Web Interface (20)
Children categories
The 'Settings' section allows you to change various Sky Router Tool settings.
Router Connection
Here you can change the connection details for your router. These must be correct for most features of Sky Router Tool to work.
Router Type - The model of your router. The DG834GT is the white router provided by sky, the DG934G is the newer black Netgear router (The label on the bottom will have "NETGEAR" written on it).
Router Hostname - The hostname of your router (usualy 192.168.0.1).
Router User Name - The username for your router's web interface (the default is 'admin').
Router Password - The password for your router's web interface (the default for sky routers is 'sky').
Router Logging
This allows you to change the router polling interval (how often Sky Router Tool logs bandwidth and SNR Margin). It is recommended that this is left at 60 seconds.
Router Log Consolidation
In order to prevent the log files becoming too large it is possible to consolidate logs after a certain period of time. Using this page you can add consolidation rules. Note that rules are retroactive and will take effect immediatly.
Target SNR Margin
This tool allows you to change the target SNR margin (the SNR margin that the DSLAM tries to acheive). This unfortunatly does not work yet for the DG934G.
Increasing the target SNR margin will give you more stability but a lower sync speed. Decreasing the target SNR margin will give a less stable, but faster line.
To change the target SNR just drag the slider to your required value and click "Set and Resync". The values is measured as a percentage of the target SNR set by your ISP; for Sky the default is 7dB.
Speed Test
This tool allows you to test the speed of your connection by getting your router to download a file and time how long it takes to download. As the test is run on the router and not your computer, it is not affected by any problems with your LAN or Wifi connection.
To use it just click "Test".
Ping
This tool allows you to ping a host from your router.
Calculate Sky Password
This tool calculates the default sky values for your router. These values are calculated from your router's LAN MAC address. The most usefull values calculated are the PPP username and password; these can be used in a 3rd party router.
The other values calculated are: default wireless password, default wireless channel and default wireless SSID
To use it just type in your LAN MAC address (if you are calculating details for your router this will already be filled in correctly), select the model of router and click "Calculate".
The 'Graphs' section is one of the most powerful parts of Sky Router Tool. Here you can display graphs of logged data (bandwidth usage and SNR margin) and advanced ADSL statistics.
All graphs support zooming (using the scroll-wheel on your mouse) and panning (just drag the graph to move around).
Historic Graphs
The historic graphs are the graphs which show previously logged data. Once a graph is selected you can change the time-span displayed using the options at the top of the page.
The table at the bottom of these graphs gives an overview of the data in the currently selected time-span.
ADSL Connection Graphs
These graphs display advanced ADSL connection details. All graphs are available for the DG834GT router; unfortunatly only the 'Bit Loading' graph is currently available for the DG934G. The frequency is measured in kHz.
Bit Loading - This shows the number of bits carried by each frequency on the ADSL line.
Signal to Noise Ratio - This shows the signal to noise ratio (in dB) for each frequency.
Quiet Line Noise - This shows the amount of noise present on the line at each frequency.
Attenuation - This shows the attenuation of the signal at each frequency.
On the 'Home' page you can access general details about the router.
Connection Details
The connection details page displays basic connection details and allows you to reboot or resync the router. A definition of these details is below:
Sync Rate - The currently negotiated rate.
Max Rate - The estimated maximum rate achievable with the line (assuming currently set target SNR Margin).
Attenuation - The power loss during transmission (dependent on line length).
SNR Margin - The difference between the SNR required for the current connection speed and the actual SNR.
ADSL Mode - This is the current ADSL mode. This will usually be either ADSL2+, ADSL2 or G.DMT.
Channel - This shows whether or not interleaving is enabled (Fast means no interleaving).
Average Error Rate - The average number of CRC errors which have been occurring every hour since your router was last reset.
Firstly you need to load your planner, see Planner Loading for details.
From the list of recordings displayed you can select the ones your wish to copy by clicking the check box next to each recording. You can also right click the recording list and click 'Check All' to select all of the recordings.
Once you have selected your recordings, click the hard disk icon on the toolbar.
You will then be asked to specify a target hard drive. You can also copy to a disk image by clicking "Create Image", this will backup the selected recordings to your computer.
If you have attached your target hard drive and it is not showing up, make sure that it contains no partitions. Hard drives with partitions are not shown in the list so that a loss of data is prevented.
After clicking next, the copy process will start. For large drives this can take some time.
Firstly you need to load your planner, see Planner Loading for details.
From the list of recordings displayed you can select the ones your wish to extract by clicking the check box next to each recording. You can also right click the recording list and click 'Check All' to select all of the recordings.
Once you have selected your recordings, simply click the computer icon on the toolbar.
Once you have selected a destination for your recordings, they will start to copy to your computer.
Note that unregistered versions of ExPVR will only extract the first 200MB of each recording.
Warnings:
The XTV file system is based upon FAT32 but has some important changes. Some utilities try to treat it as a standard file system which is 'broken' and attempt to 'fix' it. For this reason please read these warnings:
-
It is highly recommended that you use an external hard drive caddy. If you choose to install the drive internally you need to watch the windows boot up process carefully and cancel any disk check operations. Windows sometimes tries to 'fix' the hard drive on boot up, corrupting all the recordings in the process. Using and external caddy will negate this risk as you can plug it in once the computer has booted up.
-
Some anti-virus applications can try to write to the disk, so it is recomended that you disable these while your hard drive is connected.
-
Automatic disk defragmenters should also be disabled as these can corrupt the disk.
Firstly you need to make sure you have connected your PVR's hard drive to the computer correctly. A guide on how to do this can be found in the tutorials section.
On opening the application you will be greeted by the following screen:
A list of detected Sky+ HD hard disks will be shown the left hand pane. Checking one of these will load it's planner:
All of the recordings in the planner will now be shown in the right hand pane. Clicking on a recording will show more detailed information about it at the bottom of the window.
Recordings with a red background are encrypted and will not be viewable on a PC (they can however still be copied to a new Sky+ HD hard disk). Recordings with blue text are Anytime Showcase recordings, and were recorded automatically by your box. Recordings with grey text are deleted recordings which are still in the Sky+ box's recycle bin.
Sky Router Tool V1.2.1
Standard Version (recommended for most users)
Standalone Version (no installer)
Source code is available from Google Code
Sky Router Tool V1.1
Standard Version (recommended for most users) | .NET2.0 Version (for Windows 2000)
Standalone Version (no installer)
Source code is available from Google Code
Sky Router Tool V1.0 Beta 6
Standard Version (recommended for most users) | .NET2.0 Version (for Windows 2000)
Source Code | Standalone Version (no installer) | .NET2.0 Standalone Version
Sky Router Tool V1.0 Beta 5 R3
Standard Version (recommended for most users) | .NET2.0 Version (for Windows 2000)
Source Code | Standalone Version (no installer) | .NET2.0 Standalone Version
Sky Router Tool V1.0 Beta 4
Standard Version (recommended for most users) | .NET2.0 Version (for Windows 2000)
For other versions go to http://www.ph-mb.com/downloads/sky_router_tool/
Sky Router Tool currently supports the Netgear DG834GT and DG934G routers. Other routers may work if they are similar enough. If you would like support for your (preferably linux-based) router then send me an email and I'll see what I can do.
| Router Type | Comments | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Netgear DG834GT | All features supported. |
 |
Netgear DG934G | Changing the target SNR, viewing the SNR (not SNR margin), QLN and Attenuation graphs and resyncing are not supported. All other features work. |
|
Sagem F@ST 2504 | All features except speed test and sky password calculation work. Requires custom firmware from http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/technical-discussion/44101-custom-sky-v2-8-firmware-sky-v3-sagem-f-st-2504-router.html. |
- Supports the first 3 routers provided by Sky
- Works with stock sky firmware. No firmware updating required!**
- Fully AJAX web interface
- Bandwidth usage, ADSL Error and SNR margin logging
- Advanced statistics display, including full SNR and Bit Loading graphs*
- Ability to alter the target SNR margin on the router*
- Speed testing tool which runs from the router
- Full router process listing
- Uses password-protected HTTP to connect to the router instead of telnet
- Sky Username, Password, SSID, Wireless Password and Default Channel calculator for both the DG834GT and the DG934G (calculated from LAN MAC address and serial)
More...
Sky Router Tool is a free, open source application which allows you to log various details from your sky router (bandwidth usage, signal to noise ratio margin and errors), display advanced ADSL line graphs and more! It now supports the first 3 routers released by Sky (Netgear DG834GT (Sky V1, white), Netgear DG934G (Sky V2, black) and Sagem F@ST 2504 (Sky V3, black).
Sky Router Tool is free software but if you have found it useful I would be incredibly grateful if you could give a small donation:
This software is for personal use only. A license is required to use this software for commercial purposes.
END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR ExPVR IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THIS PROGRAM INSTALL: pH-Mb's End-User License Agreement ("EULA") is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a single entity) and pH-Mb for the pH-Mb software product(s) identified above which may include associated software components, media, printed materials, and "online" or electronic documentation ("SOFTWARE PRODUCT"). By installing, copying, or otherwise using the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. This license agreement represents the entire agreement concerning the program between you and pH-Mb, (referred to as "licenser"), and it supersedes any prior proposal, representation, or understanding between the parties. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, do not install or use the SOFTWARE PRODUCT.
The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is licensed, not sold.
1. GRANT OF LICENSE.
The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is licensed as follows:
(a) Installation and Use.
pH-Mb grants you the right to install and use copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT on your computer solely for your internal, non-commercial, operations.
(b) Backup Copies.
You may also make copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT as may be necessary for backup and archival purposes.
2. DESCRIPTION OF OTHER RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS.
(a) Maintenance of Copyright Notices.
You must not remove or alter any copyright notices on any and all copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT.
(b) Distribution.
You may not distribute registered copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT to third parties. Evaluation versions available for download from pH-Mb's websites may be freely distributed.
(c) Prohibition on Reverse Engineering, Decompilation, and Disassembly.
You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation.
(d) Rental.
You may not rent, lease, or lend the SOFTWARE PRODUCT.
(e) Support Services.
pH-Mb may provide you with support services related to the SOFTWARE PRODUCT ("Support Services"). Any supplemental software code provided to you as part of the Support Services shall be considered part of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT and subject to the terms and conditions of this EULA.
(f) Compliance with Applicable Laws.
You must comply with all applicable laws regarding use of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT.
3. TERMINATION
Without prejudice to any other rights, pH-Mb may terminate this EULA if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this EULA. In such event, you must destroy all copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT in your possession.
4. COPYRIGHT
All title, including but not limited to copyrights, in and to the SOFTWARE PRODUCT and any copies thereof are owned by pH-Mb or its suppliers. All title and intellectual property rights in and to the content which may be accessed through use of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT is the property of the respective content owner and may be protected by applicable copyright or other intellectual property laws and treaties. This EULA grants you no rights to use such content. All rights not expressly granted are reserved by pH-Mb.
5. NO WARRANTIES
pH-Mb expressly disclaims any warranty for the SOFTWARE PRODUCT. The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is provided 'As Is' without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including but not limited to any warranties of merchantability, noninfringement, or fitness of a particular purpose. pH-Mb does not warrant or assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within the SOFTWARE PRODUCT. pH-Mb makes no warranties respecting any harm that may be caused by the transmission of a computer virus, worm, time bomb, logic bomb, or other such computer program. pH-Mb further expressly disclaims any warranty or representation to Authorized Users or to any third party.
6. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
In no event shall pH-Mb be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, or lost information) rising out of 'Authorized Users' use of or inability to use the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, even if pH-Mb has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event will pH-Mb be liable for loss of data or for indirect, special, incidental, consequential (including lost profit), or other damages based in contract, tort or otherwise. pH-Mb shall have no liability with respect to the content of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT or any part thereof, including but not limited to errors or omissions contained therein, libel, infringements of rights of publicity, privacy, trademark rights, business interruption, personal injury, loss of privacy, moral rights or the disclosure of confidential information.
7. COMMERCIAL USE
This software is for personal (not-for-profit) use only. ‘For-profit-use’ includes, but is not limited to, the use of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT for ‘value-added’ services to customers, even when no direct charge is made. A commercial license is available upon request.
8. INCLUDED LIBRARIES
A copy of the 'Bouncy Castle' library is included with this software. It's license is as follows:
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2011 The Legion Of The Bouncy Castle (http://www.bouncycastle.org)
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and
associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial
portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN
NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
Contents
Is it possible to use ExPVR to transfer my Sky+ HD recordings to a larger disk?
Is it possible to use ExPVR to copy my Sky+ / Sky+ HD recordings to a new box?
Can ExPVR copy from a standard definition Sky+ box or Thompson Sky HD box to a newer Sky+ HD device?
Can ExPVR copy Sky+ or Sky+HD recordings to my PC (to watch in media playing software)?
Does this application support the extraction of encrypted recordings?
Which recordings are encrypted?
What software do I need to watch the extracted recordings?
How do I attach the hard disk from my Sky+ HD or other XTV-Based PVR to my computer?
Does this application change the hard drive in any way?
My target disk is not listed in ExPVR, how can I make it be detected?
Are my scheduled recordings copied to the new disk/device too?
What do the colours and letters beside each planner item mean?
-
Is it possible to use ExPVR to transfer my Sky+ HD recordings to a larger disk?
Yes, ExPVR will allow you to upgrade the hard disk in your Sky+ HD box to a larger size, while retaining all of your existing recordings.
-
Is it possible to use ExPVR to copy my Sky+ / Sky+ HD recordings to a new box?
Yes, ExPVR will allow you to copy recordings from any of the supported Sky boxes to a new one. Note that the new box must be one of the HD models (for a full list of supported devices, please see our Device Support section).
-
Can ExPVR copy from a standard definition Sky+ box or Thompson Sky HD box to a newer Sky+ HD device?
Yes! The older boxes (standard definition Sky+ and Thompson Sky+ HD) have a different planner format, but ExPVR is designed to handle this. ExPVR will automatically convert your planner as part of the transfer process.
-
Can ExPVR copy Sky+ or Sky+HD recordings to my PC (to watch in media playing software)?
Yes, ExPVR is able to extract all recordings which are not encrypted, these can then be viewed in your favourite video playing software or portable device.
-
Which devices are supported?
Please see our device support page.
-
Does this application support the extraction of encrypted recordings?
Unfortunately this feature cannot be added. I am not sure of the legality of such a feature and in any case, Sky would take a very dim view; for these reasons I will never add this to ExPVR.
If you extract an encrypted recording, it will still copy but the recording wont be viewable on your computer (it will still be encrypted).
Note that copying encrypted recordings to another Sky+ HD hard disk or a disk image will work fine. The encrypting only prevents watching the recordings on a PC.
-
Which recordings are encrypted?
Recordings from channels you have to have your card inserted to view, are encrypted. Recordings from other, free to air channels (BBC1, BBC HD, ITV, E4 etc.) will extract fine.
Encrypted recordings are highlighted in a pale red in ExPVR.
-
What software do I need to watch the extracted recordings?
The recordings are extracted as standard *.TS files (MPEG Transport Stream). VLC Media Player is recommended for viewing these but they can also be viewed in any Direct Show player (e.g. Media Player/Media Center/DVBViewer) with the correct codecs.
-
How do I attach the hard disk from my Sky+ HD or other XTV-Based PVR to my computer?
All XTV-Based PVRs contain standard PC hard disks with either an IDE or SATA connection. All Sky+ HD boxes have SATA hard disks. It is recommended you connect your hard disk via an external SATA or IDE caddy, but it also possible to connect them internally as long as you read the warnings in the support section. For more information please read the tutorials here.
-
Does this application change the source hard drive in any way?
ExPVR only reads from your PVR hard disk, it will not make any changes. It is therefore safe to use without any worry of corruption.
-
My target disk is not listed in ExPVR, how can I make it be detected?
Your target disk must be blank before it will display as a target in ExPVR. This is to prevent the accidental overwriting of the wrong disk. There is a guide describing how to delete partitions from a disk on our forums.
-
Are my scheduled recordings copied to the new disk/device too?
Yes, your scheduled recordings will also appear in ExPVR and can be selected in the same way as ones that have been previously recorded.
-
What do the colours and letters beside each planner item mean?
ExPVR colour codes recordings based on the following parameters:
Red Background Encrypted recording Blue Text On Demand recording Grey Text Deleted recording (in 'Recycle Bin') Black Text Standard user recording or scheduled recording There are also a number of letters to the left of each item which indicate:
s__ Scheduled recording _u_ User recording _v_ On demand recording __e Encrypted recording
Darwin and OpenTV
The Sky+, Sky+ HD boxes (and their varients from providers in other countries) all run a software called XTV. There are two major versions of this software; an older OpenTV-based system (used by standard definition Sky+ in the UK) and an new-linux based one (originally code-named 'Darwin') which is used by the Sky+ HD boxes.
ExPVR fully supports hard drives from Darwin systems and can both read them and write them. However, ExPVR is only able to read OpenTV disks (it cannot write them).
In summary you can perform the following types of copies:
- OpenTV -> Darwin
- Darwin -> Darwin
- OpenTV -> OpenTV
- Darwin -> OpenTV
Model Numbers
You will be able to find out which model of Sky+ device you have by looking at the sticker on the rear panel of your box.Sky (UK)
| PVR Model | Comments |
|---|---|
Sky+ HD (Darwin):
|
All models are fully supported and tested |
Sky+ HD (OpenTV):
Sky+ SD (OpenTV):
|
ExPVR has support for copying from these boxes (either to a Darwin Sky+ HD box or your computer). Copies to legacy OpenTV devices are not supported. |
Sky Italia
| PVR Model | Comments |
|---|---|
|
My Sky HD (Darwin) |
Our users have used ExPVR with various Sky Italia PVRs (both darwin and legacy) and have reported success. |
My Sky (OpenTV) |
Foxtel (Australia)
| PVR Model | Comments |
|---|---|
|
Foxtel iQHD (Darwin) |
Our users have used ExPVR with some Foxtel iQ and iQHD PVRs and have reported success. |
|
Foxtel iQ (OpenTV) |
KabelBW (Germany)
| PVR Model | Comments |
|---|---|
|
Humax iHD-PVR C (OpenTV) |
There is experimental support for copying recorings from this device, including extracting recordings for PC viewing. |
Sky Deutschland (Germany)
| PVR Model | Comments |
|---|---|
|
Sky+ (Darwin*) |
Sky Deutschland use a slightly different hard disk layout to other providers and disks from these devices are not yet fully supported. Please see the post on our forums for more details. |
Other
This application should work with other XTV-Based PVRs with similar firmware. The best way to find out is to try the free version. There is no risk in trying this application as it makes no modifications to the source disk.
If you do try another box please send me an email telling whether or not it works! I can then either add it to this list or add support.