mazen_094
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- Jul 7, 2004
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Hi all,
You must have suffered, or will, from changing the image of your STB. Although there is a plenty of guides on the net to change the kernel, root(application), databse, or bootloader of your linux box, little has been said so far about what should be done to change the whole image (i.e. from original DGS to AB or PLi, or anything else). Many members tell part of the truth but nobody gives the whole image that beginners require!
I will tell you through this post what you should do to change your mutty image from original DGS (or any image you bought your receiver with), to the required image. You will read my story with my mutty box to learn what you should do. To understand what is going on, you should be familiar with the required steps to flash your receiver word for word.
But beware, I hold no responsibility for anything bad that might happen to your receiver after applying the steps mentioned here. It should be done at your own risk. Although I feel so cruel for saying that here, it helps you take a wise decision whether to flash or not.
I began with trying to change my DGS orignial image to AB Enigma after reading a lot of positive feedback from the net. Being familiar with the steps to serial flash my 200s box, I tried the following:
1- Flashed serial_kernel_boot.img. Although flashing has been successfully acknowledged by the receiver, the reciver kept on loading the orignial image with the original OSD.The only thing that changed was the boot image. So instead of booting with the DGS logo on screen, it booted with AB logo. The first trial ended with no luck :-cry1.
2- Flashed serial_all.img and serial_uboot.img, but ended up with the very same situation and no luck :-cry1. Moreover, the receiver has gone unstable. Sometimes, boots successfully and others fails with the PANIC message on the display.
3- When I flashed the receiver with serial_all.bin things took a different path and BINGO! STB booted with the new image:-thumb1.
So to flash an entirely new image, you need to use *.bin files and not image files. The reason for this is because the STB flash memory contains a set of blocks where each block is assigned to some part of the operating system. For example, a part is assigned to bootloader while other is assigned to kernel, and a third part is assigned to the databse, and so on.
The operating system recognises files with their suffixes, ans so it loads the img files on specific parts of the memory and deals with bin files differently. So when you flash your reciver with images, it only changes some contents of the flash. This happens in a way pretty much the same as changing the contens of a hard disk sector as compared to changing the contents of a hard disk by formatting it altogether.
Do you need to flash uboot.img as well as serial_all.bin?
The answer is I DON'T KNOW because when I flashed the *.bin file the serial_uboot.img had already been flashed before. I am unsure as to whether the bin file overwrites the img file or uses it to boot. I should point out, however, that I read in one guide that uboot.img should be also flashed AFTER the bin file but never did that.
To sum up, you have to be aware of which files you use to flash your receiver, and should well ponder upon what to do because, otherwise, you might damage your reciver and the only way to restore it back is to JTAG it which is (trust me) no fun AT ALL!!!
Hope this chatty explanation clears things up to other beginners. Any additions, suggesitons, or amendments are most welcome.
You must have suffered, or will, from changing the image of your STB. Although there is a plenty of guides on the net to change the kernel, root(application), databse, or bootloader of your linux box, little has been said so far about what should be done to change the whole image (i.e. from original DGS to AB or PLi, or anything else). Many members tell part of the truth but nobody gives the whole image that beginners require!
I will tell you through this post what you should do to change your mutty image from original DGS (or any image you bought your receiver with), to the required image. You will read my story with my mutty box to learn what you should do. To understand what is going on, you should be familiar with the required steps to flash your receiver word for word.
But beware, I hold no responsibility for anything bad that might happen to your receiver after applying the steps mentioned here. It should be done at your own risk. Although I feel so cruel for saying that here, it helps you take a wise decision whether to flash or not.
I began with trying to change my DGS orignial image to AB Enigma after reading a lot of positive feedback from the net. Being familiar with the steps to serial flash my 200s box, I tried the following:
1- Flashed serial_kernel_boot.img. Although flashing has been successfully acknowledged by the receiver, the reciver kept on loading the orignial image with the original OSD.The only thing that changed was the boot image. So instead of booting with the DGS logo on screen, it booted with AB logo. The first trial ended with no luck :-cry1.
2- Flashed serial_all.img and serial_uboot.img, but ended up with the very same situation and no luck :-cry1. Moreover, the receiver has gone unstable. Sometimes, boots successfully and others fails with the PANIC message on the display.
3- When I flashed the receiver with serial_all.bin things took a different path and BINGO! STB booted with the new image:-thumb1.
So to flash an entirely new image, you need to use *.bin files and not image files. The reason for this is because the STB flash memory contains a set of blocks where each block is assigned to some part of the operating system. For example, a part is assigned to bootloader while other is assigned to kernel, and a third part is assigned to the databse, and so on.
The operating system recognises files with their suffixes, ans so it loads the img files on specific parts of the memory and deals with bin files differently. So when you flash your reciver with images, it only changes some contents of the flash. This happens in a way pretty much the same as changing the contens of a hard disk sector as compared to changing the contents of a hard disk by formatting it altogether.
Do you need to flash uboot.img as well as serial_all.bin?
The answer is I DON'T KNOW because when I flashed the *.bin file the serial_uboot.img had already been flashed before. I am unsure as to whether the bin file overwrites the img file or uses it to boot. I should point out, however, that I read in one guide that uboot.img should be also flashed AFTER the bin file but never did that.
To sum up, you have to be aware of which files you use to flash your receiver, and should well ponder upon what to do because, otherwise, you might damage your reciver and the only way to restore it back is to JTAG it which is (trust me) no fun AT ALL!!!
Hope this chatty explanation clears things up to other beginners. Any additions, suggesitons, or amendments are most welcome.