This document provides instructions for configuring Amino set-top boxes to decode and view streams from AVN series encoders. It describes 10 steps for configuration, including setting the network settings and IP address, entering the management password, configuring channels to decode specific multicast or unicast streams, and optional settings for video output and auto resume of streams after loss of power. Cautions are provided about potential bugs and issues to avoid when configuring the Amino devices.
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Ami net and_avn_configuration_manual
1. Visionary Solutions, Inc.
Configuring Amino Set Top Boxes
to Decode/View AVN Series
Encoder Streams
v. 1.1.0 August 2011
Introduction
This document is intended to assist users of the AVN series encoders in the
configuration of the Amino Set Top Boxes (STB) to decode/view Multicast and
Unicast streams. This document is NOT intended to provide installation
instructions for either the Amino or AVN products. See the appropriate hardware
documentation for installation information.
Requirements
In order to configure the Amino STB, the user must have an IR or USB Keyboard.
For information on Amino compatible IR Keyboards see the Amino
Communications Ltd. documentation.
**** NOTE **** No RTP Support on Amino STBs. The Amino STB can not
decode AVN series encoder streams encoded with RTP encapsulation. Make sure
the AVN series encoder streams have the Encapsulation setting configured to
UDP.
2060 Alameda Padre Serra, Suite 100揃 Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
2. Configuring Amino
Step 1. Main Page
**** NOTE **** Screen shots may very dependent upon product model,
firmware version and/or browser.
Set up the Amino STB as instructed. After installation, the Main Amino Web page
should be displayed on the monitor.
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
3. Configuring Amino
Step 2. Enter Management Password
In order to bring up the management pages, the user must first enter the
management password.
From the Keyboard (IR or USB), pressing
<Alt>m
brings up the Password edit box. The password is set by default to leaves. After
entering leaves, click the <OK> button.
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
4. Configuring Amino
Step 3. Management Pages
The main STB Management page lists all available Amino STB pages. Using the
Keyboard, scroll down to the desired page and click <Return>/<Enter>. There are
four pages of major interest to AVN series encoder users: Network Configuration,
Browser Setup, Video Setup, and the Channel pages. Each of these pages will be
shown below in more detail.
**CAUTION**
Do not initiate the Update Software option. Initiating the Update
Software option will cause the Amino STB to malfunction. This
malfunction will necessitate reprogramming of the unit by VSI.
Reprogramming costs $50 per unit plus shipping costs both ways.
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
5. Configuring Amino
Step 4. Network Configuration Page
**CAUTION**
Do not initiate the Packet Ordering option from the Network
Configuration Menu. Initiating the Update Software option will cause
the Amino STB to malfunction. This malfunction will necessitate
reprogramming of the unit by VSI. Reprogramming costs $50 per unit
plus shipping costs both ways.
DHCP Configuration
The Amino STB has Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) turned
on as the factory default. If your network has a DHCP server on it, the
Amino STB will automatically acquire an IP address.
The screenshot below shows the Amino STB being set for DHCP. After
checking the <Use DHCP> check box, scroll down to the bottom of the
page, enter the correct Password (snake by default), and click the <Save
Changes> button.
2060 Alameda Padre Serra, Suite 100揃 Santa Barbara, CA 93103 5
Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
6. Configuring Amino
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
7. Configuring Amino
Static IP Configuration
If your network does not have a DHCP server, or you wish to statically
configure the Amino STBs IP address, you will need to fill in at minimum the
IP address, Netmask, and Gateway fields.
The screenshot below shows the Amino STB being configured to statically
use IP address 192.168.1.55, with a Netmask of 255.255.255.0, and a
Gateway of 192.168.1.1. Note you will need to UNCHECK the <Use
DHCP> check box in order for your changes to take effect. After setting up
the static IP configurations as desired, scroll down to the bottom of the
page, enter the correct Password (snake by default), and click the <Save
Changes> button.
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
8. Configuring Amino
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
9. Configuring Amino
Step 5. Browser Setup Page (optional)
The Browser Setup page is optional and not required to configure the Amino STB
to work with the AVN series encoder in standard mode.
If however you would like to have the Amino STB go to a certain web address
upon boot-up, you can give the Amino STB a Home Page address. This may be
desirable if the Amino STB connects to an AVN series encoder set for boot
streaming (See AVN series encoder documentation), and you want the Amino STB
to automatically go to the steam address and begin decoding upon boot-up. To set
the Amino STBs Home page to an AVN series encoder streams Destination IP
address, set the address according to the rules outlined in Step 8 (Channel
Configuration) below.
**CAUTION**
If entering a new home page on the Amino 125, 130, 130H, or 130M, it
is critical to change/enter and save the following text into the Help
Page editbox: about:/start.htm . There is a bug in the Amino firmware
on these units, which can cause them to enter into an infinite and
potentially un-correctable loop if the Home Page address is changed
from about:/start.htm and the Help Page address is not modified as
directed above. If for some reason the newly entered Home Page
address is unreachable or not streaming, the device will enter into a
loop and the only way to recover it will be to select the Help button on
the IR keyboard, assuming the Help Page address has been set to
about:/start.htm. This will allow the user access into the devices
configuration menus. This malfunction may necessitate
reprogramming of the unit by VSI. Reprogramming costs $50 per unit
plus shipping costs both ways.
An optional Help Page address is also available. This address directs users of the
Amino STB Help feature to a given web address. See Caution above if
programming an Amino 130, 130H, or 130M, as Help Page address should
always be changed to about:/start.htm, to allow for recovery if the home page
address is unreachable.
The other options on this page should remain unchanged for basic configurations.
The screenshot below shows the Amino STB having its Home page set to an AVN
series encoders Multicast steam address (225.168.1.88 on port 50688) and its
Help page set to a fictitious web address.
After setting up the Browser configurations as desired, scroll down to the bottom of
the page, enter the correct Password (snake by default), and click the <Save
Changes> button.
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
10. Configuring Amino
Step 6. Video Setup Page
The Video Setup page allows the Amino STBs video connections to be set. The
key option on this page TV Standard (NTSC or PAL)
After configuring the video settings as desired, scroll down to the bottom of the
page, enter the correct Password (snake by default), and click the <Save
Changes> button.
2060 Alameda Padre Serra, Suite 100揃 Santa Barbara, CA 93103 10
Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
11. Configuring Amino
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
12. Configuring Amino
Step 7. Channel Range Selection Page
The Channel Selection page allows the user to select a range channels to edit.
Enter a range, by default 0 to 10, and click the <Edit channel range> button, or
click one of the predefined channel range groups. This will bring up the Channel
Configuration page.
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
13. Configuring Amino
Step 8. Channel Configuration Page
From the Channel Configuration Page, enter the AVN series encoder stream
information (Destination IP address, and Destination Port) to be decoded and
viewed, into the channel edit boxes.
Multicast
For Multicast streams (streams with a Destination IP address in the range
224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255) enter the following on the desired channels
edit box:
IGMP://<Destination IP address>:<Destination Port>
For example, igmp://225.168.1.88:50688 would decode the AVN series
encoder multicast stream at destination IP address 225.168.1.88 and
destination port 50688.
Unicast
For Unicast streams (any streams with a Destination IP address NOT in the
range 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255) enter the following in the desired
channels edit box:
UDP://<Destination IP address>:<Destination Port>
For example, udp://192.168.1.55:50698 would decode the AVN series
encoder Unicast stream at destination IP address 192.168.1.55 and at
destination port 50698. Note that for a unicast stream to reach the Amino
device, the destination IP address of the stream must match the actual IP
address of the Amino device.
For older units, with pre 0.9.0 firmware versions, please use the following
unicast format.
UDP://:<Destination Port>
For example, udp://:50698 would decode the AVN series encoder
Unicast stream at destination port 50698. Note the second colon after
the forward slashes.
Important Note: In order to start a unicast stream to an Amino device, the
AVNs web or console interface must be used. The PackeTV Manager
can only start a unicast stream to the destination IP address of the host PC
and not another device or application.
URL
To have the Amino STB display/view a URL/web page, simply enter the
URL into the desired channels edit box.
2060 Alameda Padre Serra, Suite 100揃 Santa Barbara, CA 93103 13
Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
14. Configuring Amino
Note: the Amino STB can decode/view a single AVN series encoder stream or any
URL without configuring the channels by simply typing in the appropriate string in
the URL edit box at the top of each Amino STB web page and pressing
<Retrun>/<Enter>.
Screenshot shows Channel Configuration page with three configured
channels.
Channels 00-02 are set to decode multicast streams.
Channel 03 is set to decode a unicast stream.
Channel 04 is set to display a web page.
After configuring the channels as desired, scroll down to the bottom of the page,
enter the correct Password (snake by default), and click the <Save Changes>
button. The Config OK page should be displayed. Click <Back to Main Menu>.
2060 Alameda Padre Serra, Suite 100揃 Santa Barbara, CA 93103 14
Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
15. Configuring Amino
Step 9. Edit Video Settings (optional)
In order to change the output video settings of the Amino STB, you must use the
Amino remote control (NOT THE KEYBOARD) to navigate to the Video Settings
page.
From the Amino remote control, press the <Menu> button to bring up the
Preferences page. Navigate the menu using the arrows on the remote. Navigate to
the Video Settings option and click the <OK> button the remote. This will display
the Video Settings page.
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
16. Configuring Amino
From the Video Settings page you may change the TV Aspect Ratio and Video
Output Format, among other things. The available options and choices are
dependent upon the type of Amino STB. Using the Amino remote controls arrow
keys and OK button configure the settings as desired and click the <Save
Changes> button when done.
From the Preferences updated OK page, select the <Back to preferences
page> link.
From the Preferences page, you can configure other settings or if done select
either the <Exit Preferences> or the <Reboot> link. Use the Reboot link if one of
the configured settings required a reboot as noted by an * .
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Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
17. Configuring Amino
Step 10. Configuring Auto Resume (optional)
Automatically refresh video after loss of power or network communication.
To configure the Amino STB to auto resume, following these steps:
Multicast
a) Enter the Video Setup page. (Refer to Step 6.)
b) Change the "No IGMP event timeout" and "IGMP End of media event
timeout" to "0"(zero).
c) Enter the Browser Setup page. (Refer to Step 5.)
d) In the "Home Page" field, enter a text string describing the channel to be
used during auto resume. The format of the text string is the same as that
used during Channel Configuration (Ex: igmp://225.168.1.88:50688 ).
This will set the default home page to the channel desired upon power up or
resumption of network communications.
e) In the Help Page field enter the following text string about:/start.htm.
This will enable recovery from an infinite loop bug in Amino 130, 130H and
130M devices, caused when the home page address points to an inactive or
unreachable stream/page. See the following Caution warning below:
**CAUTION**
If entering a new home page on the Amino 125, 130, 130H, or 130M, it
is critical to change/enter and save the following text into the Help
Page editbox: about:/start.htm . There is a bug in the Amino
firmware on these units, which can cause them to enter into an infinite
and potentially un-correctable loop if the Home Page address is
changed from about:/start.htm and the Help Page address is not
modified as directed above. If for some reason the newly entered
Home Page address is unreachable or not streaming, the device will
enter into a loop and the only way to recover will be to select the Help
button on the IR keyboard, assuming the Help Page address has been
set to about:/start.htm. This will allow the user access into the
devices configuration menus. This malfunction may necessitate
reprogramming of the unit by VSI. Reprogramming costs $50 per unit
plus shipping costs both ways.
Note: Make sure to save all changes with the correct Password (snake by
default). To verify auto resume, remove the Ethernet cable from the STB,
while running video, and then plug it back in to see if the video comes up
automatically.
2060 Alameda Padre Serra, Suite 100揃 Santa Barbara, CA 93103 17
Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com
18. Configuring Amino
Unicast
a) Enter the Video Setup page. (Refer to Step 6.)
b) Change the "No UDP event timeout" and "UDP End of media event timeout"
to "0"(zero).
Note: Make sure to save all changes with the correct Password (snake by
default). To verify auto resume, remove the Ethernet cable from the STB, while
running video, and then plug it back in to see if the video comes up automatically.
Step 11. Finished
The Amino STB is now configured to receive and decode the AVN series encoder
streams. Use the Amino STB remote control to change to the configured channels
and start viewing.
**** NOTE **** No RTP Support on Amino STBs. The Amino STB can not
decode AVN series encoder streams encoded with RTP encapsulation. Make sure
the AVN series encoder streams have the Encapsulation setting configured to
UDP.
2060 Alameda Padre Serra, Suite 100揃 Santa Barbara, CA 93103 18
Tel: (805) 845-8900 揃 Fax: (805) 845-8889 www.vsicam.com