WDLXTV is a souped up unofficial firmware for the Western Digital WDTV. It is based off of the 1.01.02 firmware, but with many extra features. Similar to my dvdmod firmware, this is a permanent flash, just like an official upgrade. This firmware is an option for those whos hardware is stable with Zoranders ext3-boot, or those who don’t do much firmware programming to take advantage of ext3-boot. Once again, ext3-boot is for (sorta) pro’s and testers whereas WDLXTV is for everyday use.
Features included in WDLXTV:
- external dvd drive capability with cd-manager-0.7
- ext2 & ext3 filesystem support
- ext2 & ext3 hotplugging
- mounting of WDTV Optware package (if available) at boot
- mounting of app bin packs (if available) at boot
- mounting of OSD overlay (if available) at boot
- limited USB Ethernet support (if your ethernet adapter works in ext3-boot it should work here)
- IP via DHCP (by default, configurable)
- Telnet server
- pure-ftp server
- configurable to automount NFS shares
Much thanks to Zorander whose great efforts into ext3-boot have helped immensely.
NOTE: I am not responsible for anything crazy that might happen during the process of flashing this firmware. Nothing should go wrong and everything should work accordingly, BUT if it does…
HFS/Apple Users Note: Adding all of this functionality was a squeeze in the limited space available. There is 13KB left on the internal flash. As a result of this and wanting to pack as much punch in as possible I removed one binary: fsck_hfs. Bad, I know, but I don’t use hfs drives and have replaced it with a simple script that returns…so maybe if its called by the system at boot for whatever reason and it triggers my script not sure what it will do, probably nothing really. I haven’t ever seen fsck called by the system. Sorry HFS users, report to me if you notice any adverse behaviour. You may download the app.bin to fix this here.
To flash this firmware:
- Place it on a memory stick along with wdtv.ver and insert it into your WDTV.
- When asked if you want to upgrade your firmware, say yes.
- The WDTV will reboot and after several minutes the whole flashing process will complete and reboot again.
- Upon successful flash you will see WDLXTV in the about screen of system settings.
- The firmware no longer needs to be on anything attached to the wdtv.
Without a usb ethernet cable connected the firmware will appear no different than dvdmod, but if you attach a supported usb ethernet adapter the possibilities grow. You can telnet in and configure an NFS share to automount if available at boot. There is no Samba or exported file shares, these took up too much precious space and can easily be assembled into an app.bin pack. There is a pure-ftp server running though should you need to transfer to the WDTV. There is also the ability to load the Optware for WDTV package that I assembled and have access to many additional programs instantly. If there is an opt.bin located on any boot device it will be mounted in /opt and all internal configuration will be adjusted. Optware provides only additional functionality, the WDTV will act completely self sufficient without it. In addition special app.bin packs, if located on any boot device will be loaded. Currently there is one that comes with lighttpd, an http server, along with php and a gui to configure settings on the WDTV.
In addition if there are any app.bin packs, containing self sufficient application packages, on a boot drive they will be loaded similarly to Optware. There is a good Webserver release that allows you to configure internal settings on the WDTV from a web gui. It is highly recommended. Just like app.bin packs, OSD overlays are possible as well…this is for future development. If you find you don’t like the firmware you can downgrade to an official version using instructions found at the wdtv firmware hacking wiki.
Notes/Limitations:
- DO NOT remove any drive containing opt.bin, osd.bin, or app.bin files as it will cause the system to become unstable
- Media Library MUST be ON.
- DVD’s, NFS shares, and ext2/ext3 drives are only visible in Folder View.
- To see ext2/ext3/NFS/dvd mounts you must have an officially supported (fat, ntfs, hfs, hfs+) drive attached.
- net.config is a file to set custom network settings, it will override default settings inside the WDTV.
- net.mounts are where you can place NFS shares that you would like loaded at boot.
- more notes to come probably…
Go to the WDLXTV firmware page for the latest release.
Don’t forget to check out the WDTV HD player unofficial firmware wiki.
I’ve spent a fair bit of time getting cd-manager working and hacking around in the WDTV firmware, so if you appreciate my efforts please donate something using the link below : ) Thanks & enjoy.
