Dreambox Guides, Tutorials, Tips and Hints

Services and Bouquets

When you do a transponder scan on your dreambox, automatic or manual, a services file is automatically generated with the frequencies and services ids of all the channels found. If you have successfully done a services scan and found all the channels, there’s no need to copy over additional services files.

So you’ve managed to get all your channels and set up your bouquets just the way you want them. The first thing you want to do is back them up to your PC for safe keeping. If you need to flash the image again, for whatever reason, it’s always good to have the services and bouquets backed up, then you simply copy the files to the box instead of setting them up from scratch again. Neutrino and Enigma are different in the way they store the services and bouquets.

Enigma

With enigma images, the services file doesn’t have an extention and is stored in the following location:

services - /var/tuxbox/config/enigma

With enigma, each bouquet you create has it’s own userbouquet file. These files are stored in:

userbouquet.*****.tv - /var/tuxbox/config/enigma/cable

There’s also a file called bouquets (without extention) in /var/tuxbox/config/enigma that you want to backup as well.

So when you’re backing them up to your PC you want to copy the ’services’ and ‘bouquets’ files from ../enigma and all the ‘userbouquet’ files from ../enigma/cable folder.

Once you’ve copied them back to your dreambox, use the browser reload commands below. They won’t take effect unless they are reloaded.
Some images may have a ‘ReloadChannels’ option, usually in the BLUE button menu or User Features menu, this can also be used to reload the channels.

Neutrino

With neutrino images, the file system is more like the dbox2.

services.xml - /var/tuxbox/config/zapit
ubouquets.xml - /var/tuxbox/config/zapit

All your bouquets are stored in the ubouquet.xml file instead of an individual file in enigma.

Same as above, you will need to reload the channels before they will take effect. On neutrino images, there’s usually an option in the Services Menu to reload channels.

Making Your Dreambox Wireless

There seems to be an ever increasing want to connect your dreambox to the internet. New images are being created with Addon menus which allow you to download plugins, emu, games, etc. direct to your dreambox. Your dreambox just needs to be connect to the internet!

Via Router

This is by far the easiest method of connecting it to the internet.

First of all, we’ll assume that you can already connect to your box via FTP via a crossover cable. If you can’t, you might want to read up on that before attempting this.

Now, what we’ll need is…

• Ethernet cable (crossover or patch)
• Router
• Modem

We’ll also assume that you have a router (wireless or not) and that your modem is connected to the ‘Internet’ or ‘WAN’ port.

If you have a free port on your wireless router, you can connect your dreambox to this. Use the ethernet cable (crossover or patch, most modern routers will accept either) connect one end to your dreambox and one end to a free port on your router. You don’t need to change any settings on your router or PC.

Over to the dreambox. Navigate to the networking page on your dreambox.

Setup -> Expert Setup -> Communication Setup

There is a section in this page called ‘Default Gateway’. You need to put the ip address of your router in there. It’s usually 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1 (depending on the manufacturer). You can find out my opening your browser and typing one of the ip addresses in to the address bar. If you are presented with the router config page or a box asking for a username and password, this is the ip address for your router.

If you have enabled DHCP support on your router, all you have to do it tick the DHCP box in this page, save settings, reboot box and that’s that. The router will automatically assign the dreambox an ip address and it’s now connected to the internet.

If you don’t have DHCP enabled, you will need to assign a static ip address to the dreambox manually. This needs to be in the same subnet as your router ip address. The subnet is the first 3 ranges of the ip address, i.e. 192.168.1.*. Make the last range anything between 2-254 as long as another PC or laptop on your network doesn’t have that ip address. Each device must have it’s own ip address. Save settings and reboot box and you should be connected.

Via Wireless

There are devices which can make any ethernet equipped device into a wireless device. They are called a ‘Wireless Ethernet Bridge’ or a ‘Wireless Gaming Adapter’. The settings on the dreambox are exactly the same as if you’re using a router on it’s own. The gateway to the internet is still via your wireless router so the router ip address needs to go into the ‘Default Gateway’ section. You’re best getting these devices on Ebay or at a website like broadbandstuff.co.uk. You will need to follow the instructions that come with the device to connect it to your own network.

Via Modem

If you have a spare modem lying about, clone or original, you can use this to connect directly to the internet without any wireless devices or routers.

First of all, you will need to connect a PC or laptop to the modem to find out it’s ip address. This ip address goes into the ‘Default Gateway’ section of the network settings page on your dreambox. Also enable DHCP on your dreambox. This is all that’s needed.

So, now you have no excuse to get your dreambox connected to the internet. There are loads of great plugins out there that could enhance your dreambox experience. Some examples include an RSS Newsreader (for viewing RSS feeds from your favourite website or even the forum if the RSS option is enabled, DreamNetCast Internet Radio (listen to your favourite internet radio station) or Dream Weather X (gives you access to weather information).

I hope this has helped you and good luck!

If you have any questions, please visit out Dreambox Forum.

How Do I Hide/Lock Bouquets On An Enigma Image?

For this example, we will use the Adult bouquet to lock and hide.

• Select Setup menu then Parental Lock
• Select Parental Lock button and change pin to what you want and re-enter
• Select Save
• Select Service Organising
• Select Lock/Unlock Services
• Enter pin code
• Select Adult bouquet then select NO to lock it

You should have a padlock icon next to the bouquet now. You will be prompted to enter the pin when selecting this bouquet.

If you now want to hide the bouquet from the list…

Setup > Parental Lock > Hide Locked Bouquets > Save

How Do I Lock A Single Channels On An Enigma Image?

• Select Setup menu then Parental Lock
• Select Parental Lock button and change pin to what you want and re-enter
• Select Save
• Exit menus
• Press OK then RED (All Services)
• Scroll to channel you want to lock
• Press MENU
• Select Lock

Now even if the box is rebooted that channel will always be locked.

If the box is rebooted on a locked channel, it will ask for the unlock code on bootup.

How Do I Unlock A Single Channels On An Enigma Image?

• Press OK then RED (All Services)
• Scroll to channel you want to unlock
• Press MENU
• Select Unlock
• Enter Unlock Code

Good Luck!

If you have any questions, please visit our Dreambox Forum.

How Do I Use Dreamup?

If, for any reason, your dreambox won’t boot, you will have to use Dreamup to flash an image instead of Flash Wizard Pro or any other method. You won’t be able to connect via ethernet so no ip address is required. It may be that the process simply hung up during flashing or you accidentally pulled the plug half way through (yes it did happen to me). This will get you back on track.

Required

• Null Modem Cable
• Image File (.img)
• DreamUp Program

Instructions

• Disconnect all cables from your dreambox, including the power
• Connect the null modem cable to the dreambox and to your PC
• Load Dreamup.exe
• Click Connect and you will see a message like this

• Connect the power and the bootloader should be copied to the box
• The message should now say ‘Box attached and Ready’
• Click Flash on the right hand side and select the image to be flashed
• Click Yes or Ya (depending on the version)

Note: If you’re flashing a backup image, select NO.

• The image should then be uploaded to the box
• There will be a countdown timer at the bottom of the program

• After the image is uploaded, it will be flashed to memory
• The finished process should look like this:

• Click OK and close down Dreamup
• Power off the dreambox for 30 seconds then power up
• If any errors appear, check all cables are connected properly and repeat the process but do not use the PC while it’s running

Good Luck!

If you have any questions, please visit our Dreambox Forum.

This is my first blog and I should be updating it regularly.

If you have a dreambox problem or you’re stuck and get it setup, then this is the place to visit. Over the next few weeks, we should have loads of guides and tips to make your dreambox experience all the more pleasurable.

Maybe you’ve flashed an image to your dreambox dm500 and you’re only getting free to air channels? This sounds like an emu problem and it’s not decrypting the channels. We can help you get this working and get all the channels working.

Do you want to connect your dreambox to your router or home network? Why? Well there are loads of things you can do if it’s connected to your network; access the internet, ftp from any PC on your network, record to a shared folder, stream movies or mp3 from your shared folder, loads of things. But we’ll get into that at a later date.

Bookmark us and we’ll keep you updated!