Open & closed source?

[jenny]

So would I be right in assuming the physical CAM is actually in the form of a card like a sky viewing card for example? I've heard of things like Oscam and Irideto.

How about the software CAMS, are they a bit like a software 'driver' in a PC operating system? Am I allowed to mention 'gifts' on here as I assume they don't mean you get a free box of Dairy Milk with your STB?

Does a box have to be linux to accept a gift?

 

[aceb]

So Am I allowed to mention 'gifts' on here as I assume they don't mean you get a free box of Dairy Milk with your STB? Does a box have to be linux to accept a gift?

If your main reason for getting one of these boxes is the illegal viewing of Sky it's best to find another forum to discuss it, there's plenty out there that will discuss card sharing and Clines etc but as you can imagine it's a hot topic and apart from the most generalisation of the subject it isn't allowed to be discussed on here.

 

[digi247]

So would I be right in assuming the physical CAM is actually in the form of a card like a sky viewing card for example? I've heard of things like Oscam and Irideto.

How about the software CAMS, are they a bit like a software 'driver' in a PC operating system? Am I allowed to mention 'gifts' on here as I assume they don't mean you get a free box of Dairy Milk with your STB?

Does a box have to be linux to accept a gift?

To your very last question NO! but there are two terms to the word gift one would be a patch you apply to the receiver itself which would open various channels and the 2nd would be CCCam which would require how to put this certain data to be entered into the cam itself to access channels, The F3 can accept the latter i mentioned but there is no so called Patch Gift for it.

 

[Analoguesat]

Gifts just give you (typically) a years subscription to a pay tv provider.

Dont be surprised if the service gets busted and disappears before the end of the "subscription" time. And if there are problems dont expect any help from the provider - all they want is your money

And if the service does get busted and you get a visit from HM Police force dont expect any sympathy - the Police have been known to go after the card sharing viewers after closing c/s rings down.

Onr thing to consider - you have absolutely no idea who is running the gift scheme - it could be Mafia drugs cartels looking for an easy source of revenue, or human s_x traffickers running it for all you know. It could even be Sky running a sting......

We strongly advise staying away from these services and buying a proper subscription to your desired service(s)

 

[jenny]

Wow, it all sounds a bit immoral and even scarey.

Can you not pick up certain English subscription channels on foreign sats? I seem to remember a case last year involving a pub landlady who showed sky sports through a Greek satelitte.

 

[Lazarus]

No, it wasn't Sky Sports, but Nova Sports - a Greek based Subscription Package.

The consensus is still that personal and private use of such packages is ok, but the key issue in that particular case (Well, one of the issues) was showing it in public.

Nevertheless, these packages still require Subscription.

Some such Packages had an English Audio track available, but that has virtually gone now, though there may still be one or two who provide it.

 

[Analoguesat]

Wow, it all sounds a bit immoral and even scarey.

Can you not pick up certain English subscription channels on foreign sats? I seem to remember a case last year involving a pub landlady who showed sky sports through a Greek satelitte.

You can find a few channels that show English language movies in an evening transmitting in the clear - although often with Arabic subtitles.

Your not going to find the latest blockbusters , but some of the films are reasonable fare.

 

[Channel Hopper]

You can find a few channels that show English language movies in an evening transmitting in the clear - although often with Arabic subtitles.

Your not going to find the latest blockbusters , but some of the films are reasonable fare.

With a decent motorised system you can watch pretty much everything except major league football zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[jenny]

Someone has offered me a Spiderbox 9900 HD for £50 and from what I've read about these boxes they're meant to be a really good unit.

The only problem is it's showing an F100 fault on the screen which apprently is a common fault with these boxes and is usually a software issue. If it's just software I'm sure I can resolve this as I know a bit about software problems from my years of PC dabling.

Should I give it a go or give it a wide berth?

 

[Mickha]

Most F100 faults can be repaired using a null modem cable, and old PC, with dedicated COM port, windows XP and the recovery software, but some are down to a hardware fault which might not be worth repairing.

 

[jenny]

Thanks for your help guys.

Shame about the Spiderbox as it would be a bargain at that price if I could definately fix it. I'm torn between just getting the F3 for a while and playing with that then upgrading or getting the more flexible Icecrypt from Maplins as I'm already eyeing up motorised dishes lol.

It's a shame you can't go into Maplins (or any other high street store) and pick up a box instead of having to order it online and wait for delivery. I hate buying online as if there's a problem it can be alot more hassle to sort out. Does anyone know if the Icecrypt would be plug & play or would I have to install some sort of 3rd party software or image to be able to start using it?

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Plug it in and switch it on ,thats how i started using mine!!!!!

 

[Huevos]

If you want a decent Linux box forget anything that doesn't have a Broadcom processor or that is not running E2. There are plenty of non-clone receivers out there in the 150€ price range. XP1000, TM Single, ET4000, and GB HD800SE are all non-clone Broadcom powered receivers in your price range and less.

Don't waste your money on a Spark box or some piece of rubbish with proprietary firmware. If you can't telnet in and use Linux syntax from the command prompt they are not Linux receivers, they're ones pretending to be Linux and hoping to make sales on the back of real Linux receivers.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

I still suggest something simple that has plenty of features and is reasonably cheap. Get the feel and if you want to go further spend a bit more on something fully adaptable, as you say Jenny you are learning. Best not to go in at the deep end and get bogged down.

 

[Huevos]

150€ is not a lot of money, it is the bottom end of the real Linux receivers, and the top end of the rubbish. My reply is based on your asking in the Linux section of the forum. If you don't want a Linux receiver then there are plenty out there in your budget. It would just be a shame you thinking you are buying a Linux receiver so you can run one of the great images/software packages out there and then find what you have bought is just emulating a real Linux receiver and can't run E2 properly if at all.

 

[Lazarus]

€150 may not be a lot to you, but it's far, far more than many of the less enriched can afford.

Fortunately there are perfectly acceptable solutions available that suit the budgets of those of us with more modest means.

 

[digi247]

I would go with the majority here you cant go wrong with the F3 as it stands and it wont break the bank, And later when you do feel the need for an upgrade to dip your toe into the Linux world if that is what you want you should still be able to pull most of the outlay back on what you spent on the F3 even secondhand

 

[jenny]

Thanks boys (I presume all boys) but you don't have to bicker on my behalf lol.

I presume by E2 Heuvos you mean Enigma 2? How stable is this image though, does it need constant fiddling or re-installing etc? The Fulan box has a dual boot system with either Enigma 2 or Spark being able to be chosen and at under £100 seems a very good buy.

Does anyone know which image the Icecrypt S3200 HDCCI is running or do you need to load your own after purchase?

What is CCCAM and does it need a linux box to run it?

 

[Lazarus]

Oh yes, we're all boys here. Every single one of us ....................... ;)

qv Post #20 re CCCAM

 

[Huevos]

€150 may not be a lot to you, but it's far, far more than many of the less enriched can afford.

Tivù, I'm not talking about any individual's budget, I'm talking in relation to a Linux receiver (this is the Linux forum after all). Post #1 mentions 150€ as a baseline figure and I am pointing out that 150€ is not a lot of money for a proper Linux HD receiver, compared to a few years ago when everything was in the 400€+ region. So what I am saying is if you are going to spend 150€ anyway you can either get a piece of non-standard luxury rubbish or a very basic, but very good quality Linux receiver that has a Broadcom processor and will run E2, which also means it has access to nearly every plugin out there. With a proper Linux box you have a 7 day program guide and a channel list that updates daily direct from the satellite, just like a Sky or Freesat receiver. And all these receivers are upgradable for recording just by pluging in a media device. With the luxury rubbish you only have proprietary software with very little hope of forwards compatibility once the manufacturer drops that model, and even before that point generally very little real support and a horrid user interface without self updating channel lists or 7 day EPG.

Jenny, Enigma2 is a trademark of Dreambox. Most teams now refer to it as E2 due to some court cases over the use of the term Enigma in relation to satellite receivers.