HR20 appears to be running Linux

[RYSmith315]

DirecTV opened up the ethernet port and look what it spit out

Sniffer Trace:
0000 00 15 f2 9a 3f a8 00 50 94 c4 ea 1c 08 00 45 00 ....?..P......E.
0010 01 18 c9 3b 40 00 40 06 ea ca c0 a8 02 25 c0 a8 ...;@.@......%..
0020 02 64 9d 68 e2 e0 e9 f0 3c 84 4a de d0 ea 80 18 .d.h....<.J.....
0030 16 d0 9a b7 00 00 01 01 08 0a 00 a5 f5 ba 00 00 ................
0040 00 00 47 45 54 20 2f 75 70 6e 70 5f 64 65 73 63 ..GET /upnp_desc
0050 72 69 70 74 6f 72 5f 30 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e riptor_0 HTTP/1.
0060 31 0d 0a 48 4f 53 54 3a 20 31 39 32 2e 31 36 38 1..HOST: 192.168
0070 2e 32 2e 31 30 30 3a 35 38 30 38 30 0d 0a 44 41 .2.100:58080..DA
0080 54 45 3a 20 53 75 6e 2c 20 30 37 20 4a 61 6e 20 TE: Sun, 07 Jan
0090 32 30 30 37 20 30 36 3a 34 32 3a 33 31 20 47 4d 2007 06:42:31 GM
00a0 54 0d 0a 43 4f 4e 4e 45 43 54 49 4f 4e 3a 20 63 T..CONNECTION: c
00b0 6c 6f 73 65 0d 0a 55 53 45 52 2d 41 47 45 4e 54 lose..USER-AGENT
00c0 3a 20 4c 69 6e 75 78 2f 32 2e 34 2e 32 39 2d 75 : Linux/2.4.29-u
00d0 63 6c 69 62 63 2d 62 72 63 6d 2c 20 55 50 6e 50 clibc-brcm, UPnP
00e0 2f 31 2e 30 20 4a 65 74 48 65 61 64 20 53 44 4b /1.0 JetHead SDK
00f0 20 66 6f 72 20 55 50 6e 50 20 64 65 76 69 63 65 for UPnP device
0100 73 20 2f 31 2e 30 20 44 4c 4e 41 44 4f 43 2f 31 s /1.0 DLNADOC/1
0110 2e 30 30 20 49 4e 54 45 4c 5f 4e 4d 50 52 2f 32 .00 INTEL_NMPR/2
0120 2e 31 0d 0a 0d 0a .1....


Also port 25 and 110 are open but do not complete the 3-way handshake if you try to connect to them.

Maybe this box has some hope after all......

[AlphaWolf]

Well that begs the question: where is the kernel source code?

One of the biggest things keeping me from switching to the HR20 is the lack of the ability to do our own third party modifications. If that turns out to be false, and if we can get two tuner buffers, I would switch to the HR20 as soon as I had the money for it.

[konfoo]

It doesn't appear to be running Linux - it *is* running linux.

[mateom199]

AW, I would recommend waiting for the HR20 bugs to be ironed out...maybe wait for a new hardware revision. HR20's right now are just in a pathetic state - sporadic reboots, lockups, failure to record shows, shows being recorded but being unwatchable, etc etc. It really is a disgraceful product - BUT its a product that, had it been given a long enough dev cycle, could have been stable and reliable. WHEN it works, its works great.

DTV swallowed more than they could chew with dumping Tivo, and were forced to release a lemon of a product.

My most recent call to DTV revealed just how bad the situation is. My unit had crashed once again, and I finally decided to call DTV and get some type of credit. The CSR told me that, right in front of her in red text, it said "No repairs or replacements or returns of any kind are to be done on HR20 units. Report to customer that DirecTV engineers are working the issues out and a fix will be available shortly." DirecTV knows its a shoddy product, and somehow are getting away with refusing to service/replace or allow returns of a $300 box.

As far as it running Linux, what kind of grace period does a company have
before they have to release kernel sources? I mean, should we start sending letters to DTV outlining the GPL requirements?

[Jamie]

Originally Posted by mateom199

As far as it running Linux, what kind of grace period does a company have
before they have to release kernel sources? I mean, should we start sending letters to DTV outlining the GPL requirements?

There is no grace period. Did everyone with an hr20 receive a written offer for source code? This tells you how to deal with a GPL violation, if you think there is one.

[mateom199]

Originally Posted by Jamie

There is no grace period. Did everyone with an hr20 receive a written offer for source code? This tells you how to deal with a GPL violation, if you think there is one.

I'll have to re-check the documents that came with my HR20, but I don't recall seeing anything pertaining to the GPL. THen again, I don't think I read every bit of fine print.

[stevel]

There's no requirement to release source just because a product is running Linux. If they make edits to the Linux source (revising drivers, etc.), those they have to release. It seems a lot of people believe that using Linux means you get access to every line of code in the product.

[Jamie]

Originally Posted by stevel

There's no requirement to release source just because a product is running Linux. If they make edits to the Linux source (revising drivers, etc.), those they have to release. It seems a lot of people believe that using Linux means you get access to every line of code in the product.

You can read the GPL to see what the actual requirements are. In summary, if they distribute a binary compiled from GPL sources, they are required to provide source, or a written offer for source code for that binary. It doesn't matter if the source is modified or not, and they have to provide all the source to the GPL'd program, not just their changes. In this example, if the HR20 runs a linux kernel, there must be a written offer for the source for that kernel.

Here's the relevant section of the GPL:

Originally Posted by GPL

...
3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections
1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your
cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete
machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
customarily used for software interchange; or,

c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer
to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is
allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
received the program in object code or executable form with such
an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
...

[mateom199]

Originally Posted by stevel

There's no requirement to release source just because a product is running Linux. If they make edits to the Linux source (revising drivers, etc.), those they have to release. It seems a lot of people believe that using Linux means you get access to every line of code in the product.

We're discussing the release of the linux kernel sources of the HR20, not any of DTV's custom/proprietary code. Its a situation similar to Tivo - Tivo was required to release the kernel sources, but nothing else (like tivoapp, etc)

[stevel]

You're mistaken. TiVo released the sources to the kernel modules it changed, plus some other stuff it didn't strictly have to release. There is no obligation to release the entire source tree for the Linux build used. Do you know for a fact that DirecTV uses modified Linux source code?

I was not referring to proprietary code.

[Jamie]

Originally Posted by stevel

You're mistaken. TiVo released the sources to the kernel modules it changed, plus some other stuff it didn't strictly have to release. There is no obligation to release the entire source tree for the Linux build used. Do you know for a fact that DirecTV uses modified Linux source code?

Nope. TiVo releases the full tivo kernel sources, as required by the GPL. Go checkout www.tivo.com/linux if you doubt this. I have built kernels from the tivo sources. I know exactly what is included in their downloads.

Have you read the GPL? Can you quote the section that supports your claim that only the changes need to be provided?

If you want to verify that there is linux GPL code on the HR20, you'll probably need to pull the prom and dump the code out and disassemble it. Just a grep for strings might give you sufficient clues.

If you google "konfoo" and "nds", it might give you some clues why s/he is able to state with some confidence that it is the case.

[mateom199]

Just an update:

Apparently in the HR20 user's manual, there is a little blurb about finding further license information at www.gnu.org.

This still doesn't satisfy the requirement of including a copy of the GPL with their distribution, nor does it lead to any type of source code being available.
All it does provide further proof that the HR20 is indeed using GPL'd code.

A helpful member of DBSTalk.com has formally written to DirecTV, requesting compliance to the GPL. So we shall see...

[alldeadhomiez]

Originally Posted by Jamie

If you want to verify that there is linux GPL code on the HR20, you'll probably need to pull the prom and dump the code out and disassemble it.

A while back somebody wrote a TSReader plugin that could pull (Echostar) firmware updates off the satellite. This sort of approach may be less costly than surgery.

The DBStalk thread is here: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=82621

[DocTauri]

Incidentally... My HR20 is spitting this out, but if you try to connect to it on the advertised port (58080 in the above example), it won't syn-ack. I'm assuming it's iptables is letting outbound traffic flow free, but no inbound.

It seems to seek out upnp devices on my network (my wrt-54g is advertising itself as one), then badgers the living shit out of it like a drunk girl at a frat party. It hits it on the upnp port, obtaining all of the xml data, then does it again the next minute, and the next, etc, every freakin minute of every freakin day. It's like watching a binary version of 50 First Dates.

[DocTauri]

FYI: The packet above is actually the HR20 obtaining upnp info from another device. Here's a capture of my HR20 (0.140) advertising himself as a upnp to the network.

00:00:30.629497 IP 192.168.0.140.1900 > 239.255.255.140.1900: UDP, length 309
        0x0000:  4500 0151 0000 4000 0411 c4db c0a8 008c  E..Q..@.........
        0x0010:  efff ff8c 076c 076c 013d 08b5 4e4f 5449  .....l.l.=..NOTI
        0x0020:  4659 202a 2048 5454 502f 312e 310d 0a4c  FY.*.HTTP/1.1..L
        0x0030:  4f43 4154 494f 4e3a 2068 7474 703a 2f2f  OCATION:.http://
        0x0040:  3139 322e 3136 382e 302e 3134 303a 3534  192.168.0.140:54
        0x0050:  3035 352f 0d0a 484f 5354 3a20 3233 392e  055/..HOST:.239.
        0x0060:  3235 352e 3235 352e 3134 303a 3139 3030  255.255.140:1900
        0x0070:  0d0a 5345 5256 4552 3a20 504f 5349 582c  ..SERVER:.POSIX,
        0x0080:  2055 506e 502f 312e 302c 2055 6365 6e74  .UPnP/1.0,.Ucent
        0x0090:  7269 6320 5654 432f 312e 300d 0a4e 5453  ric.VTC/1.0..NTS
        0x00a0:  3a20 7373 6470 3a61 6c69 7665 0d0a 5553  :.ssdp:alive..US
        0x00b0:  4e3a 2075 7569 643a 7575 6964 3a75 726e  N:.uuid:uuid:urn
        0x00c0:  3a64 6972 6563 7476 2e63 6f6d 3a64 6576  :directv.com:dev
        0x00d0:  6963 653a 5354 423a 315b 3030 3a35 303a  ice:STB:1[xx:xx:
        0x00e0:  3934 3a45 363a 3438 3a46 415d 5b30 5d0d  xx:xx:xx:xx][0].
        0x00f0:  0a43 4143 4845 2d43 4f4e 5452 4f4c 3a20  .CACHE-CONTROL:.
        0x0100:  6d61 782d 6167 653d 3132 300d 0a4e 543a  max-age=120..NT:
        0x0110:  2075 7569 643a 7575 6964 3a75 726e 3a64  .uuid:uuid:urn:d
        0x0120:  6972 6563 7476 2e63 6f6d 3a64 6576 6963  irectv.com:devic
        0x0130:  653a 5354 423a 315b 3030 3a35 303a 3934  e:STB:1[xx:xx:x
        0x0140:  3a45 363a 3438 3a46 415d 5b30 5d0d 0a0d  :xx:xx:xx][0]...

Note that the two xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx near the end is the [stripped] device's MAC address.