Set-Top Box and ActiveX

[kenwood850]

I have a Toshiba IK-WB16A security camera that I would like to view and control using my TV and a set-top box. Unfortunately Toshiba has pretty much crippled the versatility of the camera by requiring the use of ActiveX to control it. Is there by chance a set-top box that can provide http and ActiveX functionality, or alternately, is there software that can be added to a set-top box that will allow either Linux or the Android OS to provide that functionality? I know ActiveX is really frowned upon due to security concerns but Toshiba seems to have locked me in to using it. .

 

[hang-the-9]

ActiveX is a Microsoft tech unless your device can run Windows you won't get it. WINE may be able to work with it though on Linux. Basically if you can run a Windows game on the system you can run ActiveX on it.

 

[kenwood850]

ActiveX is a Microsoft tech unless your device can run Windows you won't get it. WINE may be able to work with it though on Linux. Basically if you can run a Windows game on the system you can run ActiveX on it.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Based on your suggestion I did some research on WINE and it appears that in this instance it might not be practical.

The first thing I did was to download a fresh copy of WINE and decompress it on my Linux server. What I found was that it expanded to188 MBs. I also looked at “ie4linux” and from what I gathered from reading about it, it is very old and might not work well with the newer versions of WINE. It also appears to need at least one actual Win XP .dll file to run ActiveX.

I then looked at what was available for set-top boxes that use Linux and a lot of them do not even specify the amount of free storage space available, and the largest amount I could find on those that did specify the amount of storage was 128 MB. Even then it wasn’t clear if it was actual free storage space for additional software or total storage space.

Given all the potential pitfalls of using WINE, it would seem that my best option at this point for success it is too build a small dedicated headless PC with a small SSD drive, Bluetooth keyboard, and old copy of Windows and connect that to the TV. I did find some information while looking for Linux set-top boxes that detailed the experiences of others who have done that for various reasons and it seems a viable alternative.

Based on my experience to date, the only thing I know for sure is that I would never recommend the purchase of any Toshiba security camera, including the IK-WB16A, that locks you into a single OS and an old insecure technology, ActiveX, to control the camera.