Getting Samsung SmartTV to work with newer 2015 TVs

[emlama]

I have a ju7100 Samsung TV and it looks like the protocol for connecting has changed. Any insights on this?

[imbrianj]

I've heard the newer models had change their connectivity method, but haven't been able to test it. Do you know if the same port is available? You can visit your TV's server at:

http://[IP Address]:55000

If it is listening, you'll get a "ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE" code. If it's not listening, you'll get "ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED".

If it does allow a connection, you can try adding additional logging to the controller to find out it's response. Unfortunately, Samsung has traditionally been pretty difficult to debug since their responses are so unhelpful.

Hope this helps! Let me know what you find - or if you need any help in debugging.

[emlama]

This is what NMAP shows:

Starting Nmap 7.01 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2016-02-12 14:24 EST
Nmap scan report for 192.168.105.21
Host is up (0.0026s latency).
Not shown: 994 closed ports
PORT     STATE SERVICE
7676/tcp open  imqbrokerd
8000/tcp open  http-alt
8001/tcp open  vcom-tunnel
8080/tcp open  http-proxy
9090/tcp open  zeus-admin
9999/tcp open  abyss
MAC Address: FC:F1:36:53:45:37 (Samsung Electronics)
Device type: general purpose
Running: Linux 3.X
OS CPE: cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel:3
OS details: Linux 3.2 - 3.10, Linux 3.2 - 3.13
Network Distance: 1 hop

One thing I have noticed is that a sample iOS app I'm using requires me to enter a PIN. I haven't figured out how this protocol works. It looks like the app notifies a remote server and that remote server then notifies the TV. I haven't been able to see the communication through wireshark but I'm sure it's because I don't know what I'm doing :)

[imbrianj]

Interesting. Yeah, definitely a new protocol. The PIN may be all local - similar to what LG does for authentication. When LG TVs go through a factory reset, they generate a random PIN that is then used till the next factory reset. It requires that PIN to be sent in the header of the request.

...but that's just me speculating.

[timelery]

I created a console application that can be used to send remote control commands to Samsung TVs that are using the new encrypted communication protocol. Model 2014+ Samsung TVs.

Run the executable to setup the pairing connection and follow the instructions. Once the pairing is complete the program can be executed with a command argument to send one of the available commands to the TV. I have tested it on two different H Series TVs successfully. Let me know if you have any issues. I hope it proves useful for others.

[img]http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z457/eagleeyedesign/Snap1_zpskmlvqoon.png[/img]

[b]Download Here:[/b]
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4rFn8xXaiKsa1NidjUzOHh6ZGs

[imbrianj]

@timelery very cool! Do you have documentation that you used to create this? Ideally, I'd like to port the logic to node.js and integrate with SwitchBoard natively.

[imbrianj]

@timelery Do you have this code in a repo I can look at in order to port?

[andreypopov]

please, port to linux

[imbrianj]

@timelery - Do you intend to make your code open source so it could be ported to SwitchBoard (for use on a wider group of OS's)?

Otherwise, if anyone here can point me to documentation for doing something similar, I can try to roll something into SwitchBoard natively.

[nelis249]

@imbrianj - looks like timelery wrote it in .NET. I can try to get source code from it.

I have a question for you though. Have you ever tried sending a message to your TV to create a custom drop down notification on the TV screen? Not from a TV app but from something external.

[imbrianj]

@nelis249 if you could provide some info, that'd be a huge help!

I have not tried sending a custom drop down notification to the TV. I didn't know that was possible - at least for the (admittedly dated) version I have. If you have docs and are willing to test, I can certainly look at it.

[nunofgs]

Any word on the encrypted protocol?

[imbrianj]

@nunofgs All I'm aware of is that the protocol has changed, what I currently have for Samsung TV support does not work on (at least) 2015+ models, newer model TVs have ports 7676, 8000, 8001, 8080, 9090 and 9999 open and that someone has claimed to have gotten something to work with it in a closed-source .NET application. As I don't have the device to test first-hand, and the source or methods have not been provided, it's not possible for me to port to JS for wider / platform agnostic use. I'm afraid that until @timelery is able to provide his source - or someone else is able to shed some light on how to get this to work, I'll be unable to do much.

[imbrianj]

Relevant findings: https://community.smartthings.com/t/samsung-smart-tv-support/741/71

[DanielRuf]

But these ports are not available on 2014/2015 models.

[imbrianj]

@DanielRuf unfortunately, without the devices to test on - or someone willing to help develop and test, there's not a lot I can do 😢