System Recovery Utility

System Recovery Utility is a part of the STB software. It is intended for users to perform required service operations in the STB at the stage of boot start.
System Recovery Utility is designed in the following STB models:

• Based on STMicroelectronics chipset: MAG256
• Based on Broadcom chipset: MAG3xx
• Based on HiSilicon chipset: MAG4xx

Example of main utility menu (the top level) for MAG256:

List of service operations performed with System Recovery Utility includes:

• View / change the current TV system (also called Video output mode) and Graphic resolution to be set on the HDMI video output after software loaded (after loading the portal);
• View / change current Boot mode of STB;
• View STB device and software info (Device information) with the option to save info on USB-drive;
• STB software update (Upgrade Tools ⇒ Upgrade Software). Used to install in STB only public versions of software;
• Installing operator logo in STB (Upgrade Tools ⇒ Set Logotype), which will be displayed on the TV screen when STB boots. The procedure of logo installing is described in the developer section - Logo of Bootloader;
• Installing / Reset Operator Key in STB (Upgrade Tools ⇒ Set / Reset Operator's key). This procedure can be used in STB for manual installing/uninstalling in STB the Operator Key to provide loading in STB OperatorImage;
• Reset STB to factory settings (Default Settings).

Bringing up System Recovery Utility menu

To enter System Recovery Utility:

1. Power off (unplug the power supply) the STB.
2. Push and hold the Menu key on the RC (it should be directed straight to the front side of STB, where the IR receiver is located).
3. Still holding the Menu key power the STB on (plug in the power supply).
4. Wait (~10 seconds) for the menu of System Recovery Utility on the TV screen.
5. Release the Menu key.

  Menu button on SRC-4513

Exit from System Recovery Utility menu

To exit the System Recovery Utility menu and continue STB booting, use the Exit and Reboot command of the main utility menu.

Setting the video output mode and graphics display resolution

To correct display video signal at the TV after STB software loaded, it is possible to change video output parameters at the boot stage. System Restore Utility menu contains the following settings:

• TV System - STB video output mode;
• Graphic Resolution - graphics window resolution to be set on STB video output.

Description of these parameters is provided in section Video output mode and Graphics Resolution.

Example of the TV system menu for STB MAG256:

Selecting boot mode NAND1 / NAND2

NAND1 or NAND2 - banks of internal non-volatile reprogrammable memory of STB. They are intended to store and load from them STB software. STB bootloader uses the software bank wich specified in this setting (active_bank bootloader variable: 0 - active bank, 1- alternative bank). The use of two banks of memory improves the reliability of the software update process. If the operation fails, the user can load software from the alternative bank.

• Enter the System Recovery Utility menu.
• Select Boot Mode by pressing OK on RC and choose: NAND 1 or NAND2. If the user changes the value of the current (active) bank, an alternative copy of the software will be used for loading.
• If Boot Mode value was changed - сonfirm with Yes.
• Select Exit and Reboot, сonfirm with Yes.
  Note. If instead of Exit and Reboot you pressed Exit on RC, press Menu on RC to return to the main Utility menu.
  
• The progress bar of the booting process is displayed on the TV screen.

Software version and device information

Software version and device information can be obtained from the Device Information menu. Example for STB MAG256:

To view Device Information menu info:

• Enter the System Recovery Utility menu.
• Choose Device information - by pressing OK on RC:
  • Vendor - Manufactory identifier.
  • Model - STB model identifier.
  • HardwareVersion - Version of the system board.
  • Serial Number - Serial number of device (STB).
  • MAC address - Physical address of network interface.
  • BootLoader version - BootLoader version (if the second bootloader is on, then you will see the second bootloader version).
  • Image version number - STB software version;
  • Image date - Date and Time of STB software version creation.
  • Image description - an additional description of the STB software version.
  • Userfs Image version - version of User settings (UserFS - the part of the image file);

To save device information to the USB drive:

• Prepare the USB drive:
  • be sure that the USB drive has a FAT32 file system.
  • create a folder mag<model> on the root of the USB drive, where <model> is the value of the basic STB model - for example, for STB MAG322, the folder name is mag322.
  • connect the USB drive to one of the STB connectors;
• Open Device Information menu and click - Save Info at USB command:
• The DeviceInfo.txt file must be written down to mag<model> folder on the USB drive.

Selecting software update mode

• Enter the System Recovery Utility menu.
• Select Upgrade Tools ⇒ Upgrade software.
• In opened Upgrade Software window choose update mode:
  
  • Using USB - for updating will be used the STB software (image) from the USB-drive connected to the STB. Detailed description see in Software update from System Recovery Utility section.
  • Using multicast - the update file is transferred to STB from PC by Multicasting. See detailed description in Software update from System Recovery Utility section.
  • Using static IP and TFTP - the update file is transferred to STB from a TFTP server. In STB, the necessary connection parameters must be set (assigned with bootloader variables).
  • Using DHCP - the update file is transferred by settings TFTP server. The required connection parameters are received from the DHCP server. Update settings are specified by the network administrator in the configuration of the DHCP server. Update settings are transmitted to STB by extension options (DHCP Vendor Extensions). See details in DHCP server configuration. Loading and updating STB software.

• After a successful software update, the STB will automatically reboot.

Reset to factory settings

After resetting STB to the factory settings, the environment variables, including Bootloader variables, are set to the initial values (set by the Manufacturer).
To reset STB to factory:

• Enter the System Recovery Utility menu;
• Select Default Settings, сonfirm with Yes;
• In the window Resetting to defaults, confirm with Yes;
• Information about the reset operation should be displayed at the bottom of the window;
• Press Exit button to pass in main utility menu;

• Select Exit & Reboot, сonfirm with Yes;
  Note. If instead of Exit and Reboot you pressed Exit on RC, press Menu on RC to return to the main Utility menu.

• STB will automatically reboot.

¹⁾ The public (open) versions of STB software are signed by the public key (ID_KEY = STB_PUBLIC). More details - in the STB software section.