User Manual for OzTiVo 1.6.x Install Image

So you have successfully completed Guided Setup with the OzTiVo 1.6.x Install image, you are waiting for the guide data to be indexed, and now you want to know how to use it. This document outlines the software on your OzTiVo, what it does and how it is configured. You might also want to learn how to keep your system's software up to date.

Standard OzTiVo Operations

If you haven't used a OzTiVo before, then you should read through the original user's manual:

• Introduction (0.5M PDF)
• Basics (5M PDF)
• In Depth (10M PDF)
• Messages & Setup (5M PDF)

Major OzTiVo Subsystems

Along with the normal OzTiVo features, the OzTiVo 1.6.x Install image comes with several extension subsystems. The configuration file /etc/dflt_sysinit.conf controls what commands get run. If you want to change the default behaviour, copy the "enable" lines from /etc/dflt_sysinit.conf into a new file /etc/sysinit.conf, and change the values in the double quotes. Here are the current default values:

ccxstream_enable="NO"                   # Start ccxstream
cron_enable="YES"                       # Start cron
tivoftpd_enable="YES"                   # Start tivoftpd
tivoweb_enable="YES"                    # Start TivoWeb or TivoWebPlus:
tivoweb_version="PLUS"                  #     Set to "" for TivoWeb, or "PLUS"
autospace_enable="YES"                  # Start Autospace
vserver_enable="NO"                     # Start vserver
endpad_enable="YES"                     # Start endpad
copymod_enable="NO"                     # Install /lib/modules/copy.o
emuproxy_enable="YES"                   # Start one of the emuproxy programs:
emuproxy_version="ZA"                   #     Either "2", "3" or "ZA"
report_ip_enable="YES"                  # Report the IP address at boot time
trickey_enable="YES"                    # Start trickey
k9tivo_enable="NO"                      # Start k9tivo ntp client
bufferhack_enable="NO"                  # Start bufferhack
bufferhack_size="60"                    # 60 minute bufferhack buffer size

EmuProxyZA

To alleviate the problems with transparent web proxies in ISPs, EmuProxyZA is configured and enabled by default. This tool receives the web requests made when your OzTiVo "phones home" and converts them into HTTP 1.0 requests that most web proxies can cope with. You should not have to change the configuration for EmuProxyZA; if you do, then ask for help on the OzTiVo mailing list.

OzTiVoWeb and OzTiVoWebPlus

Your OzTiVo comes with two programs that allow you to control it via a web browser: TiVoWeb and TiVoWebPlus. When your OzTiVo boots, a new OzTiVo mail message is created which tells you its IP address. If the IP address is 192.168.3.3, then you should be able to browse to http://192.168.3.3.

The default web server on the OzTiVo 1.6.x Install image is OzTiVoWebPlus, but you can change this as noted above.

One thing to note if you are using OzTiVoWebPlus is that, if you connect to it from a different subnet, you need to supply the username 'oztivo' and no password.

EndPad and EndPadPlus

EndPad and EndPadPlus are programs which run in the background on the OzTiVo and extend the recording time of shows (start and end) by the amount you specify if, and only if, that would not cause a clash with another recording. The default configuration is to try and record 5 minutes early and end a recording 15 minutes late.

The default configuration also runs EndPad and not EndPadPlus, since the newer version of EndPad is more flexible than EndPadPlus. To change the start and stop padding amounts, edit the configuration file /hack/endpad-1.5.1/endpad.config:

startpad 5 endpad 15

Trickey

Trickey is a program for the OzTiVo that watches your remote control keypresses and does cool stuff when you press certain key combinations. The key combinations and the cool stuff are both configurable. The hyperlink explains how to use it.

On the OzTiVo 1.6.x Install image, the configuration file for Trickey is in /hack/etc/trickey.conf. Here are some of the key combinations configured by default:

• Clear, 1, Clear : Show OzTiVo's IP address
• Clear, 2, Clear : Show the OzTiVo's uptime (time since last reboot)
• Clear, 3, Clear : Show the temperature inside your OzTiVo
• Clear, 4, Clear : Show the version of the OzTiVo image you are running
• Clear, LiveTV, Clear : Force a Daily Call
• Clear, 8, 1, Clear: Force a slice index
• Clear, 8, 2, Clear: Set NTSC mode
• Clear, 8, 3, Clear: Set PAL mode
• Clear, 9, 1, Clear : Set maintenance mode (redoing GS, changing IR etc)
• Clear, 9, 2, Clear : Update the Ozoztivofilesystem
• Clear, 9, 3, Clear : Install the latest station logos
• VCRBYPASS : Wake up a OzTiVo in sleep mode (only on UK or Sony remotes?)

Autospace

Autospace is an automatic free space indicator which shows up on the Now Playing screen. To disable it, create the config file /etc/sysinit.conf as noted above.

Cron: Run Commands at Predefined Times

The OzTiVo 1.6.x Install image has cron installed and configured to allow commands to be run at certain times. The configuration file /hack/etc/crontab controls what gets run at what time, and the default file has these lines in it:

# m h dom mon dow       command
5   2  *   *   0        /hack/bin/fixtivotime
5   3  *   *   0        /hack/bin/fixtivotime
0   5  *   *   *        /hack/bin/force_index.tcl
0  17  *   *   *        /hack/bin/force_index.tcl

If you want to set up your own cron jobs that will not get overwritten by upgrades, then create the file /hack/cron/tabs/root. This has exactly the same format as a normal crontab file, and all the jobs in the file will get run as the root user.

Networking Services

By default, the OzTiVo 1.6.x Install image starts up these networking services:

• The OzTiVoWeb web server,
• A Telnet service so that you can log in to your OzTiVo, and
• An FTP service so that you can transfer files to/from your OzTiVo.

As noted in PrepareTiVoDisk, be aware that Windows Telnet and some Linux Telnet programs fail when connecting to the OzTiVo. PuTTY is known to work as a Telnet client. Linux telnet works when you provide the -r switch.

Basic Network Configuration

With the 1.6.2 image, all configuration of the OzTiVo network connection is stored in the /etc/oztivo.conf file, and the startup scripts rc.sysinit and rc.net read this file to determine what to do. You should not hand-edit this file; instead, you should run the nic_config_tivo command to update the contents of the file.

The /etc/oztivo.conf file contains a set of variable=value pairs. The most important is the nic variable, which controls the specific type of networking in use, and which can have the values TurboNet, Cachecard, AirNet, OzTiVoNet, PPPonDSS or Modem.

With PPPonDSS (PPP on the serial port) and Modem (internal modem), no other variables are needed except emulator and emulatorport (see below). For all other nic settings, you must either set the ip variable to DHCP, or set ip, netmask and gateway to suitable static values.

With TurboNet and Cachecard, the timing variable controls a timing parameter on the card, and the mac variable sets the card's MAC address.

With AirNet, the ssid variable needs to be set to the wireless network's SSID. You can also set the wepkey variable to the shared WEP secret.

The EmuProxyZA web proxy uses the values of emulator and emulatorport to determine what Emulator and port to connect to. The emulator value can ne an IP address or a domain name.

Earlier OzTiVo images also had the modem and pppondss lines. In the 1.6.2 configuration file, these are now represented as nic=Modem and nic=PPPonDSS.

Command-Line Tools

There are a few command-line tools which are useful, or which you should be aware of. You can run these once you are logged into your OzTiVo by Telnet, and you have a command-line prompt.

• force_index30.tcl requests the OzTiVo to begin indexing data immediately. You can run this after a Daily Call to get you data indexed quickly.

• update_oztivo will connect your OzTiVo to the OzTiVo Emulator and download any files or programs that have changed or have been added. This is a good way to ensure that your system stays up to date. Any significant file changes will be announced in the OzTiVo mailing list. For more details on this command, see UpgradeOzTiVoImage.

• Normally, your OzTiVo's Linux partitions are read-only. The commands rw and ro make your partitions read/write and read-only, respectively.

• station_logos.sh downloads logos for Australian stations and installs them on your OzTiVo.

• bufferhack32a.tcl allows you to increase the size of your live-tv buffer from the default of 30 minutes.

• If you transfer a text file from your PC to your OzTiVo and forget to change the end-of-line markers, you can run dos2unix on the file to fix them for you.

• If you need to manually load a "slice" file, this can be done with dbload30.tcl.

• forcedailycall.tcl forces your OzTiVo to perform a Daily Call immediately.

• k9tivo is a command which runs continually and listens for NTP broadcast packets to keep your OzTiVo's clock set to the right time.

• If you think that the MFS database in your OzTiVo is damaged, you can run mfscheck -fix to find and fix any problems.

• palmod_config-Nov2004 is used to change the settings of the palmod.o kernel module, which controls the hue, saturation, brightness and size of your video input.

Software Not Enabled by Default

• ccxstream, used to stream tivo recordings to xboxes and other equipment.
• vserver, used to stream tivo recordings to mplayer clients on PCs.

Software Not Installed by Default

• The popular tool mfs_ftp is not installed on the 1.6.x image due to restrictions placed on it by the author.

Other Features

Is there anything else about the 1.6.x Install image that you would like to know about?

Back to: Software

-- WarrenToomey - 28 Sep 2006, SimonQuigley - 27 Sep 2006

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