# vizio app hacks



## ang1dust (Mar 16, 2012)

Anyone know if XDA will be opening hacking for some of the new tv's with apps built in? Or if anyone knows of a site that supports it?


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## intel352 (Jun 28, 2012)

I'd like to find this as well. We essentially have computers built into our TVs that are likely capable of running a basic Android or Google TV install. It would be quite nice to extend the functionality of such smart TVs...  Especially as Vizio's own VIA apps seem quite poorly built.


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## weazen (Jun 29, 2012)

I'd be a little hesitant to flash custom software to a tv that's potentially worth $1000s.  Bricking a TV is a little more severe that bricking a smartphone IMHO.


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## Morgan Greywolf (Sep 23, 2012)

*maeenm appt.*



weazen said:


> I'd be a little hesitant to flash custom software to a tv that's potentially worth $1000s.  Bricking a TV is a little more severe that bricking a smartphone IMHO.

Click to collapse



Nah.  A 42" Vizio TV can be had for $500.  That's cheaper than some smartphones.


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## devwithzachary (Sep 23, 2012)

While there might be a good amount of interest with this. I dont see work being done on it, as theres no central OS each tv would be completely different.
Plus its alot easier to attach a small computer to the tv and go from there

Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium


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## JustJinxed (Oct 20, 2012)

zacthespack said:


> While there might be a good amount of interest with this. I dont see work being done on it, as theres no central OS each tv would be completely different.
> Plus its alot easier to attach a small computer to the tv and go from there
> 
> Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

Click to collapse



I have a Vizio E3D470VX and decided to probe the wazoo out of it. nmap reports on an OS request it's replying Linux, but it's also responding and sending out SSDP requests (most likely the multi media network detection that's incomplete in this model). 

The only open port through the network hookup is 13000. I started this little adventure in a hope of finding a backdoor so I might control my TV with my Kindle (yes, I'm that darn ?lazy? ) I can't seem to figure out what this port is yet.. No matter what sequence I try sending the port, it closes after a varying input sequence (UDP). Via TCP, it just auto closes. 

nmap hasn't the foggiest either, even after a deep scan+UDP run on the port. But it does look like the TV has a sort of firewall response to SYN flooding, that was comical as I saw the spread between identification attempts widen from 10ms to 8000ms over a period of 6 minutes.

So, I'd be VERY interested in taking a closer look at this particular port opening. I might not go as far as to jack with the USB ports, sides, who knows if they are even active for sideloading. My real question is... is there some port connection software out there already that will run input/output test sequences to an ip address via TCP/UDP/etc and log the results to a log? I hate recreating a wheel if there's already a tool.


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## DownloaderZ (Oct 24, 2012)

JustJinxed said:


> I have a Vizio E3D470VX and decided to probe the wazoo out of it. nmap reports on an OS request it's replying Linux, but it's also responding and sending out SSDP requests (most likely the multi media network detection that's incomplete in this model).
> 
> The only open port through the network hookup is 13000. I started this little adventure in a hope of finding a backdoor so I might control my TV with my Kindle (yes, I'm that darn ?lazy? ) I can't seem to figure out what this port is yet.. No matter what sequence I try sending the port, it closes after a varying input sequence (UDP). Via TCP, it just auto closes.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse




Here with E601i-a3  and very interested. How can I help?


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## mattpik2 (Nov 23, 2012)

*BUMP for a good cause*

The Vizios seem to run a modded version of ubuntu 10.4... so yea its linux lol... hmm now how to get into terminal?? or is that even possible? also its a yahoo tv platform so visit here to make apps "omit" sorry just google yahoo tv dev and stuff, but it would be awsome to be able to upgrade to a version of android on here (a google TV version!)


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## kennethcolman (Nov 26, 2012)

*Awesome so is it possible to flash like our phones*



mattpik2 said:


> The Vizios seem to run a modded version of ubuntu 10.4... so yea its linux lol... hmm now how to get into terminal?? or is that even possible? also its a yahoo tv platform so visit here to make apps "omit" sorry just google yahoo tv dev and stuff, but it would be awsome to be able to upgrade to a version of android on here (a google TV version!)

Click to collapse



I would be extremely interested in this seeing as how I'm outside the US and would like to use Hulu. Also a internet browser like chrome would be awesome on this thing. I have the VIZIO E3D320VX :fingers-crossed:


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## phxmerlin (Dec 3, 2012)

kennethcolman said:


> I would be extremely interested in this seeing as how I'm outside the US and would like to use Hulu. Also a internet browser like chrome would be awesome on this thing. I have the VIZIO E3D320VX :fingers-crossed:

Click to collapse



Just getting a browser on this thing would be awesome.  Anyone have a hack to install chrome?


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## tadr (Dec 4, 2012)

*Vizio*

I can confirm that my Vizio e701i-a3 has port 13000 (and only port 13000) open.  I am trying to figure out a way to control the TV using TCP/IP commands.  According to nmap, the TV is running a 2.6 linux kernel.

I tried connecting over telnet to port 13000 but wasn't able to get any response from the TV.  Putty connects but just sits there.

Any idea on where to go with this next?


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## DownloaderZ (Dec 9, 2012)

tadr said:


> I can confirm that my Vizio e701i-a3 has port 13000 (and only port 13000) open.  I am trying to figure out a way to control the TV using TCP/IP commands.  According to nmap, the TV is running a 2.6 linux kernel.
> 
> I tried connecting over telnet to port 13000 but wasn't able to get any response from the TV.  Putty connects but just sits there.
> 
> Any idea on where to go with this next?

Click to collapse



I have the 60" e-series, I've also been playing around with this. Does anyone have any solution to the flooding firewall problem?


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## hcfte (Jan 8, 2013)

*Vizio e601i-a3  Hack for a browser or Android*

I also am looking for a Hack for the Vizio E601l-a3 for my dad he bought one hoping to view internet on it and doesn't really have the money to run out and buy a mini TV PC or a STB just so he can browse the web. I know their is a lot of people that are looking for a way to browse the web and also be able to download other apps that just what Vizio and Yahoo will let you.

The other possibility would be hope that Vizio now comes out with an update to Google since it looks like they have switched platforms for the 2013 line up and hopefully they will release an update capable of using the Android platform.

Anyone hear of any rumors yet??? I was hoping after CES in Vegas this weekend some more info will be released as to Vizios plans.


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## ingramator (Jan 8, 2013)

I'm interested in this also, any word on current dev work?


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## z0oinks (Jan 8, 2013)

Hey, I've also been wanting to hack my Vizio Smart TV, the XVT323SV. I'm not looking for anything in particular, but I'm looking forward to what people could make for TV like this!


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## hcfte (Jan 13, 2013)

tadr said:


> I can confirm that my Vizio e701i-a3 has port 13000 (and only port 13000) open.  I am trying to figure out a way to control the TV using TCP/IP commands.  According to nmap, the TV is running a 2.6 linux kernel.
> 
> I tried connecting over telnet to port 13000 but wasn't able to get any response from the TV.  Putty connects but just sits there.
> 
> Any idea on where to go with this next?

Click to collapse



Forgive me if this is a stupid question as I have no idea about programming.

Is there any way to take a laptop running on the same linux and go in using the USB port. 

 From what I have read maybe rename a file or ??? to trick the TV into thinking it's a file that Vizio will let you open.


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## purplekush (Jan 19, 2013)

JustJinxed said:


> I have a Vizio E3D470VX and decided to probe the wazoo out of it. nmap reports on an OS request it's replying Linux, but it's also responding and sending out SSDP requests (most likely the multi media network detection that's incomplete in this model).
> 
> The only open port through the network hookup is 13000. I started this little adventure in a hope of finding a backdoor so I might control my TV with my Kindle (yes, I'm that darn ?lazy? ) I can't seem to figure out what this port is yet.. No matter what sequence I try sending the port, it closes after a varying input sequence (UDP). Via TCP, it just auto closes.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I also have a Vizio E3D470VX  ... after getting used to the LG smart 3D tv my parents own, I expected much much much more 'smart' from this smart TV....   on the LG, available DLNA/UPnP servers show up on the 'inputs' menu, as do USB devices like thumb drives or portable hard drives plugged in.   I didn't mind the fact that the 'Smart TV' part was more like widgets for somewhat poorly developed apps along the bottom, but I did mind when not only could I not play 75% of my video files from the DLNA/UPnP server (some .avi files wouldn't even show up)... then when I tried loading a few 3D movie files on a thumbdrive, turns out it used the same 'app' as the DLNA/UPnP media, and I found out they wouldn't play either!!!   (files were .mkv AND .mp4)   Even if the files did show up, or play - the UI was utterly horrible...  and I don't mean it didn't have thumbnails or wasn't pretty - it was horrible even for a text based, folder browsing UI...      I was so disappointed, that instead on moving my xbox 360 into my bedroom, I kept it in the family room to give the new Vizio 'smart' functions and the ability to play some video, and instead I got a WDTV box for the bedroom...  For 3D videos, I'm back to using my computer via HDMI - which isn't bad, its just.... that is the point of a smart TV!     


So I will be VERY interested if you find out anything useful in regards to hacking this firmware or some way to modify it...   whether it be something similar to the LG firmware hacks, or a linux-based XBMC port, or the Google TV version of android... anything seems like it would be better than the stock offerings :good:



hcfte said:


> The other possibility would be hope that Vizio now comes out with an update to Google since it looks like they have switched platforms for the 2013 line up and hopefully they will release an update capable of using the Android platform.

Click to collapse



The Co-Star is what I first saw regarding Google TV....   kinda ticked me off seeing the EXACT same remote next to a little Vizio box w/ an article about Vizio being Google TV's new partner.   I never read/saw anything about it being included into the new line of TVs, but I imagine they would at least switch from the current yahoo! based VIA ....     However, even if the new 2013 line up had the same 'smart tv interface' as the Co-Star box w/ Google TV - I doubt that previous models would receive the new firmware.... as that is more of a complete firmware change than an upgrade.  Also, there may be issues with their partnership w/ yahoo! TV on the current models w/ VIA  who knows... but I'd be extremely surprised if they rolled out firmware upgrades for older model TVs based on the firmware for the new line coming out.     

I must say though, I thought it was genius to put a keyboard on the back of the remote - until I set up the TV and saw how 'not smart' the apps were....  Would have been a great remote for my parents LG smart TV though,   or if I could use it w/ my xbox...    but upon seeing the 'co-star' box with the same remote next to it for Google TV - I almost wanted to call up Vizio and demand the same Google TV firmware and/or co-star box for free, with the argument that the TV was advertised as a 'smart TV' :silly:

now someone with more knowledge than me get to hacking this thing!!!


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## goldenpipes (Mar 27, 2013)

maybe theres a way to download the firmware from the new model tv's and flash it to the older tvs?

i have the vizio E422VL which has no uPNP/DLNA support but the E422VLE has UPNP support.  I thin kits like 1 year newer or something so this sorta bums me out.


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## jonas18 (Apr 25, 2013)

*Wireshark the TV  on power up*

Grab a small 5 port switch. 
Plug your laptop in and the tv to the switch.
Start wireshark - see what protocols are coming from the tv. TCP dhcp request likely first and probably some other boot protocols. 

My guess is the tv looks for a tftp server first and then attempts to grab stuff to update or look for messages to update. 

Wireshark should be used in conjunction with angry ip scanner, to determine what's listening and on what protocol.


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## JasonZech (Jun 17, 2013)

Nothing recent on these ideas? I got the vizio 42" smart TV hoping I could play mkv.  But at last it don't.  

Sent from my LG-MS870 using Tapatalk 2


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## ang1dust (Mar 16, 2012)

Anyone know if XDA will be opening hacking for some of the new tv's with apps built in? Or if anyone knows of a site that supports it?


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## rdcflorida (Jul 6, 2013)

*developing for VIZIO TV*

I have a Vizio E601i-A3  60" tv, with VIA  =  Vizio internet apps.
to develop apps for Vizio TV  you go though Yahoo
//connectedtv.yahoo.com/developer

i looked at being a yahoo tv developer,  it seems excessively complex. 

my compliant is Vizio media player just seems to be poorly written.

I currently waiting for new version of firmware, called Vizio and they tell me its automatic, 
It is most likely magic, there is hardware, software and vaporware. 

I am looking for a manual method of firmware update. This TV has two USB ports, Ethernet.
There must be technician access to update, and diagnose.
Anyone have a repair manual?


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## pseudus (Oct 4, 2013)

*The answer?*

Alright, long story short, I am opening a store/lounge and bought (2) 55" VIZIO Smart TV's..

...fast forward...

Read all the threads and was about to give up on streaming media to them and Voila!, this:

thebitplague.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/play-stream-video-from-pc-to-vizio-tv/

I have not tested this yet, but I will over the next few days, will post again with my findings...

TLR - You can stream movies and media contect to your Vizio Smart TV with the DLNA compliant PS3 Media server found here:

sourceforge.net/projects/ps3mediaserver/

Have a nice day!


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## z0oinks (Oct 5, 2013)

pseudus said:


> Alright, long story short, I am opening a store/lounge and bought (2) 55" VIZIO Smart TV's..
> 
> ...fast forward...
> 
> ...

Click to collapse




This only works for DLNA-compatible Vizio Tvs, which not all of them are, unfortunately


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## hcfte (Oct 7, 2013)

*New VIA Plus*

Just so you know I don't have the Vizio TV my 75 yr old dad does and I am trying to help him.

I have been reading about Vizio's new VIA Plus for their new M series TV's and it sounds like the have really upgraded the software to do what most of us are wanting to accomplish. 

http://store.vizio.com/news/cat/news/post/vizio-unveils-next-generation-smart-tv-platform



> VIZIO Internet Apps Plus™ Delivers Advanced App Browsing and Discovery, Support for HTML 5 Apps, Second Screen Interactivity and A Consumer-Friendly, Intuitive Smart TV Interface

Click to collapse



My question is does anyone know if the E series TV got or will get this update or can this be "hacked/ported" to work on the older TV's?


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## w0lf13 (Dec 27, 2013)

I know this thread is a few months old, but I too am interested in messing around with this as I have two I recently purchased.

Now as someone has said before developer(dot)yahoo(dot)com/connectedtv (cant post links yet  ) has a plethora of information regarding the software running on these TVs.

Now on that site they mention that tv's running the connectedTV software have approx. 128MB of RAM(10MB of which is reserved for the ConnectedTV platform, and 50MB for the Dock that displays at the bottom of the screen) Which leaves about 64MB for App Usage.

For an alternative OS, I feel Ubuntu is going to have a bit too much overhead to run on these, not too mention the architecture is probably very different from what we're use to seeing on a normal x86 or ARM based board. Maybe something more along the lines of TinyCore linux or even an old version of Android that could possibly run on a platform with lower specs such as these, but ultimately it's going to require ALOT of effort and quite frankly, I don't see enough people with extensive knowledge interested.

I would like to see an alternative OS(not likely) as well but would also suffice with a web browser for the connectedTV platform as well.

The apps are supposedly created using a combination of Javascript and XML as well as the KONtx framework.
I don't know if a browser can be created with these but I'm willing to give it a shot.

If anyone is interested drop me a message


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## darkensx (Jan 23, 2014)

w0lf13 said:


> I know this thread is a few months old, but I too am interested in messing around with this as I have two I recently purchased.
> 
> Now as someone has said before developer(dot)yahoo(dot)com/connectedtv (cant post links yet  ) has a plethora of information regarding the software running on these TVs.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I relize this thread is a little old but as far as a alt os what about the Google tv platform seeing as vizio has tv's that have google... alot if not all of the vizio Yahoo tv's have a Intel® CE 3100 System On a Chip CPU which is Atom Based Arch. and 256MB RAM and all this crap  
Video Codec: HD: H.264, VC1, MPEG2, WMV9 SD: Flash-lite 3.1 (On2 VP6, Sorenson, h264), MPEG4 part 2, DivX3/4/5/6, WMV7/8, MPEG1
Audio Codec: AC-3, WMA7/8, WMA9, WMA Pro, MPEG1 L2, LPCM, MPEG2 L2, MPEG4 AAC-LC, MPEG1 L3, MPEG2 L3, HE-AAC, Dolby Digital Plus Optional Codecs: DTS 5.1 core, DTS HD, Dolby TrueHD
Multichannel Audio: 2 channels for WMA up to WMA Pro. Up to 5.1 channels for AC3, DTS, AAC
JPG, PNG image support
DRM Support: WMDRM-PD/Janus, DTCP-IP
Container Format Support: MPEG2-PS, MPEG2-TS, MPEG1-System, AVI, ASF, MP4, MOV*(QuickTime), FLV, F4V
DLNA Client and MyMedia widget
Flash Storage with Optional storage support

if the tv runs linux and ubuntu version my bet is its a netbook version as most netbooks have crap for Ram 256MB or 512MB being the most common. with these in mind probably anything that would run on a cheap 256MB netbook would work but loading/flashing it is the issue.


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## juggalo818 (Feb 6, 2014)

darkensx said:


> I relize this thread is a little old but as far as a alt os what about the Google tv platform seeing as vizio has tv's that have google... alot if not all of the vizio Yahoo tv's have a Intel® CE 3100 System On a Chip CPU which is Atom Based Arch. and 256MB RAM and all this crap
> Video Codec: HD: H.264, VC1, MPEG2, WMV9 SD: Flash-lite 3.1 (On2 VP6, Sorenson, h264), MPEG4 part 2, DivX3/4/5/6, WMV7/8, MPEG1
> Audio Codec: AC-3, WMA7/8, WMA9, WMA Pro, MPEG1 L2, LPCM, MPEG2 L2, MPEG4 AAC-LC, MPEG1 L3, MPEG2 L3, HE-AAC, Dolby Digital Plus Optional Codecs: DTS 5.1 core, DTS HD, Dolby TrueHD
> Multichannel Audio: 2 channels for WMA up to WMA Pro. Up to 5.1 channels for AC3, DTS, AAC
> ...

Click to collapse



i wanted to add alittle to this  about 2 months ago we upgraded to dish network and something crazy happened all of a sudden my tv went from HDMI 1 to Dish Hd Hopper witch was never there .... might be something or nothing
there has to be a hack crack or upgrade to this mine is a e422va


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## Robertjm (Mar 21, 2014)

Your HDMI ports can be renamed in the television's setup so having it go from one to the other isn't a surprise. My guess is that that Hopper you hooked up pushed the new name, somehow, to the television.



juggalo818 said:


> i wanted to add alittle to this  about 2 months ago we upgraded to dish network and something crazy happened all of a sudden my tv went from HDMI 1 to Dish Hd Hopper witch was never there .... might be something or nothing
> there has to be a hack crack or upgrade to this mine is a e422va

Click to collapse


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## blackhalk123 (Aug 19, 2014)

I don't know if anyone knows this but on my e3d320vx I have a option to update my firmware through USB it is in the menu some where. It showed up after the last big update last year. I'm replacing my power supply at the moment, But when I change it I will share the exact location to find it. I think the biggest problem right now is the os mystery if I can upgrade the firmware through USB I should theoretically be able to access the os or at the least dump the info for it with the correct tools and go from there.


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## jaymzway (May 17, 2015)

I know how old this is and im still interested in seeing if we could go through the process of creating an app through sdk yahoo and making it work for our tv's "BROWSER" means that UC browser seems to be loaded with options I wonder what it would take to work as an app on our tv's over on the yahoo site for vizio gives you the basics and to me shows it being similar to android. Iam not saying it's identical to android but i know our tv's uses linux os.
another cool thing would be to use this bluetooth remote with keyboard on my galaxy s3 would anyone know how this could be done.. Im willing to test I only paid $40.00 for my 47 in M470NV. 
i REALLY REALLY WOULD LOVE TO SEE A WEB BROWSER ON MY TV.. PLEASE


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## juggalo818 (May 18, 2015)

Me to I'm still waiting for this to happen

Sent from my SGH-T999 using XDA Free mobile app


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## jaymzway (May 21, 2015)

i understand why a developer would not want to make this happen because you can just simply add a computer to the darn thing. 
lol but think of all the clutter and wire mess it makes having this around your tv. I would be the coolest thing ever if we could turn our tv into a small base android pc. )
if someone could just lead me into the right direction I would like to start on this myself. I have googled countless hours on topics of doing this but nothing on this topic that makes it clear as to how to's 
I have many of cool ideas I would like to add to this if I could get this thing going... thank you everyone have a good night.


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## jaymzway (May 29, 2015)

Guess no ones interested in helping a friend on this idea.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Free mobile app


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## Molikai1988 (Jun 30, 2015)

From what I've gathered so far:
The auto update method the tv uses is OTA of some kind. It only updates when turned off. Vizio is not willing to supply the image file for USB flashing. Also, be very careful about future updates, my 24" e241i-a1 got one and decided it was a e390i-a1. This is beyond a minor issue! Now my TV thinks it has 3 HDMI ins and no RGB. Also the display looks like its out of phase or whatever one might call the vertical being slightly misaligned. Hope this helps.


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## CuF (Aug 29, 2015)

I recently got a couple Vizios for my family and find the media player disappointing.

Out of box it supports DTS, but a firmware update yanked that away.
Subtitles are not supported in any form, not even .SRT.

I'd love to see this project accomplished. and have a suggestion.
Instead of trying to hack up the existing player, wouldn't it make more sense to take an OS compatible version of VLC, make whatever tweaks if needs to make it work on a Vizio and get it put onto the Yahoo App Store?  VLC has pretty much already been ported to everything you could think of.  Just check out the list of VLC downloads available on Videolan (dot ORG)'s site.

Then it would provide wide format support, be easier to update and anyone could grab it.
I'd suspect there are peeps on the VideoLan forums that would probably want to get in on this.


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## DownloaderZ (Aug 29, 2015)

get a nexus player and move on with your life. There are low cost solutions that are incredibly more powerful than this


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## jaymzway (Aug 30, 2015)

Did we all say this before modding android phones no...
To each of us has our ideas n thoughts. You don't like our ideas so what. Thats why theres more topics for you to choose from. So how bout you move on.!!! Pal n stop disrespecting other members of the forum. Before this goes down the wrong road that it don't have to...  I personally would like to see something come from this "VIZIO MOD TOPIC"  MEANS THAT YOU LEAD OFF TOPIC...


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## DownloaderZ (Aug 31, 2015)

Why, whats the point here? The hardware is underpowered, there seems to be almost no way in, and you wont gain anything by running code on the native chipset. However, you have access to the most important parts: input, output(video& audio). 

I was watching this thread for a long time. The time to put effort into this has passed.





jaymzway said:


> Did we all say this before modding android phones no...
> To each of us has our ideas n thoughts. You don't like our ideas so what. Thats why theres more topics for you to choose from. So how bout you move on.!!! Pal n stop disrespecting other members of the forum. Before this goes down the wrong road that it don't have to...  I personally would like to see something come from this "VIZIO MOD TOPIC"  MEANS THAT YOU LEAD OFF TOPIC...

Click to collapse


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## jaymzway (Aug 31, 2015)

My point is how is a so called smart tv have wifi usb  video audio abilities n yet no web browser... lol strange really????? Win 3.0 had a web browser n it was seriously under volted at 4 megs of ram n a 75 mhz processor so hell why not able to...

---------- Post added at 05:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:20 PM ----------

So wheres the web browser app hack. 
Then i feel were onto something its like yahoo has abandon their support to these tvs

---------- Post added at 05:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 PM ----------

Back when these tvs  were metioned of a hack or firmware it was a pricey game  price vs bricking a $1.000 tv now the prices are down now is perfect time to play with them to see what could come of these things just like blood did to the samsung m890 long time ago.


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## EhudBenjamin (Sep 13, 2015)

I'm in the same spot, I'm a truck driver and have a E32-C1 in my truck. I have lots of places I can connect to WiFi, but with no browser I cannot log in or accept the terms and conditions. At least for me that makes the WiFi useless along with all the apps.


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## ang1dust (Mar 16, 2012)

Anyone know if XDA will be opening hacking for some of the new tv's with apps built in? Or if anyone knows of a site that supports it?


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## jaymzway (Sep 14, 2015)

If u had wifi tethering on your phone you could share your internet to the tv but what good will it do anyways other than a over pricey netflicks n check your emails. Im ashamed of yahoo. Leaving such a nice tv just sit like a worthless tv n not invest into the market and sit back n wait for devs to come up with ideas rather than being a go getter... why????


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## Burstaholic (Nov 12, 2015)

If anyone's still interested, some security researchers totally found a way in: https://blog.avast.com/2015/11/11/the-anatomy-of-an-iot-hack/

Whether this will remain useful depends on how extensive Vizio's patch is. Hopefully they just fixed HTTPS certificate verification and you can still run shell commands.


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## DudeOfAwesome (Nov 17, 2015)

I just tried to enter $(reboot) in the SSID field (per the article you linked) and that seems to have failed.

It looks like Vizio has disabled execution of shell commands in an update.


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## fastvan67 (Nov 18, 2015)

I have the Vizio 701i-A3. It has whats called Yahoo apps. The apps themselves look to me like smartphone apps. I then found this site Yahoo Connected TV. Would love to be able to install XBMC/Kodi on this thing. According to the site, people can create their own apps and post them. Then log into the settings on the TV and install the app to the TV using Yahoo Apps.


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## DudeOfAwesome (Nov 18, 2015)

fastvan67 said:


> I have the Vizio 701i-A3. It has whats called Yahoo apps. The apps themselves look to me like smartphone apps. I then found this site Yahoo Connected TV. Would love to be able to install XBMC/Kodi on this thing. According to the site, people can create their own apps and post them. Then log into the settings on the TV and install the app to the TV using Yahoo Apps.

Click to collapse



That's correct. The TV uses HTML5 technology to run the apps. It looks like it is somewhat similar to writing a browser extension.

As for porting Kodi to work on the TV, I would say that is unlikely, as Kodi is written in mostly C++, which would have to be rewritten as Javascript for the TV. If someone were to find a way to get shell access on the TV, then there is a chance you could run an Ubuntu build of Kodi.


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## Richy_T (Dec 2, 2015)

The youtube app on android can push content to the Vizios. Has anyone pulled that apart yet?


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## extranatural (Dec 18, 2015)

*Hidden Menu/Browser on Vizio E32-C1*

I have a Vizio E32-C1 2015 that I picked up a few months ago. The Vizio e-series are a pretty good deal IMHO.

I was trying to turn it on in the dark the other day, and ended up pressing some unknown button combination as I fumbled in the dark.

The result was rather surprising, the TV turned on and revealed a gray screen (from the look of it it was an HTML form) with the title "Opera App Launcher". Below the title was an input field and a submit button. Next to the input field in parentheses was the text "(0-9)".

I was able to move from element on the page from the arrow navigation buttons on the remote.

So I entered the number '5' from my remote, and hit the submit button. After a few seconds the Vizio official website loaded up. I was able to navigate the page and browse, but couldn't find a way to return to the grey screen or enter a URL manually.

So far I've had no luck finding what button combo I entered. From searching the web I've gotten no hits about how to get into the service menu from the e-series, let alone anyone else who has encountered the "Opera App Launcher".

Has anyone else seen anything like this? I'm really eager to get low-level access to my Smart TV.


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## strategery (Jan 21, 2016)

Does anyone know if there's an app or other way to loop USB video on the Vizio M series?


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## jaymzway (Jan 22, 2016)

IM enjoying all of the ideas


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## 4cylndrfury (Feb 25, 2016)

I'm no programmer (I can write VBA macros in excel, that's the extent of my skills), but did come across an Avast article on breaking into operations in the code of Vizio smart tv's. Posting as a guest, I can't post url strings, but googling "The Anatomy of an IoT Hack - Avast Blog" will bring up their article from November 2015.

Seems like there's some insight into vizio operating systems, and ways to execute commands. It states that vizio issued an update that circumvents the vulnerabilities, but hopefully, there is still an opportunity to work out a browser app, or maybe a way to get an early android os loaded (hoping somehow to get the time Warner cable app into one of my tvs).


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## victoriaexlabore (Mar 24, 2016)

extranatural said:


> I have a Vizio E32-C1 2015 that I picked up a few months ago. The Vizio e-series are a pretty good deal IMHO.
> 
> I was trying to turn it on in the dark the other day, and ended up pressing some unknown button combination as I fumbled in the dark.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Interesting.  From what I can tell, if someone could get a distribution of the Firefox OS TV, we could theoretically flash the Vizio TV to this instead of its current OS.  The two seem built on similar architectures, since they are less an OS and more of a browser with apps that you can download built as an OS using JavaScript.  I could see the lightweight Firefox OS for TV working on older E-Series Vizio models.  The problem from what everyone is saying is that it's near impossible to do, which is unfortunate considering the garbage Yahoo OS that is currently installed.


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## extranatural (Mar 24, 2016)

victoriaexlabore said:


> Interesting.  From what I can tell, if someone could get a distribution of the Firefox OS TV, we could theoretically flash the Vizio TV to this instead of its current OS.  The two seem built on similar architectures, since they are less an OS and more of a browser with apps that you can download built as an OS using JavaScript.  I could see the lightweight Firefox OS for TV working on older E-Series Vizio models.  The problem from what everyone is saying is that it's near impossible to do, which is unfortunate considering the garbage Yahoo OS that is currently installed.

Click to collapse



So there isn't a Yahoo operating system running on the Vizio per se. Yahoo's app is more of an package manager / app store for apps written in Javascript. What's important to understand it that whole thing is in turn appears to be running some variant of Linux.

A quick nmap of the TV's ip address revealed that it's running a Linux kernel underneath it all:


```
OS CPE: cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6 cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel:3
OS details: Linux 2.6.32 - 3.5
```

Trouble is they've done a good job of locking down the TV, I've not found any open ports to exploit, nor any keyboard commands to give me a bash session. If someone wants to totally replace the OS, they'd almost certainly need to remove the back of the TV, and probe the SoC trying to find a way of directly flashing the integrated circuit.


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## edglenn (Apr 5, 2016)

I'm impressed with this thread. I was looking for a browser app for my Visio E55-C1. I'm amazed that a simple on-board browser isn't available for this tv. I'll have to connect a regular PC to it for now, but what a waste of a tv!
I'm truly surprised that Visio doesn't have an app for browsing, along with their other available apps. Can't imagine why they would intentionally block this feature...


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## lvtbowman (May 5, 2016)

I have a Vizio with the V.I.A (Vizio Internet Apps) Plus. I was wondering how do I download other apps onto my tv that aren't there? I was hoping to download a code converter. Anyone?


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## toptrailer (Aug 3, 2016)

I scan ports with netmaster on my Iphone 5s on my Vizio m55-c2 and I received this message: 8 open ports !!!
port 111 sun remote procedure call
port 1234 - 7892 - 8099 unknown port type
port 52113 - 56789 - 56790 - 65528 private/dynamic port


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## ben63vw (Nov 17, 2016)

With VIA Plus just use Plex app to stream all your media content from your pc/mac or even a nas.  It plays dam near every media format out there.  And for about $60 just get a "Raspberry Pi 3" (search it on Amazon).  For that price you'll get a case, micro sd, power cord (but can be powered by tvs usb port) & hdmi cable.  There are images readily available that it runs many distros of linux with some of them customized with Kodi/xbmc pre installed.  It's small and can just be attached to the back of any tv (no clutter) & it has built in wifi.  DONE... now you can browse to your hearts content.


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## ltagliamonte (Nov 20, 2016)

For what is worth today i used nmap on my vizio M60-C3 and i discovered the following open ports:

```
nmap -v -A 192.168.1.16

Starting Nmap 7.31 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2016-11-20 12:48 PST
NSE: Loaded 142 scripts for scanning.
NSE: Script Pre-scanning.
Initiating NSE at 12:48
Completed NSE at 12:48, 0.00s elapsed
Initiating NSE at 12:48
Completed NSE at 12:48, 0.00s elapsed
Initiating Ping Scan at 12:48
Scanning 192.168.1.16 [2 ports]
Completed Ping Scan at 12:48, 0.00s elapsed (1 total hosts)
Initiating Parallel DNS resolution of 1 host. at 12:48
Completed Parallel DNS resolution of 1 host. at 12:48, 0.01s elapsed
Initiating Connect Scan at 12:48
Scanning 192.168.1.16 [1000 ports]
Discovered open port 111/tcp on 192.168.1.16
Discovered open port 1234/tcp on 192.168.1.16
Completed Connect Scan at 12:48, 0.15s elapsed (1000 total ports)
Initiating Service scan at 12:48
Scanning 2 services on 192.168.1.16
Completed Service scan at 12:48, 6.01s elapsed (2 services on 1 host)
NSE: Script scanning 192.168.1.16.
Initiating NSE at 12:48
Completed NSE at 12:48, 0.02s elapsed
Initiating NSE at 12:48
Completed NSE at 12:48, 0.01s elapsed
Nmap scan report for 192.168.1.16
Host is up (0.0078s latency).
Not shown: 998 closed ports
PORT     STATE SERVICE VERSION
111/tcp  open  rpcbind 2 (RPC #100000)
| rpcinfo: 
|   program version   port/proto  service
|   100000  2            111/tcp  rpcbind
|_  100000  2            111/udp  rpcbind
1234/tcp open  textui  Vizio television textui
Service Info: Device: media device

NSE: Script Post-scanning.
Initiating NSE at 12:48
Completed NSE at 12:48, 0.00s elapsed
Initiating NSE at 12:48
Completed NSE at 12:48, 0.00s elapsed
Read data files from: /usr/local/bin/../share/nmap
Service detection performed. Please report any incorrect results at https://nmap.org/submit/ .
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 6.69 seconds
```
Using telnet i connected the 1234 port and i got something that recalls a terminal session:

```
telnet 192.168.1.16 1234
Trying 192.168.1.16...
Connected to 192.168.1.16.
Escape character is '^]'.
help
/plugin/method param1 param2 ... : execute method exposed by plugin
cd [app_name/path], if no parameter, display current path, else change to the path
list [app_name/path], list direct subpath/method
find [pattern], find the pattern in all plugin and methods
callr /app_name/path/to/plugin/method output_sel param1 param2 ..., call registered method
callc plugin so_name func_name prototype output_sel param1 param2 ..., call a C function in a shared library
pack fmt arg1 arg2 ..., pack params to a struct and return the struct as a string
unpack fmt str, unpack a struct(in str), return fields value seperated by space
help [/plugin/method]
exit
```
I tried some commands but i wasn't lucky, maybe someone here on the forum can discover something more useful.


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## nyceharry (Jan 4, 2017)

Impressive that this thread has been going for 2-3+ years.  Having a ball running PMS on an old Linux box, paired with my Vizio E420i-b0 (2014?) but incredibly disappointed i can't natively access HBO go.  Not really looking to buy yet another device to hang around the television, but considered picking up a $30 Chromecast as the SoC seems to be incredibly underpowered and after a while of running Plex, YouTube, whatever app the responsiveness of the tv begins to slow to a crawl -- at certain points you cannot even turn the volume up or down... it'll remember every button press on the remote, but sometimes the delay in reaching the tv is more than 30 seconds.  The gf has been using the Plex app on our old Vizio more than Netflix lately, that's a really good sign.  It just works.

Bravo to everyone who still gets excited about the potential of these type things.  Appreciate this community.


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## nightlyshade (Jan 15, 2017)

ive been trying to do a directory traversal with known file names using dotdotpwn but i have had no prevail... 
i was able to reach the spots where everyone found using this tutorial...
hacking-the-sony-kdl-48r510c-smart-tv (you can google it, cant post the link)

the person who wrote it was able to install busybox which is what im attempting to do... but i have not found anything even remotely possible. i know there is a way to upload to the tv because they upload firmware to it in order to update the tv... im attempting to try and find the exact incoming url, viewing the firmware file could possible help gain some knowledge


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## jaymzway (Jan 25, 2017)

The more i research this tv its near like yahoo was on the hopes of gaining the same audiences that android has gained in helping them to launch tv apps n have failed cause they do offer out sdk just as android has done. Guess the whole otg thing with cell phones keeps a tv just as it is a tv just something that watches movies


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## ang1dust (Mar 16, 2012)

Anyone know if XDA will be opening hacking for some of the new tv's with apps built in? Or if anyone knows of a site that supports it?


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## CuF (Jan 26, 2017)

My hope is that they at least add Yahoo View.  The app is currently mostly pointless, but the finished version should end up being pretty much the same as Hulu Free but accessible by mobile devices, not just PCs.
It would add some new life to these TVs.


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## Aleki (Feb 12, 2017)

nyceharry said:


> Impressive that this thread has been going for 2-3+ years.  Having a ball running PMS on an old Linux box, paired with my Vizio E420i-b0 (2014?) but incredibly disappointed i can't natively access HBO go.  Not really looking to buy yet another device to hang around the television, but considered picking up a $30 Chromecast as the SoC seems to be incredibly underpowered and after a while of running Plex, YouTube, whatever app the responsiveness of the tv begins to slow to a crawl -- at certain points you cannot even turn the volume up or down... it'll remember every button press on the remote, but sometimes the delay in reaching the tv is more than 30 seconds.  The gf has been using the Plex app on our old Vizio more than Netflix lately, that's a really good sign.  It just works.
> 
> Bravo to everyone who still gets excited about the potential of these type things.  Appreciate this community.

Click to collapse



Silly question, but have you disabled the "smart interactivity" setting under admin/reset menu? I've heard mentions about that setting gobbing up resources.
I have a 2015 M60, and have no issues with degraded performance after hours of use.


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## rehtalb (May 24, 2017)

*so much more*

While I have nothing to offer I thought because I like the sound of my own voice I would chip in with nothing of value but repetition of other questions or concerns.

Sure it would be simpler to realize that adding no substance benefits no one else, and sure it would be simpler to avoid adding needless text to the thread my particular instance of the exact same concern is obviously more important than the initial question.

Aren't you glad you read yet another useless, non-reply response to the original post.  Yes,  OP, is a topic and not a person.   #duh  (NOT pronounced hash tag duh; the delineator is silent) 

So what is new with vizio app hacking?

I have expended no effort on the topic myself but as I am more important I need a response over and above the op content.

In short Netiquette has been killed by Social Cancer and willful ignorance.


streaming: dlna

solution to privacy: usenet + ZFS
^ pay the content providers, and retain your dignity


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## nyceharry (Apr 22, 2018)

Not 100% certain what the Smart Interactivity setting would be, but I'll go check for it here momentarily.  I ended up going the Chromecast route and totally ditching the painfully slow Vizio Yahoo mess.  It's not ideal, having to use a phone as your remote control, but once you pair that with a Google Home Mini it really opens things up a bit.



Aleki said:


> Silly question, but have you disabled the "smart interactivity" setting under admin/reset menu? I've heard mentions about that setting gobbing up resources.  I have a 2015 M60, and have no issues with degraded performance after hours of use.

Click to collapse



And what's up with the toolbox posting previous to this?  Was almost comical, if it weren't so borderline pathetically sad.  Ahh well.  Different strokes, i reckon.


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## eKoKnight (May 13, 2018)

I just came here to find this. lol I have a old Vizio E322VL that was built in 2010 and so far any of the internet apps powered by yahoo seem to be well no longer working except weather and news and Netflix. Either then that. Its not much of a smart tv anymore. Was hoping id find something that could make that old tv even better even after 8 years. Shame really.


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## Vexamus (May 14, 2018)

Bump again.  I have a 2015 M55-c2 and I have been able to gain access to the aforementioned terminal but can't really get it to do anything.  

My question is, has anyone grabbed some captured packets between the TV and interwebs and checked to see what kind of connections it was making?  That might actually be useful in terms of determining some manner of functionality in that terminal screen.  I'm hoping it's a lot like the LG TVs were you can send control commands and the like, then I'd be able to integrate my TV's control into my home automation setup.  I'm thinking perhaps this weekend, I'll hard wire the tv and setup a tap to capture packets.  Play around with using the built-in apps and installing uninstalling.  Maybe I'll get lucky and actually be able to capture a firmware update.


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## rgrafton (Feb 1, 2019)

My IR sensor stopped working on my TV... is there a way I can control my tv via tcp/Udp commands over my network? I installed the SmartCast app but my tv doesn’t show up... my tv is an old D series and I guess vizio doesn’t support control of it thru the app...


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## Shiver22 (Jul 13, 2019)

*Update firmware to get access*

Hi I'm a newbie and what I read on here about Vizio being a strip down of Ubuntu makes me wonder if someone ever tried putting an upgrade is of it on a usb drive and renaming it the firmware update file to see if it would try to install the newer version of Linux thinking it's a firmware update?  I'm curious what would happen but I don't have an old Vizio to try it on since the one I'm looking at is my friends and is a 55 inch and would never chance bricking it


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## Solace50 (Nov 29, 2019)

Shiver22 said:


> Hi I'm a newbie and what I read on here about Vizio being a strip down of Ubuntu makes me wonder if someone ever tried putting an upgrade is of it on a usb drive and renaming it the firmware update file to see if it would try to install the newer version of Linux thinking it's a firmware update?  I'm curious what would happen but I don't have an old Vizio to try it on since the one I'm looking at is my friends and is a 55 inch and would never chance bricking it

Click to collapse



The update would just fail due to the image not being signed by vizio. If im wrong then the device boots its likely the image would not natively contain the drivers and be rendered inoperable and you would need to flash directly to the emmc chip on the board. I rooted one of their tablets a while back that was not a systemless root and caused the integrity check to fail for upgrading the OS. I could only assume they employ some logic behind their TV's since they did for the tablets.

I'm taking a look at the possible attack vectors to get root access to one of these devices which seems to be quite hard since it is quite the limited interface. Root access would allow for custom apps to be side-loaded along with various other possibilities like debugging crashes so Vizio can get their **** together as many have issues with TV's randomly rebooting (Including myself) which I know is not hardware related.


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## Diitron (Jan 3, 2020)

*The real fix*

Wouldn't it make more sense to find a TV with the same specs and buy a pulled smartcast board for it it seems there dirt cheap on newer d50's. A panel is a panel a t con is a t con and a power supplies is a power supply. Rip that Yahoo board out and put a Google board in for around thirty bucks


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## SK8ITUP53 (Jun 3, 2020)

Do these Vizio TV's have Java installed? Because Groovy can be scripted and compiles down to Java code in the end.  Might be a valid vulnerability to exploit with the Groovy scripting abilities?


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## tiburon22 (Feb 10, 2021)

any software to upgrade a old vizio tv


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## ryn0909 (Feb 27, 2021)

i have a p65-e1 and im willing to be a test pilot for anyone working on root or app hacks for this dumb tv


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## notmouserat (Dec 12, 2021)

“Just hook up <other thing> to the HDMI port” or having another device (DLNA etc) defeats the purpose of trying to turn the TV into a standalone show-this-webpage type kiosk display. Mounting a pi inside the TV works, sort of, sometimes.

Some recent Vizio models have an aux 12V header on the board. That’s way better than jamming in a 120VAC power brick, but I honestly have no idea how much current that 12V header can supply, or how long it will be around. Also seems like Vizio is constantly changing the physical design of their 32” models - making it harder and harder to fit anything else - even as small as a pi 3/4 - inside. I want as much as possible built inside the TV so that from the outside (except for the hdmi connection) it looks like a TV.

That’s why I’m trying to figure out if there’s a way to mod the firmware.


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## tinyheck (Apr 16, 2022)

Hi~ After years of lurking I finally have made an XDA account just to breathe life into this sometimes-resurrectable 2012 topic.

I'm a relative newb in the tech world--a couple of years back XDA helped me flash my kindle fire 7 and I'd never ripped the back of a board off and I think it awoke something menacing and wonderful in me. Anyway, I'm still young enough be so ambitious as to waste my time recycling stuff like this so I'll be heckin' around with Kali to follow the breadcrumbs left here and snoop around the sources y'all have pointed to ambiguously. Just wanted to remind yins that your mischievous approaches and technical guidance for the curious inspires babes all the time. There may be smarter solutions (trust I make this ol' E3D420VX work for me even if it's as a glorified monitor) but I love all of you who persevere to climb mountains just to get there. I'll be back someday~

Gonna drop links to more sources to add to the breadcrumb log:








						Vizio In Hot Water Over Smart TV GPL Violations
					

As most anyone in this community knows, there’s an excellent chance that any consumer product on the market that’s advertised as “smart” these days probably has some form of…




					hackaday.com


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## tinyheck (Apr 17, 2022)

tinyheck said:


> Gonna drop links to more sources to add to the breadcrumb log:

Click to collapse


Hack All The Things: 20 Devices in 45 Minutes​



(Vizio @ 21 mins)
How I hacked my smart TV from my bed via a command injection​








						How I hacked my smart TV from my bed via a command injection
					

It was one of those lazy evenings, just watching TV after a long day. I was tired but kept on thinking about a vulnerability I found earlier...




					www.techspot.com
				




Introduction to Reverse Engineering with Ghidra​








						Introduction to Reverse Engineering with Ghidra
					

Learn how to reverse engineer software using Ghidra! This four-session course will walk you through the basics.




					hackaday.io
				




Kristin Paget: The Laws of IoT Security​




HACKING YOUR WAY TO A CUSTOM TV BOOT SCREEN​








						Hacking Your Way To A Custom TV Boot Screen
					

More and more companies are offering ways for customers to personalize their products, realizing that the increase in production cost will be more than made up for by the additional sales you&#8217…




					hackaday.com
				




SAMY KAMKAR: REVERSE ENGINEERING FOR A SECURE FUTURE​








						Samy Kamkar: Reverse Engineering For A Secure Future
					

Show of hands: how many of you have parked your car in the driveway, walked up to your house, and pressed your car’s key fob button thinking it would open the front door? We’ve probably…




					hackaday.com
				




Samy Kamkar: Getting Started with Reverse Engineering​




GoodFET​


			GoodFET -- Home
		


GreatFET​








						GreatFET One by Great Scott Gadgets
					

GreatFET One from Great Scott Gadgets is a hardware hacker’s best friend. At the center is a powerful NXP LPC4330 (Cortex M4 @ 204MHz) with two USB ports, one host and one  ...




					www.adafruit.com


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## ScarletWizard (Dec 27, 2022)

ang1dust said:


> Anyone know if XDA will be opening hacking for some of the new tv's with apps built in? Or if anyone knows of a site that supports it?

Click to collapse



I did a network scan of my Vizio. It has two open ports.  That can be exploited.


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## ryn0909 (Dec 27, 2022)

ScarletWizard said:


> I did a network scan of my Vizio. It has two open ports.  That can be exploited.

Click to collapse



which ports,  i ran a scan on mine  and  it  has 7 or 8 open ports.  i ran interceptor and  noticed  that upon bootup it pulls an .api from a certain website but idk if its exploitable or not.   i have a p series model    what model is  yours?


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## ScarletWizard (Dec 27, 2022)

V655-j09

Port 7000 and  I forgot what the other one is.

I can't do a scan at the moment. I bricked my phone this morning. I'm still   reconfiguring the phone. Magisk module and lposes stuff.


----------

