? proper procedure for upgrading with editor?

[B.J.]

Well, I just upgraded from 2371 to 3877 (I was a bit nervous about putting in that 3911 just yet).

After the upgrade, I went to put in my old sats/channels, using the editor (2880).
It's been so long since I first used the other editor to put sats and channels in that I had forgotten pretty much just how the editor works, with respect to uploading the files, so I think I used the wrong procedure at first. I'm going to try to remember and summarize what I did below, and would appreciate comments relative to what procedure other people use.
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What I did was just start up the editor, loaded in data on the first "organize list" tab, using the "open files" button (I think). Then, I uploaded to the azbox using the "send to azbox" button.

After doing this, my channels were there, but nothing worked, because somehow all the channels came up listed as being in "TUNER B", and of course I don't have a tuner b. There weren't any transponder data associated with any of the channels, and I seemed to have the entire huge satellite list loaded in the receiver.

I *THINK* that what happened, was that by using the open files button, the only data file that is uploaded into the editor is the all_channel.dat file. So what I did then, was to go to the Organize sat&TP tab, and hit "Open:antenna & DVBS.dat" button. Unfortunately, I don't remember what directory I chose the .dat file from, but the channels STILL came up as being in TUNER B, and I STILL seemed to have the entire satellite list loaded.

At this point, I for some reason decided to edit the parameters for one of the sats. After I entered the transponder data (ie LO freq), then, after switching back to the view TV tab, I found that all my channels were now in the TUNER A, however the satellite transponder parameters were still not set for the other satellites, and I still had the entire default list.

So I THEN decided to load an OLDER antenna_list.dat and DVBS.dat into the editor, and then upload AGAIN to the AZBOX. Still had the entire sat list and no sat parameters.

I THEN decided to transfer the antenna and DVBS files to the AZBOX via FTP. I did this, rebooted. CHanges STILL had not been accomplished. !#@$#%$^&

I then looked at the directory structure of DISK2, and I noticed that the 3 data files all had read only permissions. So I went in via telnet, and changed the permissions, and again transferred the files. This time, the files "SEEMED" to transfer properly, ie I could see the file length of the DVBS.dat file was much smaller when I did a directory list. However, when looking at the satellite list via the remote, the entire sat list was still there, and when I rebooted, and went in via telnet or ftp, the DVBS.dat file had reverted to it's old state again, with the bigger file size.

I THEN tried to delete satellites via the remote. Some seemed to delete sucessfully, but I eventually got to a sat that wouldn't delete, and it told me that there was an error and I'd have to reboot. On rebooting, all the original sats were still there. ?!?!?#$%&#(%

Anyway, this is VERY similar to the problems I had when I first got my AZBOX, but I was able to correct the situation, and upload a small satellite list with just the sats I wanted. Basically, I downloaded one of those xml files, edited it to suit my purposes, then uploaded it to the Azbox. I'd try that again, but the Azbox doesn't seem to be accepting the DVBS.dat file from the editor for some reason, and won't even work when I upload it via FTP.

I ran a packet sniffer and watched the IP packets when I was doing a transfer via the editor. The files SEEMED to transfer properly, however I noticed that after the transfer had occurred, and was reported back by the Azbox as being sucessful, that the Azbox then sent an "OOPS" reply, which then said that upon doing a PEEK for the uploaded data, that it didn't find the data or something to that effect. It really seems like there is some serious problem with the data upload process, although it's possible that it has something to do with the steps that I followed during my upgrade. I'm tempted to go through the process of remounting RW on the DISK1, and try changing the backup file, however this seems like a potentially dangerous thing to do, so I don't think I'll do that just yet.

Anyway, has anyone been sucessful at deleting all the unused satellites with these newer versions of the firmware, and if so HOW??? I was able to do it with the old firmware, but I just can't seem to do it with the new firmware.

Thanks.

 

[Lak7]

The Channels List from Pre 2880 to 2880 and after are not compatible.
It may be easier to start over.

 

[B.J.]

The Channels List from Pre 2880 to 2880 and after are not compatible.
It may be easier to start over.

Thanks.

I have bigger problems now. I tried to cure things by following some instructions in another thread that said to format the application area. Now my Azbox locks up while loading. It seems to be dead.
I've tried reverting to the old firmware, but it still freezes while loading. It seems to load, and comes up with Azbox on the screen, but then freezes.

 

[B.J.]

The Channels List from Pre 2880 to 2880 and after are not compatible.
It may be easier to start over.

I got the thing back to life thanks to suggestion on other thread.
Now, I'm interested in the above again.

I realized that the pre and post 2880 data formats weren't the same, however I was under the impression that the 2880 editor would load the pre-2880 data, and convert it for use in the post 2880 firmware? Is this wrong?

Are you able to use the 2880 editor to delete and add satellites and transponders?

Starting over from scatch isn't a problem, but I definately want to delete all the sats that I can't see. I guess instead of trying to load channels from the old setup, that I'll download the data from the Azbox first, then try to edit it.

thanks

 

[Lak7]

I realized that the pre and post 2880 data formats weren't the same, however I was under the impression that the 2880 editor would load the pre-2880 data, and convert it for use in the post 2880 firmware? Is this wrong?

Kinda. No matter what you do, you will get the full Sat List.

Are you able to use the 2880 editor to delete and add satellites and transponders?

I think it's best to use the AZBox to remove the Sats, the Editors can do goofy things with Sat Positions, diSEqC Switch Setting and the like.

 

[Mr Tony]

The good thing is the newer software doesnt load the 300+ satellites back in it after you upgrade the software

 

[Lak7]

The good thing is the newer software doesnt load the 300+ satellites back in it after you upgrade the software

As SOON as you are done deleting, save a backup!

 

[AcWxRadar]

B.J.

I have some hints that may help.

First of all for me personally, I do not use an editor (not the 2880 version nor the MAZEdit 2.2) to save/ back-up my files or channel lists or to reload them. I use Filezilla and FTP these files back and forth that way. I don't quite trust the editor programs completely just yet.

Then, when you mention deleting sats (or channels even) via the remote and got to one where it gave you an error...

I have been doing just a few at a time and then rebooting and saving the changes as I go. Once such changes are successfully implemented after a reboot, you can continue on and usually won't experience a problem.

I suspect that sometimes a buffer overrun occurs and saving the changes and rebooting after only a few changes prevents this. A little annoying, but less so than starting completely over from scratch.

As for editing, I have been using the MaZEdit 2.2 to open the file that I FTP'd using Filezilla and conducting my edits there. Then saving the changes and using Filezilla to reload them (the files) back to the AZBox. This is kinda what I am used to from the Coolsat 5K/6K receivers and Channel Master.

I really hope that Channel Master (SharpC) will provide an editing version of CM which directly supports the AZBox. CM is such a great program and I am familiar with it, and I hate to learn something new that is not entirely proven (debugged) yet.

RADAR

 

[B.J.]

I tried deleting sats in the editor. It allows me to delete one sat, but gives me a run time error on the 2nd one. Not sure if it was the specific sat or because it was the 2nd.
This sounds real similar to what I went through with 2371. I had to download one of those xml files, and edit it in a text editor, then feed it into the Azbox editor and upload it to the Azbox, but I had to mix it with the other two files FROM the Azbox, and I can't remember the exact process now.

I'm curious though whether the .xml method still works with the new data format? Ie if I download a xml file, can that be sucessfully uploaded into the Azbox still? Has the format of the xml files changed, or does the new 2880 editor take care of that?

I wish I had written down what I went through before.

 

[Lak7]

The 2880 Editor just allows for 2 Tuners, A and B.

 

[B.J.]

B.J.

I have some hints that may help.

First of all for me personally, I do not use an editor (not the 2880 version nor the MAZEdit 2.2) to save/ back-up my files or channel lists or to reload them. I use Filezilla and FTP these files back and forth that way. I don't quite trust the editor programs completely just yet.

I don't quite trust them either, and as I mentioned, I used FTP also, and I used a packet sniffer to watch the commands that the editor was using to send the files, although sorting through thousands of lines of ethernet packets wasn't easy. It did seem to indicate though that after the transfer, that something had gone wrong on the Azbox with respect to saving the file. It was interesting though, that if I am understanding the packets, that the editor was connecting both by FTP AND by TELNET. I could see the FTP commands quickly, but I wasn't quite sure what it was doing via TELNET.

Then, when you mention deleting sats (or channels even) via the remote and got to one where it gave you an error...

I have been doing just a few at a time and then rebooting and saving the changes as I go. Once such changes are successfully implemented after a reboot, you can continue on and usually won't experience a problem.

I tried that with one sat as an experiment yesterday, and I think it worked, and that may work with this new firmware, but this is very similar to what I went through with the old 2371 firmware. In that case, there was a single satellite that could not be deleted, either by the remote or via using the editor. The only way I got rid of it was to import a small xml sat file into the editor, and have that transferred to the Azbox. I think that should work, however the problems I've observed with actually transferring all 3 files to the Azbox by FTP or the Editor have me thinking that the only way to accomplish this might be via doing the remount RW thing on DISK1, but this can be dangerous, so I want to do that only as a last resort. BTW, in my previous post, I said that the files in DISK1 were read-only, but I was wrong. I had forgotten that I was logged on as root, not a user. So there shouldn't have been any problem transferring those files, unless there was something in the firmware preventing it, or perhaps my firmware was corrupt.

I suspect that sometimes a buffer overrun occurs and saving the changes and rebooting after only a few changes prevents this. A little annoying, but less so than starting completely over from scratch.

I am convinced that the default satellite list is corrupt, particularly with respect to one satellite, and if you can remove the corrupt satellite(s) then everything works, but removing it can be difficult, and the corrupt satellite seems to cause errors whenever you make changes to the satellite file, even when that one satellite isn't involved. Just my guess, but I'm convinced that this was the case with the old firmware, and it's looking similar with 3877.

As for editing, I have been using the MaZEdit 2.2 to open the file that I FTP'd using Filezilla and conducting my edits there. Then saving the changes and using Filezilla to reload them (the files) back to the AZBox. This is kinda what I am used to from the Coolsat 5K/6K receivers and Channel Master.
.....

I downloaded Mazedit, but it wouldn't run on my computer for some reason. I guess I should download it again, as I might have had errors in my download. What URL did you download it from? Some of the places that came up with a google for it looked a little skuzzy.

 

[B.J.]

The 2880 Editor just allows for 2 Tuners, A and B.

I can't find any indicator for Tuner # on the editor. Where is this found? When I got the confusing results with all my channels showing up on Tuner 2, I didn't see any indication of it on the editor. So I'm confused about how the editor can handle this.

EDIT: On second look, I just noticed a box called "tsel:" Is THIS the tuner selection item? It seems to be blank on all sats for me. Perhaps if blank it is in an "ALL" configuration???

EDIT2: I just went back, and looked at the data I had saved from when I was getting strange behavior with respect to the Tuner-B, etc, and in THAT file, there is a zero in that box for most sats. I'm not sure if this file was from when they were showing up as Tuner-B, or if it was after I somehow got if fixed and they showed up as Tuner-A.

 

[Lak7]

In the Standard Editor "2880", I don't believe it's an available option, it can just handle it from the AZBox.
You may want to try the MAZ 2.2 program, it's a more polished Editor and FTP Client all-in-one Program.
Remember that the AZBox is a work in progress, not everything works like it should.
Also, the Editor is only an "editor", not a good "adder" or "subtractor". Do as much as you can in the AZBox, and use the Editor to polish.

 

[B.J.]

.....................
..........................

Then, when you mention deleting sats (or channels even) via the remote and got to one where it gave you an error...

I have been doing just a few at a time and then rebooting and saving the changes as I go. Once such changes are successfully implemented after a reboot, you can continue on and usually won't experience a problem.
.................
.........

I did a bit of experimenting on this. I think the "rebooting" step isn't necessary, but the reasons are a bit confusing.

The experiment I did was to use the editor to "Receive from Azbox", then look at the sat list.
Since the satellite I had trouble with back with the 2371 firmware was the sat at 0.0W, I looked, and the LAST sat in the list was that 0.0W sat.
I then used the remote to delete that sat.
Unlike before, the sat deleted without error.
I then used the editor to "Receive from Azbox" AGAIN.
The 0.0W sat was STILL THERE.
I used FTP to do a directory list, and the size of the DVBS.dat file was NOT CHANGED.
Via remote, I then exited out of the edit sat/tp menu.
I then used the editor to "Receive from Azbox" AGAIN.
The 0.0W sat was GONE!
I used FTP to do a directory list, and the size of the DVBS.dat file was SMALLER!

What this tells me, is that when using the remote, the changes aren't final until you exit the EDIT window.

What I suspect is happening, is that some implimentations of LINUX tend to make changes to files temporary, rather than writing them to the disk. This is why most linux users tend to un-mount drives before turning off the computer, because sometimes if you don't unmount, the changes may be lost or corrupted. It seems like with some linux implimentations this isn't the case, or perhaps there are operations which make the changes more permanent. It seems like in this case, the operation of exiting from the Sat/TP Edit window makes the changes permanent. I'm also guessing that this may be related to the errors I was getting when I tried to edit multiple sats via the remote without exiting the Edit window, ie perhaps the changes made by the first delete were temporary, and when subsequent deletions were attempted, perhaps there was a conflict between the temporary file and the permanent file, causing the error.

In any event, by following that routine, ie:
go to SAT/TP Edit window.
select sat
delete sat
exit SAT/TP Edit window.
go to SAT/TP Edit window.
select sat
delete sat
exit SAT/TP Edit window.
etc/etc

I was able to sucessfully delete about 7 or 8 sats without any errors.

I still am unable to delete more than 1 sat at a time using the EDITOR program. I can delete one sat, but the 2nd sat causes a runtime error. If I delete one sat, save the files, leave the editor program, come back in, load the files, then I can delete one more and only one more sat. So it's much easier via the remote at this point, although I am still considering doing what I did before, ie using the xml file.

 

[Lak7]

I still am unable to delete more than 1 sat at a time using the EDITOR program.

I would not use the Editor to Delete Sats.
To me, it has a 1 in 10 chance of working properly, usually the DiSEqC 1.2 Positions get messed, or the Transponders are not deleted - they are moved to another Sat.

 

[brentb636]

I've successfully deleted sats using MAZ2.2, but not AZbox Edit. As usual, your mileage may vary.

 

[B.J.]

I just spent the last 15-20 minutes using the remote to delete ALL of the sats I can't see. The DVBS.dat file size came down from about 125K down to 30K.
I've used the editor to pull that from the Azbox, so that hopefully when I next upgrade, maybe I can use this file to restore the sat list. Although I think I'm now going to add the missing sats, and enter the proper LO parameters, etc, then re-save the file.

 

[B.J.]

I've successfully deleted sats using MAZ2.2, but not AZbox Edit. As usual, your mileage may vary.

Az I mentioned, perhaps in another thread, I can't even get MAZ2.2 to even run on my computer (actually I think I tried on 2 different computers). Perhaps the copy I downloaded was corrupt. I had asked for a recommendation for a good site to download it, as I think I found it at some questionable hacker site.

 

[B.J.]

BTW, relative to MAZ-22, I downloaded a 2nd copy from a more trustworthy site, but I still can't get it to run.

However in looking at the files that came with the program, I notice that they have a script that remounts the MMP directory as R/W, which must mean that they are altering the firmware for some reason. This makes me a bit uncomfortable about using the program, as I can't see any reason why they should need to get into that directory.

EDIT: I also put a packet sniffer on it, and when the program tries to run, it goes on the internet and contacts Opensat , Azboxhd.es, and www.Euskalnet.net, apparently looking for updates for both the program and for the Azbox. I guess this is OK, but in general I don't trust programs that go on the internet downloading stuff without permission. This was all before the program bombed. Who knows what it might have done on the internet if it didn't bomb.

 

[B.J.]

I just spent the last 15-20 minutes using the remote to delete ALL of the sats I can't see. The DVBS.dat file size came down from about 125K down to 30K.
I've used the editor to pull that from the Azbox, so that hopefully when I next upgrade, maybe I can use this file to restore the sat list. Although I think I'm now going to add the missing sats, and enter the proper LO parameters, etc, then re-save the file.

Well, I started adding some of the missing sats. It started getting cumbersome due to having to add names via the remote (I guess I need a USB keyboard?). So I decided to try quickly adding sats then changing the names using the editor. Since this seemed to work, I then tried actually ADDING a sat using the editor. The add sat function went OK on the editor, except that it wasn't at the proper position relative to longitude. When I uploaded it, apparently the Azbox had interpreted it as being corrupted, and when it was done rebooting, I once again had *MOST* of the original big sat list back again. However the interesting thing is that it wasn't the entire list, but instead was the list after I had deleted about a half dozen or so of the satellites. This is wierd because I would have expected it to have put back the original list from the DISK1 backup, but it didn't. It must have saved some previous backup point. I thought perhaps that the Azbox had changed the original backup file, but I checked, and it didn't.. at least it was still the original size.

But anyway, I was happy to find out that I could re-load a previously saved data set that I saved after adding about 3 sats via the remote. Loaded this back in via the editor, and it worked fine, and I'm back to the small DVBS.dat file again.

Guess I'll have to enter all new sats via the remote, and perhaps just change the names via the editor.