We already have a list of bugs which trys to see which things annoy most people but, now that most of us have had these boxes for a while, which bug do you find most annoying.

Like most people I find the delete feature an annoyance but it's relatively minor.

My top three (in terms of those which crop up most or are most annoying when they do) are:

1) The fact that when the timer bar is present the box refuses to do a great many functions. This is completely brain dead. If you ask it to do something that it can't do with the timer bar present, for God's sake, just get rid of it! This happens several times every night even though I've almost trained myself to press exit if the time bar is present when I want to do somthing incompatible.

2) The way the box unpauses when you select the guide. Again, totally brain dead as it just cannot be harder not to show the current stream than to show it.

3) The way that if you enter timeshift the subtitles turn on and you can't turn them off. I don't use timeshift much but when I do this bug is extremely annoying.


Does anyone else have bugs which they find particularly annoying even is they may appear quite minor?

I think we should avoid the word "bug" and use the word "issues" so as to avoid arguments as to whether they are actually a bugs or not. Nevertheless, they are things that need getting right.

I agree with the things you mention, include the delete thing, and will add one more.

- Failure to record programmes that have a Series CRID but no PROG CRID (after having asked me whether I want to record the series or individual programme).

I don't really know which issue I find the most irritating, it probably depends on which one caught me out last. However, I will put forward the suggestion that the most annoying thing about the HDR is that there are so many minor issues that they all add up to one great big irritation.

Yes, a better word - quicker than typing bug/feature every time.

My issue which annoys me currently is nothing to do with the HDR but with the fact that when I press the red button on the BBC at the bottom of the front page is an option to 'Watch BBC HD'... Why? I can press 108 to do that and I don't have to sit around waiting for pages to load either..
BBC GET SOME MORE CONTENT VIA THE RED BUTTON FOR FREESAT

Can't agree more Gaseous, i know its a bit off topic but that is the most annoying thing for me about Freesat HD (and not being able to delete while recording).

Still no news multiscreen on BBC after nearly 11 months.
Do the BBC just employ one programmer or something ??

For my own part, I will add a big "Hear, Hear!!" to that as an issue

tsk, tsk! Don't forget the License Payer value now....

They post on here as the BBCi tech team so I guess there is more than one. I hope they are prioritising getting Freesat full red button functionality as surely it should be a priority to give License fee payers access to the same services across all digital platforms...

How about Accurate Record is often not accurate. Heroes this evening recorded 30 mins from 9.15-9.45 missing the first 15 mins. OK, it's likely a problem with the BBC and how they send out the info to the box but how hard is it to set correct timings for these things? It's not even especially new technology, I vaguely remember VCR's being able to do something similar although that never worked properly either! Perhaps if they spent a few million less on J Woss and employed a few full time staff who actually cared about this stuff, it would get solved..

I find the delete function a faff, either make the delete confirmation an option, or make Yes the default.

The time it's taking Humax to release any kind of update is also an issue!

HDMI negotiation failures. Only happens if the box is awake at the time when the TV gets switched on but irritating when it happens. I'm not sure that the workaround of pulling the cable and reconnecting is all that good an idea.

Only other thing is the glacial boot time.

My worst one is the volume on the remote doesn't default to the TV only. Every other day I press to change the channel only to have the TV switch to Freeview!
I have to remember to keep doing the 'Press PVR', power on, 'press TV', power on, 'Press PVR' again to change channel, Oh no! the TV is too loud, 'press TV' again turn down volume, now remember to 'press PVR' again to change channel etc etc etc......

Why not just use the volume control on the PVR? It works perfectly well at comtrolling the sound level.

Not if you are using DD5.1 over optical though.

Two most annoying things for me are:
1) The HDMI issue, where if the HDR is recording and you turn it on, you get a black screen. You have to switch to another tv input then back again to get the picture.
2) If I am recording something I am also watching, why won't it PAUSE???!! SO annoying.

But then why are we even listing these? Are Humax even listening anymore? I have personally given up, and stopped recommending these boxes months ago.

If you watch the recording rather than the live stream you can do anything with it fast forward, rewind, pause etc. Of course you can't fast forward beyond the live stream. Pausing a live transmission requires a free tuner to write to the hard disc. If you are recording two you won't have a spare tuner unless the 2 you are recording happen to be on the same transponder. Replaying a recording does not need a tuner. It's not a bug it's a phsyical limitation of 2 tuners no amount of firmware upgrades can fix it
Last edited by grahamlthompson : 21-04-2009 at 11:19

Why should pausing a live programme which is also being recorded require a second tuner ? I can see that the software could be designed that way, but it would be a poor design.

Is there another reason for this behaviour? The only one I can think of is that it may not have sufficient write-to-disk bandwidth for three channels (the two recordings and the live buffer). However, if it can pause a live programme when two programmes from the same transponder are being recorded (can it?), that would negate that theory.

It's probably a 'bugture' that escaped because there are just so many permutations of required behaviour.

I know from experience just how easy it is to completely miss out, or fail to fully debug, a rarely used though vital function from software suites despite massive testing effort.

We can only pray that Humax are reading these and other forums and are on top of all these niggles.

There is no problem with disk transfer capability. In theory under the right circumstances you could record up to 4 channels at the same time (the Icord can). There is a known problem with time shift replay using a tuner's hdd buffer. In practice if you are recording a channel it makes more sense to use chasing playback anyway which works without problems. Trying to use the live buffer is prone to problems anyway if the current recording pattern changes.

We use a combination of Freesat and Freeview, so the TV is a common volume control for both.

Tell that to the Sky+ technicians then. I had no such problem with that and its 2 tuners. I know we can select the recording from the Media menu instead, but we shouldn't have to.

"We can only pray that Humax are reading these and other forums and are on top of all these niggles"

Like I said before, I've given up. Very poor customer service imo.

I certainly agree with you on this one, Graham. Just a few of the minor issues I've referred to elsewhere that add up to big irritations. Live pause ought to work without these problems, and I didn't want to let Humax off the hook .

All the time the HDR is the only freesat+ box available, it is worth buying if the user is not prepared to wait for something better to come along (which could be the long awaited firmware upgrade to the HDR). But I believe that prospective purchasers should be aware that there are a lot of issues with it and that these may well detract from their enjoyment, even though it is still capable of its primary functions. If they purchase the HDR with the knowledge that there are a lot of issues, they are less likely to be disappointed.

I don't think any of the issues should really put anyone off buying a box.

Of those issues on my 'top 3' list only the first annoys me every single time I use the thing - and it's particularly annoying because it's such a stupid bug that should have been noticed and would have taken only moments to fix.

The other two happen maybe once a week and once a month.

Obviously others may find one or more issues much more annoying than that but at least they can check the list here to see if there are any killers.

Interestingly I've got so used to the delete 'problem' that it hardly bothers me any more although, again, that's just a personal reaction.

I agree with this and, thanks to this forum, I bought mine with a lot of prior knowledge as to the issues. Having done so, I am not disappointed in my purchase. However, I really wanted a freesat pvr when I bought it and the issues do still irritate (as I expected they would).

For somebody who is wavering about getting a freesat+ box now, it might be a different matter. For example, if someone is choosing between a HD TV and an HDR, they may be better off getting the TV now and a freesat+ box later rather than the other way around. It would be their choice and knowing that these issues exist could help them in their decision, and save them some disappointment if they do chose to get the HDR first.

The most irritating thing is the box not having a problem serious enough to bang on about in the forums.

It is an excellent piece of kit.

Stands back and waits for the shrapnel