Cost-Effective, High-Functionality, User-Friendly Replacement for Pay TV

McBain11 · 13-02-2019 12:20am

swoofer wrote: »

@McBain11 you need a piece of software that will allow you to access the file structure in the box.

Now that you have the box connected to your router and a cable to the laptop you can access the box but you must first get the IP address of the box, so go menu, system, network,decvce setup, adapter settings, now see ip address of box, write it down. exit back out. Open your browser type in ip address of box like xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:80 and hit return and voila you are using WEB IF meaning web interface, iits blue and says OPEN etc have a look round but dont mess with anything.

post back if you succeed.

I have the IP address, but all I get when I go into it through my google chrome browser - it just brings me into my virgin media hub connection where I can see the tiviar is one of the devices connected. No idea how to mess around with anything? Would I have to disable certain settings?

How do I actually get to see files on the tiviar from here? And drop picons into a folder?

Trevord · 13-02-2019 2:26pm

McBain11 wrote: »

I have the IP address, but all I get when I go into it through my google chrome browser - it just brings me into my virgin media hub connection where I can see the tiviar is one of the devices connected. No idea how to mess around with anything? Would I have to disable certain settings?

How do I actually get to see files on the tiviar from here? And drop picons into a folder?

I reckon you are using the IP of the router rather than the tiviar. If the IP ends in a 1 then you don't have the right IP - the correct IP is shown in the network sub menu on the tiviar.

Make sure you are not running a VPN and make sure that your laptop is on the same wifi network as the tiviar (only an issue if you have more than one wifi network running in your house).

Depending on the image you are using you might encounter a username and password prompt (let us know if you get that far)

All going well you should see the WEBIF menu page if you do this properly.

To put picons on the internal memory of the box you will need to install Filezilla. No point in talking about that though til you manage to connect to the box using correct IP.

Payton · 13-02-2019 6:28pm

I connected my Tiviar to my router and then my laptop to the router with Ethernet cables as I was having a problem with my IP address. Download Filezilla Client. When you install Filezilla in the Host box put my tiviaraplus. If your asked for a username use root and password tempass and click connect.
You should see your laptop files in the left pane and your Tivar box in the right-hand pane on Filezilla.

The issue I'm having is when I drag the picon folder from my desktop on my laptop to the hdd folder on the Tiviar box through Filezilla I'm still not seeing the picons on screen after restarting the box.

swoofer · 13-02-2019 8:34pm

did you do this " use Filezilla to put the picon folder on your hard drive /media/hdd/picon"

you create a directory called picon right click on hdd directory etc

Trevord · 13-02-2019 9:57pm

Payton wrote: »

I connected my Tiviar to my router and then my laptop to the router with Ethernet cables as I was having a problem with my IP address. Download Filezilla Client. When you install Filezilla in the Host box put my tiviaraplus. If your asked for a username use root and password tempass and click connect.
You should see your laptop files in the left pane and your Tivar box in the right-hand pane on Filezilla.

The issue I'm having is when I drag the picon folder from my desktop on my laptop to the hdd folder on the Tiviar box through Filezilla I'm still not seeing the picons on screen after restarting the box.

I'd suggest making the picon folder on the box using filezilla and then dragging the picon files to that folder (rather than dragging the picon folder and its files)

In principle either approach should work, but I found that I had problems when I tried to drag the folder and it contents rather than just the contents only

NewClareman · 14-02-2019 8:11pm

Payton wrote: »

I connected my Tiviar to my router and then my laptop to the router with Ethernet cables as I was having a problem with my IP address. Download Filezilla Client. When you install Filezilla in the Host box put my tiviaraplus. If your asked for a username use root and password tempass and click connect.
You should see your laptop files in the left pane and your Tivar box in the right-hand pane on Filezilla.

The issue I'm having is when I drag the picon folder from my desktop on my laptop to the hdd folder on the Tiviar box through Filezilla I'm still not seeing the picons on screen after restarting the box.

The picons should be in a folder called picon (all lower case) on the Tiviar as shown in the screenshot I took just now. You can see/create this folder from the network directory on Windows. No other software is required, be it Bridezilla, or anything else. See the first few posts for further details.

A software package called Samba is used to make the Tiviar visible on Windows. I have found that this can sometimes stop, I have no idea why. If you can see the WebIF, but not Tiviar under network, you may need to restart this. Make sure that autostart is also set.

On a different note, the recent changes to the Saorview channels show that the auto-updating is working for the terrestrial channels as well as for the satellite ones.

The only thing I’m not happy with is the manual effort required with setting up Picons. When I have some time again,which will not be for another two months, I intend to automate this. So, maybe a final, final, release.

hopskipandjump · 14-02-2019 9:35pm

Hi, thanks for all the fabulous info regarding setting up the Tiviar Alpha +. I've been reading the thread for months, only recently got around to purchasing. I definitely fall under the minimal technical savvy category and don't think I'll ever get it set up to it's full potential but delighted with the purchase. I got around to setting up the box yesterday which took a few attempts to flash using NewClareman's image. I had a fully operational EPG initially but noticed that there were no Saorview channels picked up so I scanned for Terrestrial channels and now have all of Saorview channels only I have to choose which channels I want to appear in the EPG each time. If I choose All Channels it only shows Saorview channels and Main TV Channels only shows the usual FTA up to ITV4. Should I re-flash and tune in the terrestrial channels a different way or can I edit the EPG so it shows every single channel available as default?

I also was woken up at 5am this morning when the TV turned itself on...I hadn't a clue who was talking in the kitchen but it was hot and heavy! Could it be that I might have pressed a reminder on the channel while going through all of the settings when setting it up or is it something that's going to happen at 5am every morning?

Many thanks

NewClareman · 14-02-2019 11:42pm

hopskipandjump wrote: »

Hi, thanks for all the fabulous info regarding setting up the Tiviar Alpha +. I've been reading the thread for months, only recently got around to purchasing. I definitely fall under the minimal technical savvy category and don't think I'll ever get it set up to it's full potential but delighted with the purchase. I got around to setting up the box yesterday which took a few attempts to flash using NewClareman's image. I had a fully operational EPG initially but noticed that there were no Saorview channels picked up so I scanned for Terrestrial channels and now have all of Saorview channels only I have to choose which channels I want to appear in the EPG each time. If I choose All Channels it only shows Saorview channels and Main TV Channels only shows the usual FTA up to ITV4. Should I re-flash and tune in the terrestrial channels a different way or can I edit the EPG so it shows every single channel available as default?

I also was woken up at 5am this morning when the TV turned itself on...I hadn't a clue who was talking in the kitchen but it was hot and heavy! Could it be that I might have pressed a reminder on the channel while going through all of the settings when setting it up or is it something that's going to happen at 5am every morning?

Many thanks

I am pretty certain that ABM is not running correctly, otherwise you should see a range of tv groups. I’ve shown these groups a few posts back. You need to go into ABM and configure it for the Saorview transmitter you are receiving your signal from. You then need to “scan now” from within ABM. (If the Saorview scan fails, the other channel groups are never set up.)

The box turns on every night to check for channel changes and update the EPG. It may be waking the tv. Try turning off CEC on your TV. (It’s called different names on each tv model.)

macthaidhg · 15-02-2019 12:58pm

Hi NewClareMan, I'd like to try your image but google drive is behaving a little funny. Wehn I click to download the folder it says "preparing download" then "zipping 1 file" and then nothing happens. Have tried from a different browser and then a different laptop. Anyone else having this issue?

NewClareman · 15-02-2019 5:07pm

macthaidhg wrote: »

Hi NewClareMan, I'd like to try your image but google drive is behaving a little funny. Wehn I click to download the folder it says "preparing download" then "zipping 1 file" and then nothing happens. Have tried from a different browser and then a different laptop. Anyone else having this issue?

Not that I’m aware of, looks fine from my end...

MileHighGuy · 15-02-2019 5:37pm

macthaidhg wrote:

Hi NewClareMan, I'd like to try your image but google drive is behaving a little funny. Wehn I click to download the folder it says "preparing download" then "zipping 1 file" and then nothing happens. Have tried from a different browser and then a different laptop. Anyone else having this issue?

I had something similar, i was closing a message that popped up after the zipping stage which said something to the effect of "website wants to leave this page". Once I accepted that instead, the download was available.

NewClareman · 16-02-2019 1:20am

It appears that some users may not be setting up Saorview correctly, which leads to all sorts of problem. With this image, AutoBouquetMaker is where you set up your Saorview details. You need to select your local transmitter from the dropdown list and then start a scan so that ABM loads the Saorview channels.

Once the scan starts you should see a message on the bottom of the screen, showing satellite channels being configured. Keep an eye out for Saorview 1of2 and 2of2, after this. This is ABM checking for channels from your local transmitter. If this is successful the message changes to creating bouquets. If the scan shows any error message it is very likely that you have entered incorrect details for your local transmitter.

Once the scan is successful, ABM checks for channel updates, every night.

When the Saorview transmitter frequencies change, all you have to do is select the “update Provider details” option in ABM, and do a scan. (I’m assuming that the development team will have put the new details on their site.

)

trabpc · 16-02-2019 11:58am

When a new Freesat channels launches like the Smithsonian channel how do we add it to the box?

NewClareman · 16-02-2019 1:28pm

trabpc wrote: »

When a new Freesat channels launches like the Smithsonian channel how do we add it to the box?

New Free to Air channels are added automatically, once they are launched on either Sky or Saorview.

New Satellite Channels are added to the correct group, for example, Smithsonian is three from the end of the ‘Entertainment’ group. (Don’t blame me, that is where Sky decided to place it.)

New Saorview channels can only be seen in the Saorview Bouquet, which Is called “All Channels”. (I have found no easy way to rename this to “All Irish Channels”.)

For the updates to occur automatically, you must set up your local transmitter details on ABM, as I described in my last post.

Trevord · 16-02-2019 1:31pm

MileHighGuy wrote: »

I had something similar, i was closing a message that popped up after the zipping stage which said something to the effect of "website wants to leave this page". Once I accepted that instead, the download was available.

Yes. Had the same issue and that is the solution.

trabpc · 16-02-2019 7:28pm

Got my saorview channels to show in a Bouquets called Terrestrial. Don't ask me how I done it. I have everything set up to update but the Smithsonian channel is still not showing.

NewClareman · 16-02-2019 8:04pm

trabpc wrote: »

Got my saorview channels to show in a Bouquets called Terrestrial. Don't ask me how I done it. I have everything set up to update but the Smithsonian channel is still not showing.

The reason it isn’t updating is because ABM isn’t working. You get a Terrestrial Bouquet when you do a regular scan, not when you scan from within ABM. You can easily test this by running a scan from within ABM, as described above. ABM only scans the muxes for your local transmitter, so if that’s wrong, all updating fails.

trabpc · 17-02-2019 12:31am

Yep sorted. I followed your instructions. Seems I can get saorview from two transmitters. When I moved push pin on saorview signal fined app a couple of meters it switched transmitter to new location. I inputted this new location on the region menu and that sorted it.

Thanks again.

NewClareman · 17-02-2019 12:40am

trabpc wrote: »

Yep sorted. I followed your instructions. Seems I can get saorview from two transmitters. When I moved push pin on saorview signal fined app a couple of meters it switched transmitter to new location. I inputted this new location on the region menu and that sorted it.

Thanks again.

Glad you’re sorted let us know how you get on with it when you’ve used it a bit. Don’t forget you also have the printout for the remote. 🙂

hopskipandjump · 17-02-2019 9:47pm

I got mine sorted as well when I changed my transmitter to Maughera. The Saorview channels weren't showing under Main TV Stations which was baffling me but when I exited and went back in to it there were there. Thanks a lot

NewClareman · 18-02-2019 6:55pm

RTE2+1 is being picked up correctly by ABM and will automatically appear on EPG's overnight.

Lu Tze · 18-02-2019 9:29pm

Right i'm back, the box got delivered but I am failing at the first hurdle, flashing.
I stuck a formatted hard drive in (an SSD incase that makes a difference), and it's reading fine, can record etc.
Have copied the tiviaralphaplus (the whole folder, not just the contents) to 2 different old usb2 sticks.

Turned off with the power switch at the back.
Plugged in usb.
Turned on.
Just goes to normal standby mode.

It's the same with both usb keys. Tried one usb with just the contents of the tiviaralphaplus folder copied to the root of the drive and it's the same. Any suggestions?

The high horse brigade · 18-02-2019 9:32pm

Lu Tze wrote: »

Right i'm back, the box got delivered but I am failing at the first hurdle, flashing.
I stuck a formatted hard drive in (an SSD incase that makes a difference), and it's reading fine, can record etc.
Have copied the tiviaralphaplus (the whole folder, not just the contents) to 2 different old usb2 sticks.

Turned off with the power switch at the back.
Plugged in usb.
Turned on.
Just goes to normal standby mode.

It's the same with both usb keys. Tried one usb with just the contents of the tiviaralphaplus folder copied to the root of the drive and it's the same. Any suggestions?

Are you pressing the power button on the front of the box to start the flash as soon as your see info displayed on the LCD screen. One of the lights is the power button btw

Lu Tze · 18-02-2019 9:41pm

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Are you pressing the power button on the front of the box to start the flash as soon as your see info displayed on the LCD screen. One of the lights is the power button btw

No, I thought it should come up with a prompt! I'll try hitting as soon as anything displays

Lu Tze · 18-02-2019 10:52pm

Lu Tze wrote: »

No, I thought it should come up with a prompt! I'll try hitting as soon as anything displays

Well tried this another 20 times and no joy. Packing it in until tomorrow evening, hopefully with a fresh head I'll figure out what I'm doing wrong!

MileHighGuy · 19-02-2019 10:57am

Lu Tze wrote: »

Well tried this another 20 times and no joy. Packing it in until tomorrow evening, hopefully with a fresh head I'll figure out what I'm doing wrong!

I think I had something similar. The box as I bought it purportedly had enigma2 OS already on it , and when I tried to flash it failed several times, but it turns out the box had Fortis (?) installed, so I had to flash the firmware onto it first (I had thought i could skip this step). Once I did this, the Image flashed as described in the first post.

As a by-the-by, i had to buy a 2GB USB key to get it to work also. Hard to find nowadays.

McBain11 · 19-02-2019 2:00pm

MileHighGuy wrote: »

I think I had something similar. The box as I bought it purportedly had enigma2 OS already on it , and when I tried to flash it failed several times, but it turns out the box had Fortis (?) installed, so I had to flash the firmware onto it first (I had thought i could skip this step). Once I did this, the Image flashed as described in the first post.

As a by-the-by, i had to buy a 2GB USB key to get it to work also. Hard to find nowadays.

Same as myself. You probably have to switch from Fortis. Had to flash over the openatv setup on a USB key. The advice how to do so is a few pages back on here when I had trouble, or around page 10 of this thread where NCM gives a spot on guide how to get it sorted.

Lu Tze · 19-02-2019 9:08pm

Cheers for the steer! That worked! Now it's back in its box until further equipment arrives!

NewClareman · 19-02-2019 10:06pm

Lu Tze wrote: »

Cheers for the steer! That worked! Now it's back in its box until further equipment arrives!

That’s great news...

Lu Tze · 19-02-2019 11:06pm

NewClareman wrote: »

That’s great news...

Thanks for the image, it really is user friendly and intuitive. You should be in software design!

Cost-Effective, High-Functionality, User-Friendly Replacement for Pay TV

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