Has anyone ever messed with DishLinux and/or tried modding a 721?

[OoTLink]

I'm curious why nobody's made a custom linux distro based off the linux that 721s and such DVRs that won't receive service soon anymore use.

That sounds like it'd be kinda fun. If all else, you could rig some stuff into the box, maybe make it a fancy Mp3 player or something.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_products/dvr_receivers/721_source_code/index.shtml

I see a little something.. it'd be cool if those with 721s could bring new life to em!

 

[ncted]

I'm curious why nobody's made a custom linux distro based off the linux that 721s and such DVRs that won't receive service soon anymore use.

That sounds like it'd be kinda fun. If all else, you could rig some stuff into the box, maybe make it a fancy Mp3 player or something.

DISH Network -- DVR Receivers

I see a little something.. it'd be cool if those with 721s could bring new life to em!

Interesting that they use xfs for the filesystem. Makes one wonder if the on-disk content is actually encrypted.

Ted

 

[UGAChance]

Interesting that they use xfs for the filesystem. Makes one wonder if the on-disk content is actually encrypted.

It is. The encryption is done by the Broadcom chip.

 

[kg4ozx]

How would one interact with the box to install the software?

 

[Smith P.]

How would one interact with the box to install the software?

Move the disk into Linux machine, mod SW - add telnet/ftp/etc and put it back.

 

[kg4ozx]

Guess I didn't think about taking the drive out of the box

This would be an interesting concept. If someone would write ( or has someone already written) an interface for linux that would make this a good multimedia box independent of the satellite service, but still remote control friendly. I guess you could also build it with the capability to have a USB keyboard/mouse and use it for a smokin' multimedia desktop machine. Could it be used for a video editing terminal?

Now you've got my imagination running. Too bad I don't have one of these boxes!

 

[kvnfl]

To play with TiVo software you pull the drive out of the box, place it in a PC as a stand alone drive and boot up with Linux CD. From there you can tinker with it. There was not much of a need to tinker with the software, just transfer it to another larger hard drive. Or run "Bless TiVo" on an additional drive.

 

[Smith P.]

TiVo is forgiven for those mods, but Dish secured 721/921 - you must find a way to to accept your changed modules by 721 boot-loader.

 

[drdroo]

There's a lot of hash checking going on in the 721, and there's a new bootloader each time they've ever upgraded the software to match the hash of the new software updates. It also self-destructs and reloads on anything it doesn't like seeing.

People have hacked the boxes to get a web server on them before and things like that, but any information I've seen was pretty limited in abilities.

I believe It's just based around an off the shelf AMD Geode X86-ish processor. The Geode is basically a continuation of the platform that Cyrix made back in the day.

As it goes I'm rather disappointed my 721 I can't even use as a sat box anymore. I'm glad I have a spare 311 in case my 722 goes tits up.

 

[Smith P.]

Nope, BL did not change long time ago [F052 ?] . It could be disastrous to change BL inside of this type of STB if the process would stuck ( no IEEE1149 port, BGA flash, etc ) at factory, I'm not telling about hobby.
With each new SW came special file what is taking care about verification of number and a content of modules.

 

[drdroo]

Every time I took a 721 update it said "updating bootloader", so something was going on. I believe the way the platform is designed is documented.

 

[Smith P.]

No.
You reading and interpreting misleading messages.

Your believing is not correct this time.

 

[kb7oeb]

TiVo is forgiven for those mods, but Dish secured 721/921 - you must find a way to to accept your changed modules by 721 boot-loader.

That has not been true for several years regarding Tivo. Its been estimated that half of the boot time on a current model Tivo is spent verifying hashes and signatures on system files.

To hack a current model requires replacing chips on the motherboard with modified versions.

 

[Smith P.]

So, same method must be implemented for 721/921 before go forward with other mods.

 

[Hall]

I'm curious why nobody's made a custom linux distro based off the linux that 721s and such DVRs that won't receive service soon anymore use.

What do you think is so special about the mods they've done with the Linux kernel and related software ? In case you weren't aware, the DVR-related software is not included in that package and is not available.

 

[UGAChance]

but Dish secured 721/921 - you must find a way to to accept your changed modules by 721 boot-loader.

Yep. Every executable file is signed. There is a way around it if you have a special file on the box.

 

[Smith P.]

Umm, may I get more details ?

 

[UGAChance]

Umm, may I get more details ?

I have to be vague. I can't give out details.

 

[Smith P.]

Dang !

Hope you could spill the beans after 721 will officially not exist.

 

[Stargazer]

Yep. Every executable file is signed. There is a way around it if you have a special file on the box.

So by going around it with the special file on the box we can get the DVR functionality back onto the receiver from another source? How would one get the content from a different source to the hard drive?