SageTV, HD200, and children

[ecojam]

I have 4 children all under age 9. How do I set up SageTV so that they don't change the settings and delete any of the recordings? There has to be some Read-Only permissions that I can set somewhere, but not certain where. I'm on Ubuntu 9.04. I'm guessing that there is a config file for the HD200 and a separate one for the Placeshifter? I thinking that I can manage the recordings via the Placeshifter and lockdown the HD200 side of SageTV?

[cenwesi]

This or Security is one feature i will REALLY like to see in sage. I have a feeling there will start working on this soon. Since you run ubuntu/linux you can remove the delete permission on the recording directory and that should solve half of the problem but then live TVs, sage can not delete... i can go on and on, but sage really needs to implement some sort of security... Even a simply way of asking the user to enter a code upon hitting the delete key will HELP!

[bcjenkins]

I think the easiest method would be to install the Dynamic Main Menu plugin which supports pin protecting and removal of menus.

I would also take a look at favorite channel lists which allow you to set a list of channels and lock it in with a parental code.

B

[Fuzzy]

Agree, dynamic menus would be your best bet. Move all the off-limits options into a sub-menu, and put a PIN on that.

[ecojam]

I've successfully installed the Dynamic Main Menu plugin, but now I'm lost. I don't see a way to "move" any options. I see where I can set the PIN code for a Menu and how to create New SageCommands for a Menu, but not a way to move or remove any of those commands.

I've set the file permissions within the Ubuntu OS so that I must sudo to remove any of the recordings, but unfortunately my kids can still delete them via the SageTV gui or by simply using the "Delete" button on the remote.

There is a checkbox for "Allow Video Deletion" in the "Advanced Video Browser Options" screen. I can remove the check to prevent the deletions, but then I'd like to hide, remove, or set a PIN code for this item. How do I do that (to prevent the inevitable)?

Confused and lost I am...

[Fuzzy]

You will not be able to lock an individual option in the 'Detailed Settings' screen. As it is not affected by the Dynamic Menu import. What you CAN do is put a PIN on the SETUP option on the main menu. To do this, after you have the dynamic menus imported, move your cursor to the SETUP option, and press the options button (default is ESC). You then have two choices, Customize layout, or menu options. Choose Menu options, go to 'Edit Item' and choose Set PIN.. (these names are aproximations.. not able to verify at the moment..

[ecojam]

Following that suggestion, I set a PIN on the Setup option. Very good idea and this has opened me to the value of the downloadable SageTV plugins. This, however, did not stop the deletion of files. So, I contacted SageTV Support and inquired for help. It appears that Studio is not supported on linux, which I can understand, but has anyone has been able to get Studio to work successfully on linux? or Ubuntu? I'm wondering if the problem is just my personal setup/config.

After several different tests, changing permissions, changing file ownerships, editing SageTV config files, over the course of several nights, and then finally understanding that SageTV is running under root, I have found an answer! It is "chattr +i test_file". This changes the attribute of test_file to be immutable, which prevents any account, including root, from deleting the file. When I try to delete the file, SageTV reports that the "file is in use" by another or something similar and presents an "Ok" button. I plan to setup a nightly script to recursively modify all of the files in the Videos folder (and perhaps others). If I need to delete a file at some future point, I'll remove the attribute with "chattr -i test_file".

My knowledge and experience with linux continues to grow.

[tmiranda]

How about this? http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43790

[ecojam]

That works! I agree with bcjenkins on the other post that the password field should be 'starred'. I noticed that after I am prompted for a password to delete a Video that I am not prompted for any future Videos deletions. I'm guessing that if I set the remote down, then my kids can pick it up and start deleting too, so would I have to restart the HD200 in order to prevent that or is there somekind of timeout that occurs? Say 5 or 10 minutes? Then after that point I would be prompted for a password again when attempting to delete something?

Regardless, your work on this is very, very much appreciated!

[tmiranda]

Right now once you enter the password correctly it stays "enabled" until the placeshifter/client/extender is disconnected. I'm working on some enhancements that include starring the input field and creating some options on when to "reset" the password.

The kids just started school this week so it's been too busy on the homefront to spend much time on this. I will probably work on it over the weekend.