� Thomson ?

NDS has also ported its MediaHighway OCAP middleware to an all-digital

settop box from Thomson, the worldwide leader in access solutions for satellite,
cable, terrestrial broadcast, and telecommunications networks. The OCAP set-top box
from Thomson (the DCi62) reduces time to market and cost of deployment for cable
operators. The integration of MediaHighway middleware on the Thomson DCi62 set-top
box will provide an all-digital, lowcost solution for cable operators who are ready
for a digital switchover.

It announced that it has ported the OCAP version of its MediaHighway middleware to
the DCI62, a new digital set-top from French electronics giant, Thomson, that
features an embedded DOCSIS modem, and that can also be used for high-speed data
access. According to NDS, the combo will provide an all-digital solution with a
DOCSIS set-top gateway (DSG) profile. The companies conducted a demo of the combo
at CES, which showcased games and interactive advertising, and which also featured
Digeo's Moxi Menu and Guide (Digeo worked with NDS and Thomson to develop the demo
of its interface running on the OCAP-equipped Thomson box). "A couple of weeks ago,
we signed the CableCARD Host Interface License Agreement with CableLabs, which
enabled us to develop cable customer premises equipment with a CableCARD removable
security interface," Frederic Kurkjian, Thomson's VP of worldwide cable, said in a
prepared statement. "Today, we are bringing our commitment to the US cable industry
to a higher level with the introduction of an OCAP version of our popular DCI5000
and DCI6000 cable set-top box lines. OCAP is a key feature for cable vendors like
Thomson, and for MSO's who want to introduce new interactive services. Building on
our long-term partnership with NDS, we have been able to jointly develop a flexible
solution that specifically caters to North American MSO needs."

Dissecting the Hubstation : Starhub DVR : Thomson DCI62SHB

imbest:
Finally, I exchanged my wrongly bought T20 torx screwdriver to the T10 and opened
up the case.

With the case opened, the ventilation seems a lot better. The 1 and only fan seems
a dedicated cooling device for the 160GB Seagate HDD. Dun ask me why, the HDD given
to me is infact a 160GB.

The HDD is using IDE cable and it's just like the way you plug it to your
motherboard. I am yet to explore if the recorded shows can be retrieved by
connecting the HDD to any PC via USB/IDE.

The HOTTEST part is probably the fanless power supply.

The biggest processor I can see is written with the following wordings:
OMEGA
STi5100KUC
9E707049
220MX9E
MLT22724

The processor could have a limitation of holding HDD bigger than 120GB, but I need
to exchange a bigger HDD to see if it works. But the problem is, there is no
"format" function in the SMARTV menu, I doubt you could simply upgrade the
hubstation by swapping to a bigger HDD.

I believe SMARTV is using HQ and won't allow you to have lower quality/bitrate for
recording. This is important, in order to provide the "LiveTV" function, the
recording must be done almost 100% as good as the real time broadcast signals.

I have a Signal strength of 60% and Signal quality of 100%, is it normal?

Sorry that I forgot to bring my digital camera along. Will try to post more
pictures once I have taken more pictures.

Please stay tuned, I will try to update this thread once I have more time to
continue my dissection 8)

technobagus:
If I am not wrong, the hubstation probably uses a linux derived OS. There is a
possibility that it uses ext2 or ext3 fs.... With that, maybe we can use Ghost to
clone the drive to a bigger capacity harddrive (on assumption that the hubstation
can access bigger drives) :)

imbest:
i can't find much info on the STi chip, but 160hr giving 61hr+ recording is a bit
weird.....the older version comes with 120GB right?

that seagate is MIC sianz half.....

i thought if you ghost it, the capacity will follow the original image?

jeffong:
Majority of these Seagate drives are made in China Suzhou or Wuxi nowadays. Only
the high-end SCSI's are made in Singapore. One probable reason why it is now
equipped with a 160GB drive is probably becoz 120GB drives are no longer
economically to produce. With single platter able to fulfill 160GB nowadays, it's
not surprising for them to provide a 160GB drive at about the same cost as a 120GB.

chousei:
Just wanna support this post, I'm v interested to know how to maximise the
Hubstation

imbest:
the challenge to "upgrade" the HDD space is the correct file system.

If what technobagus said is correct, we shall be able to swap it with a bigger HDD
as long as it's under the ext2 or ext3 file system. Maybe I need to get my hand
dirty to plug the hubstation HDD to a linux machine to find out what kind of file
system it's using. Windows can't detect meh?

Another challenge for upgrading the hubstation is the STi chip used. I can hardly
find any info about the maximum capacity it can support so far.

guys, can share about the line quality displayed in your hubstation DVR info page?
mine was 60% for signal strength and 100% for signal quality for both tuners.
What's yours?

pcking:
Quote from: imbest on August 27, 2007, 10:27

i can't find much info on the STi chip, but 160hr giving 61hr+ recording is a bit
weird.....the older version comes with 120GB right?

that seagate is MIC sianz half.....

i thought if you ghost it, the capacity will follow the original image?
When U do a ghost using the HDD to HDD function, usually the partitions size will
be assigned to the new HDD based on percent instead of bytes. e.g. if the source
HDD of say 100GB has 2 partitions of say 60GB & 40GB, a new destination HDD of
200GB after cloning will have 2 partions of 120GB & 80GB. ;D

imbest:
Quote from: pcking on August 27, 2007, 12:54

When U do a ghost using the HDD to HDD function, usually the partitions size will
be assigned to the new HDD based on percent instead of bytes. e.g. if the source
HDD of say 100GB has 2 partitions of say 60GB & 40GB, a new destination HDD of
200GB after cloning will have 2 partions of 120GB & 80GB. ;D

Which version you using now? I can't remember mine but it's all on a FDD :D Will
try that out if I manage to loan a bigger HDD.

What I meant "weird" was, 120GB is giving 60hr recording time, but how come 160GB
is only giving 61hr+ instead of 80hr? Let's hope it's not due to the limitation of
STi chip.

SiriuslyCold:
Thomson page for this model (I think - the local set has a SHB specific notation)
DCI6000

imbest:
not bad, seems like 320GB is the limit. But 320GB HDD very ex now lah, $200 nia.

technobagus:
Quote from: imbest on August 27, 2007, 10:27

i can't find much info on the STi chip, but 160hr giving 61hr+ recording is a bit
weird.....the older version comes with 120GB right?

that seagate is MIC sianz half.....

i thought if you ghost it, the capacity will follow the original image?

Ghost is supposed to be able to resize automatically based on the target HD size.

technobagus:
Quote from: imbest on August 27, 2007, 12:51

the challenge to "upgrade" the HDD space is the correct file system.

If what technobagus said is correct, we shall be able to swap it with a bigger HDD
as long as it's under the ext2 or ext3 file system. Maybe I need to get my hand
dirty to plug the hubstation HDD to a linux machine to find out what kind of file
system it's using. Windows can't detect meh?

Another challenge for upgrading the hubstation is the STi chip used. I can hardly
find any info about the maximum capacity it can support so far.

guys, can share about the line quality displayed in your hubstation DVR info page?
mine was 60% for signal strength and 100% for signal quality for both tuners.
What's yours?

Heh heh, with http://www.fs-driver.org/ , you can read a ext2/3 partition from
Windows.........

imbest:
but we are not too sure if it's really ext2/3 file system yet mah.

karlie:

maybe the box can be telnet to when it it turned on and not connected to starhub

karlie:
Interesting the Thomson box is using an ST chip...
thanks for checking I always wanted to check

it is a low cost chip:

http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/bd/12934/sti5107.pdf
It will not become a HD Box soon....

karlie:

note that normally the data would be encrypted on the HD (unless they forgot to do
so)

technobagus:
Quote from: imbest on August 27, 2007, 22:50

but we are not too sure if it's really ext2/3 file system yet mah.

Install the driver, connect the Hubstation HDD to a external PATA-USB adaptor, hook
it up to your PC. Try to read it.... If it reads..... we have a winner... if not,
Life moves on..... Alternatively, try hooking up a bigger capacity HDD to the
hubstation, believe that there is an option for 'Optimize' (or something similar),
my friend claims that it could be a trigger for formatting.....

I dont have a hubstation yet so I can only be a bystander.....

imbest:
nope, the option for this DVR is very limited. This is actually preventing more
potential user problems. hehe....since the box is already so HOT.

no optimization, no formating, nothing at all!

imbest:
guys, I got a problem here......it may not be on linux file system.....

i ish want to cry already....... :-[

imbest:
some updates with pictures:

the T10 screws, 3 of them at the back:

and the T10 screwdriver bought from homefix:

the top view after removing the top cover:

one of the side screws you need to remove before removing the HDD case:

top view from behind, after removing the HDD case:

the STi chip:

the broadcom cable modem:

the 1 and only 1 fan attached to the HDD holder/case:

the seagate HDD info (7200rpm 8.5ms ATA100, no wonder it's HOT):

back of the seagate HDD:

Close up of the YSTech HDD fan:

imbest:
I was wrong, the hottest item is actually the HDD! I believe it's an industrial
model which is not available in the consumer market. However, the poorly designed
HDD holder actually trap all the heat at the bottom. power supply is the 2nd
hottest item.

I intend to place the HDD outside of the box.

i am not sure if we can "upgrade" to max of 320GB through GHOST, but somebody
please loan me a bigger HDD to try hoh hehe.....actually the effective capacity of
this 160GB is actually 149GB.....

imbest:
tried putting back the box and turn it on for overnight downloading......it's like
the frying pan on fire!!!!

decided to open the case up again and place it vertically.....

somebody posted another file system that's able to access other similar DVR, going
to try that over the weekends, stay tuned! :D

Juliano:
Don't think you can replace the HDD as they are encoded to prevent user upgrade.
This is according to an ex-manager in Maxtor.

imbest:
maxtor? but it's seagate hdd leh....maxtor OEM to which DVRs?

varun:
Seagate owns Maxtor...
- V.

Quote from: imbest on September 14, 2007, 11:14

maxtor? but it's seagate hdd leh....maxtor OEM to which DVRs?

imbest:
After some measurement over for the past few days.....there are indeed power
savings when it's in standby mode.

When it's in full mode, including recording programme, the power consumption is
around 30W+. When you put it in standby mode, it will take a while for the HDD to
go to "sleep" mode and the power consumption will go down to 20W-21W. If u plug out
the HDD, it would probably save you about 3W-5W :D

What's next? extracting the recorded files yeah!!!!!

johnnygamer:
imbest is a hard worker when it comes to the hubstation. Keep up the good work and
please keep us informed of your progress.

hub hub hub the hubstation... The broadband shall be free! :D

Attention HubStation users, I need your help! Please! Read about it in this thread:
HubStation users please help

johnnygamer:
Moved from "XtremePlace Forum > AV Galaxy > Planet Home Theater" forum to
"XtremePlace Forum > Computer Galaxy > Planet HTPC / Computer" by Phil the
moderator.

Direct link here:

HubStation users please help

HubStation users please help if you can.

Shadowkiller:
So....any progress on being able to read the files in the HDD? It will be great to
be able to transfer the recorded stuff out. Saves space ;)

zenkinz:
thanks for all the hardwork.

like some, I would be most keen for any hack that allows me to get the media files
out of the HDD. :P

karlie:

Plus those drive possibly don't have parity check (not IDE)