External Storage Technical Investigation

/dev/null

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jun 24, 2007
48
0
Fort Worth, TX
Finally got around to activating external storage on my account today and had the 622 format my drive. I haven't bothered to transfer any recordings to it - yet, as I'm still investigating the results of a "clean" format.

The short, short, short version: 2 partitions, both Linux ext3 filesystems. I will post the details that I have thus far tomorrow evening.
 
Compared to the average person on the street, I would be considered a full blown geek. However in this forum, I would label myself in the "Intermediate Geek" or "Geek-Lite" category...meaning, although my career is the accounting/financial realm, I have a natural curiosity and aptitude for tech-type things. I'm not a hard-core expert on any one thing, but I have a moderate or better understanding of a lot of different things (i.e. Windows, Mac/AppleScripts, terminate Cat5/RJ11/Coax, Dish/SatTV, HDTV, know the iMovie trick for "dealing" with iTunes songs, etc). On a scale of 1-10, using /def/null (10) and my mom (1) as benchmarks, I put myself as a 7 or 8.

Anyway, I don't know why I felt the urge to bore everyone with my resume (probably to show to myself I am "worthy" to participate..lol), but I do have a question for def/null on this subject. Since Linux and Mac OS X both use a Unix-based kernel, could your findings (whatever they turn out to be) also apply to a Mac OS X box? I've never messed with Linux directly, so I'm not sure how the Unix parts of Linux and the Mac OS compare/contrast.

BTW, your post a while back on the other thread explaining DD dump, UUID, etc was excellent and helpful. There were a couple of things in there I didn't know.
 
Mac OSX is only LOOSELY related to *nix as it is (again VERY loosely) based on an iteration of BSD Darwin and has been highly modified. While it's possible to run an Apache web server on one of the older G5 PowerBooks, and so prove that a *nix variant exists at the root level, it may not be possible to know whether any of the linux tools being used to examine the drive structure are available on a Mac. You'd also have to gain access to the root shell in MacOSX and see if something like tune2fs is available or a similar tool that will give you file system information about the Mac file system to see if it is running an unmodified ext3 file system.
 
Mac OSX is only LOOSELY related to *nix as it is (again VERY loosely) based on an iteration of BSD Darwin and has been highly modified. While it's possible to run an Apache web server on one of the older G5 PowerBooks, and so prove that a *nix variant exists at the root level, it may not be possible to know whether any of the linux tools being used to examine the drive structure are available on a Mac. You'd also have to gain access to the root shell in MacOSX and see if something like tune2fs is available or a similar tool that will give you file system information about the Mac file system to see if it is running an unmodified ext3 file system.

Unfortunately, I don't own a Mac (although, that is in my very near future to pick up the new iMac). Nevertheless, I went and took a look at one a few days after its release and was very impressed and did some quick playing around with it. I do know that you can get to a shell, but, I have no clue how to obtain root (but, I'll just ask my Mac guru IT buddies tomorrow!) - along with a tune2fs equivalent exists. The real question is does OSX recognize the ext3 file system? My initial guess: yes. Another guess on my part regarding OSX: it doesn't use ext3 as the file system. Again, I'll get a good qualified answer tomorrow (unless, someone here already knows and just hasn't spoken up - and, if that's the case, please do!)
 
Given the encryption of the programs on it, what do you expect to find from this analysis? I haven't bothered to connect the drive to my linux box; I am happy it works the way it is, with no errors so far :)

But I guess more knowledge is better.
 
From other group by loganbrowne:

The disk is formatted by the 622 so that contains two ext3 partitions
with a normal (non-GUID) partition table (example below for my 250 GB
disk):
Code:
Device Boot Start End Blocks   Id System
/dev/sdb1   1   132   1060258+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 133 30401 243135742+ 83 Linux

On the second partition, there is a directory named DishArc that
contains folders for each program with 8 character hexadecimal names
(example 1e0f2000).

Inside each program folder there are 4 files: bm, cat, tsp, and wtt
The tsp is a large file (910 MB for an hour SD show), while all the
others are under 4k. I am not sure at what size there might be
multiple tsp files.

I've run tsp trough dvbsnoop and it appears to be standard transport
stream with the TS packets scrambled (transport_scrambling_control set
to 0x02 or 0x03 on several TS packets).

the cat file has the program description data, and bm has some of the
same information as cat but with some additional information at the
end (perhaps to provide context for the decoding of the transport stream).

Finally, wtt has some repeating data that i can't decipher (repeating
hex f8 23 6e 38 followed by another 8 bits that change every few lines).
 
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Given the encryption of the programs on it, what do you expect to find from this analysis?

To understand what is being done with MY asset. On a practical side, for example, to be able to reorder the content (in terms of the way I hear that it is listed now - in the order that it was transfered) - at least in alphabetic order instead.

But I guess more knowledge is better.

Yep. :)
 
Mac OSX is only LOOSELY related to *nix as it is (again VERY loosely) based on an iteration of BSD Darwin and has been highly modified. While it's possible to run an Apache web server on one of the older G5 PowerBooks, and so prove that a *nix variant exists at the root level, it may not be possible to know whether any of the linux tools being used to examine the drive structure are available on a Mac. You'd also have to gain access to the root shell in MacOSX and see if something like tune2fs is available or a similar tool that will give you file system information about the Mac file system to see if it is running an unmodified ext3 file system.

Mac OS X has a fairly standard FreeBSD userland by default. You can easily install most stuff from the FreeBSD ports tree, as long as you're planning on using it all from the command line. It also comes with a windowed terminal application, so it's not exactly difficult to gain access to the command line on.

So all the normal *nix file system tools are available to you.
 
Thanks for the info. I still need to buy a drive to hookup to my 622. You guys have posted some good info that has been very useful. Thanks to all
 
For anyone who cares, I posted a question on a Mac forum (link below) about the Mac OS X/LINUX/UNIX compatibilities to help me understand some of your replies in this thread. There appears to be strong opinions on this subject. But the short answer is, yes, Mac can read/write the ext3/ext2 file structure, get to the root shell (I knew this already), etc.

Unix Parts in Linux vs. Unix Parts in OS X - The macosxhints Forums

cparker...Remember these are hard-core Mac users and THEIR opinions. I don't have enough knowledge to debate the nuances of *nix file systems.

/dev/null...Any word on if you were able to put a non-DISH file on the HDD and still work with the 622? Did you have to gen up some code to do it?

harshness...
Hey, I know the LS, DIR, CD and CAT commands in Unix. That must count for something, right? And back in the day, I remember using the UUENCODE command on my binary files (i.e. GIF, WordPerfect Doc) to convert them to ASCII. You had to do this so you could attach it to a novel thing called an "email" using the MAIL command. I remember receiving an email and having to UUDECODE that stupid ASCII code in the body of the email to get it back into a binary file. Oh, and who remembers Kermit? If you wanted to actually see the Vanna White attachment, you had to "Kermit" the binary file (i.e. GIF) from the text-only Unix box to a BMP/GIF viewer on your PC. It took 10 minutes just to see an email attachment. Ahh...those were the days.

Then came Mosaic and everything changed....
 
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harshness...[/COLOR]Hey, I know the LS, DIR, CD and CAT commands in Unix. That must count for something, right?

DIR isn't a command in unix; it's in DOS. If you can use dir; it's defined as either a shell function or a symlink to ls.


And back in the day, I remember using the UUENCODE command on my binary files (i.e. GIF, WordPerfect Doc) to convert them to ASCII. You had to do this so you could attach it to a novel thing called an "email" using the MAIL command. I remember receiving an email and having to UUDECODE that stupid ASCII code in the body of the email to get it back into a binary file. Oh, and who remembers Kermit? If you wanted to actually see the Vanna White attachment, you had to "Kermit" the binary file (i.e. GIF) from the text-only Unix box to a BMP/GIF viewer on your PC. It took 10 minutes just to see an email attachment. Ahh...those were the days.

We used to transfer source code via kermit back in the day. Amazing how quickly a 2400 bps modem could move source code with compression :D



Then came Mosaic and everything changed....

Including Marc Andreesen ;)
 
For anyone who cares, I posted a question on a Mac forum (link below) about the Mac OS X/LINUX/UNIX compatibilities to help me understand some of your replies in this thread. There appears to be strong opinions on this subject. But the short answer is, yes, Mac can read/write the ext3/ext2 file structure, get to the root shell (I knew this already), etc.

I care... as an Mac is in my near future.


Thanks for the link... this will be handy in my learning curve when I pick up a Mac...

/dev/null...Any word on if you were able to put a non-DISH file on the HDD and still work with the 622? Did you have to gen up some code to do it?

I haven't yet put a non-DISH file on the HDD at all. I did a few transfers to the HDD, and I need to do an image dump of its state now (the first 1GB partition may very well contain some interesting information). Once I image, I'll slap on a non-DISH file in a few locations (and, my personal favorite, slap on a FIFO file).
harshness...Hey, I know the LS, DIR, CD and CAT commands in Unix. That must count for something, right?

"dir" not in *nix, unless as a shell alias. Still counts though.

And back in the day, I remember using the UUENCODE command on my binary files (i.e. GIF, WordPerfect Doc) to convert them to ASCII. You had to do this so you could attach it to a novel thing called an "email" using the MAIL command. I remember receiving an email and having to UUDECODE that stupid ASCII code in the body of the email to get it back into a binary file.

Yep, I remember doing this too!

Oh, and who remembers Kermit?

I have to say, I don't miss Kermit, but, it never failed for me either.
 
300 baud was my start. :) Kermit, Veronica, Archie, Jughead...... c'mon... I started writing web pages before there were even PICTURES on the web (all hypertext)... memory lane is getting shorter as I age. But I *DO* remember being the second house on our street with a color TV.... and the only thing "color" was the peacock's tail.. heheheh..... well almost.

In that context I think HD programming is becoming available at an accelerated rate :)
 
I admit I wasn't thinking about the shell command thing when I mentioned DIR. I guess I got a little too excited and rambunctious to filter it through my mental "DOS vs. UNIX commands" filter.

I was exposed to the UNIX universe for only about six months. As I mentioned earlier, I'm in the financial/business/management analyst-type area. But in this case, the powers-that-be felt the need to put me (and my recent accounting degree) in the sexy-new-management-flavor-of-the-month Economic Transition/Technology Transfer Team. Needless to say, the pre-graphical Internet and the TELNET/FTP/etc. commands on a UNIX box was one of the things I looked into and taught myself. But about six months later, they re-organized everything and nixed (no pun intended) our group. I ended up in the NEW-sexy-new-management-flavor-of-the-month Cost Savings Team, which is also long gone.

In case anyone is still reading my post and is curious what I am doing now, I've been a Budget Analyst now for about 10 years. I'm coming up on 17 years (yikes) with the same reorganization-prone employer, Dept of Energy (does that make me an old fart and/or "institutionalized"?). Invariably, every new Administration succumbs to the temptation to mix things up to show that they are smarter than the previous Administration. Budget-related functions, however, are fundamental to operations and rarely, if ever, are affected by re-orgs nor included in outsourcing initiatives, as it is considered an "essential" and "inherently governmental" function. For example, the Constitution requires the Executive Branch (President) to propose and submit an annual budget request to Congress. Outsourcing that function not only goes against the Constitution, but would be a conflict of interest if, say Halliburton, submitted the Budget request (for obvious reasons).

Uhh...maybe Halliburton wasn't such a good example since it appears Halliburton (and other corporations) actually write the Budget submittal themselves because Cheney/Bush are too busy licking and massaging their balls.

This post went way off-topic...sorry. Yes...let me know how the file transfer thing worked, and how you did it (if it doesn't mess up 622 or recordings).
 
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