PonkTV

PonkTV

A TV Server



News


18 June 2006 - A new PonkTV release, version 3.0. This release has a completely new look, you use it like your TV. It operates like a TV broadcast network. You download scheduled programming on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. When downloading the PonkTV station is off the air. After downloading the PonkTV station is on the air.

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PonkTV

11 November 2005 - I now have a new ISP. I have re-enabled the links for downloading PonkTV for both BitTorrent and eDonkey.

7 September 2005 - All downloads are halted.

My ISP decided to switch to DHCP without informing me. Looking at other options available to host PonkTV downloads.

In other News, I'm reworking the ed2k program to use ed2k gui edonkeyc core routines. This should help by reducing my need to code as much.

15 July 2005 - Server Up.

PonkTV iso CDs downloads are available again. Help out by sharing your download.

12 July 2005 - Server Down.

My edonkey/bittorrent server has maxed from uploading the PonkTV iso CDs. I'm having to reconfigured my network to handle the load. It should be back up in a couple of days.

8 July 2005 - PonkTV 2.1 Released.

I've recieved an ok from MetaMachine, eDonkey, to release a binary version of the eDonkey Linux command line client with PonkTV. Since eDonkey is not GPL/Open Source I've included an eDonkey copyright splash screen durning boot.

With this I can now release a binary install CD - PonkTV 2.1 Install CD. To use just put the PonkTV Install CD into the CD drive, turn the TV to channel 3, and turn on the computer. The PonkTV Install CD will guide you the rest of the way. To find out what hardware you need and how to connect a PonkTV System read the FAQ.

5 June 2005 - PonkTV 2.0 Released.

I've been using it for over a week as my setup. I use the remote interface to add the ed2k links and monitor my downloads. When a download is complete I view it on the TV. If I wish to keep the video I use the remote interface to copy it to a second computer.

I have not unblocked my firewall to the eDonkey ports. When I do I should get an increase in download speed. I'll post the results in my log below.

6 May 2005 - Finished the install scripts and the new install cd. Should be releasing PonkTV 2.0 soon. I had to write a custom dialog progam called TVDialog. Its been released on the File Release page of the Sourceforge Project page.

15 Jan 2004 - Moving along in porting PonkTV to LFS 6.0. Looks like all the major issues with porting to FireFox have been resolved. The next undertaking is to rewrite the install scripts. Some tentative changes to the source packages are:

15 Dec 2004 - New alpha release for PonkTV, alpha-r3. You can download the source from the sourceforge project pages, PonkTV Alpha Release. There are 2 major install errors. They are explained in the release notes with workarounds.

My plans for the next release is to have PonkTV ported to LFS 6.0 and BLFS/SYN with support for AGP cards.

3 Dec 2004 - I had some problems resolving a security issue but I found the solution. Again I'm testing the next alpha release - a full up PonkTV system. This version has all user interfaces defined using HTML, making it easy to customize and add new functionality. To add a new P2P program all that is needed is a HTML interface either though its own http server or using an Apache module.

I've ordered a new AGP video based system from Wal-Mart. This will be the final hardware platform for PonkTV.

I'm targeting the follow on alpha release to be based on LFS/BLFS 5.1 and the AGP based hardware.
22 Oct 2004 - Have made the first install cd for the next alpha release. Testing it today and with luck will be releasing it soon. It will be a full up PonkTV system - including a remote interface.
23 Sep 2004 - Released a 2nd alpha release. This release can be configured to boot up into a mozilla xul application (ponktv.xul). You can download it from the SourceForge project page.
29 Aug 2004 - Released an alpha version of PonkTV.  This release is not fully configured but it would allow one to configure their own TV application. You can download it from the SourceForge project page. Also updated CVS with the alpha release of PonkTV.
17 Aug 2004 - Sourceforge accepted the PonkTV project. you can visit the project page here (sourceforge.net/projects/ponktv/).

15 Aug 2004 - Submited project request for a sourceforge.org site.

SourceForge Project Description
PonkTV is a basic computer with hard-drive, CD-ROM, sound, and network connection (without keyboard, mouse, monitor, or speakers) running PonkTV software connected to your TV. PonkTV downloads videos from file sharing networks and plays them on a TV controlled with a TV remote.

Developement Log

28 June 2006 - Taking a small break and working on a side project associated with PonkTV: Automation From Scratch (AFS). You can read about AFS on the AFS Project Site.

Next for PonkTV, I will be:
  • opening and closing bug reports,
  • investigating and fixing some of the major bugs,
  • writing more documentation,
  • and soon porting PonkTV to LFS 6.2 to start on PonkTV 4.0.

18 June 2006 - PonkTV 3.0 is released.

I have renamed the PonkTV 2.2 release to PonkTV 3.0. As per PonkTV 2.2, PonkTV has several new features. The best is the new TV interface.

The new interface brings its share of problems, there are a number of bugs. This is partly because I am re-evaluating the back-end , the PHP code. I did not want to holdup the release any longer so I decided to release PonkTV 3.0 with the current buggy back-end.

21 March 2006 - PonkTV 2.2 is in testing.

The PonkTV 2.2 test version and its associated packages (tvdilaog, ed2k, pktvutils) have been added to the cvs. Some of the changes for PonkTV 2.2.

  • A new user interface.
  • New graphics and icons.
  • Based on Linux From Scratch (LFS) 6.1.1 and Beyond Linux From Scratch (BLFS) 6.1 packages.
  • Linux Kernel 2.6.11.12.
  • Mozilla based browser.
  • Mozilla plugins for MozPlugger, RealPlayer, and Java.
  • Fcron.
  • MPlayer.
  • Subversion.

8 July 2005 - PonkTV 2.1 Released!

Still working on the new HTML/PHP interface to implements channels. Also I've started to transition the web site to this new PonkTV release. You might see mention of items that are not part of PonkTV 2.1, such as PonkTV Stations and Channels.

5 June 2005 - PonkTV 2.0 Released!

I'm currently working on a new HTML/PHP interface that implements channels. The idea being that when you press CHANNEL-UP/DOWN on the TV-Remote you are able to play a list of links or videos in a linear format like you do a standard TV station.

The new interface requires me to reassign the TV-Remote buttons, which are too few already, so I had to add a TV-Remote menu that is displayed when you press the MENU button. Currently I'm adding Page Up, Add Bookmark, and Page Down to the menu. Also to implement the playback I'm having to insert a page after video playback to keep the list of links in synch. This is not ideal but when I get the new interface done I'll evaluate it and make changes.

I will miss the simplicity of the old interface. Give eDonkey the link, monitor the progress, view when downloaded, and delete when done.

6 May 2005 - Currently testing PonkTV 2.0

There are a some issues I'm debating on fixing before release.
  • Firefox Channel Box is larger than the input box creating a gray area under it.
  • Bootscripts halt on maintenance and errors requiring keyboard input.
  • Title option for TVDialog for a more understandable TV remote dialog.

23 Sep 2004 - Currently working on:

  • PonkTV mozilla xul application.
  • PonkTV remote web application.
  • Further configuration of various programs.
The next release should have the above and possibly be able to use, if you are familiar with linux so you can correct any problems that come up during operation.
29 Aug 2004 - Working on a TV formatted version of the PonkTV site and configuration of Mozilla.
  • Released source code for an alpha version on SourceForge.
22 Aug 2004 - Working on PonkTV demo web sites and testing the PonkTV build script and instructions.
  • Created PonkTV web site index - PonkDex.
19 Aug 2004 - Working on the initial files to add to the CVS repository.
  • Updated the wget list of package locations that make up PonkTV.
  • Successfully built the initial LFS 5.0 base used to build PonkTV.
  • Currently building a PonkTV development system.
  • Writing instructions on how to build PonkTV.
17 Aug 2004 - Sourceforge accepted the PonkTV project. Continuing work on the Sourceforge PonkTV web site.
  • PonkTV web site up - ponktv.sourceforge.net.
  • Sourceforge site is configured.
16 Aug 2004 - Continuing work on the Sourceforge PonkTV web site.
  • Snaped some photo-screenshots.
  • Created simple PonkTV logo - rounded square with circle.

15 Aug 2004 - Submited project request for a sourceforge.org site. Should know in a couple of days.

SourceForge.net Logo Creative Commons License PonkTV logo is copyright © 2004 Paul Estep. PonkTV site is licensed under a Creative Commons License except where otherwise stated.