TCP/IP was standardised, the idea of a worldwidenetwork of interconnected TCP/IP networks named the internet was finally

introduced.

Whilst on my one year of work placement from Middlesex University to LOCOG

(London Organising Committee of the Olympics and Paralympic Games) I was

asked two question by my uncle. He asked me if it was possible to setup a system

which will stream his current sky subscription to other rooms in his house similar to


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the sky multi room setup, he also asked me if it was possible to share his

subscription with other people who do not have a sky or virgin media connection. At

the time I did not have any answers to his question but his questions stirred up an

interest in satellite television and the possibility of setting up my very own multi room

service and possibly sharing this service with family and friends over an internet

connection.

1.3 Problem Definition

Sky digital use card pairing with all Sky digital boxes such as Sky+ and Sky HD.

Card pairing involves the combination of a viewing card to one specific STB this

prevents one card (including subscriptions) being used on many different digital

satellite boxes. During every Sky installation the engineer will start a call back

procedure from the STB to Sky using your modem and telephone line, during this

process your Sky digital box transmits details of the viewing card number and the

box key of which is being installed. After this process it is not possible to view

premium packages such as Sports and Movies on any other digital box except thedigital box in which the viewing card has been paired with.

The card within the satellite box is notably usable to view non-premium channels

such as Sky1 but when trying to watch a sports or movie channel and error message

will be displayed when trying to use a viewing card which is not paired with the

satellite box it is being used on. This is a major problem as it does not give any

flexibility to the end user and limits them to only one card subscription per satellite

box.

1.4 Aims of this Project

The aim of this project is to do the following:

1. Develop a card sharing satellite box which enables users to use a single Sky

card on multiple satellite boxes using an Ethernet connection.

2. Provide a card sharing satellite network which allows users to share their Sky

subscription with other users around London or the UK.

1.5 Methodology

1. Required Equipment:The user equipment should be the following:

Dreambox 500, Internet connection, Ethernet cable and null cable modem. If

any of the equipment fails to work it is important to replace the faulty part with

a working replacement.

2. Design: The design of the system can vary depending on the way your

internet is setup. If you are with Virgin media or BT you will receive what they

call a home hub which is a combination of both a modem and a router, for the


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purpose of this project I find it best to use a separate modem and router to

help maintenance.

3. Installation: The installation of the system must be done in order to achieve

the best performance, first the card server must be setup with an static IP

address followed by the setup of the routers port forwarding features to

enable sharing from one house to another house, if you do not decide toshare channels from one house to another you do not have to set the router

for port forwarding.

4. Testing: The testing of the project will be done by running the system

continuously for one week hopefully spotting any defects such as system

crashing. I will log the results of my test on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

5. Maintenance: To maintain the system I will be performing regular restarts of

the server once every two to three days.

1.6 Contribution

My contribution to this project is the ability to share your Sky subscription with usersaround London and the UK using the internet with an Ethernet cable. currently this is

not possible due to the issues I have spoken of section 1.3. I plan on developing a

card server which is capable of sending viewing card information to multiple satellite

receivers, I plan on achieving this buy using softcams (Software Conditional Access

Modules) and hardware which runs and open sources operating system such as

Linux. Finally to analyse and evaluate the proposed system I aim to test the

functionality and capabilities of this system for a period of one week. I will gather

results based on my perception of how the system works.


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Chapter 2

LITERATURE OVERVIEW

2.1 IntroductionIn this chapter I aim to give an overview of the card sharing concept, due to the

nature of this project not much information was available for me to compare hence

why I have chosen to give an over view of the idea of satellite card sharing. This

overview will focus on four areas of card sharing I will cover Pirate Decryption,

Multiple Receiver Use, Political Issues and Smart Card Piracy. I hope this overview

will give you a better understanding of satellite card sharing across Europe,

North/South America and some parts of the Caribbean.

2.2 Card Sharing the Basic Concept

Card sharing is a method used to allow multiple clients or digital satellite boxreceivers to access a subscription television network with only one valid viewing

card. This is achievable by electronically sharing part of the original conditional

access smart card's output data, allowing all clients which have access to the card

sharing network to gain simultaneous access to scrambled digital video broadcasting

streams held on the encrypted network. The security of conditional access smartcard

technology is limited by the security of the digital video broadcast standard in which it

operates. The normal procedure of an original smart card is to decrypts an

entitlement control message, which then provides the control word, which allows the

viewing of scrambled channels. To apply card sharing techniques the smart cards

security features are bypassed with software which intercepts the decrypted controlword and allows the user to share the content on the viewing card across a computer

network. Once a client receives this key, the satellite receiver caring the

corresponding key is able to decrypt the encrypted content as though they were

using their own subscription card (Eurasip, 2011).

2.3 Pirate Decryption

Card sharing is established as a popular method of pirate decryption. Most of the

equipment developed for card sharing is mainly taking place in Europe(East) and

Asia (China), where national foundries mean that home users are able to receive

satellite television signals from many countries but are unable to legally subscribe tothem due to licensing restriction on broadcasters. Due to the length of the control

word being only 64bit, sending the control words to many different clients is made

possible using a home internet connection as low as 256 kbit/s. This technology has

given people the tools to be able to start card sharing groups, in which users can

access the group by sharing their subscription cards with the group, and in turn

being able to receive the channels which all users can decrypt as if they owned

every single subscription card which is connected to the network. Other networks


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have been made whereby many cards are connected to one server which is then

distributing the information on each card across the network to clients which have

paid for a subscription (AMPA, 2013).

2.4 Multiple Receiver Use

The correct use for card sharing is the sharing of the control word within a homenetwork, where the subscriber has permission from the television network to decrypt

their signal, using one smart card. Content providers usually provide another satellite

box with an additional smart card at an extra cost. For example Sky multi room which

is used here in the United Kingdom. In some cases the contract between the

subscriber and the content provider implicitly or explicitly prohibits this kind of card

sharing(NDS, 2013).

2.5 Political Issues

Within Canada and many other Caribbean islands apart from the Dominican

Republic, the black market in satellite television piracy is closely linked to the grey

market activity of using broadcasting signals to view broadcast intended for another

country in total or neighbouring countries. There are some small countries which

have no domestic DBS operation and no legal restraints on the use of satellite

decoders which capture foreign signals. Most or if not all satellite providers have

limited their subscription to viewers within their country of broadcast which has led to

the situation where pirate decryption is recognised as one of the few methods to

obtaining a particular broadcast. The absence of a domestic satellite provider for

premium channels such as sports, movies and box office lead into the creation of

grey markets (users subscribed using another address) or black market (pirate)

system. The use of card sharing has also given viewers an access point to go

around the local blackout restrictions placed on sporting events and hard-core

pornography where some content is not otherwise available. It could be possible to

have over a thousand channels in North America, but only for the signal pirates as

many legal and geographic restrictions are placed on the ability to subscribe too

many if not most of the physically available channels. Other countries including

Nicaragua during the Sandinista rule, Cuba, Iran (The Islamic republic of Iran) and

Afghanistan during the Taliban rule and Iraq during the Saddam Hussein regime,

have all made attempts to prohibit their citizens from receiving any satellite

broadcast from foreign counties. The situation in Europe is very different to the one

faced in North America and other South American countries due to the much greaterlinguistic diversity within Europe and the UK, the use of standardised DVB receivers

capable of receiving multiple providers and free-to-air signals. The providers within

the united States of America such as DirecTV, DISH Network and many others

usually lock their subscribers into a package which does not allow subscribers to

watch any channel outside of their subscription; most TV receivers are sold for low

prices and the subscription cost for programming is increased in order to benefit new

subscribers over existing subscribers. Satellite providers are also very well known for


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tactics such as bundling, the disadvantage of this technique is that when a user

wants to subscribe to one channel they would have to subscribe to a block of

channels which contain the one channel they wish to subscribe to at a substantial

cost. Some European companies like BSKYB (British Sky Broadcasting) do not allow

subscriptions outside the United Kingdom and Ireland. Other satellite providers like

Sky Deutschland sell yearly subscription cards legally to customers in otherEuropean countries without the address or other personal information. This also

applies to all Adult channel cards sold in Europe.

2.6 Smart Card Piracy

During the stages of modifying an original card, it is possible to use the information

provided by the smart card to create an encryption emulator. The encrypted emulator

can be programmed into a cable or satellite receivers internal software, and offered

for download on the internet as a firmware upgrade. This allows access to the

encrypted channels by those who do not own a smart card. Recently many

underground forums and websites which are dedicated to the hobby of satellitepiracy and encrypted emulated FTA (Free to Air) receivers have been setup, giving

current and up to date information on satellite and cable piracy, also involving

available firmware downloads for receivers, and very detailed encryption system

information available to the public (Farncombe, 2009).


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Chapter 3

SATELITTE CARD SHARING REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Laptop: Acer Aspire V5 Thin and Light Specifications

Processor Memory Hard Drive Security

IntelPentiumprocessor9671.30GHz

2 MB L3cache

SupportingIntel 64architecture,

Intel SmartCache

4GB DDR31333MHz

320GBSATA

McAfeeInternetSecuritySuite Trial

MyWinLocker

Graphics Input Devices Networking

Intel HD Graphics4000 with 128 MBof dedicated systemmemory, supportingMicrosoft DirectX11, OpenGL 3.1,

OpenCL v1.1 Dual independent

display support 16.7 million colours External resolution /

refresh rates: VGAport up to 2048 x1536: 75 Hz,HDMI port up to

Keyboard 103 keyAcer FineTipkeyboard withindependentstandard numerickeypad,

internationallanguage support Touchpad: Multi-

gesture touchpad,supporting two-finger scroll, pinch,rotate, flip

Media keys: Mediacontrol keys

Acer WLAN: Acer InviLink

802.11b/g Wi-FiCERTIFIED

Supporting AcerSignalUp wireless

technology Bluetooth LAN: Gigabit

Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready

1


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1920 x 1080: 60 Hz MPEG-2/DVD

decoding WMV10 (VC-1) and

H.264 (AVC)decoding

HDMI (High-DefinitionMultimediaInterface) withHDCP (High-bandwidth DigitalContent Protection)support.

(printed onkeyboard):play/pause, stop,previous, next,volume up, volumedown

1

(Ebuyer, 2013)

3.2 Internet Connection: Virgin media Super Hub

Supportssuperfastbroadbandspeeds(100Mbpsandbeyond)

SupportsGigabitEthernet(1000Mbps)networkingon fourports

Veryeasy toset up

Lesscablesrequired

Only onepowersocketrequiredinstead oftwo

Wireless'N'standardequipmentinstead ofwireless G

NETGEARPush 'N'ConnectWi-FiProtectedSetup(WPS)option.

2

(Virginmedia, 2012)

2


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3.3 Dreambox 500 Satellite receiver

250 MHz IBMPowerPC Processor(350 Mips)2 LED statusLinux OperatingSystemFull automaticservice scanSupports directlybouquet-lists (indirectunlimited)Supports multiple

LNB-Switchingcontrol (supportsDiSEqC)1 x Smartcard-ReaderUnlimited channellists for TV/Radio

SPDI/F interface fordigital bit stream out(AC-3 / DTS)MPEG2 HardwaredecodingChannel-change time< 1 second - Fullyadaptable OSD inmany languages(skin-support)100Mbit full duplexEthernet Interface

Supports EPG(electronic programguide)1 x Scart-interfaces(fully controlled bysoftware)Video CompressionMPEG-2 and MPEG-1 compatibleVideo Standard PALand NTSCVideo Formats 4:3 /16:9

Footage 16:9,automaticassimilation for 16:9TV-Device (overScart)Letterbox percolatingfor 4:3 TV-DeviceAudio decoder:Audio compressionMPEG-1 & MPEG-2Layer I and IIAudio Mode Dual

(main/sub), StereoFrequency: 32 kHz,44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 16kHz, 22.05 kHz, 24kHzVideo parameter:Input Level FBAS 1Vss +/- 0.3 dB on 75OhmTeletext filter inconformity with ETS300 472 StandardTV-Scart:

Output:FBAS,RGB,S-VHSover OSD selectableDBS-Tuner:Frequency Range950.. 2150 MHzSignal Level - 65dBm.. - 25 dBmSignal-to-Noise Level12 dB max.DBS-Tuner InputConnector F-Type

femaleInput Impedance 75OhmAFC +/- 3 MHzDemodulationShaped QPSKInput Symbol rate 2 ..45 Mbaud/s, SCPC /MCPCFEC Viterbi andReed-SolomonViterbirate 1/2, 2/3,3/4, 5/6, 7/8,

automaticassimilationRoll-off Factor 35 %De-multiplexingaccording ISO13818-1

3 500

(Dreamdth, 2010-2013)

Dreambox Ethernet Specifications

100 MBit compatible, bi-directional interfaceFunction Update of Firmware and Pre-programmingLNB Power and polarisation:LNB Current 500mA max. ; short-circuit-proof

Serial Interface RS 232:Typ RS232 bidirectionalBit rate 115, 2 Kbit/s max.Plug Connector SUB-D-9Function Update of Firmware and Pre-programming

3 500


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LNB Voltage vertical < 14V without load, >11,5V at 400mALNB Voltage horizontal < 20V without load, >17,3V at 400mALNB shut-off at Standby-Mode

Power consumption:< 10W / 12VInput voltage:DC12V,alternating a current +/- 15%

4 500

(Dreamdth, 2010-2013)

3.4 Satellite Dish

60 CentimetreZone 2 MeshSatellite dish withwall and polemounting

Includes complete

dish and assembly

for easy to self-

install

Suitable for Sky,Freesatinstallations

Complete with

Quad LNB and 25

metre cable, wall

clips and F

connectors

5

(Amazon, 1996-2013)

3.5 20m Ethernet Cable CAT 5 or 5E

5

10/100BaseTCable High QualityCategory 5e Fully Mouldedwith rubberends

Strong StrainRelief Plugs ForNetworking orADSL

6

(Amazon, 1996-2013)

4


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Dreamup

The Dreamup software is used to help flash your Dreambox satellite server.

DYNS

Domain Registration from www.dyndns.com

Laptop InternetConnection

Dreambox SatelliteDish

EthernetCable

SkySubscriptionCard

TheDreamup

DYNSDomain

289.00 299.88 50.00 36.49 27.99 909.00 0.00 16.75Total For 1 Year

1,629.11

10


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Chapter 4

STEP BY SETUP

4.1 Planning and downloading phaseWhen setting up a card sharing server the first item which needs to be obtained is a

Sky viewing subscription from BskyB. Normally I would subscribe to a full package

with all channels but for the purpose of this project I will only subscribe to the basic

package which will suffice, if later on I decide to add more channels to the package I

can do so by going through the motions of calling Sky and upgrading my package.

The second item which is needed is the Dreambox 500, the reason why I have

selected this satellite box is due to the price it comes cheap and it is very capable of

the job I need it to do. The third item I will need is a broadband connection to the

internet this is necessary as I will need to download some software online. The first

piece of software which I will download is OpenPLi-beta-dm500-20130407-305, this

is an excellent image as it is what I call clone safe which makes the software useable

on any Dreambox Real or Clone, I will also download another software named

Dreamup which is a software that enables me to upload my image file to my

Dreambox. I will also need to download and install WinZip but more importantly

Dream Control Centre as I will need this to edit my CCCAM.

In order to use the Dream box for card sharing the first step is to flash the satellite

box with a new image. This is done by connecting the Dreambox to my computer

with a Serial to USB adaptor cable. The USB to serial adaptor sometimes comes

with a disk which I would use to install the drivers for the cable onto my computer; if I

do not receive a disk I would go online and download the drivers.

Now I am going to connect my Serial to USB cable to my Dreambox and computer,

at this current stage the Dreambox will remain unplugged, I will now launch the

software Dreamup and click on the connect button. Below figure 9 shows the

connect button which allows you to connect to the Dreambox.

9


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Figure 10 shows a log box which displays text indicating the type of box which is

connected to the laptop, in this case Dreambox 500s,

10

more text will appear in the log box, this is where I click on the flash button after

clicking the flash button I will be relocated to a window which looks like figure 11 this

will allow me to select the image I have downloaded which is OpenPLi-beta-dm500-

20130407-305.


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11

Once selected and opened I will be returned to the software Dreamup, I will be

asked if I want to perform a flash erase and I will select the NO option. During this

stage the Dreambox will now being going through the motions of being flashed, this

could take anytime between 10 to 40 minutes.


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12 500

When the flashing process has finished I will be notified in the log box, there will be a

message saying Flash Successful.


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13

I have ran into some issue when going through the process of flashing the

Dreambox, I managed to overcome this by updating the Dreamup software and

changing com ports and trying again, I have had to do this as some new version of

the Dreambox require the most recent version of Dreamup. Now the flashing of the

Dreambox is complete and successful I will click on the disconnect button and

remove the Serial to USB cable from both the Dreambox and computer.

4.2 Connecting Dreambox to TV

Now the Dreambox has been successfully flashed I can connect the Dreambox tothe TV and satellite dish, I will switch on the satellite box and go through the process

of installation which consist of choosing language, TV and time settings and then

scanning for channels, as we are in the UK I will be scanning for Sky channels which

will be found on the satellite named Astra/Eurobird which points 28c East.


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After the scan has completed I will have all the free to air channels and my

Dreambox will be ready for the next stage which is to connect the Dreambox to the

internet.

I will be using an Ethernet cable to connect the Dreambox to my router, this is

important as my router needs to be able to see my Dreambox to be able to

communicate with it, I will check my Dreambox settings to make sure it is not hidden

from my router. To make sure the Dreambox is not hidden check I will press the

menu button on the remote control and then scroll to the right and select the setup

option, I will then open the expert settings and select communication setup. Within

communication setup there will be an option to select DHCP, I will enable this option

if it is already enabled a green tick will be displayed, if it is disabled a red cross will

be displayed, in any case I will make sure that the DHCP option is enabled. The next

step is to press the Green button on the remote control to save my option. After I

have selected this option I will have to wait a few seconds and go back into the

communications setup and now disable DHCP, I will then press the Green button on

the remote control to save and exit back to the TV channels. I will now press theyellow button on the remote control twice, this will take me to an add-ons download

manager highlighted in a red colour I will press the ok button which will then allow

me to see the OpenPLi CAMS also highlighted in red, I will again select the ok button

and scroll down the page using the down arrow on the remote control until I see the

CCCAM 2.1.3 complete highlighted in red, I selected this option and press the ok

button. . I will receive two prompts asking me if I would like to install the CCCAM

2.1.3, I selected both prompts confirming this option; after the installation of the

CCAM 2.1.3 is complete I will exit back to the TV channels by pressing the exit

button on the remote control. Now that I have exited back to the TV channels I will

press the blue button on the remote control and then use the right arrow key to setthe CCCAM 2.1.3 as my default CAM and then press the ok button the save.

4.3 Sky Card/Box Key

Now I am at the stage where I can place my Sky viewing card which has all the

channel information into the Dreambox card reader slot. After inserting the viewing

card into the Dreambox card reader you will be able to watch all FTA(Free to Air)

channels, unfortunately the premium channels will not be available until the sky box

key in known, chapter 1 section 1.3 refers to the restrictions Sky has placed on their

satellite box.

4.4 CCCAM Edit

In this section I will demonstrate how I will edit my CCCAM. I will open dream control

centre and I will see a picture of a computer and a picture of a Dreambox, I will also

change the language from Deutsch to English, this can be change where the red

arrow is located.


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14

I need to add a router to the image shown in figure 14. To the left of the picture

which shows a desktop I will have a few options which are direct crossover,

switch/hub and router, I will select router and a picture of a router will appear beside

the pictures of a computer and Dreambox.

15

Placed at the bottom of the router image there will be a search button which I will

click on this will open a big box with search in the top left corner I will click on search.


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16

Figure 16 shows the Dreambox control centre searching for my routers IP address

when the search has ended I will click on the IP address to accept it as the address I

will use.

17

Figure 17 shows a list of IP address after I have accepted the IP address which

belongs to my router I will be taken back to the page where the images of the


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Computer, Dreambox and Router is, below the image of the router the IP address

will replace the word search which was used to help me scan for the IP address.

18

I will repeat the same steps to ensure that the Dreambox has also got an IP address.

When I have completed this I will click on the computer image and then click on the

reconnect button, if all goes to plan I will see the message network ok and a green

line will appear between all three pictures indicating that my network is setup, figure

18 demonstrates this.

4.5 Using personal Sky Card

As I will be using my personal sky viewing card I will need my sky box key. At theback of the sky box there should be a sticker containing a seventeen digit serial

number, I will input the box key number into an online box key generator which is

shown in figure 19 which will reply with an eight digit box key, I will write this down as

it will be in important use later on in this project. If by any chance my serial key

sticker happened to be removed from my skybox I could access my serial key

information by pressing the menu button on the sky box or remote select system

info, I will then be able to view my serial code, although the length of the serial code

at the back of the box is different from the serial code displayed on the TV screen

both the seventeen digit and eight digit code will return the same box key. The next

step is to open the Dream control centre, at the bottom left three options will beavailable Telnet, Tools and FTP I will select the FTP option and then do the

following.


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19

Step one

1) Double click on var dir

2) Double click on etc dir

3) Single click on cccam.cfg to highlight this option, I will now right click on the

cccam.cfg file and this will give me another three options which are View, Edit andDelete I will select the Edit option.

Now I have the cccam file open in edit mode I will scroll down to line 317, before

entering the boxkey I must delete the hash sign which sits on this line, the reason for

this is because the hash sign makes the current line inactive, now the

BOXKEY:/dev/sci0 11 22 33 44 is on line 317, I will replace the example boxkey with

the boxkey I received from the NDS generator, to ensure my changes are secure I

will click on the exit button which is the red cross on the top right of the open window

and then press save. After this process is complete I will restart my Dreambox as it

needs to boot up with the new changes I have made. Once the Dreambox has

booted up I will be able to view all channels including the premium channels I have

paid for.

4.6 Card Sharing in your Home

The first thing I would need to perform internal card sharing is to perform the

installation and flashing steps in chapter 4. After this process is complete steps I will

connect my second satellite box to my router, this will leave me with one satellite box

with my paid sky card inserted into it which will be called the server and the second

satellite box will be placed in another room such as my bedroom this satellite box will

be the client satellite box, in order for this satellite box to work I will need to insert myserver box C line into the file named cccam.cfg.

4.7 What is a C line?

C line is a line which carries information about the server satellite box here is the

information the C line contains in order. IP address, port number, user name and


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password, in all cases the user name and password can be decided by the user so

in this case I will decide what the user name and password should be.

Below I will give an example of a C line.

For example if the server box IP is 192.168.0.1 and I wish to share the sky viewing

card to my second satellite box in my bedroom my C line will look like this

C:192.168.0.1 19000 share1 bedroom

To find out what the server satellite box IP address is I will press the menu button on

my remote control and then scroll to the right and select the setup option after

selecting this option I will then open expert settings and then open communications

setup, this is where I will find the IP address of my server satellite box.

Now I have my second satellite box setup and connected to my router I can now

open the cccam.cfg and type in my C line address as I have shown in section 4.5

once this has been successfully entered I will close the window and then press thesave button and then reboot my satellite box. In order to receive channels from the

server the server will first need to be setup with F lines.

4.8 What is an F line?

An F line is used for internally sharing satellite TV, F lines contain the same user

name and password that are used in the C line for Example F:share1 bedroom. In

the server box I will open the cccam.cfg and scroll down to line 24 and delete the #

sign and type in F: with the user name and password I have chosen, if the user

name and password is different from the C line user name and password the client

satellite box will not be able to receive the sky satellite channels. One I have enteredthe F line I will save, exit and reboot my server. Once the server has successfully

rebooted my client receiver box will be active and sharing information, if I wanted to

add more satellite box receivers in my house I would just repeat this process again.

4.9 External Card Sharing my contribution

External card sharing happens slightly differently from internal card sharing, where

the C line for internal sharing starts with the server box IP, to begin sharing C lines

externally the C lines will start with a dyndns name. The reason why I will use a

dyndns name is because it hides my server satellite box IP address, you can make a

dyndns name anything you would like for example, if I wanted to share my serviceswith a friend called Michal as well as sharing to my second satellite box at home, I

could give my Dyndns a nick name called mike. The satellite box which will contain

the external C line will look like this C:mike.dyndns.ws 19000 share2 Michael , after

inserting this into the client satellite box I will place an F line into my server box

which will look like this F:share2 mike, once the system has been restarted all

changes will take effect enabling Michaels satellite box.


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4.10 Setting up Dyndns Name

In this section I will go through the setups taken to obtain a Dyndns name.

I will first go to the DynDNS.com which will give me a Domain name, Managed DNS,

Email Services and open an account, I will enter a Host name, select a service type,

and select your current location IP address in this case mine is 92.234.34.119. After

doing this you will need to download and install a software called DYNDNS Updater

on your laptop or PC. Now we have a DYNDNS name the next stage is to open a

port on a router, if you do not open a port on a router it will be impossible to share

your subscription externally to friends or family. I use a Cisco router which is enabled

for port forwarding. To find out more about port forwarding for any router you can

visit www.portforward.com, you will find a step by step guide into port forwarding and

setting up a static IP address, it is important to setup a static IP address before

setting up port forwarding.

4.11 RestrictionsAdding restrictions to the servers F lines are done to achieve different things, when

adding restrictions there is no need to be fancy with them unless you want to be.

Here is an example of a restriction which can be placed.

F:share2 Francis 3 0 0 {0:0:1} this means that Francis can view channels on my or

your sky card and any other card you have connected to the server at no more than

three hops away(Any more than three hops away a client will be considered as

unreachable and will experience freezing pictures ) Francis will also receive all

ECMS and any updates Sky may send out, the number 1 at the end of the two 00

means that Francis can reshare the channels on the server, if I wanted Francis thecard with a second box in his house I would simply need to change the 1 to a 2, this

would allow Francis to share the card with a second box in his house, the amount of

times a client can share is totally up to you.

4.12 IP and Mac Address Rules

Once you have finished setting up the card sharing network it is very important that

you do not have the same IP address or Mac address on two or more devices in

your home network as this will cause conflict between Satellite Boxes, PC/Laptop,

Routers and other satellite boxes in other houses that share you card.

Example of setting up Devise IP Address

You may have a router which has an IP address of 192.168.0.1 it would be wise to

set your PC a static IP address of 192.168.0.2, also set the first satellite box an IP

address of 192.168.0.3 and set the second satellite box a static IP address of

192.168.0.4. When sharing the card with family and friends their satellite boxes are

also on your network so it would be important to set a static IP address of


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192.168.0.5 as you have the power to see all IP address you can follow on from the

routers IP address and avoid IP and Mac address conflicts.

When opening ports in your router this is where you set the PC a static IP address,

you will also need to set your Dreambox a static IP address, this can be found in

communication setup, it is important to make sure DHCP stays un ticked at all times

once the IP address is set as the router may change the IP address.


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Chapter 5

How to use your Satellite box

5.1 What are these options for?

TV mode: Select this at anytime to return to watching TV Radio mode: Use this option to listen to satellite radio, then press the TV

button to return to your TV screen File mode: This gives you direct access to your hard disk if you have one

installed or to any other mounted devices Timer: Where you can setup/add/edit/delete a timer to record a TV show, or

simply change channel at a given time to watch a TV show

Setup: This where you can change any of the DM boxes settings

Games: Select a game to play on your TV Information: Information on the TV you are watching and information about

your set top box

Shutdown: Where you turn your DM box off, reboot it or restart it.

(OpenPli, 2009)

5.2 How to Use the Remote

Normal Use

Changing Channels

DM500 (the remote on the right above) Use the up and down arrows keys to change the channel or press the OK

button twice to see the channel list All other models (the remote on the left above) Use the up and down arrows or the left and right arrows to change the

channel

Selecting the Channels Lists

DM500 (the remote on the right above) press the OK button twice to see the channel list All other models (the remote on the left above) Use the up and down arrows

Selecting bouquets/favourites


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DM500 (the remote on Press the OK button t

select the bouquets All other models (the r Use the bouquets butt

Changing the Volume

DM500 (the remote on Use the left and right a All other models (the r Use the volume button

Recording

DM500, DM56x0, DM5 DM7025, DM800 - pre DM600, DM7000, DM

20 1

21 2

(OpenPli, 2009)

the right above)ice to see the channel list and then the BL

mote on the left above)n to select the bouquet you require

the right above)rrows keys to change the volumemote on the left above)

s to change the volume

00+ users see belows the RED button020 - press the VIDEO button

500

500

E button to


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5.3 How to Access the Vide

The video menus give you ac

below.

1.From the TV screen press

example below.

2.Now press the Helpbutton

3.To get more help press the

with all the commands

(OpenPli, 2009)

cess to the record button and several other

he OK button so you see the OSD popup li

and the screen above will change to be lik

help button again and these screen will pr

as shown

ke this

this.

vide you


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5.4 How to Use the EPG (El

Figure 22 shows the lower ha

buttons beginning with Red,

22 , ,

To run the EPG menu list whi

EPG menus.

23 (

Depending on the version ofEPG. In some cases other Dr

in the top left hand corner pla

highlighted (OpenPli, 2011).

ctronic Programmer Guide)

lf of the remote control, you will see four co

reen, Yellow and Blue.

le viewing a channel simply press red butto

)

our Dreambox you may have a different dieambox models have the TV or Radio scre

ing out the content on the channel you ha

loured

n to see the

play of yourn allocated

e


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5.5 How to Setup Up an EP

To change the preset style of

press the RED button twice.

Within this screen you can se

interact with the OSD/Skins.

Multi EPG Channels: This is

display under your EPG.

Multi EPG Entry Font size:

on screen.

Enable EPG Genre Colours:

Entertainment, Sports, and Fi

(OpenPli, 2009)

5.6 What is the Bouquest/F

After the setup of the Dreamb

channels, you are left with a li

channels and other data chan

a mix of over 200 hundred ch

2010).

To assort the channels into th

using the TV example I have

Now when we select TVNZ w

select any category you will o

2010).

the EPG while viewing a channel you will n

ou will be taken to this screen below.

up the electronic programme guide inform

where you setup how many channels you

his is where you setup the OSD EPG infor

This allows you to place all the categories

lm in different colours.

vourites? And how to use Bouquest/ Fa

ox has been completed and you have tune

st of Astra freesat channels. All radio chan

nels. On a normal satellite scan in the UK

nnels, radio stations and data channels (O

eir categories we setup what we call Buqu

etup a series of networks as Bouquest/Fa

e will see TV channels from New Zealand.

nly see channels from the category selecte

eed to

tion to

ish to

ation to fit

such as

vourites

all the

els, Tv

ou can find

penPli,

st. Below

ourites,

hen you

(OpenPli,


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24 /

5.6 How to Use the Bouquest/ Favourites Function

Dreambox Settings

To select the Bouquest/Favourites option you simply need to press the menu button

and then select the setup option and select the OK option on your remote control.

When this is done you will see a menu like the image below on your TV screen

(OpenPli, 2010).

Figure 25 Creating Bouquest/favourites

Now you are on this screen it is left to you to pick an option which best fits your

needs (OpenPli, 2010).

Create New Bouquest/Favourites: Setup a new favourites list on your Dreambox.

Add Services To Bouquest/Favourites: This is where you can add a new channel to

an already existing favourite category (OpenPli, 2010). (This is normally done when

your provider has added a new channel to their package for example Sky Sports F1)

Edit Bouquest/Favourites: This is where you can Edit, Delete and Rename your

favourite categories you have already setup (OpenPli, 2010).

I am going to add a new channel called DSTV from the satellites I already have.

Select the Create new bouquet option with your remote control and press

the OKbutton. Now select the TV option with your remote control and press

the OKbutton.


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Figure 26 Type of Bouquets/favourite

You will now be taken to this screen below.

Figure 27 Adding a new Bouquets/Favourites

Now complete the name of the bouquet. In this example we are doing to use theexample of dstv. As you can see the input to this screen is the same as doing a SMS

message on your mobile phone, only in this case you use your number keys on your

remote control. Once you press the OK button to complete the task you will be

brought back to the main Bouquets menu as shown below (OpenPli, 2010).

Figure 28 Creating Bouquest/favourites

Here we have to select the Add services to your bouquet option and press

the OKbutton on your remote control. Now select the type of bouquet you want to

add channels to (in this case TV) and press the OK button on your remote

control(OpenPli, 2010).


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Figure 32 Selecting channels to add to Bouquets/Favourites

Now you will be shown the entire list of TV channels on the satellite we just selected.

To add channels to the satellite simply use the arrow keys on the remote to highlight

the channel name and then press the OK button. You will see the channel name turn

from white to red. If the channel name is in red it indicates the channel has been

added to bouquet. Continue to add all the channels you want in your bouquet, and

then when you have done this press the exit button all the way back to your TV

screen(OpenPli, 2010).

5.7 How to use the web interface built into the Dreambox

This option works with all PC and MAC machines.

Every Dreambox has a built in web interface which allows you to do the following:

Change the channels on your set top box (also known as Zap)Change the bouquets on your set top box (also known as Zap)

Change the network provider on your set top box (also known as Zap)

Change satellites you are watching on your set top box (also known as Zap)

Change the volume on your set top box

Setup your set top box as a Media Centre client

Watch your set top box on your PC via the Web-X-TV link on your computer

Listen to your set top box on your PC via the APid option

Setup recordings on your set top box and change the recording timer functions

Mount network devices or computers to your DM box

Tune your dish with the Zoom and Satellite finder options, with Wi-Fi to a notebookby the dish (only if you have Wi-Fi)

To summarise the above, The web interface will provide you with complete control of

your Dreambox from any web browser like Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet

explorer just to name a few (OpenPli, 2011).


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5.9 What are some of these links?

Between the picture of the penguins and the blue navigation bar you will see the

following below:

The channel which is currently playing on your satellite box

The Now EPG

The Next EPG

A Orange a white bar where you can set the volume

34 1

Within the blue navigation bar you will see the following:

Link to the WEB-X-TV, this would allow you to watch TV on your computer or

Laptop.

A drop down menu which contains the following Box Control, Channel

information, Shutdown, About Pli

Any Hard drive information if you have one installed

Beneath the blue menu bar you will find another information bar which looks like the

image below (OpenPli, 2011).

35 2

What menu you are using in this case ZAP TV

The very import signal strength information The very important automatic gain control signal

The very important bit error rate signal which should be as close to zero as

possible

The two green dots synchronisation and lock mean you have connected to the

channel you have chosen to view

Vpid option is another way to stream video and audio from your satellite box to

you computer or laptop


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Apid option is another option to stream only audio from your satellite box to

your computer

Zoom option: this will allow you to tube the dish with a Wi-Fi notebook if you

have one

5.10 The ZAP option

Using the ZAP menu option you can:

Change TV channels

Change Radio station channels

See the type of data channels that are on the satellite you are using

You can see what you have recorded on your hard drive

You are able to see the file structure of your Dreambox

You can setup a stream and or movie player plug-in

(OpenPli, 2011)

Figure 36 Selecting the ZAP option

To use the ZAP option click on the Box Control tab and select zap from the

dropdown menu.

If you select the TV option you will be able to do the following:

All services: this will enable you to see all every channel of every satellite

loaded in your box

Satellite: This will enable you to select the satellite you want to watch TV from

Providers: The will give you a list of the TV channel providers in your satellite

box

Bouquest aka favourites: Select a Bouquest/Favourite channel you havesetup to watch


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Once you have made your choice you can select the TV channel name to change to

it (OpenPli, 2011).

If you chose the Radio option as shown below you can then select the following

All services: Every radio channel from every satellite loaded in you satellite

box

Satellite: Chose the satellite you want to listen to

Provider: Provider will display list of the Radio channels in you satellite box

Bouquest/favourite: Select a bouquest/favourite radio station you want to

listen to (OpenPli, 2011).

Figure 38 Selecting a Radio Station using the online interface

If you have a hard drive installed on your Dreambox you can also view movies you

have recorded, in this case I do not have a hard drive so I cannot store any

recordings: you will be able to do the following below (OpenPli, 2011)..

Delete any recorded movie or channel

Download any movie to your PC or laptop

Use VLC player to watch your recorded channel Recover any movies which have been corrupted

The screen shot below shows there are no videos recorded as I do not have a hard

drive attached to the satellite box. You can also see the options to Delete, Download,

use VLC for playback and Recover record channels (OpenPli, 2011).

Figure 37 Selecting a TV channel using web interface


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Figure 39 View Movies stored on hard drive

If you would like to view the structure of your Dreambox you can select the root openand you will be taken to a page which looks like the image below (OpenPli, 2011).

Figure 40 View route files and folders


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5.11Timer and Edit options

Using this option you can tell the Dreambox to ether change channel to another TV

channel, radio broadcast or tell it to record a TV or Radio programme at any time.

To do this you must select Box Control, select timer edit and then select the Add

option which is coloured in green. Once you have done this select the Type, Action,

Start/End time, Days, What to do after a recorded event, Bouquet/Favourite, Service

and description. Once you have filled in all this information press the add button to

confirm your choices (OpenPli, 2011).

Figure 41 Using online web interface to edit timer

5.12 Satellite Box Control Options (Sending a message to your TV)

When the Box control option is selected and then the control tools are selected in thedrop down menu, a new menu will show on the left hand side of your web browser

as shown in figure 42 (OpenPli, 2011).


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Figure 42 Control Tools

Send a message to your TV screen

Use the Satellite finder to tune your dish

Remote control is a web based remote control which allows you to control

your Dreambox

To use the message to TV function you simply need to click on the message2TV tab

and a screen like the one below will appear. Once this window appears you will need

to type in your message and click the send button (OpenPli, 2011).

Figure 43 Sending a message to Dreambox using web interface

5.13 Using the Online Remote Control

The online remote control offers a great option if you should ever loose or damage

your physical remote control unit. The web based remote control unit offers the same

options as the physical remote along with the same functions and features. You can

also take screen shots using the web interface and save them for future use if

necessary.

Why would you want to use an online remote control?

Alternative if you damage your remote control

Access remote site using the web

Show family and friends how things work


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(OpenPli, 2011)

44

5.14 Configurations Option

Using this option you can setup remote mounts of other network devices and also

other misc settings.

45

When you select this tab you can see all the details in full concerning the use of

using their computer as their hard drive. Although it is possible to change most of the

settings in the settings menu this option allows you to have a quick and easy access

to the satellite box (OpenPli, 2011).


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When you select the channel EPG the screen below will appear with all the EPG

information which is available to the channel you have selected (OpenPli, 2011)..

Video Channel settings enable you to select any sub settings in relation to video.

Audio Channel settings enable you to select any sub settings in relation to Audio

being played on your TV at the current moment (OpenPli, 2011)..

The Stream Information option will enable you to view the following informationbelow:

(OpenPli, 2011)


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Using the Video and Audio capture option allow you to watch satellite TV on your PC

and laptop. The first screen shot show the Video capture and the second screen shot

shows the audio capture (OpenPli, 2011).

(OpenPli, 2011)

Figure 48 Web interface Screen shot of Sky sports

And also audio

(OpenPli, 2011)

Figure 49 Using web interface to stream audio


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5.16 How to use the Web built interface on your mobile phone

If you have a smart phone that is connected to the Wi-Fi network in which your

satellite box is operating on you can take advantage of the web interface that is built

in the Dreambox. Open a browser on your smart phone and input the IP address of

your satellite box, for example 192.168.1.124 (OpenPli, 2011).

By default you will be using the starting which is the TV ZAP screen where you can

change channels on your Dreambox (OpenPli, 2011).

You can setup the following options from home or using a remote connection.(you

can only use a remote connection if you have set your router or modem to port

forward.) (OpenPli, 2011)

Record Tv channels

Stop recordings

Increase or decrease TV volume

Set the audio channel you wish to use Set the video channel you wish to use

Have a look at the EPG of the channel you are watching

Control your Dreambox

Extra help

Figure 50 Using a smart phone to access web interface

This option is awesome to use if you feel lazy to move and use the remote control.


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Figure 54 Using smart phone to select satellite

5.19 Smart phone Timer/Record function

If your Dreambox is setup with a local hard drive you have the option of recording TV

programmes onto it and setting up timer functions as shown in figure 55 below.

Figure 55 Timers smart phone web interface

(OpenPli, 2011)


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#

# Access-list to VLC HTTP interface

# $Id$

# localhost::1

127.0.0.1

# link-local address

#fe80::/64

# private address

# fc00::/7

#fec0::/10

#10.0.0.0/8

#172.16.0.0/12

192.168.0.0/16 # gives access to most LAN

#196.254.0.0/16

# The world (Removing the comments from these two lines is not safe)

#::/0

#0.0.0.0/0

Figure 57 shows what you should see when adding a web interface to VLC using the

MAC OS X.

GAB


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(OpenPli, 2013)

Figure 57 adding a web interface to VLC player MAC version

5.22 Web interface

This stage only needs to be done once or every time you change your computers IP

address.

Open a web browser such as Google Chrome or any other you have, type the IP

address of your satellite box in the address bar and then do the following:

Click the stream tab

Click the settings tab

click on edit

When the final popup window appears which, setup these settings as they apply to

you.

Server IP: The IP address of the computer where you have your DVD/CD and other

media files stored. (This IP address should be a static IP address)

DVD/CD Drive Letter: Insert your CD/DVD drive letter.

Movie Directory: The directory of which the films are allocated.After you have filled in the blank spaces click on the change button to update your

Dreambox.


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Figure 58 Setting up the stream function

At this stage you have to define the video settings for your TV depending in where

you live in the world. These changes are to be made for each file type you are

goingto use; the list is in the image below.

Figure 59 Setting up the stream function second image

The most important options to remember are:

Video rate: The bandwidth your Dreambox will take from the VLC player on your

computer.

Video Ratio: This is your TV size (This is set to PAL by default)

Auto Subtitles: If this option is deselected you will not see any subtitles while

watching your movie (OpenPli, 2013).

5.23 How Do I Run The Movie Player Plug-in

1. Press Yellow button on the remote control and you will see a menu appear like the

one in the image below. Use the down arrow key and select Moveplayer from the

options available (OpenPli, 2013).


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Figure 60 Adding the movie player pl

2. Now you should be con

shown below.

Figure 61 Selecting the movie you li

Now you will have the option

options such as File (View all

what is on a CD Drive), DVD

settings on the movie player

These options can be controll

Figure 62 Rewind, play, pause and fo

3. Now you have selected

film, a window will appear

Figure 63 Video buffering

4. The film you have selec

ug-in

nected to your computers media drive direc

e to view

o select a film you have stored, you will als

media files on your Pc or Laptop), SVCD&

View what is on a DVD drive) and Option (

onfiguration) (OpenPli, 2013)

ed by using the coloured buttons on your r

rward option

a film and pressed the OK button to watch

as shown below.

ted will now be playing on your TV.

tory as

o be given

CD (View

hange

mote.

the selected


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To get some additional

title simply press the O

(OpenPli, 2013)

5.24 The Movie Player Opti

Using this menu you can mak

getting improved performanc

(OpenPli, 2013)

Figure 64 Additional information a

Figure 65 Making small changes which

information about the film such as duration

K button and you will see a window like the

ns and Settings

e many small changes which could lead yo

s from your Movie Player as shown below.

out the film you are watching

an improve performance

and film

one below.

u into


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Chapter 6

Discussion of results

Due to time constraints I have only been able to test the card server for a period of

one week, below is a table in which I will discuss.

Key: Green (Server Working), Red (Server Crashed) and Yellow (Server Restarted)

Figure 66 Results from testing the system over one week

During my one week testing phase I tested the servers ability to stream channels

from my house to homes around the London area, I have taken results on a day to

day basis and I feel that the server performs well only crashing twice in one week.

Monday was the first say the server crashed during the hours of 3am and 6am, the

reason for the server crashing was currently unknown but my suspicions lead me to

believe the server crashed due to my broadband connection restarting for a reason

which was unknown to me. During the period of Tuesday to Saturday the server

operated well streaming TV channels perfectly across London but crashed again

during the 3am to 6am period. I contacted Virgin media who are my internet service

provider and asked them to check into my service restarting between the hours of3am and 6am, they confirmed to me saying system restart occurs every Monday

and Saturday every three months to help provide a better quality of service for all

users in the area you live in due to the high amount of Virgin media customers. The

only way to fix this issue is to move from the virgin media internet provider to another

internet provider which has less people using their services in the area I live in.


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Chapter 8

Recommendations for further work

Hardware Upgrade: I strongly recommend for the hardware to be upgraded from the

Dreambox 500 to the Blade BM500, The reason why I have made this

recommendation is based on the improved specifications the Blade BM500 has overthe Dreambox 500; this upgrade will most definitely improve your quality of service.

Faster internet speed: I strongly recommend improving your upload speed if you

desire to share your card information with friends or family around the UK or even

Europe, this will help prevent lags in the steaming of the channels and this can be

done by contacting your internet service provider.

Firmware Upgrade: I recommend that the firmware of your card server should be

updated every time a new firmware is released from your firmware provider, this will

help your card server decrypt channels more efficiently preventing the card server

from crashing.

Standby: The card server should be off or on standby mode in the night hours when

none should be awake to watch TV, this will help your card server run more

efficiently and help on your electric bill.


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D, 20102013. 00

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