I had another try this morning at 08:50am with the same result - no update had occurred and none was found. It seems pretty obvious to me that the Caldbeck transmitter has not been transmitting this OAD. Unless Carol has received it by now it would seem that Stockland Hill / Crediton isn't doing so either.

Please forgive the following for it is pure conjecture, but I think it isn't entirely daft conjecture:

Two aspects of the PVR9300T freeze problem intrigue me:

1. The problem is intermittent but in an unusual pattern in my case - I went for 12 days with no freeze at all under any circumstances; during that time I made numerous recordings scheduled off the EPG, all of them successful. Then in a single evening I had 3 freezes, one of which ruined a scheduled recording. This pattern would be consistent with a periodic activity taking place that affects the transmission so as to create the conditions for freezes to occur on the 9300T. As only a few transmitters seem to be affected the activity would be taking place only on those transmitters.

2. The only case very similar to mine that I know about is that of Carol in Devon. Carol receives her signal from the Stockland Hill transmitter probably via a relay transmitter at Crediton. I receive mine from the Caldbeck transmitter in Cumbria. Both regions were the earliest to experience DSO; both regions are largely rural areas. Neither Carol nor I are receiving the OAD software update for the 9300T although others are getting it successfully from other transmitters. This may be coincidental, but then again it may not. I suggest that the existence of the freeze problem on boxes receiving from these two main transmitters and the non-transmission of the OAD may be related, either technically or logistically. Peversely, if this were true, the OAD intended to fix the problem would reach those users who didn't need it and not reach those users who did need it.

Taking these two points together, surely it is possible also that a periodic activity causing the freezes is also preventing the OAD transmission. As I suggested above in point 2, this could be for technical reasons (if an activity or transmission signalling condition can cause a freeze - effectively crash the box, surely it can prevent an OAD being detected and received) or it could be for logistical reasons - the "activity" if there is one prevents the OAD transmission in a non-technical way.

Without being paranoid I have to add the following. It is well known to many who live in this region that we are frequently chosen as the area in which to try things out. (I could talk about wind farms and nuclear waste reprocessing but that would smack of the paranoia I wish to avoid!) But a new direction with risks of going wrong is better tried in an area with relatively low population density! This is surely why Borders and South-West regions were the first to experience DSO. If 9300Ts are freezing with transmissions serving high-population densities that would disprove this element of my conjecture, but I do not have that data. In any case my remaining conjectures (specific activity as a cause and the OAD problem being related) wouldn't be weakened by that situation.

Finally, if Humax can publish a software update intended to fix the freeze problem then Humax must have some understanding of the cause of the problem. It is a pity that this apparently can't be shared with end-users. That the freezes affect only a small proportion of 9300T users is no consolation to those who are affected; indeed it is a source of further frustration.

I am rapidly reaching the point where my anger at having been stuffed by person or persons unknown and my lack of practical redress for a product I bought only a year ago for £230 (as it's not the fault either of the retailer or the manufacturer) makes me wish only to get rid of the hassle. So my patience is running out and I'm looking at Freesat and Sky as alternatives again. Before that though, I will see if there is another way to update my 9300T (given I have no PCs with a serial port), and I'll PM Gerry about that to ask if he can help.

Roger

 

I got over the problem of no PCs with a serial port last time by buying a usb/serial adaptor from here now only 50p, and a null modem serial cable from here priced at a similarly sensible price. Then I could update without the hassle of waiting for an OTA update coming along "sometime".

Hope this helps.

Colin

 

I got over the prblem of no PCs with a serial port last time by buying a usb/serial adaptor from here now only 50p, and a null modem serial cable from here priced at a similarly sensible price. Then I could update without the hassle of waiting for an OTA update coming along "sometime".

Hope this helps.

Colin

Colin, I think it probably helps a lot! In fact I can't imagine why I didn't think of it - probably because lack of a prior need for one had put USB-Serial adaptors right out of my mind.

So thank you - you're a star!

With a 9300T this seems like a "must have" as I would love to avoid the nonsense of OADs - they always seem to give me problems.

Off topic but I bought a Sony Blu-Ray player recently (the BDP-S760) that is not only a decent BDP but sits on your wi-fi network for software updates, BD-live links and a rather good photo viewer off a server. Shame it doesn't stream audio while it's at it, but it's certainly the way to go for software updates to "living-room" boxes.

So I'll order those bits right away; thanks again!

Roger

 

Since the online update late last week, the signal seems stable with no freezes apart from two when zapping across the channels and I got to More4. Switch mains off and on did it as usual. Maybe a hardware fault.

 

Since the online update late last week, the signal seems stable with no freezes apart from two when zapping across the channels and I got to More4. Switch mains off and on did it as usual. Maybe a hardware fault.

That's good to hear.
Gerry

 

Update as of Tue 8 Dec at 16:00:

My attempt to install the software update via a cable link from a laptop failed (last week) in spite of very helpful technical support from Humax; neither Humax nor I understand the reason for the failure which happened 1 second into the install - so the cable was essentially working, as was the install programme, and we re-downloaded the update itself in case the first download file had somehow become corrupted. The install, having started OK, failed with error code E-UT which Humax says indicates a transmission error in the cable interface but they couldn't be more specific about a reason. It has to be a bit more dodgy using a USB to Serial adaptor in any case though we checked this was working in Device Manager and we tried a whole range of different bit rates. All to no avail!

Humax said that the OAD was expected to go out "this week" but nothing is scheduled for the 9300T on the DTG schedule so I rather doubt the accuracy of that - bears out what Gerry has said about the difficulty of scheduling these updates.

Humax generously agreed to swap my 9300T for a new one with latest software installed. The snag with that is all the recorded material on the HDD that we really want to watch!

We were away at the weekend (Fri until lunchtime today) and scheduled 4 recordings all on BBC channels. The first three worked fine. The fourth (yesterday, Mon) failed after 5 minutes with the classic freeze. When we got home the 9300T was still in the exact state as at the moment of the freeze - essentially crashed and showing the freeze frame - when we switched on the projector that freeze frame came up on the screen! The failed recording (5 minutes of a 60 minute programme) was in the recorded programme list with the usual "terminated for unknown reason" symbol. The failed programme was on BBC4, 7 Dec starting at 11.05pm "The Beatles on Record".

Fortunately this was the last of the four recordings we had set up and the least important to us. We have the other three scheduled recordings just fine. But of course the freeze could just as easily have happened 5 minutes into the first scheduled and we would have had nothing.

So recording with our 9300T in its present state remains a frustrating lottery.

Our personal strategy now is to hope that the OAD transmits to us and installs OK on our unit and fixes the problem; also to watch the existing recorded material on the HDD ASAP (over the Christmas break) and if the OAD doesn't succeed and/or doesn't fix the problem, then to take up Humax's offer of a box swap once we have finished viewing existing recordings (early in the New Year).

Roger

 

Well, I've been refraining from posting for a few days, but it would appear that our unit has been much more stable since the retunes etc.

It has updated (can't remember the exact update release date, but I think it was mid November) too, so all in all.........

so far so good

Although for some reason, I have had a couple of the "your box needs a retune" type messages since Dec 2nd, I've just gone along with them & retuned, better safe than sorry

 

I have just received this latest email from Humax with dates for the Over Air Download of the latest software. It is not clear as to whether this will eliminate the "Retune" message at start up and I have asked for clarification on that.

"The new software for the PVR-9150T is currently on air on MUX 1:

Monday 11th starting at 10am
Until
Wednesday 13th ending 9am

Users can leave the product in standby overnight during this period or they can follow the instructions found at http://www.humaxdigital.com/global/support/OAD_SoftwareUpdate_9300T_9150T.asp.

Other confirmed dates on MUX 1:

PVR-9300T - Repeat download of UPTTF 10018 - 04/02 (from 10am) - 06/02 (to midnight)
PVR-9150T - Repeat download of HPTTF 10017 - 06/02 (from 1am) - 08/02 (to 9am)"

Gerry

 

Thanks for that Gerry, the retune message is now beginning to get on my paps a bit, it seems to be getting more regular for some reason & therefore I just tend to leave the box turned on.

I'm going to nip across home at brew time & put it on standby, see if it updates through the day or not, otherwise it'll be tonight - hopefully!

 

Just heard back from Humax. This download is the version that has been available on the Humax website since before Christmas. There will be a further download for the retune message problem once they can get full information from the DTG as to exactly what is causing it.
Gerry

 

Gerry

Any info on the 9200T please?

 

New Update for 9150 (and 9300 I think)

Hi

This morning our PVR-9150T displayed a notice telling me that an automatic update ( over air) had been successfully done.

The status of it is now shown as:

Rev 1.0
Software HPTTF 1.00.18
Loader a 4.37
Update date Jan 13th 2010 ( this must be when the software was written)

More info here:
Humax link <<
seems that there is one for the older PVR 9200 too but not sure when that will be transmitted.

Transmission download timetables Here <<

Mike

 

Humax pvr9150T

Software updates are going out now. jeffo

 

They seem to have resolved the retune message problem, which they said they would not be able to fix yet.
Nice to see that Humax still have the most intuitive software upgrade system of all of the set top box manufacturers.
Gerry

 

Yes, the PVR9300T update was also transmitted last week (Thu 10.00 to Fri 0900) and I think is being repeated today (Sun 7 Feb) from 10.00 until midnight). This is very welcome if it fixes the post-retune problems as I've missed several much-wanted scheduled recordings because of freezes/crashes in the last several months, though it must be said that the problem was highly intermittent.

Interestingly my 9300T left in standby did not pick up the OAD transmission automatically even though the menu was set for it to do so; but I'd been watching the DTG schedules carefully and so knew in advance of the transmission. I initiated it myself choosing the automatic search function - the OAD was found immediately, downloaded and installed seamlessly, recommended a factory default reset (which I did) and this was followed by an automatic channels retune.

Hopefully and at last, this will have fixed the problems which I believe were not essentially of Humax's making but were probably caused by changes made by the broadcasting and transmission authorities who failed to notify or specify the changes properly to the equipment manufacturers. I'm not sure why, but the BBC is my number one suspect in what happened! 8O

Roger