Is it possible to install my own OS on a "smart" TV? Is that a thing?
Is it possible to install my own OS on a "smart" TV? Is that a thing?
How do I free my television?
107 comments
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It's similar to console hacking. If there is no known exploit, the device is not yours. LG patched the exploit that made that possible for my smart TV and know I need to wait for another to be doscovered. Unfortunately the Smart TV hacking community is not that active.
https://github.com/RootMyTV/RootMyTV.github.io
https://xdaforums.com/t/getmein-one-time-rooting-jailbreaking-tool-for-webos-lg-tvs.3887904/
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Unfortunately the Smart TV hacking community is not that active.
It is a bit more active than your links seem to indicate, but is not very well organized or easy to find.
Use https://cani.rootmy.tv/ to check recent status of rooting LG TVs models. Many slightly older, 2+ years old TVs are still rootable, due to this exploit from 2024: https://github.com/throwaway96/dejavuln-autoroot
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Nice it seems that DejaVuln will work! Thanks :)
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It is still possible to buy "dumb" TV's. Tons of businesses need them for display purposes (like at fast food restaurants and corporate expos, etc, etc), but you need to search for commercial displays. Like this one.
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Bless you for providing a link; I can't tell you howany times I've seen this advice without any link or instructions on how to locate these
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No problem! I work in television/live streaming production. Finding and buying "dumb" monitors when we build out new sets and presentation spaces is literally part of my job.
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Usually that means trying to get Android TV working through USB, but it depends on what tv you have. If you already have an Android TV, just use a launcher like Projectivy. Most people just buy a media box: either an Android based one or apple tv and disable the "smart" tv altogether
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Get a dumb TV and plug in a cheap computer where you can pirate everything
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They simply don't exist anymore. The only choice is to do this with a smart TV and never connect it to the internet.
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If the room is small enough room with the seating closet enough to the screen, a large computer monitor could do the job pretty well. You'd have to be fine with doing all input switching and audio control on a receiver or only ever use a single device as the input.
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That's not true. I forget what the term is, but corporate displays are dead simple, no ads or bullshit. Think of something sold to a deli to display menu items. But be prepared: consumer TVs are so cheap partly because of the expected ad revenue, these will be more expensive. I'm about to buy my first TV upgrade in over a decade and I'm just going to never connect it to Wi-Fi. I might even disable the wireless adapter, we'll see...
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If it has an HDMI port, it can be a dumb TV. Just don't connect it to wifi, easy
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It's much easier to run a HTPC on something small like a Raspberry Pi, or an NVIDIA Shield. The hardware on your TV is probably the bare minimum to run its own smart features, and replacing the firmware doesn't guarantee that the TV isn't still phoning home with your data.
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If you literally replaced the firmware, what else could possibly be phoning home?
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The lower level firmware, your pc is probably doing the same
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Also cars. I want a custom, privacy respecting OS for an EV please
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Oh no:
It is theoretically possible to replace the operating system of an electric car with an open-source or custom alternative, similar to flashing a custom ROM on Android smartphones. However, in practice, this comes with significant challenges. Here's an overview:Theoretical Feasibility
- Hardware Compatibility:
- Electric vehicles rely on specific hardware components (e.g., control units, sensors, actuators) that are tightly integrated with the operating system.
- A custom operating system would need to understand and control this hardware. However, the underlying hardware specifications (APIs, protocols) are often proprietary and not publicly available.
- Software Architecture:
- Modern electric cars use highly complex software architectures that include real-time operating systems, safety-critical systems, and user-facing interfaces.
- A replacement OS would need to handle safety-critical functions (like braking and steering) as well as infotainment features.
- Open-Source Efforts:
- There are initiatives like Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), which aim to create open-source software for vehicles. However, these are typically designed for automakers and not readily available for end-user modification.
Practical Challenges
- Safety Risks:
- Operating safety-critical functions such as braking, propulsion, and battery management requires certified software.
- Modifying the software introduces safety risks, which can have serious consequences, especially on public roads.
- Legal Barriers:
- Many countries mandate that vehicles operate only with approved software to ensure compliance with safety and emissions regulations.
- Modifying the vehicle's software could result in the loss of roadworthiness certification.
- Technical Restrictions:
- Manufacturers often use encryption and digital signatures to protect access to the vehicle's software.
- Replacing the operating system would require bypassing these security measures, which could be legally and technically problematic.
- Lack of Community Support:
- Unlike smartphones or PCs, there is currently no large-scale community actively developing user-friendly open-source operating systems for electric vehicles.
Examples from Practice
- Some enthusiasts and hackers have managed to modify software on vehicles like Tesla cars to add custom features or access internal data. However, these projects remain experimental and risky.
- Initiatives like Comma.ai focus on creating aftermarket autonomy systems, demonstrating the challenges of modifying or replacing existing systems.
Conclusion
Replacing the operating system of an electric car is theoretically possible but practically extremely difficult due to legal, technical, and safety-critical constraints. While it could be an exciting project for hobbyists and developers, any modifications would likely render the vehicle unfit for legal road use in most jurisdictions.
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You AI generated your comment... https://app.gptzero.me/
You should post your own comments on subjects in your own words instead of using a plagarism bot to do it for you. It's no better than just copying other people's comments.
- Hardware Compatibility:
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Technically yes, you'd have to find an exploit for your TV that allows for installing your own OS.
It's not super feasible but it's technically possible.
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Best is to try to get the dumbest TV you can and plug in an android tv streaming box to it imo
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What I did was bought a "commercial" television that's intended to either be put in a waiting room and tuned to Fox News all day, OR used as digital signage. It's not quite an Arby's menu board because it's still obviously a television, has a tuner and such, but it has no "smart" TV in it and the backlight isn't as "won't survive a run of Breath of the Wild" like the TCL televisions my parents own. Then I slapped a Raspberry Pi 4 on the back with OSMC on it. Meanwhile I did replace my small form factor desktop gaming rig, so I have a Ryzen 3600/GTX1080 rig sitting unplugged under that television waiting for me to build up the gumption to switch over to it.
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I bet somebody's done it. There are people in the Linux world who dedicate themselves to getting it to run on anything - a TV, a toaster...
But it would probably be a lot easier to just run Linux on a Raspberry Pi or something and use the TV as a monitor.
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I have another question.
Can we reprogramme the remote buttons that open Netflix, YouTube etc., so that they open other apps like Jellyfin or something?
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Those companies paid to have their buttons on the remote. Your TV manufacturer is not going to threaten their sponsorship deal by letting you use those buttons for anything else.
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you can! (at least on googles android tv, not sure about amazon's bastardized version) I use an app called button remaster, available from the play store, to switch my chromecasts youtube button to smart tube and netflix button to stremio
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I don't know how remotes work, physically, but they gotta send some sort of code to the TV. If your TV's OS can intercept that message it can choose its own response mapped to whatever you want to happen. Something akin to remapping keys in your keyboard.
I would assume, anyway. I could be wrong.
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Yes. What brand or model number do you have?
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I was thinking that if somebody knows how to do that, they probably also have an opinion on which brands of TV are better or worse for it.
I don't own a TV right now but plan to in the future.
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Ah, well, the biggest thing you have to worry about is that most vulnerabilities that would allow users to get ROOT access have been patched for old and new TVs, so you might want to be selective if you don't want to do it the hard way. You need to know which TV OS you're dealing with before you can look for the necesary tools.
The hard way is removing the SoC processor from the board, buying a custom mount for it, and using the debug pins to flash the OS. Most of the legwork has been done already for this method. https://www.synacktiv.com/en/publications/i-hack-u-boot
Something to keep in mind is that the processors in smart TVs are almost always pathetically slow. Also, the streaming services compatible with these TVs require hardware encryption so if your modified OS mimics the old one but isn't verified then they will refuse to run. You would get better performance from using a computer connected to the HDMI port, or even a Raspberry Pi as your TV Box.
Replacing the OS completely is likely possible for every single TV on the market, but not very likely for any of them because nobody with the skills sees any value in it.
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I'd think most people woud go for a cheap used ultra Small Form Factor pc or raspberry pi set up as an htpc. Plug in to either tv screen (via hdmi ) or monitor / projector directly. Never connect the tv to the internet - or even to your LAN if you're really paranoid. You can arse around with a remote control a bit bodgy, or just use wireless Keyboard/mouse.
I cant imagine spending the time to jailbreak a tv to get less functionality for more hassle - but i'm sure some crazy will have done it - good luck finding them though.
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Seriously, buy an AppleTV. It works standalone without the need for other apple products. Has a fast processor, ability to disable telemetry, good track record of software update support etc. and NO.ADS.IN.THE.OPERATING.SYSTEM.
Using an Android box will result in the same issues you’re trying to get away from with SmartTVs.
If you’re technically capable enough you can build your own HTPC, but due to DRM you’re going to run into issues streaming 4K content from streaming services. And PC and Linux HDR and Dolby Vision support is a rabbit hole.
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That’s the privacy policy for the AppleTV app. Here’s the specific information on AppleTV device settings:
https://support.apple.com/en-tm/guide/tv/atvb66239fa1/tvos
You can share analytics data with Apple or app developers in order to improve their software. Sharing this data is completely optional
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I would think that'd be pretty tough!
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yes and no, but mostly no
If you have a samsung tv there would be stuff like: https://www.samygo.tv/
webos has an open source version: https://www.webosose.org/
but anything else is even fewer and farther inbetween-
I'm pretty sure samygo killed the storage chip on my TV due to wear. I suspected it was going to be a problem seeing as the hack dumps log files indiscriminately.
I'd be more upset if I actually used the smart TV stuff.
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Why has no one mentioned Projectivy?
It's a regular app, doesn't require root (though it benefits from it). It's free unless you want complicated parental controls (I pay for it but otherwise have no relation to it).
I have a Bravia TV, and with it I no longer have ads, I can change exactly what apps show up, including hiding Sony apps, and can totally customize the whole window.
Finding it was a huge relief for me, as there's no point setting up parental controls for a small child when ads showing horror products show up anyway.
Hope that helps.
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if it's an app, it's not n OS, and does not replace an OS.
People want to replace the OS to get rid of forced data mining, forced updates, other limitations, and to be able to install other kinds of apps
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You aren't wrong, that's all true. But also there are a lot of reasons to want to "free your TV". The literal answer is that rooting your TV is difficult or impossible depending on the brand, and the technically true answer is that you can at least get away from the horrible manipulative interface pushed on you by the manufacturer without doing anything difficult. Better than nothing, IMO.
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i'm in the EU. if i order a screen/panel that can do tv or is smart i pay more on import taxes. so the obvious is to buy the dumbest panel you can get and slap some SBC on it yourself. still want to use cable and sat? tv headend is just great for that amd more as you can mix cable, sat and ip tv. your sbc (or nuc etc) can run stuff like kodi and you're good to go. you still want android apps for a tv? go add some cheap fire tv stick. i dont know of any droid app i still would need. used to have "pluto" but turns out thats just boring too.
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Install pi hole at home, force the TV to use that for dns, block some shit but not all, build on that, report back
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you can yes but it is hard
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There's a whole lot of different smart TVs. If you want help, it would be useful to provide the brand of smart TVs as well as the operating system that it's running.
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This would be awesome, but something else I thought of would be DRM. If you don’t have the correct version (like Linux and a few android custom roms) then you would stream at really low quality. So if you even came up with a free smart tv os, it would lack quality streaming
107 comments
It should be a thing because most (all?) "smart TVs" run some variety of Linux, which, as Free Software, is supposed to guarantee the device owner's right to modify the software running on the thing. However, in most (all?) cases, the practical ability to do that has been destroyed by subverting encryption functions against the owner in a process called Tivoization.
In other words:
Thanks for teaching me a new concept to be angry about, I guess.
I mean, they did it with phones too. Android is just Linux. That was one of the main attractions, for me at least.
At first, many people and groups supplied their own phone OSes. There was a whole thriving community ecosystem. Then they started to make it really hard, locking bootloaders and including critical pieces of hardware that didn't or couldn't have open source drivers (look up WinModems for a very early example of this technique, it remains really effective) or otherwise required extremely convoluted methods to access and the phone might function marginally without some of these fully functional, but at least you could still install a custom ROM on it if you were stubborn enough.
But even that wouldn't last. Nowadays they've made it literally impossible to defeat the security on most phones, in the name of keeping hackers and criminals out, but really a big part of their motivation is blocking these pirate OSes that let you actually control the hardware and software in your phone, doing criminally nefarious things like stopping them from downloading ads (the horror!) and preventing them from funneling all your data and activities back to Big Brother (how rude!) and worst of all updating it with modern functionality after they've declared it "obsolete". The goal going forward is to sell you things that you don't and can't control, so they can shut them down or make them gradually more and more useless and make you buy new ones forever. They want you to have a subscription for everything including physical objects without realizing that you've been forced to subscribe to their regularly-scheduled-disposable-device-replacement-plan for no actual reason.
They're coming for computers too, or at least they'll try. They want control of everything we interact with. For profit, mostly, but I wouldn't rule out other motives. It's a powerful thing when you have control of everything people see and do.
Woah woah woah, slow down partner, you're not done yet.
It's interesting to see some of the back-and-forth on this topic between different proponents of free software.
I listened to this talk by Linus Torvalds a while back and it relates to the GPL license used by the Linux kernel and why the kernel hasn't changed to GPLv3. Apparently Linus doesn't find this practice by Tivo and other hardware manufacturers to be an issue.
Yes, it's a damn shame that Linus is weak on property rights.
Because that's what this actually is, by the way: violating the device owner's property rights in order to prioritize the manufacturer's temporary monopoly privilege over the software -- which was only created for the sole and express purpose "to promote the progress of science and the useful arts" in the first place -- above them.
Linus is kinda infamous for being a dick.
How come Linux doesn't use GPL v3?
Linux copyrights are owned by many different people, so it would be prohibitively difficult to ask every person to agree to a GPLv3 change. Even if you could, Linus Torvalds is not a fan of the v3 license.
Count me in for #3.