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    Forum Supporter Hunter's Avatar
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    What is a DBox II ?

    What is a DBox II ?

    The DBox II preceded the old DBox I made by Nokia. It is a DBV Multimedia Terminal that is able to receive a digital DVB Stream.

    It is not able to decode HDTV if any of the providers ever change the whole transmission.
    It cannot receive DVB-T, only depending on the Tuner DVB-C (cable) and DVB-S (sat)
    The DBox2 was manufactured by 3 Company's (Nokia,Sagem and Philips)

    The Philips DBox is sometimes a bit tempramental
    There are two different Tuner Version, one for Cable (VCR Style on the back) and for for satellite (F-Plug Style at the back).
    Cable Television is widely aviable all over Germany and Premiere (German Pay TV Provider) can be received via Cable or Sat.
    The DBox II with Neutrino or Enigma installed is more than just a TV Cable Box, it is a multimedia Box with multiple connections that enable you future use.

    The Cable boxes aren't very popular as the amount of channels on German Cable is not worth having and with the Sat and maybe a Astra(19.2) and/or Eutelsat(13) Dish you can pick up around 2000 Channels and "view" quiete a lot of the channels .

    Neutrinio and Enigma are both Linux Software Modifications that run on the DBox Hardware. They are also called GUI.

    The DBox was never manufactured for these modifications and some clever guys over in Germany one day decided to take a closer look at the Hardware and found a loophole to access the Flash of the DBox and after backing up the original Software and extracting some drivers(Ucode,Avia) out of this Software they where able to start the foundation of the Tuxbox Project.

    Some people prefer Enigma to Neutrino but at the end of the Day they are both closely based on the same sources and it just depends on your own choice. There are more Neutrino Images around.

    The original Team that found this loophole never intended to use the DBox for any illegal usage and the Tuxbox Forum in Germany does not tolerate any kind of this usage.

    Enabeling the Debug Mode and installing Neutrino/Enigma on your Dbox is not illegal !!

    Here is what the Box can do on

    The DBox needs to be in the so called Debug mode to enable you to do any of the things that are explained in this guide.
    A working Neutrino/Enigma Image will enable you to scan and pick up all channels on a cable/sat feed and you can watch the free channels (FTA)

    When you buy a Dbox 2 from Germany even if it has Neutrino/Enigma (both Versions of Linux) installed on it you will not be able to use it automatically !!
    You can connect your DBOX 2 to your Internet connection (Router or Hub/Switch) and then do the following:

    Record from your D-Box to a PC running a Software called JacktheGrabber or XMedia Grabber or DBox Winserver and record Live Digital TV incl. Dolby Digital sound if broadcasted.
    Convert these TS Files into DVD Files and burn with Nero or something else onto a DVD.

    There is also Mac Software to stream & record TV
    Record from your D-Box to a Windows PC/Linux PC running a NFS Software and store the files without converting on this PC.
    Record via the Internet Explorer using the YWeb and the VLC Plugin
    Play MP3's from your PC to the D-Box and browse through Playlist and hook the box up to your Stereo
    (NO PLAYBACK OF MP3 VIA OPTICAL OUT!!)
    Show your holiday Photos on your TV via the Pictureviewer
    Watch your recorded DBox Files on your TV inlcuding fast forward,pause etc via Movieplayer or browse trough your recorded files.
    Watch DVD's, Divx, XVid MPG, SVCD,VCD,AVI from your PC running VLC on your TV.
    Watch Live TV on your PC via the new YWeb Interface.
    Stream TV to multiple PC's or even your PPC
    Modify Channel Setup and create new Bouquets via Internet Browser
    Block certain channels with a pin-code
    Hide Channels...
    Get your Weather Forecast on your Telly including Sat Pictures, Temperatures etc.
    Above also enables you to watch Webcams (static) on your TV screen
    Read your Teletext and even save Teletext to your PC via a Software
    Update a DynDNS Service via your Box
    Get the headers of your Emails, with a message on the Telly when new mail arrives and even read emails
    Send a message from PC to TV (Get Beer...) via the Webinterface
    Listen to Shoutcast Internet Radio Stations
    Show News Feeds via RSS/XML on your TV screen
    Play Games (Tetris,Lemmings,Connect 4)
    Get Caller ID on your TV Screen when you use a VoIP based switch or software on your PC
    Hook the DBox up to your XBOX and record on your XBOX HDD or watch telly
    Watch your PC's Screen on your TV Screen and use the Remote like a mouse with the VNC Plugin
    Use your DBox together with a PC and make it into a full blown PVR


    DBox2 Basic FAQ

    Q1. Where can I get a DBox2?

    A1. New DBox2’s do NOT exist. They are no longer manufactured. The are/were mainly used in Germany, so the best places to look are Hidden Content and Hidden Content .

    Q2. What can I do with a DBox2?

    A1. Primarily the DBox2 is a cable receiver, but it can do a lot more that just that. When connected to a PC, either by wired or wireless network, it can also record programs to your PC’s hard disk, watch DVD’s and movie files from your PC, view pictures and photos from your PC and also play MP3’s from your PC. There are also many more plugins available that can allow you to check email, play games and check news & weather.

    Q3. WOW! How can this box do all that?

    A3. The DBox2 is mostly a PC. It has a core system based on the open source Linux O/S. Linux users will find the file structures and coding almost the same as regular Linux PC’s. Because of this, there are numerous developments all the time.

    Q4. Great! How much can I expect to pay for one?

    A4. Obviously this varies on the type of box, condition and where you buy it from. On average you can expect to pay up to £100 for one. There are plenty of places selling them for less and for more, but sudden demand is pushing prices up.

    Q5. What do you mean “type??? of box? How many types are there?

    A5. There are three “brands??? of DBox2. Nokia, Sagem and Phillips. All of them will do the job, but Nokia are the most popular. Phillips are not favoured by many, and consequently not many are available. Each box can have either one or two flash chips, made by either AMD or Intel. These are usually shown by 1xI, 1xA, 2xI and 2xA. The chip manufacturer makes NO difference to the function of the box, but the number of chips will affect what types of images you can use.

    Q6. What’s an image?

    A6. An image is like the operating system for the DBox2. There are usually specific to a country and can come in many languages. There are two main types of image Enigma and Neutrino. The latter is the more common/popular with UK cable users. An image will come either as a 1 chip (1xI) image or 2 chip (2xI) image. You can ONLY use a 1 chip image on a 1 chip DBox2 and you can ONLY use a 2 chip image on a 2 chip DBox2.

    Q7. Where can I get an image?

    A7. There are a few links in the Links sticky. But if you are after a UK modded, ready-to-go image you will need to check other forums within the Internet community. Digital-Forums has a no-upload policy within these forums, so there are NO images here to download. Modshack has an image section and Unlocker-Forums has an external, independent sister forum just for images.

    Q8. What is Debug mode?

    A8. Debug mode is a modification to the standard retail DBox2 that will enable it to be flashed with a customised image. Most second hand DBox2’s will come already in Debug mode. There are tutorials to do this modification yourself, but if possible, it’s better to buy a box already in Debug mode. Different boxes use different methods to be put into Debug mode. The Debug Tutorial will cover this in more detail.

    Q9. Okay I’ve got one! How do I connect it to my cable feed and TV?

    A9. The chances are if you bought your box from abroad then it will not have the standard UK 3 pin plug. So first off, fit one or buy the correct adapter. You will notice the there is no screw socket to connect your cable feed, do not panic! You need to buy an f-type to co-ax adapter. You can get these from Maplin or B&Q for about a £1. You then screw the adapter to the cable feed and plug it into the antenna socket of the DBox2. Then you just need to connect a standard scart lead to the DBox2 and your television.
    NOTE: There is NO RF output from the DBox2. If your television does not have a scart socket then you will need to buy an RF adapter or buy a better television…

    Q10: Does the Dbox “talkback??? to the cable provider?

    A10: No. The Dbox has been developed for the German market so it does not know about any UK providers. There is nothing within the software that talks back to the UK providers. Some Images might have a so called “card sharing client??? running, but this is for something else completely and does not have anything to do with UK cable providers. It’s always good to leave you original cable box connected and you should only use the dbox for testing purposes.
    Last edited by Hunter; 24-08-2006 at 08:48 AM.

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