This is a brief guide which will cover the basics of CCam cardsharing. It will cover most of the questions new cardsharers will raise.

For the purposes of this tutorial I will be using a dreambox dm500 with a PLI image. 

Question: What is CCcam cardsharing?
Answer: Card sharing a is method of sharing a paid subscription card over the internet. Person 1 has a paid subscription to a tv package EG sky uk. Person 1 also receives Sky Italia from abroad but cannot watch them as it is not possible to subscribe to that particular package due to territorial boundries. Person 2 has a subscription to sky italia, he also receives sky uk on his satellite but cannot watch it as it is encrypted and he cannot subscribe due to territorial boundries. This is where card sharing come into effect. person 1 & 2 both own linux cardsharing boxes (ie dreambox VU Duo etc), so therefore they can create a newtwork for each other to join. Being connected to each other through the internet means that person 1 can use person 2`s card as if it was his own and can now decrypt the sky italia stations he could not before. Person 2 can now also watch sky uk in italy with person 1`s card.

How do I do it?

Well, at first it may seem daunting with all the reading and setup involved but in reality it is pretty simple to learn.

The first think you will need is a linux sharing satellite box, there is many of these about. Most people opt for a dreambox as it is the most popular however there is other manufactures (VU, Technomate, Azboz etc etc). for the purposes of this tutorial we asume everyone has a dreambox. Obviously you will also need a broadband internet connection and a satellite dish also.

First of all it is recommended to set up your router. Your dreambox needs a fixed ip. The setup of this is different for each router so it is recommended you consult you router documentation. Basically every time your box is switched on it MUST be assigned the same IP otherwise your peers will not find you (where the router assigns the ip this is known as DHCP). Another way to do this is to assign a static ip from the box itself. Go to setup - system setting - network and turn DHCP off. Enter the ip you wish to use and this way the box will tell the router what ip it is taking rather than the router assigning an ip. (personally I think it is better to use DHCP and some routers do not like working with non DHCP devices)....

When you have this set up you will need to forward a port to the static address you have assigned to the dreambox, The default port is 12000, however you can choose whatever port you wish, be careful though as certain ports are required for other purposes on your pc xbox etc. if you are unsure which port to use stick with 12000. Again the setup of this is different for each router so it is recommended you consult you router documentation. 

Once you have compleated this step go to http://www.canyouseeme.org and enter the port number you selected into the box and it will check that the port is properly forwarded. If there is a problem check the setting again as this is important as you will not be able to share if your router is not set up correctly

When you have selected your box and set up your router you will need to flash your breambox with an image. Everyone has their own preferences, I tend to prefair PLI and nabilosat images but once you grasp the idea of how to set it up flashing a new image will become a 2 minute job (Images can be downloaded here: just make search on google u ll find it ) 

There is various methods for flashing your dreambox. the most reliable is to use the "DREAMUP" program. However using dreamup requires a NULL MODEM cable to connect the dreambox to the pc and not many people have these cables, Also not many new PC`s have a RS-232 serial port. There is also other ways to flash and a popular method is to use "DREAMBOX CONTROL CENTRE" (DCC 2.96). DCC uses the internet to flash the image. This is a quicker more conveniant method but this comes with a bigger risk of error. I find that about 1 in 20 DCC dreambox flashes fail. When this happens the box will not boot. Do not worry though as when this happens you can reflash it with Dreamup and the null modem cable and it will work again.

Dreamup & DCC 2.95 can be downloaded here:  just make search on google u ll find it

Flashing with dreamup is pretty self intutitive. Open program, connect null modem from pc to dreambox (with dreambox switched off at wall), select image, hit the flash button and then switch the dreambox on.

Flashing with DCC is straight forward also. Load it up, Connection type - select router. enter the computers, dreambox`s and routers ip in the appropiate boxes, enter your username and password (default username/password is root/dreambox) and hit connect. Once connected select: TOOLS- UPDATE FLASH IMAGE. Then open your downloaded image and hit execute. Remember if it goes wrong you can use dreamup to fix it.

If the flash is successful congratulations, you are halfway there. Next boot up the box (These next instructions I am going give you refer to a PLI image, if you have chosen a different image your setup may be slightly different)

Go to: Menu - Setup -software management- downloads - softcams/cardservers and download CCcam 2.14 & CCcam config 2.14 ( if you cannot find these options looks for "download latest menu" on the first setup page and download and install it and try again)

Reboot box.

Next go to: Menu - setup - softcam setup. Select CCcam2.14 as your default softcam and then save and restart cam.

Your box is now set up for cardsharing  


Next you will want to get some shares and get started with your F & C Lines. To share you with a friend you need to create 2 lines. An Fline for your own box and a Cline to give to your client for his box. Your lines will look something like this

F: USER PASS 2 0 0 { 0:0:2 } 
C: 80.97.243.65 12000 USER PASS 

We will break these lines down and try to explain what they mean. First the Cline (which you give to your client) 

C: This tells your clients box that this is a share to other cards. It is always C: 

80.97.243.65 This is your ip address. To use Ip addresses for shares you need to have a static ip address (most broadband providors do not give static ip addresses and change your ip regularly). Check with them and see if you can get a static. If they dont do this or want to charge you extra you can set an DNS account instead and download dns updater. The dns updater will track your ip and will update as necessary. If you set up a dns you cline will change to comething like this: 
C: anyone.dyndns.org 12000 USER PASS 

You can join dyndns here http://www.dyndns.com
And download the dns updater here http://www.dyndns.com/support/clients/windows.html

12000 This part is the port you selected earlier for port forwarding on the router. Basically your client will come on this port, you router will see a request on port 12000 or whichever port you chose and forward it to the dreambox

USER This is the username you have created for your client (every user must have a unique name)

PASS this is your clients password.


Next the fline (remember this goes in your box and it corresponds to the cline you gave to a client)

F: This tells your box that it has a client

USER this tells your box your clients username. 

PASS this tells your box your clients password.


These are more advance settings

2 0 0 This is access to your card. 1 0 0 means client gets your card only, 2 0 0 means client gets your card and shares you have at 1 hop
3 0 0 means your client get your card and shares up to two hops away

{ 0:0:2 } This is wether you give reshares or not. { 0:0:1 } meants client only can access card. { 0:0:2 } means client has access and can reshare it at 1 hop. { 0:0:2 } means client has access and can reshare it to two hop`s.

For starting out it is prob best just to leave it 2 0 0 { 0:0:2 }

When you have created your lines give your client the cline and put the fline in your cccam.cfg. this can be found on DCC by browsing to: FTP- VAR- ETC- cccam.cfg


Thats more or less it, Good Luck! Should you have any problems post in our forums and someone will help you  


Also, I wrote this of the top of my head, I may have missed things so if anyone can add to it or spot any errors reply below and i will update it.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOU SETUP