A History of The SpaceStar, SonySat, Ultrastar - Does it Run Linux?

[arboristman]

c/p
A History of The SpaceStar, SonySat, Ultrastar - Does it Run Linux?
To understand where the rumors come from its important to understand the background of the SonySat and its predecessor the SpaceStar.

The SpaceStar was orginally manufactured by DGStation, at the time DGStation was primarily focused on the European market. The motherboard design was loosely based on the PowerPC reference Set-Top-Box Motherboard from IBM.

The SpaceStar did not (and does not run Linux). Shortly after the release of the SpaceStar, Dreambox built there own STB based on the same reference platform, changing the OS for their own flavor of linux - and adding memory, ethernet, and an IDE connection. At this time the SpaceStar was "discontinued" by DGStation, and SpaceStar USA resourced the manufacture and support of the SpaceStar 500 and later models on their own. DGStation switched focused to boxes they hoped would compete with the DreamBox.

The Linux based Mutant Relook was launched by DGStation. The Mutant Relook used mostly the parts and design of the SpaceStar (same case, similiar motherboard, same tuner, etc.), but was made binary compatible with the DreamBox 500's.

There was a long period after this transition where support for the SpaceStars was lacking. Many developers failed to deliver, and their was significant conflict within the management and ownership of the company.

As a result, the rights to the RTOS (RealTime OS) based SpaceStars were sold to SonySat in early 2007. The current support team is volunteer based and significantly stronger than the past teams.

The code inside the current SilverSurfer bins is not based on the Dreambox or any other solution. It does use some publicly available libraries for math (the OpenSSL library, the RSAREF library, etc.), but so does every other STB on the market.

I honestly wish I had access to the current DreamBox sources, their current support group (also volunteer based) is excellent. Sadly, I do not have access to their code, so we (the group and I) do our best with our own heads, and the information we find on the World Wide Web. I have nothing but respect for the OpenCam developers and would collaberate with them in a heartbeat - but the current bins are in no way currently associated with the OpenCam project.

The linux based DGStation Mutant Relook on the other hand, does run OpenCam (an older release usually), and is generally a few months behind the DreamBox 500 in fixes. X and team have absolutely NO involvement in the Mutant Relook.

As for being first. I don't pound that drum. We are fast, and we are never last. As it turns out - we've been "first" a few times this last year. We've also been 2nd, 3rd, 6th etc - I lose track That said, we've NEVER been last (we all know who that is - but I ain't starting a war by saying it in the open).

I hope you enjoy the support and features of your SonySat. It took a long time for us to get here, but I firmly believe the days of the SonySat/SpaceStar being the underdog are behind us.

Regards,

X