[Android TV General] dyal96:
I have a "Tata Sky HD" Set-top Box and I was about to throw this in garbage but before I want to know what is happening under the hood.

I search on internet and I found nothing except this. I'm noob so sorry for if say something silly.

I found this specifications.

Product : TATA SKY HD

Original Maker : Technicolor

Product Model Number : DSI729TAT

Chipset : STiH237 BHKB B3L

Type : ST40 -32 BIT

Architecture : RISC

RAM : 2GB [ SK Hynix H5TQ2G63FFR H9C

Storage : 1GB [ Spanison ML01G100

Power : 12v DC

Software: busybox 1.18.2 , mtdwrap, uclibc, Linux Kernel 2.6.32.59_stm24_0211, ST drivers: embx.ko, embxmailbox.ko, ics.ko, ics_user.ko, lxload.ko, mme.ko, mme_user.ko, LZO Decompression Library 2.03, Decompression Utility

PORTS : 1 HDMI 1.2/1.3/1.4, 1 USB 2.0, SAT-IN & 2 Audio 1 Video Out , 1 Optical S/PDIF (for Dolby Digital Plus Audio ), 1 Digi Card.

I Found 1 UART PORT Which would be used while extraction of Firmware.

AFTER SOME REASEARCH I FOUND THAT IT HAS SIMILAR TO ARM-CORTEX-A9 AND MALI-400 GPU. (MAYBE I'M WORNG)

IDEA : It has a a Good processor and ram which can run as raspberry-pi os.

so we can repurpose it as a Media Center, Gaming Console, NAS, Smart Home, Small Server or a Mini Computer.

storage is low so we have to add some storage. I'm not sure how this is possible. except swapping the NAND flash Chip.

GOAL 1 : Extract Firmware and Extract Paid Decryption key which is use to verify the sat-in signals. ( a stb which don't required subscription to watch any tv channel )

i think they modified the software which capture the unencrypted signal and if we have a signal receiver then we are good to go. but for big companies wants to earn money so they added these barriers which needs decryption. and if the satellite is sending encrypted signal then we need to find the key. ( i know it's hard that's why we are here. I'll love to hear you thoughts on these)

GOAL 2: Change the Firmware and install Linux.

Goal 3: Find a way to use it as media server with increased storage and add a wireless module for WIFI access.

I'm not sure it is possible or not. but i think its possible. just think about it a small hardware can collect signal from satellite and decrypt the signals in HD with Dolby HD audio. we just need to find a way to access this.

I SHARED MY IDEA AND I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THESE.

PROBLLY I'M GOING TO ACCESS THIS WITH UART INTERFACE AND TRYING TO ACCESS THE BOOTLOADER.

OR MAYBE DESIGN A CUSTOM KERNAL.

I'M SEARCHING FOR COMPATIBLE FIRMWARE WHICH I CAN MODIFY AS I NEED.

EXTRA : I FOUND A SIMILAR STB WHICH USED IN RUSSIA "NTV PLUS SET TOP BOX" HAS SIMILAR PROPERTIES LIKE TATASKY HD BUT WITH EXTRA I/O PORTS.

THANK YOU. IF YOU HAVE ANY ADDIONAL IDEA THEN I'LL LOVE TO HEAR THAT.

Links Used For Gathering Information

Chipset : https://www.st.com/en/digital-set-top-box-ics/stih237.html

RAM : https://www.electronicsdatasheets.com/manufacturers/sk-hynix/parts/h5tq2g63ffrh9c

OS information : https://www.technicolor.com/node/1899

Storage : https://www.qdatasheet.com/search.jsp?sWord=ML01G100&page=2&op=i

RISC BASED TOOLS AND APPS : https://www.riscosopen.org/content/downloads/common

UPDTAE [ 20th MARCH 2024 ]

its similar to what i have and for your surprise its two decade older chipset, ("shout out to Alan C. Assis") who found this and other similar secrets likes

credits : Alan C. Assis

BTW, I found ST40 STiH237 U-Boot here: https://github.com/project-magpie/u-boot-spark

https://www.st.com/en/embedded-software/x-linux-rt.html

GitHub - STMicroelectronics/meta-st-x-linux-rt: meta-st-x-linux-rt yocto meta layer

meta-st-x-linux-rt yocto meta layer. Contribute to STMicroelectronics/meta-st-x-linux-rt development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

STM32 header for binary files - stm32mpu

wiki.st.com

ttps://github.com/STMicroelectronics/meta-st-openstlinux

https://www.st.com/resource/en/user_manual/cd00147165-sh-4-32-bit-cpu-core-architecture-stmicroelectronics.pdf

SuperH - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/OpenSTLinux_distribution this might be actully helpful wiki for st arcitecture

http://www.audentia-gestion.fr/STMicroelectronics/PDF/en.CD17379953.pdf

https://www.st.com/en/embedded-software/stm32-mpu-openstlinux-distribution.html

GitHub - STMicroelectronics/meta-st-openstlinux: meta-st-openstlinux

meta-st-openstlinux. Contribute to STMicroelectronics/meta-st-openstlinux development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

https://dl.packetstormsecurity.net/1901-exploits/SRP-2018-02-report.pdf

https://www.hbbtv.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/HbbTV-Flyer_IBC2012.pdf

OpenBox SX6 HD Satellite Receiver Software - Mr-Dish

OpenBox SX6High Definition Digital Satellite Receiver Features Latest chipset company STMicroelectronics STiH237 Receiving a broadcast packet format Multistream Modern DDR3 memory large volume Support CI + (that is guaranteed to work with modules NTV-Plus and Tricolor TV) Internal menu with HD...

www.mr-dish.com

BTW, I don't know if you guys already found it, but Cisco also use this chip: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/a...urce/docs/SBB-COSHIP-STiH237-LC_1_0_7_001.pdf

credits : Alan C. Assis : https://acassis.wordpress.com/category/ipcam/