Method to access T4 HDD from PC?

[brianh]

Hi All,

I recently upgraded my T4's FW from 16.1 up to 19.3, as the box had locked up such that it would output video but no audio..... but I digress!

On the earlier FW I was able to use explorer from a Win7 PC on the network to access both the box and the HDD simply by typing the IP address into explorer, preceded by "\\". I needed to enter the username and password which I duly did, and I was able to access the root of the HDD as well as the box.
After the upgrade to the latest FW, when I tried that it would only permit access to the "Movie" folder and the "Logs" folder, so I went to Network in the setup and entered a Root password and rebooted.

When I enter the "\\192.168.xxx.xxx" it prompts for the credentials but still won't accept my password.... what am I missing?

[peteru]

Try using (S)FTP rather than SMB.

[peteru]

Not sure how Windows does it, but under Linux it's as simple as using sftp://root@beyonwizt4/

That also works in Firefox, but not in Chrome.

[brianh]

No luck I'm afraid... I entered sftp:\\root@BEYONWIZT4 (when I use the IP address it changes to that text)

I get prompted for the username and password - I assume the username is "beyonwiz", but I';ve tried with that and without it and I keep getting access denied...

[brianh]

Hang on.... I just tried again using the IP adress, and it's opened a session in Win SCP - now I've just got to learn how to drive that interface....

No, false alarm - it opened up a location on my NAS i use for sqlbackups and in the right hand side, just the Logs folder of the T4..... Rats.....

[MrQuade]

No luck I'm afraid... I entered sftp:\\root@BEYONWIZT4 (when I use the IP address it changes to that text)

I get prompted for the username and password - I assume the username is "beyonwiz", but I';ve tried with that and without it and I keep getting access denied...

The username is "root". The password needs to be set from the main menu network settings.

This SMB sharing change as you have noticed went WAY back. It was a massive security flaw to expose the root directory, so the share was limited to movies and log.

You can add shares as you like, but you need to manually edit the config files to do so.

You can continue to use sftp to do most things though.

[brianh]

It's getting a bit late for me, I'll need to look at it again after I finish work tomorrow....

EDIT - posted before I read your post MrQuade - I start around 7:30 so I need to grab some shut eye but I'll give that a go tomorrow and see how I fare, thanks....

[peteru]

I suppose FileZilla may be the best tool on Windows boxes. Windows may not support secure FTP out of the box.

[brianh]

I'm happy and annoyed...

Happy with the assistance and happy that it actually works fine on Windoze explorer when you remember to use root as the user name (facepalm) I don't know what I did before but when I plugged in just the IP address and used the credentials prompt to enter the username and password, it worked fine.

I'm annoyed at myself because I should have remembered that, I was doing this stuff fine a few years back but because I don't use it regularly those brain cells die without any form of succession planning... I had it in my head from somewhere that the username and password were both beyonwiz - I suspect that was on some other device a decade ago, when MrQuade mentioned it specifically a few posts back it suddenly came back and when I tried it, it works fine.....


Just on another note, is there any way when in the EPG to "brighten" the text used for program description at the top left? It seems to be a bit darker and harder to read than before the FW upgrade...

[MrQuade]

I'm annoyed at myself because I should have remembered that, I was doing this stuff fine a few years back but because I don't use it regularly those brain cells die without any form of succession planning... I had it in my head from somewhere that the username and password were both beyonwiz - I suspect that was on some other device a decade ago, when MrQuade mentioned it specifically a few posts back it suddenly came back and when I tried it, it works fine.....

I think that the username "beyonwiz" was an alias for root in terms of access to the Windows shares, but that alias wasn't carried over for shell or FTP/SCP access.

[prl]

Just on another note, is there any way when in the EPG to "brighten" the text used for program description at the top left?

Not on a per-user basis.

It seems to be a bit darker and harder to read than before the FW upgrade...

The change happened in Feb 2018, so if it's suddenly become darker, it's because you've updated from fairly old firmware.

The colour change happened when I made the presentation for the event information more uniform across all EPGs. Before that, the colours were a couple of different unnamed RGB values, 0xFEE620, 0xFFFFFF 0x151515 and an undefined named colour, infobar-frgrnd. The GraphicalEPGPIG, the default EPG previously used 0xFEE620.

They were all changed to the named colour grey (0x999999), which is unintentionally considerably darker than all the previous colours used.

That's all in the default skin, easy-skin-aus-hd, but I expect it's the same or similar in Full-Metal-Wizard. OverlayHD is a complete skin redesign and is unrelated to the two pre-installed skins.

It would seem reasonable to lighten the colour used. Suggestions welcome.

[prl]

I recently upgraded my T4's FW from 16.1 up to 19.3

Those numbers are the versions of the build environment used to create the firmware for a series of versions. There are at least 19 firmware versions in the 16.1 family and at least 21 firmware versions in the 19.3 family (so far). Those counts don't include versions that were only ever available as online updates.

If you want to quote a firmware version, the version shown in MENU>Information>About>Revision uniquely identifies a firmware version (by build date).

[brianh]

Thanks Mr Quade and Peter,

It seems to be a bit darker and harder to read than before the FW upgrade...

The change happened in Feb 2018, so if it's suddenly become darker, it's because you've updated from fairly old firmware.

Yes....

They were all changed to the named colour grey (0x999999), which is unintentionally considerably darker than all the previous colours used......(snip)
.....It would seem reasonable to lighten the colour used. Suggestions welcome.

The colour used in the help boxes throughout the setup menu maybe...? That's easy enough to read without being obtrusive

I recently upgraded my T4's FW from 16.1 up to 19.3

Those numbers are the versions of the build environment used to create the firmware for a series of versions. There are at least 19 firmware versions in the 16.1 family and at least 21 firmware versions in the 19.3 family (so far). Those counts don't include versions that were only ever available as online updates.

If you want to quote a firmware version, the version shown in MENU>Information>About>Revision uniquely identifies a firmware version (by build date).

yeah, given that I'd already updated it's a bit hard to go back - the closest file I have that I would have used was 10/‎03/‎2017. I certainly hadn't done it in a while because apart from the recent lock up that forced me to update in order to get audio working again, it has just kept on doing what we wanted it to do.

[peteru]

There are at least 19 firmware versions in the 16.1 family and at least 21 firmware versions in the 19.3 family (so far). Those counts don't include versions that were only ever available as online updates.

More trivia from the nitpickers club...

V2 firmware revisions in 19.3 series = 100
U4 firmware revisions in 19.3 series = 59
T4 firmware revisions in 19.3 series = 59
T3 firmware revisions in 19.3 series = 58
T2 firmware revisions in 19.3 series = 59

U4 firmware revisions in 17.5 series = 6
T4 firmware revisions in 17.5 series = 12
T3 firmware revisions in 17.5 series = 11
T2 firmware revisions in 17.5 series = 11

T4 firmware revisions in 16.1 series = 75
T3 firmware revisions in 16.1 series = 54
T2 firmware revisions in 16.1 series = 56

T4 firmware revisions in 4.4 series = 85
T3 firmware revisions in 4.4 series = 55
T2 firmware revisions in 4.4 series = 30

It's probably safe to say that 19.3 has seen a lot of work and a lot of testing.

[prl]

I've just got back to this. I'll try to get it into the next official release if we can agree on something quickly.

The colour used in the help boxes throughout the setup menu maybe...? That's easy enough to read without being obtrusive

The current description (and parental rating and genre) colour is 0x999999. The colour used in the setup screens is full white, 0xFFFFFF.

I want to differentiate the colour of additional information like this from the main program stuff like title and time. Here's a screenshot with the grey shade bumped up from 0x999999 to 0xC0C0C0.

[Gully]

I've just got back to this. I'll try to get it into the next official release if we can agree on something quickly.

Looks okay to me. Thanks.

[prl]

I've submitted the colour changes to the EPG description, parental rating and genre texts for all EPG styles for both the pre-loaded skins: easy-skin-aus-hd and Full-Metal-Wizard.

[prl]

The change has been merged into the skin repositories, and should appear in the next release.

[kveasey]

ok, ive gotten to this point sftp:\\root@BEYONWIZT4 logged into beyonwiz t4

now where or what files need to be modified to add a shared folder

have tried adding mount for folder to share on network
but all there is to be seen is log and movie
from windows explorer

thanks in advance

[prl]

What do you want to access on your T4 as a shared folder? It already makes the movie (main recording folder) and its subdirectories available as a windows share, as well as the default log file directory.

The preferred file to add user changes to in the samba configuration is /etc/samba/smb-user.conf (sftp:\\root@BEYONWIZT4\etc\samba\smb-user.conf as a Windows path). There are examples of how the movie and logs directories are made available in /etc/samba/distro/smb-shares.conf (sftp:\\root@BEYONWIZT4\etc\samba\distro\smb-shares.conf).

You might want to add /etc/samba/smb-user.conf to the settings files to be backed up in a settings backup. It's not recommended to modify any other files in /etc?samba, because they might be over-written in a firmware update and if you put them in the settings backup, you might over-write important changes in updates.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

ok, ive gotten to this point sftp:\\root@BEYONWIZT4 logged into beyonwiz t4

now where or what files need to be modified to add a shared folder

What on your T4 are you wanting to share out to the rest of your network?

[Grumpy_Geoff]

You might want to add /etc/samba/smb-user.conf to the settings files to be backed up in a settings backup.

The smb-user.conf file is already included in the standard backup file set.

[prl]

You might want to add /etc/samba/smb-user.conf to the settings files to be backed up in a settings backup.

The smb-user.conf file is already included in the standard backup file set.

I tested it on my test T4 (new settings backup created using firmware 20211010) :

Code: Select all

root@beyonwizt4:/etc/samba# tar tf /media/hdd/backup/beyonwiz/v1/enigma2settingsbackup.tar.gz | grep samba
root@beyonwizt4:/etc/samba#

But I have now discovered that I have the backup files set in my settings and that doesn't seem to get updated when the system adds new files to the default list or their names change. My backup files setting saves /etc/samba/smb_user.conf rather than /etc/samba/smb-user.conf.

[Gully]

But I have now discovered that I have the backup files set in my settings and that doesn't seem to get updated when the system adds new files to the default list or their names change. My backup files setting saves /etc/samba/smb_user.conf rather than /etc/samba/smb-user.conf.

Sounds like the default settings need updating if possible before there is a release made.

Just checking mine and it looks like both are backed up and I don't think I made that change so maybe it is already done.

[prl]

But I have now discovered that I have the backup files set in my settings and that doesn't seem to get updated when the system adds new files to the default list or their names change. My backup files setting saves /etc/samba/smb_user.conf rather than /etc/samba/smb-user.conf.

Sounds like the default settings need updating if possible before there is a release made.

Just checking mine and it looks like both are backed up and I don't think I made that change so maybe it is already done.

The problem is that once the backup files settings is "frozen" by making any change to it, it no longer follows changes to the default. This is probably not what most people want (most of the time), but it's hard to make it otherwise the way the the settings system works. Once it gets out of sync with the defaults in unwanted ways, all that can be done is to reset it to the defaults and then re-do the wanted changes.

[Gully]

The problem is that once the backup files settings is "frozen" by making any change to it, it no longer follows changes to the default. This is probably not what most people want (most of the time), but it's hard to make it otherwise the way the the settings system works. Once it gets out of sync with the defaults in unwanted ways, all that can be done is to reset it to the defaults and then re-do the wanted changes.

Fair enough.

[kveasey]

ok i did the amendment to the file
folder tv-series popped up immediately on network shared folders in windows explorer

problem
cannot access/ open folder
fiddled around with network mounts
got it working, but then movie folder did not work

its like it is locked to only 2 working shares, movie and logs

this all happened with upgrade
thanks again
sorry for delay , work irregular hours

after reading other posts, might be a simple issue of putting folder inside of movies and sharing from there

[Grumpy_Geoff]

ok i did the amendment to the file
folder tv-series popped up immediately on network shared folders in windows explorer

problem
cannot access/ open folder
fiddled around with network mounts
got it working, but then movie folder did not work

its like it is locked to only 2 working shares, movie and logs

It isn't restricted to just 2 exported shares.
What is the contents of your /etc/samba/smb-user.conf file?

[kveasey]

just added per instructions

## User changes to Samba config go here
[tv-series]
comment = /hdd/tv-series
path = /media/hdd/tv-series
guest ok = yes
read only = no

## You can overrule the insecure defaults and enforce password
## protected access to shares by uncommenting the following
## line, including the secure settings:

[global]
# include = /etc/samba/distro/smb-secure.conf


## You can hide and veto access to certain directories, e.g. mount points of
## other boxes in order to prevent round trips through your LAN
## In Samba 4.x this needs to be configured per share:

[Movie]
# veto files = /ThisBox/OtherBox/AnotherBox/YetAnotherBox/
# hide files = /ThisBox/OtherBox/AnotherBox/YetAnotherBox/

[Logs]
# veto files = /ThisBox/OtherBox/AnotherBox/YetAnotherBox/
# hide files = /ThisBox/OtherBox/AnotherBox/YetAnotherBox/

[Grumpy_Geoff]

just added per instructions

I think it's possibly the placement of your share that's the problem; put it at the end.
The smb-user.conf file should look like this -

Code: Select all

## User changes to Samba config go here

## You can overrule the insecure defaults and enforce password
## protected access to shares by uncommenting the following
## line, including the secure settings:

[global]
#       include = /etc/samba/distro/smb-secure.conf


## You can hide and veto access to certain directories, e.g. mount points of
## other boxes in order to prevent round trips through your LAN
## In Samba 4.x this needs to be configured per share:

[Movie]
#       veto files = /ThisBox/OtherBox/AnotherBox/YetAnotherBox/
#       hide files = /ThisBox/OtherBox/AnotherBox/YetAnotherBox/

[Logs]
#       veto files = /ThisBox/OtherBox/AnotherBox/YetAnotherBox/
#       hide files = /ThisBox/OtherBox/AnotherBox/YetAnotherBox/

#------------------------------------#
[tv-series]
  comment = /hdd/tv-series
  path = /media/hdd/tv-series
  guest ok = yes
  read only = no

[prl]

Also note that tv-series will use a different trash folder from movie, and manually emptying one won't empty the other.

The Series2Folder app that automatically creates series folders will only work for recordings in movie.

IMO, you'd be better off making tv-series a subdirectory of movie.

[kveasey]

ok thanks tried this

still getting this though

error code 0x80070043
network name cannot be found

can dive into log and movie and see files but not access tv-series

but putting folders inside movie has worked the trick

[prl]

ok thanks tried this

still getting this though

error code 0x80070043
network name cannot be found

After modifying the Samba config file, did you do anything that would have made the Samba server re-read its config? The simplest way to do that is to reboot the PVR.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

After modifying the Samba config file, did you do anything that would have made the Samba server re-read its config? The simplest way to do that is to reboot the PVR.

No need, the change is detected/processed after about 30 secs or so.