boxee re purposing

A friend of mine donated an old d-link boxee (yes it really still works) and i was
able to get past the absence of a heartbeat server/app store and fire it up. with some
tinkering i was also able to get root so to say (yes it actually runs linux howbeit a
bit trimmed down) and i was wondering if it would be possible to install maybe slackware
15.0 or some sort of variant there of. Here are the specifications:
https://www.manuals.ca/d-link/boxee-box/specifications.

Surprisingly it will play high definition video, music and look at pictures, but seeing as
the browser does not work i thought i would try something else to restore
or enhance it's functionality and also it cannot stream content because it has no apps for that.

That was a neat device that only lasted a short while.
Basically a first version of a TV box and I thought pretty good attempt.

Plenty of older web pages tell how one might access it. https://www.cnx-software.com/2014/01...ink-boxee-box/ for example.

Yeah i updated the firmware (1.6.1 i believe) and also tried Boxee+Hacks which enabled root access and also was able to run the latest variant of xbmc which is kodi, but not the latest version
of kodi. A pre-compiled version that fits on a thumb drive. You can run a chrooted version of alpine linux that can be booted from either telnet or ssh but i have not gone that far.
Seeing as the version of linux that runs is out dated as well as it's apps are not available that is why i was wondering if it would be possible to load a more up to date linux
that would make this hardware more usable and restore or enhance it's functionality. Granted it will never run AAA game titles through steam but much is still possible.

I get the feeling about the time it came out people were soldering serial connectors to it. Been a long time since I was considering that box.

ssh and telnet are supposed to work, although i didn't have any luck with telnet i was able to log in as root with ssh. I can install on an sd card probably or maybe overwrite the os
with an install thumbdrive (the sd card can only be 32gb though so i might have more luck with some sort of usb ssd or hard drive) although i do not know if it will even boot after installation or if
lilo or grub could even work on this system. No bios you can access that i know of which is why i am here for advice. Root access is a start anyway so that is good, still it might be nice to find out how
one might re-purpose a boxee to somehow make better use for it.

https://www.startpage.com/do/search?...nux+on+"boxee"

There's plenty it seems, if you move away from Slackware.
Most articles don't even mention a distro but go straight to installing XBMC/Kodi.

kodi is run off a thumb drive and is not actually installed (at least i didn't). it can play music, video files and maybe stream a little music. i did not see any apps for streaming content like netflix or amazon prime although boxee did at one time have a streaming app for netflix i think.

I did a little more research and found out that originally the development team wanted to make it more open but the content providers wanted their content more locked down
and protected which is why there is no bios with it like a standard computer and as luck would have it you have a defunct out dated piece of hardware
that is not open enough for manual updating. If i find out anything new on how to hack into it (for updating only) i will post it here.

It does have a bios and it could be possible to replace it even. They just didn't sell enough of them to get folks tinkering with it. Yes, it wasn't easy to mess with back when.

Originally Posted by SunnyJim kodi is run off a thumb drive and is not actually installed (at least i didn't). it can play music, video files and maybe stream a little music. i did not see any apps for streaming content like netflix or amazon prime although boxee did at one time have a streaming app for netflix i think.

*cough*

Web search: "kodi netflix", top 3 results:
https://howtomediacenter.com/en/inst...ix-kodi-addon/
https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/ultim...-netflix-kodi/
https://github.com/CastagnaIT/plugin.video.netflix

Web search: "kodi amazon prime", top 3 results:
https://techbriefly.com/2021/06/11/h...official-apps/
https://github.com/Sandmann79/xbmc
https://www.purevpn.com/kodi-vpn/ins...deo-kodi-addon

here is a post that gives you an idea of what i am talking about:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/h...s-gpl.1971662/
Its a bit old but yeah it gets the point across.
Thanks for the links by the way. Now all i have to do is find a way to compile a recent kodi for boxee
and maybe it will work then. It just might.

Originally Posted by SunnyJim Its a bit old but yeah it gets the point across.

That it's complicated? It's just a typical XDA thread with tons of clueless people "discussing" things.
But why reference something so old?
Going back to the web search of my first post in this thread, why not try the Alpine Linux option (2019) => https://www.reddit.com/r/boxee/comme...vironement_on/ (and lookee here, it's actually a complete subreddit dedicated to this boxee thingy!)
Or here, from 2021: https://www.techybugz.com/how-to/dow...-on-boxee-box/

Now I'm a little unsure if you want to install Kodi on the existing Linux, or install a completely new OS? In any case, both seems to be possible.

I think you don't quite understand what i am trying to say
that this could be a little harder than we think. we are
talking a gplv3 violation. Oh i am sure boxee could be loaded
with newer software but maybe only with the right keys. Check out
this link:
http://infinityoverzero.com/bbox/
and this one as well:
http://www.boxeeboxwiki.org/start
correct me if i am wrong and i want to be wrong because open source is awesome when it is open.
when i tried to mount the boxee.iso on my linux box to look at it to figure out how to update the
software and was informed about squashfs problems on dmesg (version mismatch) and did some researching
that i became more suspicious of a problem here. Looks like d-link
may have stepped in it here maybe inadvertently. And yeah i looking into installing alpine linux
but have not had any luck so far as i am having technical problems with the the installation that
may be due to the info included in the links above.

Originally Posted by SunnyJim we are talking a gplv3 violation.

Maybe Boxee violated the GPLv3 some time ago, but you installing something else on it, wouldn't be.

Maybe you're refering to the trickiness of disabling the crypto control, but that's really all there is - unless you want to resurrect a decade-old case.
As pointed out, others seem to have succeeded, so go for it!

well that is what i am TRYING to do which is why i am here asking for advice. i tried installing alpine linux but ran into problems possibly with squashfs version incompatibility problems
and yes squashfs is a thing for small systems made like 15-20 years ago so sue me i like a challenge. Looks like i might have to start over from scratch and install with a serial line of some sort
maybe that will work. it's just amazing that this thing still works after all this time, you should see the remote the logo is wearing right off almost.