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Are my 9200T's on their way out?
For quite a while both of my 9200t's have exhibited similar problems. Neither of them fully populate the EPG (today end the next day are usually OK but it gets flaky after that). Occasionally they do not wake from standby to record a programme and it gets missed.
I have tried reformatting the drive and the "power off, aerial out, power on, menu, default, auto restart, power off, aerial in, power on, retune" to no avail.
The thing that concerns me is that one of them has been in regular daily use since purchased but the other remained boxed for a while before being connected. The second unit has only been used lightly by comparison with the first. As my mother is reporting that her 9150 is starting to exhibit similar symptoms (and hers is in light use) I am beginning to doubt wear and tear and suspect firmware issues.
I realise no further firmware updates will be issued for these units so is it curtains for, what have been, these great units?
I have tried reformatting the drive and the "power off, aerial out, power on, menu, default, auto restart, power off, aerial in, power on, retune" to no avail.
The thing that concerns me is that one of them has been in regular daily use since purchased but the other remained boxed for a while before being connected. The second unit has only been used lightly by comparison with the first. As my mother is reporting that her 9150 is starting to exhibit similar symptoms (and hers is in light use) I am beginning to doubt wear and tear and suspect firmware issues.
I realise no further firmware updates will be issued for these units so is it curtains for, what have been, these great units?
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The best manual tuning instructions are from user Biggles and are reproduced below:
Manual Search Instructions.
The reason for doing a Manual Search is to target the five (or fewer) multiplexes coming only from your preferred transmitter. The UHF channel numbers for your six/five multiplexes (digital channels) from your preferred transmitter can be obtained from the digitaluk web-site, enter your post code, house number and also tick the "Detailed view" box. Your UHF channel numbers are in the grey columns in the Coverage prediction section, ignore the BBC B multiplex (HD channels). The compass bearing for the available transmitters at your address are also shown on the page so you can check to see which transmitter your aerial is actually pointing at. You should only use the transmitter that your aerial is pointing at.
First you need to delete all existing channels.
Menu > Edit Channels > Edit Channel Lists > Password (0000) and delete all channels, note there is a Select All button. If you were on a TV channel before going into the menu then TV channels will be listed first, delete them all. Go to Group, select Radio and delete all the radio channels. Press Exit on the remote control and when invited save all the changes.
You will now get a message saying No channels are available……, press OK. You should now be taken to the Installation menu, choose Manual Search. Select the first UHF channel number obtained from the digitaluk web-site for Channel (actually the order doesn’t matter) and press Search. When the search completes, Save. Select the next UHF channel number for Channel and press Search.....Save. Repeat this for all six/five UHF channel numbers and to finish press the Exit button. You will now find all your Freeview channels on their correct channel numbers, good luck.
The non fully population of the EPG can be fixed by not tuning in all multiplxes in the first place.
This involves deleting ALL channels, both radio and TV and then manually tuning to a selection of the multiplexes for your preferred transmitter.
When this first started to be reported I was at a loss what happening to others as both mine were perfectly OK. I then released that I hadn't bothered tuning in all available multiplexes. As soon as I did I got the same problem as every one else. Having 2 9200Ts enabled me to experiment a bit more to confirm the theory, plus to proove to myself that deleting channels after a retune has absolutely no impact on removing the gaps in the epg. It has to be a whole multiplex missed from tuning from the start.
The issue you have concerning missed recordings is not caused by gaps in the epg. The normal cause is that you are tuned to more than 1 transmitter and the 9200T is looking at the wrong transmitter for the start signal. Being tuned to more than 1 transmitter, even if you delete channels afterwards, will also increase the gaps in the EPG. You will need delete all TV and Radio channels and retune manually ensuring that you only tune to the multiplexes from your preferred transmitter.
Could you not achieve a similar result by deleting all the channels you never watch from the Edit Channels menu? Or does that not reduce the memory requirements in the same way as not tuning the channel in the first place?
In my experience deleting channels has little, if any, effect, neither does "default settings" on its own but only manually tuning the multiplexes you require is quite a revelation. I only use my 9200 as a backup and overflow device, it was very slow, frequently missed recordings and the EPG didn't populate properly. I returned it to default settings, cancelled the auto-scan and manually tuned BBCA and D3/4 only. It is now responsive and reliable with a full EPG. You should tune only the multiplexes you need, not the ones you think you may need one day, you can always add more if you want to.
These machines are very old and were designed in a different era, tuning in only a few multiplexes effectively makes them think they are still in that era and they are happy as a result.
First things first: Thank you for the swift reply it is greatly appreciated, as always, gentlemen.
Third thing second: I always manually retune as I live in a location that can pick up Waltham and (occasionally) Sutton Coldfield.
Second thing third: Many thanks for the RAM info'. That makes perfect sense. I will check with my other half to see which mu'x(s) we can do without and try your suggestion on unit 2.
I will post the results here at a later date.
Tschüss
You are fairly close to me then. You say you always manually tune but do you delete all the old channels first as in my instructions that Martin has reproduced above? If you don't then you won't change anything significantly and you'll still have tuning related problems. I run my 9200 tuned to only the three main multiplexes and it works very reliably, it still is a little sluggish to remote commands though on occasion.
Hi, Big Les.
Yes, probably, I am South of Nottingham in Lard Island area (NG2). Once the problem started I began by deleting all channels (TV & radio) then manually retuning to 29, 49, 54, 56 & 57. Later I included 26 (for local TV). For the last few times, though, I have done a complete default return as described here: http://www.redeyedmonster.co.uk/humax-pvr-9200t-freezing-locking/ Would you mind telling me which three mu'xs you use? I would like to try a known fix to reassure me that the 9200 is "working within design parameters" and that there is nothing fundamentally wrong - just getting long in the tooth.
Thanks.
I'm west side near the motorway, I use Kimberley for my main viewing downstairs and Waltham (lower signal strength than Kimberley at my location) for the bedroom. Those instructions you refer to are 'one fits all' instructions Humax put out but the aerial out business is to cure another problem that you haven't got. After deleting all old channels my 9200 is tuned to BBC A, D3&4 and SDN. On Waltham that would be channels 49, 54 and 29. If you want to do a Default Setting first followed by a Manual Search the trick is to stop the included Automatic Search just as it starts (after the reboot) then go back to the tuning menu and select Manual Search.
Thanks, Big Les.
Yes, the method that you describe for the default (stopping before the auto search) is what I do otherwise I would get yet more mu'xs in the mix (that's got a ring to it). I have tried reducing the number of mu'xs from 6 (26, 29, 49, 54, 56 & 57) to 5 (by eliminating 26 - smallest) but with no noticeable improvement. I am off to try a reduction to 4 (the least I can achieve without domestic consequences) by dropping mu'x 29 as most of these channels are covered on other mu'xs by +1 channels or vice versa. If this fails to restore the EPG I will try your 3 mu'x selection - but hope that this is not necessary because, if I loose Pick TV
If I remember correctly I got a fully populated EPG with 4 multiplexes tuned but then dropped to 3 multiplexes in an effort to reduce the sluggishness to commands. In the end I bought a Panasonic PVR, rock solid reliability (so far) but not such a good user interface as the 9200. If your TV has a digital tuner remember you can watch the 9200's missing channels on the TV , you just won't be able to record them.
Quick up-date.
I first tried the "delete all channels" (TV and radio) and then retuned (manually) for mu'xs 49, 54, 56 & 57 and waited. After 30 min' or more I check the EPG and there was no marked improvement. Before dropping to 3 mu'xs I thought that I would try a default return (instead of just deleting all channels). Again, I retuned manually for the same 4 mu'xs and bingo! After a few minutes I had a full EPG
I have a portable HDD connected to the TV so that I can record HD/SD TV on that. This is my back-up since the Hummy started to loose the plot. I am interested as to why you chose to move to Panasonic. Was it just that Humax did not have the model with the features that you wanted at that time? I ask as it is beginning to look like I may need to replace the Hummies in the not too distant future. PM if you like as it is, perhaps, off topic for this thread.
I am going to carry out a final default reset, prevent auto' search and manually add just 1 mu'x. I will run the Hummy for a while and check the performance. If/when satisfied I will add 1 more mu'x. I will repeat this on until it "falls over". This should help to confirm the theory that it is the number of mu'xs that is the problem with my unit(s).
Panasonic is my manufacturer of choice, I have a few other bits of Panasonic kit around the house and I find it very reliable. Having said that I'm not very keen on the current Panasonic PVRs because they don't have a front panel display and look very plain. I bought the DMR-HWT130 before Christmas as the shops were selling off the last of the stock, this model does have a front panel display.
I have been a loyal owner of Humax kit since the early 2000s and I would be very happy still using the 9200 if it could cope with today's Freeview. The latest model I think is awful and looks like a meat pie in my opinion, reading the mass of posts about it's problems I wouldn't touch it with somebody else’s barge pole. I might be misinterpreting the situation but if you look at the traffic on the (several) Humax forums compared to the Panasonic forum here the Panasonic forum looks dead. It's either the enormous amount of problems with Humax kit or there are not many problems with Panasonic kit, or Panasonic owners are just not very vocal.
As for the "New Hummy": yep, pie is a good description of the appearance. I am really struggling with that. I like the media server function but doubt that it will come close to Kodi or Plex. That is why I asked abut the metadata. It probably just shows all the folders and files within but I will have to wait until some responds to that. Perhaps I will wander down to John Lewis's and grill the sales bods.
Why isn't my Humax K4000T Mocha doing anything? https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2l3NDYNKHrxQnBncEo4VEhtaWc/view?usp=sharing
In the and I had to keep the number of mu'xs to just 3 to work around the problem. As this topic appears to have been covered to death here http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1735575&page=12 I don't think that it necessary to carry on in this thread.