Purpose

MythTV is a free software DVR. It includes a DLNA server to feed media players on the LAN, as well as a plugin web server (Mythweb) so a web browser can act as a MythTV client.

Old Roku devices do not include DLNA-capable media players. This project makes it possible to use a Roku as a limited MythTV frontend via Mythweb services.

Mitigating Roku's designed obsolescence and environmental impact

The oldest 14 Roku devices have recently been rendered useless, as Roku, Netflix, and Amazon have all ​abandoned support for them. The Roku Channel Store now refuses connections from these devices, which means new channels (apps) cannot be installed from the cloud. The USB port is dead to anyone who didn't buy the drivers for it while the store was an option.

It's a problem of designed obsolescence that cheats consumers out of value and proliferates environmental harm. That is, Roku owners will throw their useless hardware in the trash and do exactly what Roku wants them to do: buy new hardware. Roku sales spiked by over 30% in the first quarter of 2020 (immediately following their abandonment of 14 oldest devices), thanks to pushover consumers. The new hardware doesn't have composite connectors, so it means people will throw away old TVs and buy new as well. Roku refugees are looking for solutions.

The hope is that this project will extend the useful life of the devices for at least a decade to come. Unlike Apple TV, Roku is not extensively locked down. It runs linux 2.6 on an ARM CPU. There is no jailbreaking needed. The Roku has a built-in web server making it possible to side-load apps (APK files). Note that only one app can be side-loaded at a time.

History and Credits

Pete Neville provided the initial implementation. The code evolved in ear9mrn's repo which was forked and evolved further by rshendershot.

We've forked ear9mrn's repo because rshendershot's Roku client didn't fair well over time due to dependencies on obscure libraries like php-activerecord. Instead of making improvements directly to the ear9mrn repo, it was forked to mitigate interaction with Microsoft Github and propagation thereof.

Status and hardware compatibility

The version from ear9mrn's repo has this bug, which arises from this evolution. That has been fixed in the repo herein.

model	firmware	status
2100x Roku XD/S (Sep 2010)	3.1 build 1198	(2020-09-14) The UI certainly works, but this device is very fussy about media format. We have yet to find a format that it accepts. Even the official test media from Roku, Inc. fails. (issue 3)
4200x Roku 3 (Mar 2013)	9.3.0 build 4194-04	(2020-09-14) tested and working