Roku Developer Program

Join our online forum to talk to Roku developers and fellow channel creators. Ask questions, share tips with the community, and find helpful resources.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
RokuKevin
Visitor

Enabling tcpdump on the Roku box

There is an undocumented feature that Roku developers have found useful in debugging some issues. In today's world of switched hubs that lack a promiscuous mode, having tcpdump on the Roku box may enable some of you to more easily get a packet trace to aid debugging.

To enable tcpdump packet traces on the Roku box, enter the remote code:
Home 5x, FF 3x, Rewind 2x

This brings you to a "secret" screen, where you can select:
"enable debug logging"

tcpdump is now enabled on the box. It creates a circular log of packet traces that can be accessed at http://<ipaddrOfDvp>/pkgs/ in log0,log1, log2,log3 that can be filled circularly.

Once the log is downloaded to your host, you can view it in your favorite tcpdump viewer (mine's wireshark: http://www.wireshark.org/)

--Kevin
0 Kudos
6 REPLIES 6
bcl
Channel Surfer

Re: Enabling tcpdump on the Roku box

Awesome!

Do you think you could start a Hints thread with all these great tidbits and tack it at the top of the developer forum so they don't get lost and are easy for new developers to find?
0 Kudos
EnTerr
Roku Guru

Re: Enabling tcpdump on the Roku box

Has this been disabled/retired ?
I think was showing in 2015 but not now when i tried
0 Kudos
belltown
Roku Guru

Re: Enabling tcpdump on the Roku box

"EnTerr" wrote:
Has this been disabled/retired ?
I think was showing in 2015 but not now when i tried

It seems to have disappeared. It wasn't much use anyway. The dumps it captured truncated most of the data. If you were lucky you could see part of the HTTP headers, but not much else.

I've had more luck setting up an ad-hoc wifi network on my laptop, and connecting my Roku to that network. That allows me to monitor all communication between the Roku and my network.
0 Kudos
renojim
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Enabling tcpdump on the Roku box

I think it was removed in 6.x. If not 6.x then 7.0. I've used the ad-hoc wireless network approach in the past, but I now have a router running OpenWRT that allows me to do all kinds of useful stuff.

-JT
Roku Community Streaming Expert

Help others find this answer and click "Accept as Solution."
If you appreciate my answer, maybe give me a Kudo.

I am not a Roku employee.
0 Kudos
Nicklee
Newbie

Re: Enabling tcpdump on the Roku box

I'm in that secret menu right now and it's only saying factory reset USB test update software cycle software update server cycle channel store server but there is another code that asks you if you want to turn on pyh or phy and when you click on it it wasn't it won't let you enable it and then right below it it says dump kernels and something else what's that all about

0 Kudos
Nicklee
Newbie

Re: Enabling tcpdump on the Roku box

So I was putting in the code to go back to the colonel dump page which is the platform screen and I hit a new code and it brought me to a screen I've never seen before it's another TV secret screen and it was home five times rewind pause fast forward pause rewind pause fast forward

0 Kudos