Dune Firmware Zone

Dune HD TV 301

- New feature: Added compatibility with new Dune HD remote controls (which
  are shipped with newer Dune HD models)
   - NOTE: to use POWER button of the new RC, the following is needed:
      - Set "Setup / Misc / Power management / POWER button behavior" to
        "Software standby".
      - Reprogram the box to boot automatically on power-on as described in
        "Automatic power-on mode" section here:
        http://dune-hd.com/support/rc

- Improvement: Improved compatibility with HTTP/MP4 and HTTPS/MP4 Internet
  video streams.

- Improvement: Fonts extended to better support Kazakh, Georgian, Armenian,
  Azerbaijani and some other languages.

- Minor other improvements.

- Bugfix: Weather widget could show wrong temperature in some cases.

- Bugfix: After returning from playback to a folder with GUI customization
  (using dune_folder.txt), in specific cases, a wrong GUI state could be
  shown.

- Bugfix: In some rare cases, when when playing a MPEG-TS stream from
  multicast or DVB source, playback could crash.

- Bugfix: In specific cases, when switching between different MPEG-TS
  streams for a long time, playback could crash.

- Bugfix: For models with DVB-C tuner: DVB-C default modulation mode was
  set to incorrect value.

- Bugfix: For base3d2 and tv303d2 models: stability problems could take
  place in some cases.

- Bugfix: SDK: when creating too many scheduled recordings, the application
  could crash in some cases.

- Bugfix: SDK: in HTML applications, an attempt to modify the callback
  function from JS callback handler could lead to application hangup.

- The function of formatting a HDD into NTFS filesystem now does not have
  HDD capacity limitations and can be used with huge HDDs.

- When a HDD with an EFI system partition is attached, the EFI system
  partition is now not shown in the GUI.

- SDK: added new firmware customization possibility: custom firmware may now
  use a custom value of signer_id for signed plugins. See more information
  in SDK documentation.

- Bugfix: AC3 or DTS audio could be played wrongly in specific rare cases.

- Bugfix: Custom folders based on dune_folder.txt mechanism could be
  rendered in a wrong way in specific cases, when an old behavior of
  dune_folder.txt mechanism was expected.

- Bugfix: PHP plugins: FWD and REW RC buttons did not work as expected in
  some cases.

- Bugfix: GUI could crash in some specific rare cases when icon archive
  feature was used.

- Bugfix: when playing very high-bitrate lossless audio files (FLAC,
  Wavpack) from an SMB network share, stuttering could take place in some
  cases.

- Bugfix: playback of MPEG-TS stream containing a lot of errors could lead
  to playback crash in some rare specific cases.

- Added new "adaptive+" deinterlacing mode, which should work better than
  the old "adaptive" mode on specific video content.

- Bugfix: when playing a media_url with "dune_params" extra parameters,
  playback recovering from a network fault could be handled wrongly in some
  cases.

- Bugfix: when playing HLS (and some other MPEG-TS based) content, audio
  track switching could work wrongly in some cases.

- Bugfix: for models which do not support full power-off: a request to do
  power-off could be handled wrongly in some cases.

- Hungarian UI translation updated.

- Subtitles are now supported during plugin playback.

- Internal improvements in plugins upgrade mechanism.

- HLS playback bugfixes:
   - Playlists with blank lines in the beginning were processed
     incorrectly.
   - Sometimes HLS playback could crash because of too long URLs.

- Bugfix: switching deinterlacing mode during DVD playback did not work.

- Bugfix: in some cases scanning DVB-T with multiple bandwidths failed with
  GUI error.

- Rutube application is removed from the set of preinstalled applications.

- Internal improvements in plugins upgrade mechanism.

- Updated Videomore preinstalled application (Russian language only).

- HLS playback improvements.

- Bugfix: some files with H.264 profile 5.1 video could not be played
  (regression introduced in previous _b8 firmware versions).

- Bugfix: recording could crash in some rare cases.

- NOTE: This is a minor update to 120815_2151. 

- Dune HD TV models: Bugfix: Vidimax application could report "error 7" in
  some cases during playback.

- Bugfix: fixed problem with the playback of certain MMS URLs (the problem
  appeared in the firmware version 120608_1420_beta).

- Bugfix: playback of MPEG-TS streams w/o audio and with temporary audio
  dropouts could cause problems. (This includes playback of multicast, HLS,
  DVB MPEG-TS streams.)

- Bugfix: playback of media content via HTTP protocol could cause hangup in
  some cases (e.g. when the server did not respond).

- HLS playback improvements:
   - By default, the initial quality is now chosen based on the previous
     statistics (remembered till reboot).
   - Various performance and stability improvements.
   - Bugfix: too long HLS URLs were refused to play.

- media_url: 'hls_initial_bandwidth' parameter extended with new possible
  values: 'auto' and 'auto_high'.
   - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/misc/media_url.txt

- Improvements in API for PHP plugins:
   - Default PHP plugin operation timeout increased to 60 seconds.
   - Bugfix: PHP plugin operation was handled in wrong way in some cases.
   - Bugfix: EPG OSD column had wrong title in some cases.

- Dune HD TV models: Improvements in API for HTML+JS applications:
   - Bugfix: when playing HLS stream, read error events could be wrongly
     generated even in the absence of any errors.

- The set of supported video modes further optimized in order to ensure
  correct player functioning in all cases. Removed unneeded 60.0 Hz video
  modes (kept only 59.94 Hz video modes). When 24.0/23.976 Hz video modes
  are used, only HDMI output is enabled (Composite and Component output is
  disabled).

- Bugfix: autorepeat of RC buttons could work wrongly in some cases.

- Bugfix: web browser OSD size setting in setup menu could wrongly affect
  the behavior of some HTML applications in some cases.

- Includes also the new application architecture introduced in the firmware
  version 120531_2201_beta, and all changes from firmware version
  120608_1421_beta.

NOTE: This firmware version does not include the new application
archtiecture introduced in 120531_2201_beta. The equivalent firmware
version with the new application architecture is 120815_2151.

- Improvements for DVB-T: some fixes for Hungarian DVB-T; updated DVB-T
  tables for some other countries.

- Updated UI translations for some languages (chinese, estonian, hebrew,
  hungarian, italian, swedish).

- Added showing of software license information on the first player boot.

- media_url: added 'deint_mode' parameter for playback URLs (possible
  values: 'off', 'adaptive', 'bob').
   - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/misc/media_url.txt

- Added immediate visual feedback when the player handles standby or
  power-off request: the LED on the front panel blinks once.

- Some minor fixes in the PHP plugin mechanism (note: no changes in API).

- Bugfix: framerate detection could work wrongly for MP4 content in some
  cases.

- Bugfix: 'rutube' application could not work in some cases.

- Bugfix: when using old RC without "REC" button, it was impossible to
  start recording of IPTV stream (the problem appeared in previous firmware
  versions).

- Bugfix: dynamic range control feature worked wrongly when playing files
  with TrueHD audio tracks.

- Bugfix: HLS streams could start very slowly in some specific cases
  (MPEG-TS with specific PMT).

- Bugfix: playback of RTSP streams could cause problems with subsequent
  playback of MPEG-TS content.

- Bugfix: pause function could cause crash in some cases.

- Bugfix: playback of MKA files could cause crash in some cases.

- Bugfix: some keys on Dune HD Qwerty keyboard did not work in some cases.

- Bugfix: when entering IP address, the use of leading '0' caused the
  entered number to be treated as octal number rather than decimal.

- Bugfix: Vidimax application could be launched with wrong screen size in
  some cases.

- Other minor fixes.

- Includes also the new application architecture introduced in the firmware
  version 120531_2201_beta.

NOTE: This firmware version does not include the new application
archtiecture introduced in 120531_2201_beta. The equivalent firmware
version with the new application architecture is 120608_1421_beta.

- media_url: added 'osd_size' parameter for www:// URLs.
   - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/misc/media_url.txt

- Bugfix: playback of some MP4 content could cause crash.

- Bugfix: when playing MP4 files, exiting trickplay modes (e.g. fast
  forward) could work wrongly.

- Bugfix: GUI skin switching using "B" RC button could work wrongly in some
  cases.

- Some minor fixes in the PHP plugin mechanism (note: no changes in API).

- Other minor fixes.

* A new application architecture is used, which enables the features listed
  below.
   - NOTE: The new application architecture affects a lot of things and is
     not well debugged yet, so some firmware functions may potentially be
     broken or work worse in comparison with the previous firmware
     versions. If some function is broken on the firmware version
     120531_2201_beta, it is recommended to recheck it on firmware version
     120531_2200_beta (which is exactly the same as 120531_2201_beta, but
     with the old application architecture), or on firmware version
     120329_2012.

* Web browser and FlashLite applications engine are better integrated with
  the main UI, resulting in faster start/stop w/o HDMI reinitialization.
   - NOTE: The set of supported video modes reduced (rarely used
     PC-specific video modes, which are unsupported by Web browser and
     FlashLite applications, are removed).

* Added API for the development of custom fullscreen applications based on
  HTML+JavaScript or C+DirectFB/Qt, running simultaneously with media
  playback.
   - The video can be played in background, with the application GUI acting
     as an OSD on top of video.
   - The provided STB JavaScript API and STB C API allow the application to
     control media playback and other STB functions.
   - SDK and API documentation is provided to integration partners on
     request.

* Added two fullscreen HTML-based applications:
   - Vidimax Internet-video service (for Russia only).
   - Divan.TV Internet-video service (for Ukraine only).
   - NOTE: At the moment, these applications may require video mode to be
     set to 720p.

NOTE: This firmware version has a lot of changes, is not well tested, and
some things may be broken. If something does not work for you, please
rollback to 120329_2012 version.

* Added a set of preinstalled applications.

   - Facebook.
   - Twitter.
   - AccuWeather.
   - YouTube.
   - RuTube (Russian language only).
   - Videomore (Russian language only).
   - TV Rain (Russian language only).
   - Horoscope (Russian language only).
   - RIA news (Russian language only).
   - Poverhnost TV (Russian language only).
   - Megogo (for Russia, Ukraine and other ex-USSR countries only).
   - Videoprobki.ua (for Ukraine only).
   - video.bigmir.net (for Ukraine only).
   - Games: chess, four, sudoku, memory, tetris (Russian language only),
     snake (Russian language only).

* Web browser improvements.

   - A new version of web browser engine is used.
   - Browser performance slightly improved.
   - Dune HD TV-101 and TV-301: Spatial navigation support is added:
     navigate through the elements of the web page using LEFT/RIGHT/UP/DOWN
     RC buttons.
   - Some other improvements and fixes.

* DVB-T improvements.

   - TV OSD is now used during DVB-T playback.
   - Added EPG showing.
   - Added support for DVB-T channels icons.
   - DVB-T buffering and channel switching improvements.

* UI improvements.

   - Text fields in the main menu do not require any more to press ENTER to
     edit the text: text fields are now always "active" and the text can be
     edited immediately.
   - RC button "D" in text fields in the main menu can be used to show the
     on-screen virtual keyboard. Currently, only English and Russian
     languages are supported.
   - Animation added in some places where it was missed previously.
   - TV OSD improvements:
      - ENTER on TV channel which is already played just closes the OSD and
        does not restart the playback.
      - Navigating to a different TV channel resets the EPG panel to today.

* Playback improvements.

   - Added support for HLS protocol for streaming media content. Adaptive
     bitrate is supported. VOD and Live TV/radio modes are supported. AES
     encryption is supported.
      - media_url syntax: http://{host}[:{port}][/{path}].m3u8[?{args}]
      - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/misc/media_url.txt

   - Added support for RTSP protocol for streaming media content. Only MPEG-TS
     streams are supported. RTSP+RTP and RTSP-over-TCP modes are supported.
     VOD and Live TV/radio modes are supported.
      - media_url syntax: rtsp://{host}[:{port}][/{path}]
      - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/misc/media_url.txt

   - Improved multicast IPTV playback support.
      - Faster playback startup and faster switch between multicast IPTV
        channels.
      - Fixed problems which took place sometimes when the user attempted
        to switch between IPTV channels too quickly.
      - Improved errors detection and handling.
      - Added possibility to pause/resume the playback (with picture
        freezing).
      - Added support for DVB subtitles.
      - Added support for teletext passthrough (works with some TV models).

   - Improved support for playback of MP4 files via HTTP protocol.
      - Autoframerate enabled also for MP4 files played via HTTP protocol
        using "http://mp4://" media_url syntax.
      - Optimized playback of MP4 files via HTTP protocols w/o the use of
        "http://mp4://" media_url syntax.

   - Improved support for playback of HTTP/TS streams.

   - Performance of playback from SMB shares improved on SMP8670 platform
     (Dune HD TV-101 and TV-301 models). Now the SMB performance with Dune
     HD TV-101 should be approximately the same as with Dune HD Smart and
     Max/Duo models.

* Various new features for application development.

   - dune_folder.txt extensions and improvements:
      - New parameters:
         - paint_details_box_background = yes|no
         - help_line_text_color = N
         - item_detailed_info_title_color = N
         - item_detailed_info_text_color = N
         - item_caption_color = N
         - item_sandwich_icon_scale_factor = N.N
      - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/misc/dune_folder_howto.txt

   - Added a possibility to specify various playback options in media_url
     using "|||dune_params|||" syntax.
      - Supported options:
         - rtsp_tcp:0|1
         - rtsp_seek_via_reopen:0|1
         - protocol:hls
         - hls_initial_bandwidth:low|high
         - hls_key_url_add_query:{string}
         - enable_seek:0|1
         - buffering_ms:1..60000
      - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/misc/media_url.txt

   - Added a possibility to launch web browser using a special media_url
     syntax.
      - media_url syntax: www://{HTTP-or-file-URL}[:::{parameters}]
      - Supported parameters:
         - fullscreen=0|1
         - webapp_keys=0|1
         - zoom_level={N}
         - overscan={N}
         - user_agent={string}
         - background_color={color}
      - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/misc/media_url.txt

   - Dune IP Control API extensions and improvements:
      - New IP Control commands:
         - start_playlist_playback
         - launch_media_url
         - get_text
         - set_text
      - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/ip_control

   - Dune FlashLite API extensions and improvements:
      - Added support for HTTPS.
      - Improved support for USB keyboards.
      - New API operations:
         - requestPlaylistPlaybackOnExit
         - requestPlaylistPlaybackOnExitWithReturn
         - requestDVDPlayerOnExit
         - requestDVDPlayerOnExitWithReturn
         - requestBlurayPlayerOnExit
         - requestBlurayPlayerOnExitWithReturn
      - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/flash

   - Dune PHP Plugins API extensions and improvements:
      - New GUI actions:
         - file_play
         - dvd_play
         - bluray_play
         - playlist_play
         - launch_media_url
         - change_behavior
         - show_black_screen
         - show_main_screen
      - New GUI events:
         - timer
         - playback_stop
      - New properties in existing data structures:
         - GuiAction::params
         - PluginInvalidateFoldersActionData::details
         - PluginInvalidateFoldersActionData::rate_details
         - PluginMovieFolderView::left_button_caption
         - PluginMovieFolderView::left_button_action
         - PluginMovieFolderView::params
         - PluginRegularFolderView::timer
         - PluginTvInfo::epg_mode
         - PluginVodInfo::initial_position_ms
         - PluginVodInfo::advert_mode
         - PluginVodInfo::actions
         - PluginVodInfo::timer
         - ShowDialogActionData::actions
         - ShowDialogActionData::timer
         - ShowDialogActionData::max_height
         - ShowDialogActionData::initial_sel_ndx
         - ViewItemParams::item_caption_color
         - ViewItemParams::item_sandwich_icon_scale_factor
         - ViewParams::paint_details_box_background
         - ViewParams::help_line_text_color
         - ViewParams::item_detailed_info_title_color
         - ViewParams::item_detailed_info_text_color
      - New data structures and their properties:
         - BlurayPlayActionData::url
         - ChangeBehaviourActionData::actions
         - ChangeBehaviourActionData::timer
         - ChangeBehaviourActionData::post_action
         - DvdPlayActionData::url
         - FilePlayActionData::url
         - GuiTimerDef::delay_ms
         - LaunchMediaUrlActionData::url
         - LaunchMediaUrlActionData::post_action
         - PlaylistPlayActionData::url
         - PlaylistPlayActionData::start_index
         - PluginFolderViewParams::paint_path_box
         - PluginFolderViewParams::paint_content_box_background
         - PluginFolderViewParams::background_url
         - PluginVodPlayActionData::vod_info
         - ShowBlackScreenActionData::post_action
         - ShowMainScreenActionData::post_action
      - New features related to plugin file structure:
         - {plugin_install_dir}/bin/
            - The player automatically sets executable permissions on all
              files in this directory during plugin installation.
         - {plugin_install_dir}/www/{path}
            - The player automatically makes these files accessible via
              HTTP (locally inside the player, and from the local network):
               - http://localhost-or-dune-ip-address/plugins/{plugin_name}/{path}
         - {plugin_install_dir}/www/cgi-bin/{path}
            - The player automatically makes these CGI applications
              accessible via HTTP (locally inside the player, and from the
              local network):
               - http://localhost-or-dune-ip-address/cgi-bin/plugins/{plugin_name}/{path}
      - Other new features:
         - Ability to package FlashLite application into plugin and launch
           it when the user enters plugin entry point, or when PHP plugin
           code decides to call it. Supported via the new "launch_media_url"
           action.
         - Ability to package HTML page/application into plugin and launch
           it in web browser when the user enters plugin entry point, or
           when PHP plugin decides to call it. Supported via the new
           "launch_media_url" action.
         - If the plugin is pure FlashLite or HTML application and does not
           need to execute any PHP code, "plain" plugin type can be
           specified in plugin manifest instead of "php"; in this case,
           there is no need to include PHP program into the plugin and
           specify "program" parameter in plugin manifest.
      - More details: http://dune-hd.com/support/plugins

* Other minor changes.

   - The set of preinstalled UI skins slightly reduced to free some flash
     memory for new firmware functions and applications.
   - DHCP client sends the information about player model and firmware
     version to DHCP server using DHCP vendor specific options.
   - Various other minor fixes and improvements.

NOTE: This is a minor update to 120202_1544_beta. 

* Initial video mode setup wizard improvements: EDID information from TV
  is now taken into account to automatically suggest the optimal HDMI mode.
  Default mode is NTSC instead of PAL.

* Minor improvements related to the support for big and small Dune remote
  controls in different Dune HD models.

* Added support for hardware changes in new player batches for
  Dune HD TV-101 and TV-301 models (support for Realtek 8188CUS Wi-Fi
  chipset).

* Improved quality of fonts in web browser and FlashLite applications on
  Dune HD TV-101 and TV-301 models.

* Bugfix: false IR signals were detected in some cases.

* Bugfix: playback of files from some huge (>2TB) HDD models did not
  work.

* Bugfix: formatting HDD partition did not assign proper filesystem type
  in some cases.

* Minor other improvements and fixes.

NOTE: Includes also all changes from 120127_2115 (see below).

* Added "Soft Reset" function:
   - Now the "Reset Settings" function proposes two choices: full reset to
     factory defaults (the same as took place in previous firmware
     versions), and so called "soft reset".
   - The soft reset clears the settings only partially and is more
     convenient in cases when the user does not need full factory reset.
   - The following things are cleared by the soft reset:
      - All settings from Setup menu.
      - All plugins settings.
      - All cached data and data stored by the player for its own needs.
      - All bookmarks (remembered playback positions).
   - The following things (which may be hard to reconfigure from the
     scratch) are kept by the soft reset:
      - All configured network folders.
      - All favorites configured in the main menu.
      - All installed plugins.

* Improvements for the users of big remote controls:

   - Added the setting allowing to choose the behavior POP UP MENU RC
     button: toggle playlist/TV menu (as took place in previous firmware
     versions), or toggle the new functions menu (introduced in the latest
     firmware version) (this is the default behavior). The old behavior
     (toggle playlist/TV menu) can be convenient for the users used to it.
     Enabling the old behavior makes the functions menu unavailable (and
     thus it may be reasonable only for users of big remote controls, which
     have dedicated buttons allowing to trigger various playback functions
     w/o the need to use the functions menu). The setting: 'Playback /
     Preferences / POP UP MENU button'.

   - On the models which are shipped by default with big remote control,
     LEFT/RIGHT RC buttons during playback now trigger the time seek
     function (as took place in previous firmware versions), rather then
     the volume function (as was introduced in the latest firmware verion).

* Tvigle.ru application improvements:
   - Added setting allowing to manually control if the application is shown
     or not on the main screen: 'Setup / Applications / Tvigle / Shown on
     the main screen'.

* Kartina.TV application removed from the set of preinstalled applications
  by demand of the Kartina.TV company.

* Minor other improvements and fixes.

NOTE: Includes also all changes from 120127_2115 (see below).