Bootcast information

The bootcast information file contains information for the IP-STB to where to find the boot image and the splash screen.

Additionally, it's used for telling IP-STBs with a large flash memory that a software upgrade is necessary. Those units normally boot from it's own flash memory, and does not download software from the network.

File syntax

This file is a text file with no syntax check done in the server, but the format must match the outline below.

bc_kernel_addr <ip address>:<port number>
bc_kernel_name <object name of the boot image>
bc_kernel_version <version of boot image>
bc_splash_addr <ip address>:<port number>
bc_splash_name <name of object containing splash image>
bc_splash_version <version of the splash image>
bc_diagnostic_addr <ip address>:<port number>
bc_diagnostic_name <name of object containing splash image>
bc_diagnostic_version <version of the splash image>

Channel addresses

The addresses (<ip address>:<port number>) must match the channel addresses of the Boot image channel and the Splash image channel respectively in the Infocast server configuration file.

File names

The names must correspond to names of the objects in the Boot image channel and the Splash image channel respectively in the Infocast server configuration file.

Version handling

The version tags bc_kernel_version and bc_splash_version are used to determine if a software update is required. Some devices store the boot image and boot splash image in flash memory. If a version tag changes, the device will discard the version stored in flash and download the newer version from the network next time it boots.

The boot splash image itself does not contain version information and the version tag bc_splash_version can be set arbitrarily. It is stored together with the boot splash image in flash memory.

Previous versions of Infocast transmitted a bc_splash_version and bc_kernel_version parameter from the bootcast file, to identify the splash and boot image versions respectively. The latest version of Infocast determines these values automatically. But if you choose to specify them manually in the bootcast file then that manual value will be used instead of the automatic one.

On devices running KreaTV boot loader DBL version 4.0 or later such as VIP2853, VIP1103 and VIP1113 the boot image version tag bc_kernel_version must match the one stored in the boot image binary. The boot image version is chosen when a boot image binary is built. A boot image is built using the build_boot_image command. The boot image version is specified using the --info version parameter. The command boot_image_version can be used to retrieve the version of a boot image.

Example

This is a typical bootcast information file.

bc_kernel_addr 224.2.2.11:22222
bc_kernel_name software_1700
bc_splash_addr 224.2.2.13:11111
bc_splash_name splash-data_1700