Skylark 5.5 for Dreamcatcher 3 (Ku-band) is up on archive.
Please update it in the normal manner: overwrite the 5.4 sdcard with the 5.5 image, without trying to repartition/reformat the sdcard first.
This release has significant changes, which makes the OTA file very large, so 5.5 will not be released in the form of an OTA file.
A big thanks to @kenbarbi and @maxboysdad for spending the last couple weeks extensively alpha-testing the updates - they caught quite a few major issues!
The release is mostly focused on better performance and stability. The receiver should not lock up as a lot of the users were seeing, and apps like WhatsNew, Messages, and News should load their contents MUCH faster. Audio should also be significantly more stable, with fewer dropouts.
There are very few user-visible changes: Radio has been broken out into its own app (it was previously hidden inside the “About” app), LogViewer has a new, unified “diagnostics” tool.
While not visible to the user directly, the UI server has been entirely redone, so also the audio subsystem. The tuner/demod has also seen significant rework - all of these enhance the stability of receiver and reduce loss of packets/data.
The audio subsystem now can use a newer on-the-air format that significantly improves the efficiency of data use. Once the beam switches over to the new on-the-air format, the file service should become about 50% faster. This change will be transparent for 5.5 users, and no action needs to be taken at switchover. New format will not work on older releases.
Another small update is that of receiver IP lookup: For those on Linux, Android, MacOS or iOS, you should also be able to access the receiver on your LAN by going to http://othernet.local. For Windows users, this may work if you already have Bonjour services installed; if not, Bonjour services can be installed using this installer from Apple: Download Bonjour Print Services for Windows v2.0.2
Its a much simpler, faster, reliable way to reach your receiver compared to having to look up the IP on the LCD, or in your router, or even http://my.othernet.is (which relies on an internet service hosted by us).
If you have multiple receivers, you should change the hostnames of the receivers in the Network app, and replace “othernet” in “othernet.local” with your new hostname.
Thank you Abhishek for all the hard work. Those on the Forum who are not under a satellite beam can view my Skylark 5.5 running on my Dreamcatcher 3.03 at http://73.200.58.18 Ken
@Abhishek @kenbarbi
Thanks, Abhishek for this much improved image. And thank you for helping us find our way over some of the unfamiliar ground and strange happenings on the way here. I think everybody involved in the Outernet project will agree that this version 5.5 of Skylark is the best yet!
while i was digging in the othernet tuner status i noticed that there is a new antenna setting called othernet dual band is this meaning the new transmission will be a dual band setup to move more data?
@tylerhoot
Tyler, can you post a screen shot here and show us where you are seeing this? It does not appear on either of my DreamCatchers, 3.02Q and 3.03 using Skylark 5.5 [skylark-dc-1901081830.img] under tuner status…
Correction/edit: I see, it is listed as an option under the LNB selection tab. No dual band function has yet been defined for users at this point.
The dual-band LNB is not for reception of two channels at the same time. It’s to select between high band and low band of the 10.7 - 12.7 GHz Ku-band. The Maverick is a single band LNB which only covers 500 MHz of the upper Ku-band (11.7 - 12.2 GHz).
No, the new antenna was added because the Maverick is no longer available. They are no longer produced. This new antenna will not impact the download speeds. It does, however, allow a bit of frequency flexibility outside of the US.
Edit 2
I can login… now I’m trying to remember the wifi setup instructions…
edit 3: bailing out of this… going to burn a new sd…
Edit 4: the readme.txt has the led info sort-of for the v 3.02Q
Edit 5: re-installed v 5.4… got it working… updated to v 5.5 — failure
Edit 6: re-downloaded the .qz file … got it finally installed… on my second v3.03 board,
my first v3.03… is now dead.
Edit 7: snr +2, no lock , busy and pck led flash… no data. no audio. tried configuration reset… no good
back to “no more sessions available”
same problem with internet explorer browser…
There seems to be a problem when the receiver is in AP mode.
If you have a receiver stuck in AP mode and are unable to use the UI, then either reinstall 5.4 or use 5.5 in Station mode. If you are stuck in AP mode, with no way to configure station mode, switch back to 5.4, configure Station mode, and then update to 5.5.
I am working on a fix.
(You should still be able to use 5.5 in AP mode if your client computer is running Linux, but windows and MacOS do a “captive portal detection”, which broke in 5.5, and thats what eats up all available sessions).
Got mine finally working in v 5.5 with your recommendation on clear cookies and site data.
-One request for a change… since I have use custom satellite (because of my lnb)
the required beam type is 228, but the default for a custom frequency has a
default beam type of 247… this is modifiable… just confusing.
The default beam type on the custom is 247 for a reason - its the highest link-budget beam for our current bandwidth, meaning its what we’d switch to if reception was difficult.
My lnbf is not a pll. It is dro so the frequency varies slightly. I use it because it fits into the arm of my 18" dish and holds it at the correct location.
If I use the America frequency… I do not get a lock and do not get file or audio downloads. My solution is to change to custom frequency… I am currently at 11.90195 and get a great snr (+4). If the outdoor temperature changes or the sun is on the lnb… I sometimes have adjust it … usually by about 200,000 so maybe up to 11.9021
Now that I am looking tuner status… Since I use custom freq… there is continuous change
or alternate happening between the ‘standard’ freq and my chosen custom freq.
This is causing it every second or so… to shift stream files (with a lock) to a
stream unknown (no lock) at the original default. frequency
