NtpDate: Plugin for Enigma2

This is a plugin for Enigma 2, which allows configuring and using a time server from the internet to set the internal clock at startup. This replaces the usual fetiching the actual time at startup from the actual TV channel / transponder, which may have the wrong time zone and so leading to e.g. an 1 hour offset.

Up to now you need to be a little familiar with ftp to install that plugin to your box. And of course you are doing all that manipulations of the software on your box on your own risk.

Installation and setup:

  1. Download the NtpDate plugin to your PC and extract the files.
  2. Connect with an ftp tool (e.g. the Dreambox Control Center E2 "DCC-E2" or FireFox Add-On FireFTP may be used) to your QBoxHD (Username: root, PW: qboxhd) and go to the plugin folder, which is on the QBoxHD /usr/local/lib/enigma2/python/Plugins/Extensions. Put the downloaded files to a new folder NtpDate there.
  3. As in the Linux operating system there is the ntpdate binary missing, the tool brings this binary with them. If your box is not a QBoxHD and it has a different processor, you may need to replace that file by a binary suitable to your processor. E.g. for the Dreambox DM500HD this seems necessary.
  4. Restart Enigma 2 (GUI restart) or alternatively the whole Box
  5. In the Plugin Browser ther should now be the new "ntpdate". If your time zone is not "Central Europe", you need to delete the preset time servers and to configure a free accessible time server of your country or time zone and to configure that.
  6. If "Use Transponder Time" is on, turn this off! Most often during booting the autorun of ntpdate comes before the time setup from the transponder and may overwrite then the correct setting from ntpdate again with the wrong values from the transponder.
  7. Try it with the yellow button "Set network time now". 

Deactivate:

If you want to use the transponder time instead of the network time (e.g. to operate the box without internet):
  1. Turn on "Use Transponder Time"
  2. Turn off "Auto Run ntpdate at boot"
Still you can run ntpdate manually via the yellow button in the ntpdate setup.

Uninstallation:

  1. Attention: You should turn on "Use Transponder Time" first via the setup of NtpDate!
    Workaround if you have forgotten this and the plugin already deleted:
    1. via telnet send an init 4
    2. in the file /etc/enigma2/settings change the config.misc.useTransponderTime from false to true
    3. via telnet send an init 3
  2. Delete (via ftp or Telnet) the NtpDate folder, which you created during setup.


info@schmidhorst.de
Last Change: 2011-04-26