1. FEATURE AZBox ME Receiver Software
Revealing
the Secrets
of the
AZBox ME
Super Box
Part 3:
Plugin • step-by-step guide to plugin installation
• simple addition of new features and functions for the AZBox ME
• AirPlayer plugin turns your TV into a multimedia
Installation
center for watching photos with friends
• seamless integration for smartphones
and tablet PCs with the AZBox ME
98 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 99

2. FEATURE AZBox ME Receiver Software
AirPlayer Plugin
for the AZBox ME
Vitor Martins Augusto
One of the aces up the not provide links to those How to find out the IP Address
sleeve of Linux receivers servers. 1. Need to find out your AZBox ME’s IP address? Look it
such as the AZBox ME is What this does not mean, up in the Setup menu.
the option of installing new however, is that you can’t 2. Then select System.
plugins and thereby adding make use of all the legal pl- 3. From there proceed to the Network sub-menu.
new functions and features. ugins hosted on such serv- 4. And finally choose Adapter Settings to…
Keep reading to find out ers. You only need to know 5. …find out the current IP address.
how.
1
Many Linux distributions
come with an integrated
download function which al-
lows installation of a range
of plugins at the touch of a
button on the remote con-
trol. A closer look at those
download menus, however,
reveals that by default the
AZBox ME offers only certain
plugins for download.
There’s a simple reason
for that: A lot of plugin serv-
ers for Linux receivers don’t
only host legal OpenSource
plugins, but also illegal of-
ferings. It’s only logical that
the original firmware does
2 3
4 5
100 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com

3. 1
how to do it, and we’ll show yield numerous links to the it allows sending command menu of the receiver. Sim- window on the PC (press the the system will create a cor-
you exactly that with the ex- readily compiled plugin. lines from a remote location ply go to Setup, then select Windows and R buttons at the responding alert message.
ample of the AirPlayer plu- You should, however, make across a network. Windows System, followed by Network same time, then enter CMD In order to install the IPK
gin. a point of downloading the operating systems come with and finally Adapter Settings. and press ENTER). We then file on the AZBox the follow-
This is a great plugin for ‘mipsel’ version, since this is a Telnet client right from the This will gives you the cor- key in ‘telnet 192.168.1.108’, ing ipkg command has to be
presenting photos directly on supported by the AZBox ME start, which can be called up rect IP. If you see 0.0.0.0 with 192.168.1.108 being the entered:
the TV panel from an iPhone, processor. For a current ver- in a DOS window, for exam- this means you first need to IP of our AZBox ME. The IP of Ipkg –install enigma2-
iPod Touch or iPad. The first sion please go to http://code. ple: You only need to press go about configuring your lo- your receiver may of course plugin-extensions-airplay-
thing you need (apart from google.com/p/airplayer/. the Windows and R buttons cal network before you are be different and you always er_0.1.10_mipsel.ipk
all the hardware, that is) is In addition to the plugin at the same time to start it, able to proceed. have to use the actual IP ad-
the plugin itself. itself you need an FTP cli- and then enter ‘cmd’. dress of your AZBox for this By the way: Use the TAB
As always, a Google ent. At our test centre we Apart from an IP address procedure to work. key to complete file names
search for ‘airplayer’ is the use FileZilla, which is a ful- So let’s turn from theory FileZilla requires a username What follows next is a re- – in this case you only have
best starting point and will ly-fledged FTP client that is to practice now: In order to with corresponding pass- quest to enter the username to key in ipkg –install e and
not only totally free but also install the plugin you first word before it will establish (root) and password (press a touch of the TAB key will
2 small in size and very capa- have to copy it to the receiv- an FTP connection. Connec- ENTER to leave that field insert the rest automatically.
ble. Once again, Google will er using FTP. Ideally, the plu- tion data can be set up per- empty) in order to access Once the plugin has been
help you find a download link gin should be placed into the manently or you may choose the home directory. Again, installed it is necessary to
for that software. /tmp directory which is used to use the upper line to cre- we need to change from re-start the receiver. In most
Finally, we have to estab- for temporary files (hence ate a ‘Quickconnect’ session. there to the /tmp directory, cases it will even suffice to re-
lish a direct connection to the name /tmp) which are We use this field to enter the which can easily be done by start the user interface only.
the AZBox ME via Telnet. For not required permanently for IP address of our AZBox ME, keying in ‘cd/tmp’. To the left At last the time has come to
those of you not familiar with the receiver to work. ‘root’ as the username and of the cursor the currently try out the new plugin. And
Telnet, this is a protocol that The content of the /tmp we leave the password field selected directory is shown what an awesome plugin it is.
allows access to the receiver directory is deleted every empty. This should work, and at this stage this should Simply take your iOS device
using command lines. Linux time the receiver starts up, unless a password was spe- read root@AZBoxHD:/tmp#. (no matter whether it’s an
is Unix-based, and with Unix something that is just right cifically set by the user via Using the command ‘ls’ iPhone, iPod or iPad), open
it is customary to work with for us since the installation Telnet. calls up a list of all files in the a photo, click on the Airplay
command lines. Telnet is re- file of the plugin will not be This set up should allow us current directory and one of icon, select the receiver (Air-
quired for exactly that, since required any longer after the to connect to the AZBox ME those files should be the in- Player E2) and as if by magic
plugin is fully installed and and the first thing we will see stallation file of the plugin. the photo will appear on the
3 thus will not occupy valu- is the base directory. From You might ask yourself TV. The same also works for
able memory capacity. Even here, a double click on ‘tmp’ what the *.ipk file exten- videos, even though at this
though the AZBox ME pro- will lead us to the /tmp di- sion stands for. IPK means stage the sound is unfortu-
vides a generous amount of rectory, which is right where that files of this type are nately missing.
memory there is no reason we belong at this stage. The managed by the so-called Obviously, your iOS device
to be wasteful. link section of the FileZilla Itsy Package Management must use the same WiFi net-
In the FTP client of your window displays the directo- System which makes sure work as your AZBox ME for
choice (FileZilla in our test) ry structure of the PC which that all files are automati- all this to work, but in most
you then need to enter the IP means it is possible to drag cally copied into the correct environments this is the
address of the AZBox ME re- and drop files from any di- directory of the AZBox ME. case anyway.
ceiver. If you don’t know it or rectory of the PC to the /tmp In case runtime libraries are Thanks to this plugin the
are not 100% sure you can directory of the receiver. not available the installation AZBox ME can easily become
always look it up in the setup Next, we call up a DOS routine is interrupted and the centre for a slideshow
Downloading and Installing the AirPlayer 1. Website for downloading
FileZilla, a top-notch FTP client
Plugin and required Tools that is available as freeware.
4 5 6 2. The plugin is copied to
the AZBox ME with the help
of FileZilla. We have chosen
Quickconnect and entered the IP
address and username in the top
line. A password is not required.
3. Then we start a Telnet session
in the DOS window.
4. Once again we need to enter
the username. And once again a
password is not required – just
press ENTER.
5. We now use the cd command to
go into the /tmp directory. With the
Is command we can call up all files
inside that directory.
6. The ipkg command finally
installs the plugin. The install
option is also entered.
102 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 103

4. Using iPAD and iPhone with 6
AirPlayer Plugin
1. As soon as the AZBox ME has been chosen as AirPlay server the
photo on the iPad display will also appear on the TV panel.
presentation with friends, skins, system extension etc.
Using iPAD and iPhone with when you press Manage Ex-
2. It does of course also work that way with the iPhone.
where anybody with an iOS
AirPlayer Plugin device or Android mobile/ tensions (red button on the
1
1. If you tap on the shown photo the AirPlay icon appears in the tablet can show their pic- remote) in the Plugin menu.
top right corner. Here you select the required AirPlay server that tures and videos on the TV. A little bit of patience and
will receive the photo or video. In a word: brilliant! some hunting instincts will
2. Of course it works just as nicely with the iPhone. give you many more plu-
3. If the plugin is installed correctly the AZBox ME will act as This example goes to show gin and extension servers
AirPlay server.
that manual plugin installa- thanks to Google, and even
1 tion is nothing to be afraid if a plugin you want to have Using Custom Plugin-Server
of. There is, however, an- is not available in any reposi- 7. The plugin menu does not only give you access to all installed
other option that is even tory you can always decide plugins, but theoretically also allows convenient installation of
new plugins that are downloaded from a dedicated plugin server.
more convenient: All you to install it manually – now
8. You need to go to the Manage Extension menu item, which can
need to do is copy another that you know how to do it.
be called up with the red button on your remote control.
file with the extension *.conf
9. Now it is possible to manually set up plugin servers. The
into the /etc/opkg directory A word of caution: We all receiver then checks all these for available files and creates a list
of the AZBox ME. This CONF now from experience that with all plugins, skins, channels lists etc. that can be downloaded
file contains information as we sometimes go overboard from those servers.
to where the plugin server with software experiments, 2 10. You can select any number of plugins, all of which will be
is located. This way it even and AZBox ME plugins are installed or uninstalled automatically at the end of the routine.
becomes possible to tap into no exception. It may happen 7
plugin servers of other firm- that the operating system is
ware versions. damaged and the receiver
The *.conf file can be will not re-start.
named as you like and con- In such a case renewed
sists of a command line with flashing of the firmware will
the following format: quickly get you out of trou-
src/gz openpli-azboxme ble.
http://downloads.rsi-imag- Owners of the AZBox ME in
es.org/feeds/openpli-2.1/az- particular need not worry too
boxme/azboxme much: Their box comes with
If, for example, you create a switch on the back panel
a text file with this line using which can always program a
Notepad on your PC, save it working bootloader into the
Starting the AirPlayer Plugin 8
under ‘test.conf’ and copy flash memory. For more de-
it to the /etc/opkg directory tails about that handy fea- 3. After successful installation of the AirPlayer plugin and a
re-start of the receiver the AirPlayer plugin will appear on the list
of the AZBox ME using FTP. ture see our AZBox ME test
of available plugins.
All of a sudden there will be report in TELE-satellite 02-
4. If you activate the plugin you can initiate the AirPlayer service
available many more plugins, 03/2012. and also make changes to its settings, if required.
2 3 The only thing you have 5. Once the plugin indicates that the service is active you may use
to take very seriously is a your iPad or iPhone to send pictures and videos from your mobile
backup of all settings, which device directly to the AZBox ME via your WiFi network, and from
the receiver to your TV.
you should always create be-
fore you start experiment- 6. The picture that is currently selected is presented on your
panel without further ado!
ing. Now that you know all 3
about FTP it is child’s play to
copy the entire /etc/tuxbox
directory to the PC in order 9
to have a backup of your
channels lists. If things go
astray on the AZBox ME you
only need to copy that direc-
tory onto the receiver and all
is well and good again.
Conclusion: Even all by it-
self the AZBox ME is a great 10
device. But if you make use
of available plugins and sys-
tem extensions which can be
installed manually or from
dedicated plugin servers you
enter a whole new world of 4 5
virtually endless possibilities
for your AZBox ME.
104 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 105

5. AZBox SECRETS OVERVIEW AZBox ME Receiver Software
Part 1:
Revealing
Blindscan
Read Full Report
the Secrets
of the
www.TELE-satellite.com
/12/05/azbox-me
Part 2:
AZBox ME
Multimedia
Read Full Report
Super Box www.TELE-satellite.com
/12/07/azbox-me
Part 3:
Plugin-
Installation
Read Full Report
www.TELE-satellite.com
/12/09/azbox-me
106 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 09-10/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 09-10/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 107