EtherneTV-STB Set Top Box Set Top Box v3.7.
Copyright © 2006 VBrick Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Beaumont Road Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, USA www.VBrick.com This publication contains confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information. No part of this document may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any machine-readable or electronic format without prior written permission from VBrick.
Contents STB v3.7.3b Admin Guide Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Font Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Related Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating an FTP Server with IIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Using a Web Browser to Run the Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Additional Upgrade Steps for Local Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5. Serial Port Passthrough Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
STB v3.7.3b Admin Guide VBrick's EthernetTV-STB Set Top Box is a leading-edge digital set top box that provides a low-cost standalone decoder for high-quality MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 video assets. It's an ideal MPEG decoder for cost-sensitive installations that require large-scale deployment. The user-friendly set top box is controlled like a cable TV receiver using an IR remote control. It can be used to access live streams, to request stored content from a videoon-demand server, or to access the Web.
Font Conventions Arial bold is used to Programs > VBrick describe dialog boxes and menu choices, for example: Start > All Courier fixed-width font is used for code elements (C++, HTML) as well as filenames, directories, etc. Bold Courier fixed-width font is used to indicate user input in keyboard commands, scripts, etc. Folder names and user examples are displayed in this sans serif font. Italics are used to emphasize specific words or phrases.
Chapter 1 Installation Topics in this chapter Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Using the Command Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Initial Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Model Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Command Prompt You can use a Command Prompt interface to quickly perform a variety of tasks related to STB configuration and connectivity using the pman configuration utility. There are three ways to open a Command Prompt interface on the STB. Use whatever method is comfortable and available. Once connected, they all work the same way.
Installation Using pman pman is a text-based configuration program that runs from the Unix shell on the set top box. Its functionality mirrors the web-based configuration tool and you can use pman to set or edit all STB configuration parameters. In a typical scenario, you use a keyboard (wireless or PS/2) to open a Unix shell and you launch pman from that shell. You can also run pman using terminal emulation or Telnet.
Table 3. STB Rear Panel – Left to Right Power Plug Connects to power cord. VGA Port Used to view video on a VGA monitor. Serial Port Used for Serial Port Passthrough or to open a command line window. PCI Card Slot Not used. S-Video Connect to standard TV. Video Composite video out. Audio Left/Right Audio out left and right. USB Ports (2) Connect USB mouse and/or keyboard. SPDIF Digital audio. Not supported. LAN1 Connect to local area network. LAN2 Not used.
Installation 2. If a DHCP server is not present, go to Assigning a Static IP Address to manually assign an IP address other than the default. Finding the DHCP IP Address T To determine the IP address of the set top box when configured using DHCP: 1. Connect a keyboard and TV monitor to the set top box and apply power. (Use the optional wireless keyboard or a PS/2 keyboard). Wait for the box to completely power up before continuing. Press Ctrl-Alt-F1 on the keyboard to open a command line window.
a. Select Network (using the down arrow and the Enter key). b. Select Network again. c. Select Domain NameServer IP Addresses and enter the Nameserver IP addresses. (If there is more than one, separate the entries with the pipe character (|), for example 172.16.1.11|172.16.1.10.) 15. When done, use the up arrow key to reach <. . . > and select using the Enter key on each screen. Answer Yes when prompted to apply changes and Exit to return to the user prompt level.
Chapter 2 Configuration Topics in this chapter Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Overview The STB configuration application is used to change the default settings for the STB.
Logout Exits the configuration application. System Information Provides system-level information including version number, networking configuration, and memory usage. Note that the version number is shown in the upper-right corner of each window. System Time Use to set system time. The STB should be manually rebooted whenever you change the system time. If the system time is changed without a reboot, the video may freeze.
Configuration Configuration Once you are logged in, click Configuration to display the four sub-categories of configuration settings for the set top box. Note that the VBrick_Host_Name shown on the following screens is a configurable option; see Network Settings on page 14 for more information. Video Settings These settings generally relate to the video stream, for example Start Mode, MCS Location, Receive Address, etc.
Start Mode MCS Location Receive Address Local UI Location Home Page Location/Home Page Enable Main Volume/Line 1 Volume RTSP Streaming Data Buffering Seconds Buffer Check for Underflow Lowest Bitrate for Buffer Check Audio Data Port/Video Data Port/CC Data Port RTP Data Port Proxy Type, HTTP Proxy Host and Port Options Panel Login Aux1–Aux8 Start Mode The EtherneTV STB can operate in one of three modes described here. Use MCS mode if there is an ETV Portal Server (formerly MCS) installed on your network.
Configuration Receive Address Receive Address When the Start mode is configured for Local-Fullscreen , this parameter determines the IP address of the stream to be decoded. The choice of receive address/program info and stream type of the desired video must be entered here and must follow the syntax examples shown in Table 4, Receive Address Syntax. Note that you can use a hostname or numeric IP address wherever an is called for if the hostname is entered in the local DNS server. Table 4.
T To decode multicast MPEG-4: 1. First, obtain an SDP file for the MPEG-4 multicast stream. When streaming from an MPEG-4 encoder, see the VB4000-5000-6000 Administrator Guide for information about SDP files. Use an FTP client to place the SDP file on the set top box. A sample FTP session to use an set top box with the IP address of 172.22.117.70 is shown below. (Server prompts are shown in bold.) 2. C:\> ftp 172.22.117.70 User (172.22.117.70:(none)): root 331 Password required for root.
Configuration Main and Line 1 Volume These parameters determine the initial volume level the STB will provide to the TV or monitor. Set both to same value. The volume can be changed using the IR remote control but will revert to the configured values at start-up. RTSP Streaming RTSP Streaming MPEG-4 streams in Local-Fullscreen mode only. Choose the protocol for RTSP streaming. If the source is a video-on-demand server, you must choose UDP. • UDP – MPEG-4 RTSP streams will be sent over UDP.
Audio Data Port/Video Data Port/CC Data Port Audio, Video, and CC Data Ports Audio, Video, and CC Data Port settings default to 6970, 6972, and 6974 respectively. These are used to determine receive ports for data. This will affect MPEG4 streams requested via RTSP. This will be used only for MPEG-4 streams. The range is from 0 to 65534. The data port must always be an even number. RTP Data Port RTP Data Port Set the data port number to use for RTP data. Default = 6970. 0 is random.
Configuration FTP Server User Name Username used to log into the FTP server on the STB. FTP Server Password Password used to log into the FTP server on the STB. FTP Home Directory Home directory of the FTP server on the STB. Do not leave blank or an error will occur at boot time. Domain Name Server IP Addresses IP address (or addresses) of the DNS server. Separate multiple DNS servers with a pipe character, for example: 172.16.1.10|172.16.1.
Group Name STBs can be assigned to groups for more organized management. This is the group name that the STB is associated with (for example Finance). Unit Number This value represents the specific STB ID when it is part of a group (for example Finance, unit 33). Transmit Enable Enables transmission of the management SAP. Retransmit Time Determines how often (interval) the STB emits the management SAP. Time to Live Determines the number of hops that a SAP will travel before being discarded.
Configuration showfiles.php?group_id=24099. After download, open a Command Prompt window and type: convert mySplash.jpg mySplash.xpm You can also use the size parameter to change the resolution of the .xpm file. For example: convert -size 160x120 mySplash.jpg mySplash.xpm Splash Screen Choose the type of splash screen to display during startup: • Default – Use the default VBrick splash screen. • Custom – Use a custom splash screen. • None – Use a blank screen.
Serial Port Using serial port passthrough, STBs can provide full duplex, end-to-end transparent passthrough of user data from an STB to a VBrick, or to other networked devices. The STB has one serial port that can be used for passthrough. The serial port operates at its configured baud rate (e.g. 115.2 to 300K bps). Some common applications include remote control of a camera (pan-tilt-zoom), remote control of security doors, low speed data transport, or data collaboration between PCs.
Configuration System The STB can be configured to automatically reboot at a specified interval. Watchdog Frequency The number of days between automatic system resets. Default = 0 which means never reboot; 1 means reboot every day; 2 means reboot every second day, and so on. Watchdog Time is used in conjunction with Watchdog Frequency. Note that an entry less than 1000 (1–999) represents a value in days; an entry greater than 1000 (1000–65535) represents a value in seconds (1000 sec. is approx.
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Chapter 3 Local Configuration Topics in this chapter Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Accessing the XML Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 XML Configuration Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Accessing the XML Configuration File The "configuration" file refers to the xml file (/wfs/localUI/stbLocalUIData.xml) that provides the list of streams available to the STB. This configuration file is used by stbLocalUITemplate.htm to populate the interface page. The xml file can be edited locally using a text editor (vi is included with the system) or it can be uploaded to a Windows desktop, modified with Notepad, and downloaded back to the STB.
Local Configuration 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for ... 226 Transfer complete. ftp: 739 bytes sent in 0.12 Seconds ftp> bye XML Configuration Examples The following examples show how to modify the xml configuration file (/wfs/localUI/ stbLocalUIData.xml) for different media. Title and Global Message Settings.
file:///wfs/mpg/mySDP.sdp Example of live MPEG-4 unicast entry with local SDP addressing information. Encoder must be configured to unicast to STB’s IP adress. MPEG4 unicast-local SDP SDP file stored locally file:///wfs/mpg/mySDP.sdp Example of live MPEG-4 stream with forced UDP streaming.
Local Configuration Example of MPEG-2 unicast entry with port address. Sample MPEG2 Transport Unicast Sample MPEG2 Transport Unicast stream 4444 Example of MPEG-1 content from NXG server with IP address and program name. 172.22.119.
Mp1 stream Example of MPEG-2 content from VoD-W server with IP address and program name. 172.17.17.
Chapter 4 System Upgrade Topics in this chapter Upgrading from v3.71 or Higher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Upgrading from v3.70 or Lower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Additional Upgrade Steps for Local Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Upgrading from v3.71 or Higher Note If you are upgrading from version 3.7.
machines. During installation, you are prompted to install the STB software, the upgrade application, or both. The STB software release and the download application can be installed on any computer running Windows 2000 or higher. Note You will need the installation disks for your operating system if you do not already have an FTP server installed. T To install STB software and/or the download application: 1. Double-click on Setup_STB_x_x_x.exe in the installer folder to launch the installer.
System Upgrade 4. In this scenario, the installer has detected an FTP server and will create a user account. is the default name and password for the FTP account. (If you change the default user or password, you will have to enter them manually each time you run a download.) Press Next , confirm, and press Next again (or Skip this step entirely if you do not want to create an FTP account at this time).
IP Address IP address of upgrade server where the Release Package files are located. Username Name of FTP account on the upgrade server. Password Password used to login to the FTP server. Path The relative path to the folder in which Release Package files are located. Enter a relative path for the configured username. Do not enter an absolute path. (Note that the Release Packages are numbered incrementally in separate folders.
System Upgrade Upgrade individual unit Upgrade a single unit. Select the radio button and click Start Upgrade . A popup will prompt for IP Address and Password and automatically run the upgrade. The password is variable; the username (root) is fixed and cannot be changed. Note that all STBs selected for upgrade must have the same password. Configuration File Path Path to a pipe-delimited configuration file. See Editing a Configuration File on page 31. Select All Selects all STBs in the list box.
to the set top boxes. (When upgrading with a configuration file, each set top box can have a different password.) A sample pipe-delimited configuration file is shown below. You can create a valid configuration file from a text file by giving it a .cfg extension. 172.22.133.1|admin 172.22.133.2|admin 172.22.133.3|admin 172.22.133.4|admin T To edit an existing configuration file: 1. 2. 3. 4. Select Upgrade using Configuration file.
System Upgrade Upgrading from v3.70 or Lower The upgrade process described here is a two-step process. First you need to create an FTP server with IIS; then you can actually run the update using a web browser. Also, if you are using Local mode, you will need to perform the Additional Upgrade Steps for Local Mode on page 35. Note If you are upgrading from version 3.7.0 or lower, you must use the following procedure to update the set top box.
2. 3. 4. 5. Select Login and enter the username and password (the defaults are root and admin). Go to Configuration > General > System Update. Select FTP Server and enter an IP Address. Select Relative Directory Path and enter the path on the FTP server where the upgrade files are located. This field corresponds to the Home Directory set in the Default FTP Site Properties. This is a relative directory path and cannot start with a slash.
System Upgrade 6. If only one file is present, just type rm . Verifying the File Transfer There are two ways to indicate the progress of the transfer. Once the update is complete, the Web Administration program shows the version number in the upper right corner. You can also verify file transfer success using the command prompt: T To check the version number using the command prompt: 1. 2. 3. Press Ctrl-Alt-F1 on the set top box. Type tasteversion to display the version number.
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Chapter 5 Serial Port Passthrough Topics in this chapter Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 How Passthrough Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Using Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
port. For example, a generic Telnet client configured to connect to an STB on port 4439 will cause the STB to start sending data from it's serial port, using the connection it accepted from the Telnet client. Note Once a Passthrough connection is established, the actual flow of data is symmetric between the ends of the connection. That is, the behavior of the serial ports with respect to typed characters will appear to be the same at both ends, Initiator and Responder.
Serial Port Passthrough together). This feature provides a method to broadcast alarm status or other information to multiple locations. Figure 4.
40 EtherneTV Media Distribution System
Chapter 6 Using the Set Top Box Topics in this chapter Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Using the IR Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Using the IR Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Using the Wireless Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . .
configuration file). The page is hard-coded with links to different content. To change the available content, you need to modify and download a new page. Figure 5. Local Mode Local-Fullscreen Mode If the set top box is set up in Local-Fullscreen mode, there will be a (live or stored) video image on the TV at system startup. The image is controlled by the system administrator. It covers the entire screen and there are no user controls shown or available.
Using the Set Top Box MCS Mode In MCS start mode, the start page is downloaded from a VBrick Media Control System. The live streams and videos displayed on the STB are configured in the ETV Portal Server (formerly MCS). In MCS mode, the STB has optional login authentication to protect against unauthorized use. If authentication is enabled, the STB will display a login window when powered on for the first time. You must use the IR remote control (or the wireless keyboard) to enter a PIN.
Note If playing a file on an NXG VOD server in Local mode, the Play button on the IR remote will start (or re-start) the video from the beginning. For best results, use the Channel and Select buttons rather than the mouse controls. Stop, Play, Pause Once a stream is selected, the buttons across the top can be used to stop, play, or pause a video. Stop and pause are useful when playing VoD streams. Power Power the STB on or off. Begin/End The outer buttons on the second row are not used.
Using the Set Top Box Using the Wireless Keyboard The wireless keyboard is an optional device. It has an infrared transmitter you point at the sensor on the front of the STB above the LEDs. It is easy to use the wireless keyboard for any STB operation like navigation, selecting streams, etc. It has many of the handheld IR controls (see above) as well as a full QWERTY keyboard with a mouse pad on the right and mouse buttons on the left. The wireless keyboard is available from VBrick.
46 Icon Description Refresh reloads the current page. Search Launches a search window, for example Google. Home Exits to the home page. In Local mode, it exits to the local home page; in MCS mode, it exits to the MCS home page. After returning to the normal STB user interface, press WWW again to hide the browser address bar.
Index A Accessing the Configuration File 22 Accessing the Web 45 Accessing the XML Configuration File 22 Assigning a Dynamic IP Address 5 Assigning a Static IP Address 5 Audio Data Port/Video Data Port 14 Audio Data Port/Video Data Port/CC Data Port 14 Aux1–Aux8 14 B Buffer Check for Underflow 13 C cables 7 Configuration 9 Connecting to the Network 4 Creating an FTP Server with IIS 33 Local-Fullscreen Mode 42 Login 7 Lowest Bitrate for Buffer Check 13 M Main Volume/Line 1 Volume 12 Management 15 MCS Mod
Theory of Operation 37 U Uploading from the STB 22 Using a Web Browser to Run the Update 33 Using Telnet 38 Using the Command Line 2 Using the Command Prompt 2 Using the IR Remote 43 Using the IR Remote Control Unit 43 Using the Wireless Keyboard 45 V Verify the File Transfer 35 W Watch for Locked Files 34 Web Access 45 Z Display Settings 16 General Settings 17 MCS Location 10 Network Settings 14 Options Panel Login 14 PAL Configuration 6 RTSP Streaming 13 Video Settings 9 XML Configuration Examples 23
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