Just installed mfs_ftp, now what?

[mcmikemc]

I know I will get told to go read but I can't find where it tells me how to use this. I followed the instruction in the readme.txt file

readme instruction:
shutdown any previous version of mfs_ftp running in the tivo

unzip mfs_ftp.tar.zip to mfs_ftp.tar on your pc

open mfs_ftp.tar & extract readme.txt - READ IT!

transfer mfs_ftp.tar to /var in the tivo

backup the old mfs_ftp dir: "mv /var/mfs_ftp /var/mfs_ftp.bak"

from the "/var " prompt unpack with

"tar -xvf /var/mfs_ftp.tar" or "cpio -i -H tar -d -F mfs_ftp.tar"

start from bash "/var/mfs_ftp/mfs_ftp.tcl" or load from a startup script



Well I thought I would just go into the mfs_ftp directory after I installed mfs_ftp and I would see the show files. The problem is I can't find anything that looks like a show. Do I have to connect using the FTP protocal and use a different port than 21? Or do I need a special FTP client program for my Windows PC?

[DPlatt]

open mfs_ftp.tar & extract readme.txt - READ IT!


Looks like you might have skipped this step! ;)

Use port 3105.

[mcmikemc]

Nope I did read it. That install process I posted was taken out of it.

[mcmikemc]

Okay,

If I installed mfs_ftp correctly on my Tivo and start it up I should just have to make a FTP connection to my Tivo using port 3105. When I do that I will see the Tivo show files that I can then transfer to my PC. Is this correct?

[markw]

You will see several directories. Some are tmf, ty, ty+ and some others I don't recall.

Each directory has the same file list but with different extensions. If you want to play the shows on your pc you probably want ty or ty+ files. If you want to insert into a tivo you'd pull the tmf type files.

But I'm still a newbie so YMMV etc. :)

MarkW

[mcmikemc]

Okay then I did something wrong. I think I did not chmod the mfs_ftp.tcl file.

Please correct me if I am wrong but the syntax for doing that is

chmod -x mfs_ftp.tcl

[SR712]

Nope.

chmod +x mfs_ftp.tcl

or

chmod 755 mfs_ftp.tcl

This changes the file (mfs_ftp.tcl) to have "executable" permissions.

Although, the mfs_ftp install should have left it as executable. ie. you should not have to do this.

What happens when you type:

/var/mfs_ftp/mfs_ftp.tcl

[mcmikemc]

Well I never typed /var/mfs_ftp/mfs_ftp.tcl. I did make sure I was in the /mfs_ftp directory and I then typed mfs_ftp.tcl. After I hit enter the command promt paused for a second then it outputted tivo:/var/mfs_ftp$. I assumed that ment it was running so I proceeded to connect to my Tivo using the FTP protocol on port 3105. But I could not connect so I assumed that mfs_ftp was not working.

EDIT: Well I just tried to see if chmod would fix the problem and now when I type mfs_ftp.tcl from the mfs_ftp directory I get this message "Premission denied" which I have not gotten before.

[SR712]

Well, did you +x or -x ?

[mcmikemc]

Hmm I must have used - instead of + becasue I tried it again and now it seems to be starting. And now I can connect to the Tivo on port 3105.

Thank you for your help.


I am going to start doing things atleast 4 times before I post. I could have sworn I typed +x instead of -x.

[mcmikemc]

I have finally been able to connect using mfs_ftp but when I try to transfer one of the files I just get an empty file. Anybody know why this is?

[DPlatt]

Nope I did read it. That install process I posted was taken out of it.

Hmm, that's odd. The version you downloaded must have had this paragraph removed for some reason:

"the default ftp port is 3105. the usage "mfs_ftp.tcl xx" sets an alternate
portnum. multiple control connections are supported but only 1 data channel.
if your ftp client or download accelerator does multi-threaded transfers
that feature must be disabled. activity is logged to
/var/mfs_ftp/port.port#.log (i.e. /var/mfs_ftp/port.3105.log)"

It's in the very first section of the README file.

[mcmikemc]

Hmm, that's odd. The version you downloaded must have had this paragraph removed for some reason:

"the default ftp port is 3105. the usage "mfs_ftp.tcl xx" sets an alternate
portnum. multiple control connections are supported but only 1 data channel.
if your ftp client or download accelerator does multi-threaded transfers
that feature must be disabled. activity is logged to
/var/mfs_ftp/port.port#.log (i.e. /var/mfs_ftp/port.3105.log)"

It's in the very first section of the README file.


I see it now. I had a blond moment, I thought to myself "3105? that is not not the FTP port. 21 is" and then I kept reading on.



But anyway back to the current problem at hand.

I have finally been able to connect using mfs_ftp but when I try to transfer one of the files I just get an empty file. Anybody know why this is?

[sanderton]

Not from that description!

What does the log file say?

[captain_video]

Okay then I did something wrong. I think I did not chmod the mfs_ftp.tcl file.

Please correct me if I am wrong but the syntax for doing that is

chmod -x mfs_ftp.tcl

When you untarred the mfs_ftp.tar file the permissions were set during the extraction so you didn't need to go back and do it manually using chmod.

[mcmikemc]

When you untarred the mfs_ftp.tar file the permissions were set during the extraction so you didn't need to go back and do it manually using chmod.

This is no longer an issue for me. I can now connect to mfs_ftp. I just can't seem to download the files yet. But I do have a question about that. Whenb you untar a file are the files that were untar already have the flags setup so it can be run? I just want to know so I can better understand whats going on.



sanderton,

Here is a link to my log file. I thought it was to big and would clutter the forum so I put it on a FTP server.
ftp://anonymous@207.195.39.227/pub/CSI2/log.dat

[sanderton]

They can be, if you tar/untar with that option.

[mcmikemc]

Cool,

This is my first experience with any type of UNIX but so far I like it. I am downloading Fedora right now and I am going to give it a try. What did you think of the log file?

[sanderton]

Are you running a S2 TiVo? If you are, have you installed the S2 binaries? mfs-Ftp comes with S1 binaries as standard.

See the first post in the mfs_ftp thread.

[mcmikemc]

Are you running a S2 TiVo? If you are, have you installed the S2 binaries? mfs-Ftp comes with S1 binaries as standard.

See the first post in the mfs_ftp thread.

I am 90% sure I did but I am not 100%. So when I get home from work I will put those files in there and try it again.

[sanderton]

I am 90% sure I did but I am not 100%. So when I get home from work I will put those files in there and try it again.

The log shows the "child process quitting unexpectedly" which is what you's get if you tried to run S1 binaries on an S2.

[mcmikemc]

Well I just got home and now its back to hacking mode. I am going to replace the S1 files with the S2 files but first I need to find out what the process id (pid) is for mfs_ftp. I assume I need this to kill mfs_ftp before I swap the files.

EDIT: well I found I use ps to find the pid and killed mfs_ftp and my Tivo crashed :-( but atleast I learned more UNIX :-)

[mcmikemc]

Well I got it to work. I am now able to get shows off the drive.

Thanks for all the help.

[sanderton]

Well I just got home and now its back to hacking mode. I am going to replace the S1 files with the S2 files but first I need to find out what the process id (pid) is for mfs_ftp. I assume I need this to kill mfs_ftp before I swap the files.

EDIT: well I found I use ps to find the pid and killed mfs_ftp and my Tivo crashed :-( but atleast I learn more UNIX :-)

Perhaps you need to read the readme again as it didn't seem to sink in the first time. :) You stop mfs_ftp by connecting to it from your PC and retrieving the shutdown.txt file.

Killing most hacks with "kill" will reboot the TiVo.

And you didn't need to shut down mfs_ftp anyway!