IT'S TIME TO RIOT! (ahem...maybe not yet)

[b-rad.cc]

Hi guys,


SEE BOTTOM OF THIS POST


I've pulled the releases of WDLXTV-plus 0.5.0.0 due to a sudden realization, after my netflix not working for 5 days now, that Western Digital has gone and pulled a Hub on us!!!

After 8 firmware releases Western Digital has modified the GPL fff to PERMANENTLY delete the keys needed to watch Netflix!!! IRRECOVERABLY!

This is stated NOWHERE on their site, but is in a document with a flow chart in the GPL archive. I apologize if this has happened to you and you no longer have netflix. I don't have it either anymore and I AM P*SSED.

If you still do have netflix:
IMMEDIATELY go to the webend and download a complete backup of the /conf folder!

Netflix worked for me on 0.5.0.0 until 5 days ago and I had flashed the fff in question weeks prior, so until you somehow lose activation you *should* be ok.

If you've been affected I suggest:
- SEE ADDENDUM BELOW - however you should still call and complain to WD that you want FREEDOM with what you install on your device
- Calling Netflix and complaining that streaming no longer works on a device you own
- Downloading 1.06.16_B from Western Digital and rolling back to it (follow rollback instructions in n00b central)
- Calling Western Digital and complaining that Netflix no longer works after your latest upgrade to 1.06.16_B
- Asking for an RMA for a new device so that you can watch Netflix again

Now why would Western Digital do this?
- Netflix encryption was NEVER cracked/broken/blah/blah/blah because of WDLXTV
- Netflix secret keys were NEVER exposed because of WDLXTV
- Netflix content was NEVER downloadable because of WDLXTV
- Netflix was in NO RISK OF ANYTHING because of WDLXTV

This is blatant destruction/modification of property that has NEVER had this restriction enforced before. This device has been out for over a year and just NOW they decide that they'll irreversibly destroy/remove one of the features because people want to run what they want to run. This type of action is illegal in Europe and should be heavily chastised in North America.

If you still have Netflix:
- immediately make a full backup of /conf/
- continue using WDLXTV-PLUS until you somehow lose Netflix
- once you do lose Netflix, downgrade to the latest official firmware and initiate complaint procedure from every angle possible, loudly

Future WDLXTV-PLUS releases will contain the last 'safe' fff, which is the one which came with 0.4.7.3
- this means no 3TB hdd support

ADDENDUM
Ok, so after making this long winded post it appears that recovering netflix is stil possible.

Yes, after messing with this thing and doing 100 different reflashes 100 different ways it appears to not be quite as bad as implied

So heres my little apology for flying off the handle. While the 1.06.16_B GPL kernel is an antiquated POS without 3TB hdd support it DOES NOT irreparably destroy your plus.

I happened to have bought this plus 20 days ago after bricking all the other ones I had over the last few months, and since it was within 30 days I decided I'd wipe it and re-stockify it to bring back to the store...well i thought, hell, i might as well try and watch something again for the 1000th time and then deactivate it again before I return it...and now it works...Why it all of a sudden works I have no effin clue ... but you may please put away your pitch forks, for the mean time at least.

This does not mean that WD is not planning something like this in the future as their own documentation specifically states no rollback and permanent key deletion by using the GPL fff. What I can say is it is IMPOSSIBLE to activate netflix while usingthe GPL fff.

Here is what I did to recover Netflix:
- deactivated the non working Netflix ( inside the Netflix menu press on your remote: UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT UP UP UP UP -> deactivate )
- 'downgraded' to 1.06.16_B
- before reboot to that upgrade i wiped /conf/

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rm /conf/* && config_tool -s && config_tool -s

- devices rebooted and flashed 1.06.16_B to itself
- inside of 1.06.16_B i went into netflix and activated it (might as well try one last time before returning eh?)
- tried to play a video (for the heck of it...)
- IT WORKED!?!?!?!?!
- upgraded to 0.5.0.0 using an old FFF (linked at the bottom of this post)
- IT STILL WORKS

NOTE: I tried the above exact steps many times in the last 2 weeks or so and it NEVER worked before so I don't know what I did differently this time. Perhaps it was afraid of getting returned and binned, perhaps the stars are aligned just right, perhaps a little Netflix gnome came by last night...or perhaps i never did the steps above in that exact order

DOUBLE NOTE: OK, I just thought of the ONE difference between today and the previous 100 times. That being this time i went to stock FROM the fff linked at the bottom of this post and then after stock directly back into that fff. I'd flashed this fff today during my final testing of the next point release of WDLXTV-PLUS trying to find what I thought was the best kernel to use. So perhaps this fff is some magical entity. If the above steps don't work for you the first time flash WDLXTV-Plus with the fff below, then flash stock, then flash WDLXTV-Plus again with the same fff.

Post here if you are successful in getting back your beloved Netflix

Now if we only had a damn 3TB enabled fff!!!

here is a safe wdtvlive2.fff you can flash with 0.5.0.0 after getting Netflix towork

[blachanc]

Now why would Western Digital do this?
- Netflix encryption was NEVER cracked/broken/blah/blah/blah because of WDLXTV
- Netflix secret keys were NEVER exposed because of WDLXTV
- Netflix content was NEVER downloadable because of WDLXTV
- Netflix was in NO RISK OF ANYTHING because of WDLXTV

If I understand the situation correctly, You buy a LIVEPLUS, install WDLXTV, and end up with a LIVE....

This clearly looks like an attempt at killing home-brewing.

Good thing netflix in canada was worthless when I bought my WDTVs.


just thinking out loud:

I wonder for the other owners not as lucky as I am:
Would it be possible to write a tool to backup the WDTV completely before installing the WDLXTV.

ex: update the firmware via USB stick, but the first thing achieved is copy the image from the WDTV
to the USB stick, prior to updating the firmware. At least you could choose to lose netflix while using WDLXTV,
but keep the opportunity to restore the WDTV completely.

-Ben

[superbigjay]

Hello b-rad.cc,

sorry for your lost...

I have a brand new "wdtv live plus" on its way to my place.

If I understand correctly, those keys are flashed (destroyed) when you connect to the netflix server and the server detect that the wdtv is using a homebrew firmware?

If I want to backup the activation keys and be really safe, do I need to disable the internet connection until I do the backup?

example:
- I receive the new wdlxtv
- I disconnect/disable the internet (just to make sure some automated web updates from wdtv doesn't screw up the keys)
- I connect the wdtv to the LAN (which has no acces to internet)
- I flash the device with wdlxtv firmware
- I backup the keys (/conf folder) via the webend.
- Then I can re-enable the internet connection.

Or are the keys safe if I don't the device to my netflix account ??

Jay

[RMerlin]

Avoid flashing WDLXTV 0.5.0.0 at all on a Plus device for now. I haven't spoken with b-rad about the details of this latest bullshit from WD, but if their sabotage works the way it does on the Hub, the GPL kernel would wipe the permanent keys that are stored on the chip itself, not just stuff in /conf.


This kind of behaviour by WD is simply unacceptable. People should loudly voice their opinion about it. Make it known that WD will sabotage your device beyond repair (once wiped, those keys can not be restored at all!) because you install software... that THEY provide on their own site! The GPL kernel that triggers this isn't something the WDLXTV team has developed - it's taken straight out of the GPL archive that WD distributes.

Just disabling Netflix when running a GPL kernel would have been bad enough already, but still perfectly legal. Making sure your device NEVER runs Netflix again - I have a strong suspicion that this is illegal in more than a few countries.

Someone should remind WD of Sony's story. For years, the PS3 remained untouched by the homebrew community, looking VERY secure. Then one day, Sony decides to take out the Other OS feature out of the firmware, all in the name of "security". Their customers were roaring, since they couldn't even downgrade the firmware to get it back. Hackers became focused and determined. And suddenly, all this new-found focus allowed them to crack the PS3 software wide open within only a few months. Homebrew became possible. And Sony suddenly felt the pain of having to play a cat-and-mouse game with them, as they kept finding new security holes to allow them running Homebrew on their PS3.

The bottom line of this story is: respect your paying customers, and they will respect you back. Start pissing them off, and some of them will become very determined in fighting back. As b-rad pointed out, the Netflix encryption/keys were NEVER compromised so far through WDLXTV. Now that WD is starting to pull a Sony on us, I wouldn't be surprised if it drove some people to actually TRY to crack it open, if only to be able once again to run Homebrew + have working Netflix. WD might have opened a can of worms on their own asses right there.

In the meantime... If your device was sabotaged, follow b-rad's advice in getting it replaced by WD. Don't mention WDLXTV - just flash back the WD original firmware, and complain that your device no longer works properly with Netflix.

If your Plus device is still working fine... Stick with 0.4.7.3 for now.

If you have a Live... It's still business as usual - nothing's changed for you.

And make sure that the news spread that Western Digital (and Alpha Network, the Taiwanese who actually design and program the WDTVs for WD) aren't just trying to prevent homebrew: they are willingly sabotaging devices so if you ever run *any* homebrew or even their OWN GPL version, then they will irremediably sabotage the device you paid for all in the name of paranoid "security".

And in closing, I have a feeling that the WDTV Palace (the code name of the next WDTV) will be even worse security-wise. (and before someone jumps at me... No, I'm not under NDA, nor did I break any - the Palace reference is right there in WD's GPL archive. I knew about it before they even started having betatesters signing NDAs for them.) Whenever that device comes out, unless WD reverse course on their new stance on homebrew, please boycott it

[jackie999]

I did back up my /conf - I can still access netflix - but from what I read here, in order to continue using netflix (which was the only reason I paid extra for the *plus*) are you saying I should go back to factory firmware? So it's a choice between moviesheets or netflix...or boxee...?

[b-rad.cc]

If you fully backup /conf/ and can still watch netflix then you're ok. The described scenario only applies to those who have permanently lost Netflix.

I had Netflix on 0.5.0.0 for quite some time and it was only when I was messing around that I deactivated myself...and once I deactivated myself Netflix could never be activated again.

It is fully possible that with a full backup of /conf/ you can restore Netflix to your device in the case of deactivation. This has yet to be determined however.

For now this is what is suggested:
- flash WDLXTV-PLUS-0.4.7.3
- telnet/ssh in and do the following:

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cd /
tar -zcvf /tmp/full-conf-backup.tgz /conf/*

the above statements will create a file in /tmp with your full contents.

- ftp to your wdtv and download full-conf-backup.tgz somewhere safe
- never lose it

All future WDLXTV-PLUS releases will contain the fff from 0.4.7.3, which is the last 'safe' fff there is on Plus. The only downside to this is that there is no 3TB hdd support.

[rgalka]

So it I don't care about NetFlix... I can just carryon as usual?
bob

[b-rad.cc]

Affirmative and for those folk I will be separately supplying the 3TB fff, with a giant warning sign stating the danger.

However, I still suggest complaining to WD about this blatant destruction of private property.

[rgalka]

However, I still suggest complaining to WD about this blatant destruction of private property.

Will do ;O)

Thanks for the info.
bob

[b-rad.cc]

OH, the plot thickens!!

Code: Select all

uname -a
Linux WDTVLIVEPLUS 2.6.22.19-19-4 #30 PREEMPT Tue Mar 8 10:54:40 CST 2011 mips GNU/Linux

A 6 month old kernel is in the 1.06.16 GPL fff!!!!

This kernel DOES NOT EVEN SUPPORT 3TB HDD'S!!!

So by installing the GPL kernel you irreparably destroy your plus's capability to wathc Netflix, but you also run the risk of destroying content on 3TB hdd's!

Compare this to the 1.03.49 kernel, which might have issue with 3TB hdd's, but which allows you to watch Netflix and has NONE of these pathetic restrictions

This is bullshit.