DM920 trying several images

[YoungJules]

OK, so I'm not exactly new to satellite, but I'm struggling a little to find a good working image for the DM920. My main criteria for 'working' are that it recognizes my HD+ card (preferably in the card-slot but I have a CAM if needed), that I get more EPG than simply now and next... and that the clock shows the right time/date! I'm quite used to OpenPLI but get that they don't directly support the DM920.
So I have tried BlackHole with the OpenPLI skin...and with the CrossEPG plugin. Nice that I can see more programs coming up than simply now and next... BUT the clock doesn't seem to get set to the right time... I've tried setting it to use the transponder and/or internet time. .. but to no avail. The HD+ card might as well not exist... so no Deluxe Music HD or any other German HD goodies. Tried installing oscam, cccam... but just got more crashes.
Tried Newnigma2... great support for the HD+ card (except what appears to be a bug... if you don't watch HD+ frequently enough, the card 'expires' and can only be re-activated in a genuine HD+ supporting receiver ). But the EPG is hopeless, only ever now and next and believe me I've tried many a different combination of plugin for getting EPG info... perhaps I've missed the obvious?
OpenATV does not boot... again perhaps I missed something... why do they include a kernel file in the zip if all you load is the tar.gz file?
OpenHDF also seems not to be able to boot... again did I miss something obvious? I always deselect the save and the restore of settings to be on the safe side...
Anyone happy with the original DreamBox sw, despite the fact it doesn't appear to have been updated since 2022?

Who has advice, either general or specific? I don't want to ask the obvious question ... the one that begins which is the best ... :-D but who has tried what, is happy with, know why some of these things are not working?

Many thanks!
YoungJules

 

[DEB ChatGPT]

Hi YoungJules,

It sounds like you've tried a few different images already, but haven't found one that meets all of your criteria. Here are a few suggestions that might help:

1. OpenATV: It's strange that you're having trouble with OpenATV not booting. Make sure you're using the correct image for your specific DM920 model, and try flashing it again. If it still doesn't work, you could try asking for help on the OpenATV forum.

2. OpenPLi: While OpenPLi doesn't directly support the DM920, there are several community-built images available that are based on OpenPLi and work well with the DM920. One example is the OpenPLi 7.3 by Japhar, which you can find on the OpenPLi forum.

3. EPG: If you're having trouble with the EPG, try using a different EPG plugin. One popular option is EPG Import, which allows you to import EPG data from external sources.

4. HD+ card: It's possible that your HD+ card isn't being recognized because it's not properly inserted into the card slot. Make sure it's inserted all the way and try restarting your DM920. If that doesn't work, try using a CAM instead.

5. Original DreamBox software: While the original DreamBox software may be outdated, it's worth trying if you haven't already. It's possible that it will work better with your specific hardware than some of the third-party images.

I hope these suggestions help! Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Sky4]

Put real oe2.5 images on your Box, not images from "open-alliance ". They goes not so good on your dreambox.
Real images are: original image + gp4, newnigma 2 or merlin4.

 

[YoungJules]

OK, thanks for the advice Sky4 (and to you too ChatGPT lol).
I just installed the Dreambox firmware back onto the box and will start again from there.
When you mention +gp4, newnigma2, or merlin4 ... is that something you install on top of the official firmware, like installing a different desktop on Linux?
Thanks!

 

[MKLST2]

no, merlin and newnigma are full images based on the original OE2.5.

All your open images are based on OE1.6. That´s 15 years old.

If I was u (a newbie to Dreamboxes), I would try NewNigma2.

 

[YoungJules]

I'm not sure why you're suggesting I try Newnigma2, I already did, as I said in my post:

Tried Newnigma2... great support for the

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card (except what appears to be a bug... if you don't watch

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frequently enough, the card 'expires' and can only be re-activated in a genuine

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supporting receiver ). But the EPG is hopeless, only ever now and next and believe me I've tried many a different combination of plugin for getting EPG info... perhaps I've missed the obvious?

 

[Sky4]

for epg make a test with the plugin "epgrefresh".
and for hd+, you need a user, who send you updates.

 

[MKLST2]

I think u got a prob with the expire date if u don´t turn a HD+channel on for longer than 6 weeks.
My expire date today is 23/06/2023 and it´s updates daily for 1 more day, if I turn on a channel.

Maybe just set a timer for changing program to a HD+channel by nite. Your box must be in standby.

 

[YoungJules]

I have a paid-for card for HD+, I don't need someone to send me updates, just for it to work in the card slot. And, the fact it works in one configuration of software means it MUST be the right way up! :-D
Yeah, I get that... I added it to the EPG refresh thingy MKLST2 but it's annoying that before I realised that ... it would 'expire' and there was no way to recover it without sticking it into a "genuine" HD+ box... I guess the sw says "can I decrypt this.. nope... I give up" without realising it still needs to actually refresh the "valid until" on the card...
Kind regards,
YoungJules

@Sky4 yes, I tried EPGRefresh but still only ever got now and next... hopeless!

 

[Sky4]

We must see your Configs from the emulator. I think it's oscam, right?

 

[YoungJules]

Thanks for the various answers. I wouldn't describe myself as a newbie with DreamBox, I also have had a DM800 before, and several other Linux sat boxes...
Those asking to see the Configs of oscam... Newnigma2 ships with oscam modern, for which there is no real config to be found. It's all automatic. When I use old-style oscam, then indeed the configs are in /etc/tuxbox/config but then not really relevant to this discussion. HD+ is working fine with my card in the card-slot.
I think it's generally been good advice to keep away from the OpenXXX (PLI, ATV, HDF...) images, as they do indeed seem to be worse at supporting the hardware, crash more, and a couple don't even boot.
So I've gone back to Newnigma2, installed the latest image (9th April 2023) and I have to say it's mostly working...HD+ channels clear perfectly fine (the only one that really interests me, being a non-German speaker, is Deluxe Music HD ). Recording one channel and watching another seems to work fine (this was broken in some of the Open... images). The clock is showing the right time. The only bugbear I still have is that the EPG is not complete. It still shows only "now and next" but not for all channels!! I've discovered that, for example, on Deluxe Music I get the full EPG for the next several days. For BBC, ITV, and many other channels I still just see the frustratingly few "now and next" EPG entries. All channels are in the same Favourites bouquet and I'm using EPG-Refresh. If I set it to use PiP (picture in picture) I see it visits all the channels in the Favourties .. someone has an idea how to diagnose the problem? Log files? Some extra config I can check (I have ssh access to the box, of course...)
Thanks again already for all the advice, general and specific.

Edit:
The problem with the incomplete EPG appears to only affect channels on the satellite at 28.2E. I get the full EPG list for channels on 19.2E.
I have found some references to the fact the satellite position is wrongly coded in satellites.xml in /etc/tuxbox. The suggested fix was to change this line:

<sat flags="1" name="Astra/Eurobird (28.2E)" position="284">
to:
<sat flags="1" name="Astra/Eurobird (28.2E)" position="282">

However, even after correcting that, and re-scanning, I still have trouble with the EPG on 28.2. Anyone has any new ideas for me? Is it possible to install CrossEPG under Newnigma2?

Thanks and regards,
YoungJules

 

[YoungJules]

Well, I think I finally fixed it. I installed EPGImporter then overwrote /etc/epgimport/rytec.sources.xml with a custom made UK-only file I found on 'tinternet