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Thread: Idiots guide to flashing a clone

  1. #1
    V.I.P mrbleu500's Avatar
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    Icon6 Idiots guide to flashing a clone

    Great guide from another forum made by titan_uk


    No offence meant - By idiot, I mean simplified (and long) necessary for ease of understanding, sorry Experts can go straight to procedure. Took me a while so it's getting posted
    WARNING! - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! Please read fully before attempting. It is also recommended you read the posts on how to flash with the web interface.

    Notes:

    This is a collection of information from everywhere in one place, with my own experiences added. Special thanks go to Oozoon for his incredibly awesome images. If you like them and you use them, please donate to him. (As you should to the guys making any images you use)

    Thanks also to the various authors of software and posters of information I've unashamedly ripped off - Chouchou, Way75, Mfaraj57, Ferret, Brummie and all the other people I've nicked off - hopefully it's pretty comprehensive. Feel free to criticise or point out errors.

    I would never flash anything over wireless, so this guide is for cabled only. You can substitute relevant bits for wireless if you must.

    Find out what 2nd stage boot loader your DB is running (watch the display carefully as you insert power, will be probably be something like #72 or #70, if you flash and get a CA error try backtracking with earlier versions)

    You'll probably want to download your bouquets / sat data using Dreamset or Dreambox edit before following this procedure, otherwise, when you're done, they'll all be wiped and you'll have to scan.

    Don't get eager between unplugging the power and re-inserting - you can trip the surge protection and that just means unplugging and waiting even longer (can be hours, even overnight!) for it to discharge before re-inserting. I don’t agree with the widely spouted idea of quickly inserting and re-inserting the power until your box comes alive again. It seems insane to me and you are asking for something to blow - Quick or possibly dead – your choice. DON'T DO IT! (Please correct me if you’ve waited longer than a day and this is the only way – otherwise I don’t wanna know)

    NEVER unplug any cables especially the power and sat cable (unplug power before sat cable) while powered on. Nearly every connection at the back is live with power in and you are risking a fatal short.

    Personally tested on 1xBL#70, 3xBL#72 and 2xBL#74 (my BL74 seems to be hacked and appears to be a BL72 in disguise **to be confirmed** - it doesn't matter really and I use #72) but no reason why same procedure can't be used with other BLs. HOWEVER... If using a BL lower than 70 Then ONLY replace the tuner file (bcm7401.ko) AND NOT the card reader (stb-core.ko) or the box will hang and you'll probably end up starting again.

    I am going to assume that you will be either carrying the DB to your PC or vice versa and therefore will have BOTH a serial AND an RJ45 connection available. If like me, your serial is a fatty you may have to unplug the DVI to get it in, since you don't need video output for the important flashing bits, feel free, as I do to leave the DVI & sat cable out until needed.

    I use Oozoon lean images for speed, lightweight and ease of use - you'll see why later. Plus makes a nice grounding for Barry Allen (look it up, I might do an idiot's guide to that sometime if needed

    Even though this is long the actual procedure is quite quick.

    Definitions used and items needed:

    Wait - At least 30, preferably 60 seconds waiting time

    BL - Boot loader 2nd stage - Initializes the box and lets the actual image load - Wrong BL = No boot! - We will only be using .nfi but I supplied .ipk for those that want.

    DB - The Dreambox 800HD

    PC - Laptop or PC

    Serial cable - DB9 Null modem serial cable

    RJ45 Patch lead - RJ45, either normal or crossover - modern PCs usually have auto crossover ports, so just a normal lead is usually required.
    You won't need a crossover if your PC & DB are both plugged into a hub/router.
    To test which you need - Plug a normal RJ45 from PC into DB - DB can be fully running, in NHF mode or in Upload mode. Open a command prompt and ping your DB. If it pings, you don't need a crossover. If it doesn't ping, try a crossover cable, if it still doesn't, something else is wrong.

    COM port - The serial com port used to connect to DB. Usually listed in windows device manager under ports (COM & LPT) eg. Communications Port (COM 1)

    NHF - Networked HTTP Flash mode. Called because DreamUp will ALWAYS force a boot loader flash (in my case usually #65) to your DB before allowing you to do anything. Steps to achieve:

    1. Power off DB and unplug the power from DB. Wait. (you can do step 2 whilst waiting)

    2. Connect both a serial cable AND an RJ45 to both PC AND DB. Serial is only used for initial connection because it's sloooowwwww! but it can be used for flashing images if you can't get the DB into networked mode (un-tick "use network" in DreamUp for this)

    3. Open DreamUp. Select COM port. Tick “Use network”. Make sure the PC ip address is in both "Local IP (PC):" and "select one:" boxes. As long as the DB is on the same subnet(first 3 sets of numbers), as long as it's unique on your network, the DB can be more or less any number you like (may as well keep it close to PC though) eg. PC ip address = 192.168.1.50, DB ip address = 192.168.1.51

    4. Hit connect. When connection is prepared, plug in power to DB. DreamUp will flash a basic boot loader. When complete, the flash button should be available.

    Note: Both versions of DreamUp seem a bit buggy, if the flash button isn't available, unplug power, wait and try again from Step 3. I use v1.3.3.4 and it always works eventually. If after a couple of tries it doesn't, you can try the DM800 repair tool (run it and use "info" for a how to use) - I have never needed it.

    Upload mode - This is probably the most commonly used mode - used for flashing new images. Steps to achieve:

    1. Power off DB & unplug power from DB. Wait. Connect RJ45.

    2. Hold down power button & plug in power - keep holding power button until an ip address (make a note of it) and **stop** appears in DB display.

    Note: If you don't see the message or get something like "Error ->", it usually means your finger slipped off the power button. Unplug power. Wait. Go to step 2. In my experience, the DB will stay in upload mode (red light flashing) for ages, so no rush to do anything, however shortly after flashing the image file, the interface will automatically shut down and become unreachable - DON'T PANIC! - it's normal. I only mention it because some people prefer to quickly upload the 2nd stage after the image but you have to be quick and it isn't necessary.

    Allll righty then. All set? Let's get to it! Even though this is relatively easy and safe, no responsibility is taken for anything you do from here on....Here be Dragons!

    Procedure:

    1. Power down and unplug DB. Open a browser.

    2. Enter Upload mode and take note of the ip address on DB display. Enter ip address browser and enter the DB web interface. Click the "firmware upgrade" link.

    3. Click browse button and browse to images/OoZooN-CVS-lean-dm800-20091017_dev75.nfi on PC, click it and click open.

    4. Click Flash! and off we go! When the upload reaches 100%, wait a few seconds, unplug power from DB. Wait.

    5. Connect a serial cable & RJ45 to DB and PC and enter NHF mode with DreamUp

    6. Click Flash and Browse to the 2ndstage-dm800 folder on your PC. Pick the *.nfi for your DB, eg. secondstage-dm800-72.nfi – when you hit open - off it goes!!

    7. 2 seconds later - You should see Box flashed successfully - hit OK, hit Disconnect, hit Exit.

    8. Unplug the power to DB. Wait.

    9. Insert power and let DB boot up - If you see an update message, Hit No. (This is so you can to the options in step 12 before a reboot)

    10. Run through the configuration until you see the channel selection box and hit exit on the remote control. If you miss the video set-up, just wait it will cycle around and come back again.

    11. You should be at the default screen and staring at a penguin - Hit menu on the remote control and go to plugins.

    12. Hit update check and review the options. I like to control updates myself so I disable everything apart from console output. Set as you like but REBOOT CONFIRMATION DEFAULT ANSWER - MUST BE DISABLED!!
    13. This next bit is up to you but works fine for me up to the time of writing and I intend to keep doing it (:11_1_206sq: Ooozoon) - Hit yellow button (check) on remote control and you'll probably get an update message. Go ahead and update. Hit Ok when you see execution finished message - IMPORTANT - HIT NO to the reboot question.

    14. Hit green (OK) button on remote control to save your selections and exit on remote control to return to main menu.

    15. Go to Standby/Restart, Hit ok on remote control, pick Deep Standby, hit ok on remote control. Wait for unplug message and unplug power. Wait.

    16. Redo steps 5 - 9.

    17. Open up DCC_E2 (you left RJ45 in right?) - If not plug in, go to configuration tab - network. Set Connection type, ip addresses and if there is no green line, hit reconnect - should say network ok. Default name=root, Passw=dreambox

    17a. (not required) I’ll keep using Oozoon to update and check the tuner and card reader files but here’s how to manually update drivers to latest if you must. In Dcc - Click on Tools tab, click on ipkg Packages, click on upload package, browse to dvb-modules/original driver package on PC, select latest driver .ipk file, click open – drivers automatically updated. Proceed to 18.

    18. Click on the FTP tab. In the left pane (DB) browse to lib/modules/2.6.12-5.1-brcmstb-dm800/extra folder (name may change in future updates but will be in same place) you should see about 13 files with the 2 most important ones - bcm7401.ko & stb-core.ko. In the right pane (PC) browse to your extras (older drivers) folder. TAKE NOTE OF WHAT I SAID AT THE BEGINNING ABOUT BL VERSIONS! Click the bcm7401.ko file in the RIGHT pane and hit the <- button in the middle to send the file to the DB. Click YES to overwrite. Do the same with the stb-core.ko file (if required). Click Exit in Dcc.

    19. On remote control hit menu, goto Standby/Restart again and Deep Standby. Unplug DB when told. Wait.

    [B20.[/b] Re-plug power in and let it boot.

    Woo Hooo!! Congrats if you got this far. You have a fully updated DB with latest image and drivers. Now all that's required is to set-up your tuner and upload/scan your bouquets & sat info. I recommend Astra HD Demokanal channel on Astra 19.2E for showing off your 800 – It’s gorgeous.

    Please Note: Anytime an update updates your 2nd stage and or the tuner/card reader (keep checking with Dcc) you will need to re-flash (Steps 5-9 & 18). If you don't know if it will, or you don't want to re-flash/FTP all the time – DON’T UPDATE. If you do anything wrong or at sometime in the future an update screws everything up and you are left with No CA Found or similar - DON'T PANIC!, unplug power. Wait. Try to re-flash your 2nd stage (Steps 5-9). If that still doesn't work, get into NHF mode and start again or alternatively flash a full image like the patched nabilo_11 included (only if you have BL#72 or later) using DreamUp either in NHF mode or Serial mode with no RJ45 & ip address.

  2. #2
    V.I.P Captain Jack's Avatar
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    This should be a sticky!

    Thanks Mr Bleu

  3. #3
    Junior Member nobby11's Avatar
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    does help to read these, good job

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