ulTRAX'S ARCHIVE

SITE
INTRODUCTION

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WELCOME TO ulTRÅX's WTV ARCHIVE & RESOURCE SITE

INTRODUCTION: This Site is dedicated to the belief that all networks deserve to be explored. Some may consider WebTV (now MSN TV) an "info-toy", but its outward simplicity conceals a wealth of sophisticated technology. This Site's mission was the furthering that exploration. However, as of September 2001 I am no longer on WebTV and I plan no future expansion of the technical data here. Most recent exploration has been done with a modified WebTV Viewer... WebTV's own emulator.

Just three years ago WTV Sites with 500 WTV codes and a few "tricks" were on the cutting edge. Today, a Site must reflect what we have learned over the years. Even simply listing the 2500+ URLs and codes we now know may be useful, but without the knowledge to use them, their potential, as well as that of the WTV explorer, will never be realized.

GOALS: The goals for this Site are simple.
1: To have in one place a definitive listing of old and current WTV URLs, commands, and page code. That goal is still a long way off. Most of the URLs were (or will be soon) set up as live links to be used as embeds or with the JS Code Reader.
2: To provide some historical background about the exploration process, the people involved, and to document the progress made to date.
3: To provide an up-to-date distillation of the two above. Ultimately, this narrative, albeit it at times highly speculative and possibly inaccurate, rather than just a mere listing of codes and commands, may be of most value to those intrested in furthering their exploration of the WTV Network.

Face it... the only ones who know how WTV functions are those who design its hardware and operate its network. As if that wasn't bad enough, WTV continually throws obstacles in our path with every upgrade.... sometimes in between upgrades. Anyone curious about the operations of the WTV network is in the unenviable position of having to reinvent the wheel every few months. Most of us accept this as part of the challenge. Often exploration is as much about process as it is about results. We may know a mere 1% of what those in NetOps know... and they may know 99% of what we know. But, often it's in that 1% where all the surprises lay.

WTV uses a "thin client" model. Our set-top box contains the minimum hard and software and depends heavily on the WTV servers where our files are remotely stored. All Client-Server traffic uses propritary WTV codes and commands. Historically, and especially over the past two years, WTV's clear intent has always been to systematically block us from ALL direct access to these codes and commands. If they can accomplish this goal, then our options will become extremely limited. But, attempting to selectively prevent the browser from doing what it was designed to do may always leave gaps which can be exploited. As we've repeatedly witnessed, WTV's best efforts can sometimes easily be countered.

Have fun, but be careful. Some of these commands can damage or disable your WTV box. Write me with suggestions, additions, and comments.