Interesting 4DTV information for the techie

[tvropro]

Found this browsing the web, kinda interesting stuff.

http://anubis.macross.com/~drlev/6653.1.htm

 

[melgarga]

That one was a new one to me too. I have scoured the 'net looking for more technical 4DTV info and it seem this guy (Darryl sp?) was the go to guy for all things 4D. It seems he was a founder, or somehow very closely associated to the Satforums organization. He passed away 2-3 or so years ago from what I've gathered.
I had a copy of the 4Play app at one time. Before that all dried up it was promising. Seems they went TU about the same time VOOM did. The version I had was not tested on the 922 and I wasnt crazy about bricking my $500 IRD.

There is bound to be some hardware intervention that can be done to stop the auto update "feature". I abhor auto updating of any means. AFAIC those that knowingly and willingly allow such actions are asking for trouble, and those that force said updates are no better than spammers and malware distributing ilk.

Good read, tnx for the link.

 

[tdti1]

Darryl Livingston was the man. Although I never met him personally I did learn so much from him, he was always there to help, and man did he know everything about those 4d's.

 

[GreatFTA]

What was the 4Play app for? Is it still available?

 

[lonewolf454]

4play was for updating channel maps on 4dtv units, and from what I understand problems arose due to fact that active channels would overwrite the map with current Motorola map, and all work would be lost.

It also requires a wiggler which is a bdm to usb cable to connect ird to a pc running 4 play front end.

Someone correct me if I am wrong. I have 4play but no wiggler (that don't sound right!!)

 

[GreatFTA]

I would be afraid of it. Thanks. I was curious about it.

 

[lonewolf454]

There are several reasons to be not necessarily scared, but at least cautious. You could easily brick your unit with a few wrong keystrokes. Now that DCII ird's are fairly cheap I am going to get a second backup 4dtv and begin experimenting with it, just don't want to try it on my main unit. (As long as motorola keeps letting us subscribe to channels anyways)

(With respect to the nice people here and over at satforums) The main problem I have found is lack of information on dcII ird's online, a lot of it looks like you go out on your own.

 

[GreatFTA]

I noticed that there are less up to date infos on 4DTV. This site and Rick's site are more up to date on the 4DTV subject. The other sites are fading out throughout the internet.
I am sad that the programmings are fewer to choose. I heard that Skyvision won't be offering Showtime anymore...
I got my 922 at a great price ($145 including shipping) and really enjoying it! I dropped my subscription with DTv. It make no sense to pay nearly $80 a month and only watch a handful of channels. With 4DTV, I select the channels I want and pay only a fraction of what I used to pay.
I sure hope 4DTV will be around for a long time...
Maybe if the C Band folks start sending letters to the Motorola folks about wanting more DC-2 receivers made and we C Band folks start demanding more programming to choose from, maybe we can get results.

 

[rlariv]

anyone know where I can get 4play.exe ? Given the latest NPS deal. I would like to have it running smoothly by the end of the year.

 

[Lil Chris]

anyone know where I can get 4play.exe ? Given the latest NPS deal. I would like to have it running smoothly by the end of the year.

Is this what you're looking for? Read the thread for the actual link to the file. I hope it's ok to post this link, I came across it yesterday... I'm not sure I'll use it personally. I downloaded it and installed it, but it's way over my head. I may experiment on my older 920 (if it still even works) but not with my 922.

4Play for 4DTV - from Photoman76 - Ricks Satellite Wildfeed and Backhaul Forum

 

[PopcornNMore]

4play was for updating channel maps on 4dtv units, and from what I understand problems arose due to fact that active channels would overwrite the map with current Motorola map, and all work would be lost.

It also requires a wiggler which is a bdm to usb cable to connect ird to a pc running 4 play front end.

Someone correct me if I am wrong. I have 4play but no wiggler (that don't sound right!!)

I have several wigglers, but no 4Play.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Is this what you're looking for? Read the thread for the actual link to the file. I hope it's ok to post this link, I came across it yesterday... I'm not sure I'll use it personally. I downloaded it and installed it, but it's way over my head. I may experiment on my older 920 (if it still even works) but not with my 922.

4Play for 4DTV - from Photoman76 - Ricks Satellite Wildfeed and Backhaul Forum

Thank you! Now I can use my wigglers.

 

[rlariv]

thanks very much - time for a little 4 play - LOL

 

[Lil Chris]

Thank you! Now I can use my wigglers.

What's a wiggler?

 

[lonewolf454]

Wiggler is nickname for a jtag / bdm type device that interfaces a PC to a compatible receiver, to allow updating, backing up info, etc of the receiver.

-Not for the faint of heart!

 

[Zorak]

Any idea where one can still buy a "wiggler" that will work with these receivers?

 

[lonewolf454]

I found wiggler at usb jtag dot com but have yet to do anything useful with it, there isn't much support there for dsr boxes, maybe a better supported wiggler elsewhere, one that is set up to work with 4play.

 

[ikki]

> What's a wiggler?

Lets just say its not a wigger.

 

[truckracer]

> What's a wiggler?

Lets just say its not a wigger.

Bahaaaaaa LOL

 

[stargaze]

4play was for updating channel maps on 4dtv units, and from what I understand problems arose due to fact that active channels would overwrite the map with current Motorola map, and all work would be lost.

It also requires a wiggler which is a bdm to usb cable to connect ird to a pc running 4 play front end.

Someone correct me if I am wrong. I have 4play but no wiggler (that don't sound right!!)

There is no version of 4play that currently operates with any of the maps in the 920/922/905. Changes were made to the channel maps making them incompatible with 4play sometime after July of 2003.
So you can use 4play with only a really old memory file from before the time something changed back then.
However: it may be possible to pick up any FTA digital channels by installing the 4play AFTER your battery dies and your 4dtv goes brain dead.

The biggest problem that 4play had, was that as soon as you tuned to a channel that was broadcasting consumer maps, the custom maps you made were overwritten and you had to start over again.

4Play would have to be completely re-written to be used with the current code written to the 4dtv receivers.