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Atlas Subtitler was originally designed to provide subtitles for the Dreambox. The Dreambox has been voted the best box for watching videos by users for years. Because of its open architecture, it could be improved by virtually anyone with just a little bit computer science knowledge. That's why Atlas Subtitler has a few features that are tailored only for the Dreambox or VU+:
Network Share Name: A network share where the box is connected. Either a mapped DOS style name (eg. Z:\) or the pure device name in the form "\\dm900\box\" or similar. It can also be an IP, eg. "\\192.160.1.2\". This drive/network name should serve the folder "\usr\share\enigma2" where all the firmware is located. Inside this folder can be several XML files with skins (=dialog specifications). If you press the "Load…" button all folders inside are scanned and the found skins presented in a selection box.
Which skin file is the right one depends on the screen size, the box model and the firmware (called "Image") installed on it. For example, the newnigma2 image in the chapter below on a DM900 uses the skin from the "Nuke.Evo" subfolder. If you are unsure, just load the skin and check the screen size. The firmware will select a skin that fits in the size of the connected TV. Otherwise you may just have to try it out. You can also make the same changes to all matching skins to avoid having to restart the box multiple times.
The position of the displayed subtitles will be read from the selected skin file. The buttons on the right are the optimized positions. The one on top is especially useful for a video where the subtitles are already burnt in on the bottom, but not in an understandable language. If you then add downloaded subtitles it would end up in a mess. The solution is this button which just moves the downloaded subtitles to the top.
Subtitles for movies on the Dreambox resp. VU+
Atlas Subtitler can act as a plugin for the Dreambox, so to speak, to conveniently and safely download subtitles to movies directly with the remote control. Unlike the usual Dreambox plugins, Atlas Subtitler does not present any risk of crashing the box. In addition, you can do many more things, such as shift subtitle timings (synchronize them), prepare subtitles specifically for the Dreambox, manage a list of movies you have watched, and more. How does it work? Starting from the base:
- Purchase of a Dreambox. We always recommend to buy the original Dreambox and not a VU+, because the Dreambox is the high quality original, while VU+ is just a low quality Asian copy. This reverse engineering and copying is very unfair to the Dreambox manufacturer who put a lot of work into the Dreambox design and still does. The Dreambox has been voted #1 by TV box users for years and this should be appreciated. The small differences of the VU+ often create incompatibilities with the original Dreambox software that will annoy users afterwards. So, better stick with the original.
And another tip: We find that the older remote controls up to model RC10 were much better than the RC20 (sadly to say). We therefore recommend buying an RC10 in addition to the box.
- Purchase of a hard drive. It can either be one for the existing drawer or another one connected via USB-A. The drawer can hold a maximum size of 3.5-inch (DM 900 in the example). At the time of writing, the maximum storage capacity of 3.5-inch SSDs is around 2 TB. Since we had a negative experience with our Samsung 870 EVO 2TB, broken after 6 months, we advise against this series to be on the safe side. Installing the internal hard disk goes without screwing, simply putting int into the drawer provided and shoving it into the box.
- Flashing the NewNigma2 image into the box. There are instructions for this on the internet. For most models it's done by holding a key on the box while restarting and then directing a web browser to the box's IP to upload the image. After that you have to install the Enhanced Movie Center (EMC) plugin. With the EMC you can watch movies very comfortably, but unfortunately it does not show the corresponding subtitle files. You should make sure that you have the latest version, because there are still a few bugs fixed that are still in the version in the image (can change at any time). This is basically done with GithubPluginUpdater or otherwise by downloading the plugin from github (=OpenSource Server) and copying over the existing one. We have added a corrected and especially improved variant for Subtitler in the chapter below. The plugin will end up in the box's folder "\usr\lib\enigma2\python\Plugins\Extensions\EnhancedMovieCenter". Don't forget to always make a backup of the old files before overwriting.
To see the subtitle files and rename them easily we also recommend to install the DreamExplorer plugin. Again, an special variant improved for Subtitler is in the chapter below. The plugin will end up in the box's folder "\usr\lib\enigma2\python\Plugins\Extensions\DreamExplorer". If the subtitle files are not appearing in DreamExplorer, press the Audio button on the remote control. This will disable filtering for movies and the files will appear.
- Make sure that the movies in the box are visible from the network. In other words, you make a file server out of the box. The newer images of the box software can already do this without any additional effort. If the image you are using cannot do this, install the Samba extension in the Dreambox. Again, this is documented in detail in various texts on the net. This is also possible with other images (Merlin etc.), but we did not test it. Presumably it all applies to the VU+ as well.
- Install Atlas Subtitler on one of the Windows PCs or notebooks in the network.
- Start Atlas Subtitler and go to the RemoteSubz setting. There you can add the top folder of the movie hierarchy of the Dreambox (eg. "Y:\movie"). Select the predefined 'Dreambox and VU+' as 'Player Profile'. Depending on the width of the connected TV, you can enter a smaller number at 'Max. Log width', down to 68. Finally activate and select the entry and press the button 'Copy Help File'. Confirm the dialog.
- Now you can simply insert two capital letters and a space at the beginning of a video or folder name and the action will be executed. Take a look into the file Atlas Subtitler RemoteSubz Help.txt to see what the supported abbreviations are.
- We recommend installing a fan as an optional extra. Here are simple instructions on how we successfully did this ourselves.
Improved Source Code for the Dreambox NewNigma2 Firmware
Atlas Informatics has made some improvements on a few of the Python files of the recommended software of the chapter above. These improvements make for example the handling of subtitle files like *.srt easier. Other improvements reduce the risk of so called 'Green Screens' which abruptly stop the user interface and result in an automatic restart of the box. By using more careful programming these can be avoided. These improvements were also uploaded to the source code repository but sometimes it's hard to get these enrolled into the distributed firmware (sometimes there are irrational arguments in the community). You can download them directly from here, but there is no guarantee that they will work together with future firmware releases. It is advised to just make a backup of the old source so you can go back to them if needed.
- Enhanced Movie Center (EMC) Improvements:
- Renaming of a movie directly with the blue button
- Corrected renaming if umlauts (ie. äöü) are in the file name
- No green screen if renaming fails
- DreamExplorer Improvements:
- If you have a text file open, for example a subtitle file: New function 'View End' on the blue button
- Saving the current directory when leaving
- Bigger widths of dialog elements for resolution 1920+
- Avoiding a green screen if a file is missing
These files can just be copied over the existing ones after making a backup of the originals. The location in the box is basically inside "\usr\lib\enigma2\python\Plugins\Extensions".
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