Unified mfs_* tools (originally tridge vplay)

[Jamie]

This is a "unified" version of vplay distribution that attempts to merge the assorted branches that have evolved over the years. This includes the mfs_* programs used by mfs_ftp, the tserver and vserver programs, and mfs_tmfstream, a tool used for extraction on a linux PC. The main goal was to share a common code base so that performance and bug fixes could benefit everyone.

These programs use considerably less CPU than the earlier builds I've found. That has two advantages: faster transfers and less interference with the TiVo software and UI. This thread will give you an idea of the current performance possible with this package and the 2.4.27 backport usb2 network drivers.

There are seven attachments:

1. mips - binaries for Series 2 machines
2. ppc - binaries for Series 1 machines
3. Linux-i686 - linux binaries for PC side extraction or for use with tserver
4. Darwin-Power-Macintosh - OS X binaries for extraction or for use with tserver
5. Cywin - Build for x86 windows PC running cygwin. This is for use as a vserver client. *NOT* for use with locally attached disks.
6. source
7. architecture independent files (README's and patches)

Some of the packages are pushed to the second post due to the 5 attachment post limitation.

Fetch the src package and read the README and CHANGES files.

The src package includes the limited documentation available (sorry I didn't improve the situation much there) and two patches to mfs_ftp. These patches should be considered experimental and have not been vetted by Riley. Please don't bother him if have mfs_ftp problems when using these patches; bother me instead. My patch improves insertion speed and eliminates the intermediate programs by using mfs_uberexport directly. JBuehl's patch uses expiration times exported from mfs_tmfstream when inserting. The patches can be applied on your TiVo with "patch < mfs_ftp.jamie.patch" while in your mfs_ftp directory, if you have the busybox patch program installed. If you want both patches, apply the jbuehl patch first, then the jamie patch.

Fetch the binary packages for the architectures you are interested in and untar them on your PC and/or TiVO(s). You'll get mfs_vplay_tserver/bin.<ARCH> subdirectories. You can either add this to your path, or copy the programs into your favorite bin directory already on your path.

To use with the unpatched mfs_ftp, copy mfs_{export,import,stream,tarstream,uberexport} to your mfs_ftp directory and make a symlink from mfs_import to mfs_stdinsert. You'll have to use "ln -sf" when you create the symlink to replace the original mfs_stdinsert, if you didn't already move or remove it.

To use with the patched mfs_ftp, apply the patches to mfs_ftp 1.2.9p and copy mfs_{uberexport,import} to your mfs_ftp directory.

For use with tytools, use the tserver program here.

Post support questions in the Newbie or Extraction, Insertion & Streaming Support forums.

License & Credits:

Released under the Gnu GPL v2, with the exception of the mfs_ftp.tcl patches, which are under Riley's mfs_ftp license.

Many people contributed to this package. First and foremost, Tridge, the original author. See the CHANGES files for a list of the contributers.

Modifications by:

adh, jamie, jbuehl, jdiner, jonbig, mbm, musclenerd, ppchacker, sn9, w_cb
and possibly others...

{Edit 2004/11/23

I recommend caution with insertions. When insertions are interrupted or aborted, a recording object stays in the Now Showing list that can be difficult to delete. See the support thread for details.

}

{Edit 2005/05/08

Darwin and CYGWIN bin packages pushed to the second post.

}

[Jamie]

Additional Attachments.

[Jamie]

I posted a new build today. The packages are now bzip2 compressed to save a little more space.

The main thing that has changed is tserver: it now includes embedded code that generates the NowShowing list. This is faster, and also simplifies installation, since you only need the tserver program itself now and no longer need NowShowing.tcl.

tserver still supports the -s option to specify a NowShowing script, but if you use it you won't get the benefit of the new changes.

I've tested the new tserver with 4.0.1b and 5.1.1.b. jdiner tested with various 2.X and 3.X releases. Please let me know if you encounter any problems. There are two new programs that might be useful for debugging if you do encounter problems: NowShowing and mfs_tzoffset. NowShowing prints the NowShowing list to stdout (like mfs_streams, but in the TyTools format). mfs_tzoffset prints out the time zone offset as determined from mfs.

[Jamie]

A new build has been posted in the first thread:

2005/03/14 Changes:

Daniel Gimpelevich (aka sn9): OS X Port
Jamie: C version of AlphaWolf's ciphercheck.tcl
DarkHelmet: Contributed program to aid in-place unscrambling on S1 hardware.
Jamie: Add an option (-f) to mfs_info to "fix" a broken superblock CRC.
Jamie: Use the schema from 7.1a-02.
Jamie: Fix mkpkg.sh so that file types match compression used.

Note that to stay under the 5 attachment limit I had to remove the noarch package. Everything that was in noarch is in the src package.

[Jamie]

jimthev pointed out a memory leak in the NowShowing generation code used by tserver. This bug could cause a long running tserver to eventually run out of memory. The 20050316 build fixes this problem.

[Jamie]

20050326

Jamie
Merge CHANGES into a single file.

Fix the broken -f (fix crc) option to mfs_info.

Add -s (scan) options to mfs_info that can scan for the highest
tyStream FSID and size needed for a backup to preserve
loopsets. This could be useful for determining
a reasonable -f or -l value for mfsbackup.

Fix a bug in mfs_uberexport that prevented small files from
being exported.

[Jamie]

20050419

Fix tzoffset bug that caused problems with tserver on UK tivo's.

Fix get_tivo_version() so it doesn't exit if the version is unavailable for some reason. This allows mfs_uberexport to work even if /SwSystem/ACTIVE isn't present.

[Jamie]

A new build has been posted 20050508. Highlights include inetd support, contributed by maxwellsdaemon, S1 cachecard 'burst mode' command generation support, contributed by JB6783, and a CYGWIN build.

This post from maxwells_daemon explains how to setup tserver & vserver to run under inetd. He describes an S1 setup, but I'm using it on a S2 using the inetd in AlphaWolf's All-In-One package. The only thing I might add is that you need to create an /etc/passwd file with a root account.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
20050507

Jamie

Added a mfs_burstcmds command line program that does the equivalent of
JB6783's php code. Extended the vserver protocol slightly to
allow mfs_burstcmds to work through a vserver connection.

Include CYGWIN compiled binaries. These are NOT intended to be
used with a directly attached disk. There are well know issues
with attaching a tivo drive to a windows 2K or XP machine: the
boot blocks of the disk get clobberd. Instead, use these
tools with a remote vserver:

On the tivo, run vserver, either directly or through inetd.

On a PC running a cygwin shell:

# Set the ip address of the tivo
export MFS_DEVLIST=":your-tivo-ip"

Then use mfs_uberexport, mfs_burstcmds, or other commands as though
the tivo drive was directly attached to your PC.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
20050501

JB6783
Add support for LIST_SECTORS tserver command: used with
contrib/burst/tserver.php to extract partition and sector info
for Series1 CacheCard burst mode transfers.

See contrib/README.burst for more information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
20050429

maxwells_daemon
New tserver/vserver -l and -L options.
-l sends error messages to the syslog. -L sends all messages.
So we don't have to rewrite everything, log.h redefines fprintf etc
to call syslog() if use_syslog is set - otherwise it runs fprintf as if
log.h weren't there.

New tserver/vserver -i option. This allows these programs to be started
on demand from inetd. stderr and stdout are written to /dev/null, so
it's probably best to use -l (or -L) too. inetd is available as part of
GNU InetUtils. A PPC port is available from here
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/maxwell...ivo/ports.html

Fix load_devs which generated an unterminated device name, so could
randomly crash.

Fix error message in generate_1_NowShowing, which probably would have
crashed.

Add usage message for vserver -h. Update usage message for tserver -h.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Jamie]

A new build has been posted in the first post in the thread. This is mainly a Mac OS X bug fix release. It should work correctly now with both disk images and locally attached disks. Although the Darwin package has a different date stamp, it's built from the same sources -- it just took me a while to get access to a Darwin machine for the final build.

Note that the project is now hosted on sourceforge. CVS there may be ahead of the latest release here.

20050604

Jamie
        Fix device handling for OS_X:  use DKIOGETBLOCKCOUNT32 to get the
        device sizes.  Handle bsd style disk device names (/dev/diskNsM...).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

20050515

Jamie
        Allow a recursive mfs_dumpobj to continue after running into
        invalid fsid references.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

20050512

Jamie
        Move to sourceforge; rename to mfs-utils.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Jamie]

Here's a quick a dirty port to mfs64 for the TiVoHD. This is only the mips binaries and only for the TiVoHD. On other platforms, keep using the old version.

I plan to release a merged version that supports both mfs32 and mfs64, but that seems to be a slow going project, and several people have asked for something sooner, so here it is.

[chevyman601]

Here's a quick a dirty port to mfs64 for the TiVoHD. This is only the mips binaries and only for the TiVoHD. On other platforms, keep using the old version.

I plan to release a merged version that supports both mfs32 and mfs64, but that seems to be a slow going project, and several people have asked for something sooner, so here it is.

is this for the DirectivoHD (hr10-250) or just for the TivoHD SA

thanks!

[ScanMan]

This is only the mips binaries and only for the TiVoHD. On other platforms, keep using the old version.

I think that sums it up; hr10-250 is regular S2 - use the old version.

[sylan]

Here's a quick a dirty port to mfs64 for the TiVoHD. This is only the mips binaries and only for the TiVoHD. On other platforms, keep using the old version.

I plan to release a merged version that supports both mfs32 and mfs64, but that seems to be a slow going project, and several people have asked for something sooner, so here it is.

Was a merged or x86 version ever released? The latest release on sourceforge says "September 2006".

[Jamie]

Was a merged or x86 version ever released? The latest release on sourceforge says "September 2006".

Nope. Sorry.


The mfs-64 source is in the sourceforge CVS with the tag "mfs-utils64". It should be straight forward to check it out and make an x86 (or x64) build for your distribution.

[borrows123]

One of my friend is dealing this kind of things now a days...
Let me confirm from him then I will give you the authenticated answer....