Posts by xero

  • Possible SSL certificate issue ?

    I have an interesting issue with MyTvOnline on a Z8

    Firmware v 1.4.92

    MyTvOnline v 7.11.3

    My provider offers both an XC api type connection (plus username and password) and a MAC address type connection. Both types of connection have available http and https URLs .

    I have been happily using the https connection until yesterday when all went dark. I can however happily use the http option. I have checked the provider's SSL certificate for their service which was issued/renewed about 1 month ago so there has not been any recent change with their certificate. The certificate is issued by LetsEncrypt. The provider also confirms that no material change has been made recently.

    By way of comparison I find the same circumstance when using the XCIPTV app with my provider. However the TiViMate app happily works on either the http or https URL's.

    I would be grateful if anyone here has any pointers or advice as to where to look to solve this

  • NAS Cloud Drive

    I have a couple of NAS's on my LAN.

    Both run a DLNA service, and my Z8 is able to 'see' them simply using the upnp browser.

    Additionally, when using the ES File Explorer android app the Z8 is able to mount them using both SMB and FTP.

    On a WD Nas appliance, I imagine (and this is only a guess on my part) that the DLNA service will be called 'twonky'.

    .

  • MyTVOnline VOD problem

    I have seen this myself when connecting to an XC server, and I have been told the provider that it is a problem with certain versions of XC at the server end of things. This typically only happens when connecting via the XC API either via MAC or the API URL.

    On E2 based machines accessing a XC server via say Suls or Jedi or XC-Plugin there is provision for the user to tick a box for "All VOD Types" (or words to that effect), which has the effect of working around the problem, but I do not know enough about MTVOL to know what to suggest other than to use a m3u when wishing to watch problematic VOD content.

  • IP address been added to providers blacklist

    When I received my Z8, I did a quick audit of it's network activity after powering it up and found that it was a bit 'more noisy' than I had expected it to be.

    To be fair android devices do tend to be 'noisy' and by that I mean there is always allot of network activity and allot of connections being made to a good many external domains. Sadly it is just the nature of the beast and one of the reasons that I personally typically tend stay away from android and particularly any google dependent version of android. (me being paranoid perhaps, but hey.....).

    I did also make a point of telling my IPTV provider that I had a Z8 using MOL2 and asked if there were any known issues or any info they wished to impart. They simply replied that they were aware that MOL2 made 'additional demands' upon the XC API at their end and that they were happy for me to connect using the XC API. Indeed, they recommended using that over using the m3u/xml or MAC address options. The other thing that the bloke said was that he was very jealous of my Z8/MOL2 (he would like to have one for himself) and that in his opinion the combination has 'raised the bar' for IPTV services.

    I have not experienced any issues of the kind that many people have described here and can only assume that they are caused as a result of policies applied at the IPTV server end of things, and that they are therefore specific to the IPTV supplier being used.

  • ExpressVPN clashing with MyTVOnline?

    Roll-Your-Own Open-VPN Server

    An Alternative To A Commercial Offering Using OpenVPN

    Many people find the thought of running their own VPN server worrisome and difficult, but this has to be the simplest, easiest solution that I have come across for anyone who wants a quick and easy answer that is very low maintenance. This is particularly useful if you already have a cloud server running somewhere, and you want to maximise it's use and get some additional value for money and functionality from it. The system requirements for this are very small indeed, but be aware that if you intend to use this for streaming, bandwidth restrictions or traffic quotas maybe something you need to consider. That said, many modern VPS providers are pretty generous with their allowances these days, and one might easily expect the most basic restriction being of the order of 1Tb or 2Tb per month without any additional cost implications. That said, for a single user or a family group or group of friends this will be plenty.

    Using a VPS like this is often cheaper than buying into a commercial service and typically performs much better due to it's relatively low use levels.

    Pre-requisites:-

    Root ssh access to a VPS or other 'cloud' machine running either Debian, Ubuntu or CentOS with about 512Mb Ram available

    Procedure:-

    ssh into your server and run the following command with root priviliges (you know, connect using Zoc or Putty to your VPS, just like you would on your Enigma2 based device).

    Run this command:

    Code
    wget https://git.io/vpn -O openvpn-install.sh && bash openvpn-install.sh

    Sit back and watch whilst it runs. The automated assistant will guide you and ask a few simple questions here and there and give you all the guidance you need.

    Once it ends, you can run it again to add more users, or to remove some of them or even to completely uninstall OpenVPN server.

    This particular offering simply writes a .ovpn config' file for each user created which contains within it all the necessary certificates and authentication for the client machine to use. So, no need for messing about with usernames and passwords and fiddling about with correctly crafted, placed and referenced text and other config' files.

    So, the next step will be to use this on your client machine. This could be your Formuler TV device (be it Android or Enigma2 based), PC/Laptop, Mac, Tablet or whatever. You just need to copy your client's unique .ovpn file into the client machine, point your OpenVPN client at it, and all the set-up and configuration is done for you.

    How you copy your config file into your client machine will probably depend upon what equipment you have available and what operating system/s you use.

    If using Windows, it is probably easier and simpler for you to simply use an FTP application like Filezilla, and connect to your VPS over SFTP. Once your config file has been copied into your windows machine, you can then transfer it to the client device over your LAN, or via a USB stick.

    If using Linux or Mac, then just use the scp command.

    Tip:- Most OpenVPN Client programmes will look for and require a file with a ".ovpn" file extension. The server discussed here will create that by default for you and you can just use it 'as is'. If however you wish to use this config on an Enigma2 based device, then the .ovpn file will need to be re-named to "openvpn.conf" and then placed in the /etc/openvpn/ directory of the device as the Enigma2 system and vpn client needs it to be done that way. So for example, if you created a config file on your server called "formulerf1.ovpn", you would need to copy it into your device and also rename it as well. This can be done all in one hit direct from the Enigma2 device using an ssh client like Zoc or Putty or the OpenWebIf Terminal like this:-

    Code
    scp root@ip-address-of-server:formulerf1.ovpn /etc/openvpn/openvpn.conf


    References:-

    Source reference for the installation script:- https://github.com/Nyr/openvpn-install


    VPS providers:-

    Modern VPS providers make things very easy for us these days. Having chosen a provider you can typically be up and running within a couple of minutes. Make no mistake, these things are lightening quick, typically with access to Tier-1 networks/bandwidth, so you get an 'industrial-grade' server on a very robust and reliable back-bone.

    I have no affilliation with any of the following organisations, but I do use both Digital-Ocean and Vultr personally and in my business life and am happy to recommend both of them.

    https://billing.virmach.com/cart.php?gid=1

    https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing/

    https://www.vultr.com/pricing/

    https://bitfolk.com/

    https://www.hostinger.com/vps-hosting

    The Late Night Linux Podcast currently has an affilliate offer available with Digital Ocean which offers a $100/60 Day freebie, so using this you can experiment and be as creative or as irresponsible as you like, (or if you just want to practice and hone your skills), you can do it for free for a while: https://do.co/lnl


    Additional Notes & Thoughts:-

    The following items are not actually necessary for the VPN server to run and to perform it's tasks. However, they can make life a little easier for the comfortable and convenient maintenance an upkeep of a VPS.

    Cockpit:

    Cockpit is a free and open source web-based system management application. Using Cockpit, anyone can easily monitor and manage servers via a Web browser. It is suitable for system administrators to perform simple tasks such as storage administration, inspecting journals and starting and stopping services.

    To Install Cockpit on CentOs

    Code
    yum install cockpit

    To Install Cockpit on Debian or Ubuntu

    Code
    atp install cockpit

    After that everything is dealt with via a web-browser (including a convenient browser based terminal window) which will all be broadcast on Port Number 9090

    So, for example, just open-up your browser and enter in the URL bar http://server-ip-address:9090/

    There is a general reference article discussing Cockpit here:- https://www.unixmen.com/cockpit-a-begi…istration-tool/


    Netdata:

    Netdata offers unparalleled insights, in real-time, of everything happening on your VPS with stunning, interactive web dashboards and powerful performance and health alarms.

    Everything you'll need for installing Netdata can be found here:- https://my-netdata.io/

    If you would like to see a real-world live example of what it does, then look here:- https://london.my-netdata.io/default.html#m…cpu;theme=slate

  • ExpressVPN clashing with MyTVOnline?

    You could always consider setting-up your own vpn server on a vps service.

    It's actually very easy to do and often is cheaper that buying a commercial service and of course it will not suffer from any contention of the available bandwidth.

    I would be happy to post a tutorial article here if that was considered desirable and if site-admin is happy for me to do so.

  • Reflash With Open-ATV From The Terminal

    This method will not really be applicable or desirable for everyone, but it can get you out of trouble under some circumstances, so:-

    If you have just done a software update and found the box won't boot...

    or

    You just turned your box on and found that it only boots up so far and hangs there...

    or

    You just turned your box on and found that it gets caught in a loop with the numbers counting up and then starting again...

    or

    You went to try to reflash online and found that your build is so old you don't have the option to flash the latest version of Open-ATV via the Flash Online utility...

    or

    You want to reflash your box but have not got a spare USB stick or your box will not "see" the USB stick...

    or

    Your box blue-screens when selecting system functions...


    Then this is a possible solution for you.

    It will find the latest build of the current stable version of Open-ATV and will then flash your box.


    All you need is :

    Your box with an existing USB stick or recording disk mounted on /media/hdd, (this should normally be the case for recordings etc).

    You need to be able to connect to your box with a Laptop or PC via Putty or Zoc, (or any other ssh client program), or the OpenWebIf terminal.

    The default hostname of your box if you have changed it from the default.

    Please note that this does NOT backup any of your settings or anything else.


    Now connect to your box from a PC or Laptop using a terminal program such as Putty, Zoc, any other ssh client, or using the terminal option of OpenWebIf in your browser and log in using the username root

    Now paste all the code below into the terminal window.


    Code
    wget --no-check-certificate -O installatv.sh https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqbo698rxconave/installatv.sh?dl=1 && bash installatv.sh

    After a few seconds you will be asked to enter the box's default hostname.

    If you've never changed the hostname of your box then just accept the default by pressing enter key, if you have previously changed the hostname in the past then you need to enter the original default hostname for your box, (ie formuler4turbo), and then press the enter key.

    Now you are prompted which partition you want flashed, this is for boxes with multiboot facilities.

    If you don't use multiboot or your box doesn't have multiboot facilities just hit the enter key.

    If your box is configured to use multiboot enter the partition number and then press enter key. Most people here will not need to worry about Multiboot as the majority of boxes do not support that facility. That said, if your box does support Multiboot then I am going to assume that you already know what to do.

    The latest stable nightly build will then be downloaded to /media/hdd and then the reflashing process will begin. Either way, it's now time to reach for your remote.

    If it is your intention to just flash to the current version of Open-ATV then follow the guided installation process.

  • How to get MyTV Online2 running?

    You could do worse than look here:- https://www.formuler.tv/video-tutorials

    The setup for the Z8 is very similar

  • Z8 MYTVOnline 2 does not load channels but can access VOD section of Sub - All live channels shows Black screen only

    Quote from boul05

    I thought about that too but others who have the same ISP as me and the same provider do not have the problem

    With all due respect it is my personal belief that to say so is to understate the case and/or possibilities as there are a great many variables to be taken into consideration, and particularly so when comparing even the same ISP's service in different locations.

    OK, so MTVOL2 might not be perfect just yet and as we know is under continuing development, but symptoms like that do tend to suggest an issue with an ISP or something to do with activity (possibly outside of your control) within an ISP's upstream network. These things tend to become very apparent when there are particular sporting events underway (and I am sure that today will have had it's share of those).

    The forum rules here prohibit us from discussing details in public (and rightly so IMHO), but if I was to say that there are a few basic rules that I learned many years ago about networking that have served me very well over the years and continue to serve me well.

    1. Never ever ever use an appliance (ie router or whatever) supplied by an ISP. Instead use an appliance that you own and control using Free or open Source software that is able to be regularly curated and updated by you and you alone and no one else.

    2. Never ever ever use an an ISP's DNS service/server/nameserver. Instead use an independent one. Today I would recommend Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 but be prepared to review and change on a regular basis. A viable alternative or secondary supplement for many today would be to use OpenNIC.

    3. Take 'ownership' and control of as much of your network as you possibly can. The internet of today is a place where the big corporates effectively act as judge jury and executioner and in effect write their own 'laws' with impunity, so if we as the little-man at the client end of things are to stand half a chance of getting what we want, then we must be prepared to roll-up our sleeves and put in some time and effort.

    As a final comment, in some parts of the world a country's mainstream 'big' ISP's get mandated by their courts and legal systems to undertake pro-active blocking and censorship activities. My advice would be to get to know and understand who those companies are in your country, and wherever possible avoid using their services, and instead use a smaller independent 'boutique' type operator who is not typically bound by such undertakings. Such research and understanding takes time to learn and understand but does often pay massive dividends, and sometimes can even save you money as well.

    Using a VPN service is also a good option. Commercial VPN services vary wildly in both price and performance, so I tend to simply 'roll-my-own' as and when I feel the need for one - - - they are very easy and quick to knock-up on a VPS somewhere and are oftentimes cheaper than a commercially available service.

  • Buffering issues

    Quote from villiers210
    ............................................................

    After playing around for hours, I also found that if I use any VPN server on protocol TCP its absolutely fine, the problem only arises when it is switched to protocol UDP.............................

    If I saw activity like that, then I would suspect that your ISP is at the root of the issue.

    For example the default for OpenVPN would be UDP on Port 1194, and when people (like ISP's and CDN's) wish to disrupt and restrict VPN traffic for whatever reason, this will be the first place that they will look for something to get their teeth into.

    Clearly it's good that your VPN provider offers other means of connection, but it's worth baring in mind that this type of thing can be something of a 'moving target' at the best of times and you might find that you will need to re-visit your VPN settings from time to time. Additionally, if you are using an ISP supplied appliance (ie router etc) then be aware that ISP's can and often will unilaterally change (without any notice to you) any settings changes that you may have made in the past. The types of things that they use are their own DNS/Nameservers and settings, and anything that purports to protect you or otherwise save you from a fate worse than virtual death etc etc. This type of activity is typically very often seen where the ISP is also a broadcaster or rights-holder of some kind.

  • SE:03 flashing

    Here's another option that I sometime use for E2 based boxes when wanting to reflash with the current stable version of Open-ATV. Works really well and is particularly useful if your existing build is misbehaving for some reason.

    This assumes that you have a USB stick or disc attached and mounted as /media/hdd

    Connect to your box using your preferred ssh client or via the OpenWebIf Terminal and run this command:-

    Code
    wget --no-check-certificate -O installatv.sh https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqbo698rxconave/installatv.sh?dl=1 && bash installatv.sh

    After a few seconds you will be asked to enter the box's default hostname.


    If you've never changed the hostname of your box then just accept the default by pressing enter key, if you have previously changed the hostname in the past then you need to enter the original default hostname for your box, (ie formuler4turbo), and then press the enter key.


    Now you are prompted which partition you want flashed, this is for boxes with multiboot facilities.


    If you don't use multiboot or your box doesn't have multiboot facilities just hit the enter key.


    If your box is configured to use multiboot enter the partition number and then press enter key. Most people here will not need to worry about Multiboot as the majority of boxes do not support that facility. That said, if your box does support Multiboot then I am going to assume that you already know what to do.


    The latest stable nightly build will then be downloaded to /media/hdd and then the reflashing process will begin. Either way, it's now time to reach for your remote and follow the guided process.

  • Replay

    For me it is how the connection is made in MTVOL2.

    If the API type connection is used, then I have catch-up. If I just use the basic .m3u and .xml URL's then I do not get catch-up.

  • Replay

    My provider uses the xtream-codes API, and I find that when I use that to connect the replay/catch-up works very well, and it is when using the API that has produced the best results for me.

    However, if I simply use the .m3u and .xml URL's then catch-up is not available.

    Both solutions work very well in simple performance terms.