DSR708 and Tivo Wireless G

[ThreeIees]

I need some help. I have a hacked DSR708 with 7.2.0-oth. I also have a Tivo brand Wireless G adapter. I have been told that the DSR708 tivos will not work with the Wireless G.

I have already hacked my HR10 and it uses a Tivo Wireless G. So I'm confused on why it would work with one and not the other.

My question is, why would I be able to get the Tivo Wireless G to work on my HR10 but not be able to get it to work on my DSR708.

If there is a way to get the Tivo Wireless G to work on the DSR I'd appreciate a hand in finding the thread(s) that would help me understand how.

Thanks in advance for your help

[PlainBill]

First of all, you are mistaken. 7.2.0-oth will not run on a DSR708. The 7.x and 8.x software is exclusively for SA units. I suspect you mean you are using a killhdinitrd 7.2.0-oth-k1 kernel; your software is actually 6.2 or 6.2a.

If so, the problem is the 6.2(a) software does not include drivers for your adapter. 6.3C was derived from 7.x (8.x?) software and does include the drivers.

PlainBill

[ThreeIees]

You are correct Bill; I should have been more specific. I am using Tivo s/w 6.2a and the killhdinitrd kernel from 7.2. Thanks for clarifying.

Since it looks like wireless G straight from the S2 Tivo is out of the question. I need some input on what to purchase. If I understand correctly from other posts, you can use a wireless G bridge to allow wireless G connectivity to the series 2 Tivo. What I'm not sure about is what specifically to purchase. I had a WRT54GS ver 6 router. There is no firmware hack for the rev 6.

Can anyone tell me what specific make and model of bridge to purchase and what I need to purchase to connect the Tivo to the bridge? I'm just not real good with networking concepts outside of a simple router and NIC card. I plan on going out today and purchasing the items so I can test and learn this afternoon.

Any help would be appreciated.


ThreeIees

[Gunnyman]

any wireless gaming adapter will work then just get a wired adpater that is on the tivo hardware list.

[Narf54321]

I believe this is the relevent info you need about the Tivo wireless-G adapter (http://dealdatabase.com/forum/showpost.php?p=274170&postcount=100).

In essence, you would need to copy the usb-cdc driver to your DSR708 and add the necessary entries into the usb.map file.

[ThreeIees]

Interesting,

I'll give that a try now.

Thanks,
Three

[Gunnyman]

if you get it working I'd be very interested in your method and results.

[ThreeIees]

I'm not so sure I'll have much to report. I see that USB.CDC is not listed in the usb.map. If what I have been reading is correct - just adding USB.CDC will not help me out. From what I understand from you and others, there is a kernel issue. I very confused right now. But I have several drives set up for this series2 tivo so I might try something.

[Jamie]

I'm not so sure I'll have much to report. I see that USB.CDC is not listed in the usb.map. If what I have been reading is correct - just adding USB.CDC will not help me out. From what I understand from you and others, there is a kernel issue. I very confused right now. But I have several drives set up for this series2 tivo so I might try something.Copy the relevant drivers from your 6.3 system and update the usb.map. There is no kernel issue I am aware of. Perhaps you are thinking of the issue with 8.x?

[Gunnyman]

I theorized on TCF that the reason it hasn't been done yet and the driver hadn't been added to the backports package was due to a kernel incompatibility. Is there another reason besides lack of interest?

[ThreeIees]

I added the following to usb.map in /etc/hotplug:
device usb-cdc
product 0a5c bd11 CDC Downloader
product 0a5c 0cdc CDC Proto board
product 150a 1010 TiVo Wireless G
product 150a 1011 TiVo Wireless G
product 150a 1012 TiVo Wireless G


I then copied usb-cdc.o from my 6.3x tivo to /lib/modules and then chmod'ed it.

Rebooted the tivo and still not joy.

I also found this as the tivo was booting:
usb.c: USB device 2 (vend/prod 0xa5c/0xbd11) is not claimed by any active driver.
PokeFirewallPort: Poking hole through firewall at port 2190, protocol udp
PokeFirewallPort: Poking hole through firewall at port 2190, protocol tcp

when I do a ifconfig I get this:
ifconfig
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:16 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:16 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1296 (1.2 Kb) TX bytes:1296 (1.2 Kb)

Any help or direction would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Three

[Jamie]

I theorized on TCF that the reason it hasn't been done yet and the driver hadn't been added to the backports package was due to a kernel incompatibility. Is there another reason besides lack of interest?The driver is propretiary and will never be added to the backport set, which is all GPL'd.

I don't have a dtivo, so I'm not motivated to explore it myself. If the driver works with 6.3, I don't see why I couldn't be used with 6.2 as well. Do most people use the same kernels on both these platforms? i.e. one of the 2.4.20 killhdinitrd kernels.

It's possible there are additional files that are needed beyond the module and the usb.map changes. Someone just needs to take the time to explore it.

The newer version that supports WPA is only in 8.x, IIRC, and that version likely would cause a conflict with the older kernels.

[Jamie]

...
Any help or direction would be appreciated.Make sure you have the patch to get the network configuration screens in the tivo UI.

Get a serial console bash session and manually insmod the driver. Any errors?

If not, check ifconfig -a. Is the network interface visible now?

If so, configure it with the tivo network configuration screens.

If there are errors along the way, report the error messages. Also, check dmesg for errors.

[Gunnyman]

HME patch for 6.2? I assume you mean 6.3 correct?

[Jamie]

HME patch for 6.2? I assume you mean 6.3 correct?er, yeah. I got confused. But there is a published patch for 6.2x that enables the network setup screens.

[drez]

I think Jamie means the Network Menu patch for 6.2x: http://dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?p=277681#post277681

[ThreeIees]

Make sure you have the patch to get the network configuration screens in the tivo UI.

Get a serial console bash session and manually insmod the driver. Any errors?

If not, check ifconfig -a. Is the network interface visible now?

If so, configure it with the tivo network configuration screens.

If there are errors along the way, report the error messages. Also, check dmesg for errors.

I've made progress but need more help. I do not have connectivity yet but feel I'm close. When I'm done I will write a how to and post it.


I just checked the Tivo Wireless G adaptor and the linnk light is blinking. It has never done that before so I must be making progress.
Get a serial console bash session and manually insmod the driver. Any errors?

I'm now able to do a insmod with no error. Even added the "insmod /lib/modules/usb-cdc.o" to my author file


If not, check ifconfig -a. Is the network interface visible now?

Now when I do an ifconfig I get:

ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:D9:16:5F:29
inet addr:192.168.1.30 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:2140 (2.0 Kb)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:21 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:21 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1382 (1.3 Kb) TX bytes:1382 (1.3 Kb)

This only looks fairly good to me. Can someone tell me if there is a problem present here please.

When I do a net-status.tcl I get:

The following IP parameters are now set in MFS:
IP address is currently set to: 192.168.1.30
Default gateway is currently set to: 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask is currently set to: 255.255.255.0
DNS Server is currently set to: 4.2.2.2
DHCP is off
Wireless Parameters:
SSID is currently set to: <my ssid>
WEP is disabled

This is what I expected. I'm assuming this is good.

[Jamie]

I've made progress but need more help. I do not have connectivity yet but feel I'm close.If you have the right entry in usb.map, it should not be necessary to manually insmod the driver. I just had you do that for testing so we could see if there are any errors.

Again, I think you would be better off configuring the device with the built in tivo network settings screens rather than with net-status.tcl.

[ThreeIees]

I'm trying to get the built-in network screen now. I'll report back after I get it or if I can't get the screen I'll let you know.

Thanks again Jamie - have have given me a great amount of help.

[ThreeIees]

OK, I installed the network menu patch and it works. It already had all the appropriate info for my setup. But, I still have no joy. On the network menu screen it says "Gateway unreachable". I know I have the right addy specified "192.168.1.1" and that is the same gateway (router IP) I specified for my HR10 and it still works. So it seems ther is still a problem within the tivo unit in accepting/connecting to the gatway.

Anyone have any clues. I must me missing something within the tivo boot sequence or something.

[lgkahn]

did you disable the iptables firewall and the netfilter

[Jamie]

OK, I installed the network menu patch and it works. It already had all the appropriate info for my setup. But, I still have no joy. On the network menu screen it says "Gateway unreachable". I know I have the right addy specified "192.168.1.1" and that is the same gateway (router IP) I specified for my HR10 and it still works. So it seems ther is still a problem within the tivo unit in accepting/connecting to the gatway.

Anyone have any clues. I must me missing something within the tivo boot sequence or something.Are you certain you have all the wireless settings set right? SSID, WEP key, if any, etc? I don't think an unreachable gateway could be caused by the iptables firewall.

Can you verify that your 6.3 machine works with the wireless G adapter with all the same settings?

If it does, we may have to look to see if there is any other supporting software in 6.3 that you also need to transport to the 6.2 box.

[ThreeIees]

Are you certain you have all the wireless settings set right? SSID, WEP key, if any, etc? I don't think an unreachable gateway could be caused by the iptables firewall.

Can you verify that your 6.3 machine works with the wireless G adapter with all the same settings?

If it does, we may have to look to see if there is any other supporting software in 6.3 that you also need to transport to the 6.2 box.

I'm certain the settings are correct. I have checked and checked and checked:) I can also verify that my hr10 6.3 tivo is working with the same wireless G and all I had to give was the new IP address, the gateway or router IP address, the SSID and maybe the submask (I dont remember). There wa no need for a DSN addy with the hr10 install But I'm useing the same settings for the 6.2 with the exception of a different IP addy. I'm leaving the dns default of 4.2.2.2. I'm not even sure if ther is a DNS addy entered in my router.

I also just found this in my bash window after fooling around with the network menu on my 6.2 tivo:
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
packet write: Network is down
packet write: Network is down
packet write: Network is down
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2
KBUILD_BASENAME.c: eth0: rx error -2

I don't know if this means anything

[Narf54321]

I then copied usb-cdc.o from my 6.3x tivo to /lib/modules and then chmod'ed it.

Rebooted the tivo and still not joy.


You probably have to insmod it so the kernel actually uses the module.
I thought you said you had the Tivo Wireless-G working on an HR10-250... Just set up the DSR708 the same way.

[drez]

He did insmod, keep reading. ;)

[ThreeIees]

You probably have to insmod it so the kernel actually uses the module.
I thought you said you had the Tivo Wireless-G working on an HR10-250... Just set up the DSR708 the same way.

I did insmod and know there were no errors. The insmod was one of the most recent events that has moved me forward - thanks Jamie...

I do have the hr10 working but remember it is 6.3 and the dsr708 is 6.2. There seemes to be a substancial difference.

I'm a novice so I can use all the help I can get.

Thanks for the help,

ThreeIees

[Jamie]

I did insmod and know there were no errors. The insmod was one of the most recent events that has moved me forward - thanks Jamie...

I do have the hr10 working but remember it is 6.3 and the dsr708 is 6.2. There seemes to be a substancial difference.

I'm a novice so I can use all the help I can get.

Thanks for the help,

ThreeIeesok. We know the issue is not the kernel, since the same kernel is being used on the 6.2 and 6.3 machines, right? So it must be some other supporting software. It might be worth diffing the 6.2 root against a 6.3 root to look for differences. One thing I immediately noticed was /tvlib/firmware/cdc/usbcdc.trx.

[Gunnyman]

I think Jamie means the Network Menu patch for 6.2x: http://dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?p=277681#post277681

That rules!
Quite a break through.

[ThreeIees]

ok. We know the issue is not the kernel, since the same kernel is being used on the 6.2 and 6.3 machines, right? So it must be some other supporting software. It might be worth diffing the 6.2 root against a 6.3 root to look for differences. One thing I immediately noticed was /tvlib/firmware/cdc/usbcdc.trx.

Yes, I notice early on that usbcdc.trx was missing and copied it to the dsr708. It is required. I must still be missing something and not sure what it is yet.

[ThreeIees]

Does anyone know if there is a network menu patch for 6.3x?

[Jamie]

Does anyone know if there is a network menu patch for 6.3x?Yes. It is a side effect of the HME patch.

[ThreeIees]

I have run ifconfig and net-status.tcl on both my working HR10 and the non-working DSR708 and they both give the same results with the exception of the differetnt IP address of course.

I really need some help on what next steps I should try. I'm at a loss now.

Appreciate any direction or thoughts. We are really close but still only have a blinking link light.

ThreeIees

[Jamie]

Appreciate any direction or thoughts. We are really close but still only have a blinking link light.My best guess is that since you are loading the drive module manually, tivoapp isn't doing all the wireless setup it would normally do. There are two directions you could go from here: Try to figure out why the driver isn't loading automatically. You sure you have the right entries in /etc/hotplug/usb.map? Do you see any messages (dmesgs, etc) at all if you plug the device in with the tivo running? Try to figure out how to run /sbin/wlanctl yourself to set the SSID etc. Run it and see if it provides any usage information. You can also run strings on tivoapp and grep for any instances of wlanctl. That might give you some clues on how wlanctl is normally invoked from tivoapp.

[ThreeIees]

OK: Here is what I know right now.

I'm 100% sure that my DSR708 with a Tivo brand Wireless G adapter sees my network. I can tell by the message I get in the network menu for setting SSID that it clearly sees my network after I enter in the SSID. Also, when I go through the IP settings via the network menu (or via bash for that matter) I know it sees the network because it displays the signal strength in the network menu and tries to verify the IP settings. After about 30 seconds it comes back and says "Gateway is Unreachable". With all the testing I have done over the last few days I'm relatively positive that I'm just a whisker hair away from getting this.

My brain is so mushy I'm wondering if it is a simple mistake on my part. I have checked and rechecked my router settings. I have tried IP address for the Tivo within DHCP and outside of DHCP range. I think I have tired just about every permutation possible. But still not connectivity.

I'm going to re-evaluate my usb.map file and see if there is anything else I could add to it.

I'm of course open to any suggestions or specific instructions on what to try next. Remember, I'm a novice and specifics at this point will probably be needed.

Thanks of all the help thus far,

ThreeIees

[ThreeIees]

My best guess is that since you are loading the drive module manually, tivoapp isn't doing all the wireless setup it would normally do. There are two directions you could go from here: Try to figure out why the driver isn't loading automatically. You sure you have the right entries in /etc/hotplug/usb.map? Do you see any messages (dmesgs, etc) at all if you plug the device in with the tivo running? Try to figure out how to run /sbin/wlanctl yourself to set the SSID etc. Run it and see if it provides any usage information. You can also run strings on tivoapp and grep for any instances of wlanctl. That might give you some clues on how wlanctl is normally invoked from tivoapp.

I no longe have to do anything manually right now.

I assume that all drivers are loaded, but I could be wrong. I'm getting a blinking link light which means that the adapter is live and is trying to link to the network.

I'll have to research the wlanctl. I don't know anything about it.

Thanks again for hanging in there with me. I do appreciate it.

ThreeIees

[ThreeIees]

did you disable the iptables firewall and the netfilter

I believe I have. How is this done and I'll check.

[ThreeIees]

I booted the tivo without the adapter plugged in and then plugged it in after the boot was complete. Here is the message I got after plugging in the adapter.

usb.c: USB device 2 (vend/prod 0xa5c/0xbd11) is not claimed by any active driver.
Switching to OHCI
!!!!WARNING: Needed 2 tries to set video STC to 0x012a26b0
Before = 0x012accb0, After = 0x012accde

[ThreeIees]

Bump -any other ideas on what to try next? If there are none then I'm going to close this out and purchase a different wireless adapter setup as suggested by others.

Thanks again for all the assistance thus far.

Three

[lgkahn]

just get a usb to net adapter and plug it in to a wireless repeater.. much easier to manage the setup..

[Jamie]

Bump -any other ideas on what to try next? If there are none then I'm going to close this out and purchase a different wireless adapter setup as suggested by others.

Thanks again for all the assistance thus far.It seems that there is something else in 6.3 that is needed that 6.2 doesn't have. It could be in tivoapp, but I doubt it.

Look carefully at all the log messages that occur on your 6.3 box when you plug the dongle in and see if you see any differences. Also, compare what modules are loaded (lsmod) between the 6.2 and 6.3 boxes.

Try copying the /sbin/wlanctl from your 6.3 box to your 6.2 box. It's possible something was added there.

[Gunnyman]

just get a usb to net adapter and plug it in to a wireless repeater.. much easier to manage the setup..

that's not really the point now is it?
This is a fun challenge :)

[crashHD]

You can do it man! It sounds like you're so close.

I tried the same thing about 2 months ago. except with files from 7.2.2. I don't have a 6.3 image, or an HR10-250 to test with.
You've gotten a lot closer than I did.

[ThreeIees]

Thanks for the encouragement. But I have run out of things to try. I'm going to take a break and then start over again.

Three