This isn't the first thread on the issue, it has been well noted and there is desire at a UK level to address the issue. The equation is resources, risk and feasibility.

Re "The equation is resources, risk and feasibility"

I would have thought 'reputation' and 'not fit for purpose' should also be in the equation

I would have thought that pride in the company name and a sense of embarrassment would outweigh any of these factors, This is not a minor irritation: it is a major flaw in the product which should take priority over the development of new products.

Indeed.

Although I can't remember the last time I suffered a power cut it is very worrying that a company can take such a relaxed attitude to a fundamental problem with a product.

I had assumed, given the excellent reputation that Humax have, that the problem was intractable without a hardware revision.

Now that we have been told that the problem is amenable to a software solution I find it odd, to say the least, that Humax have done nothing about it for eighteen months.

That's the point. It would be damned annoying if it does happen and stuff doesn't get recorded especially if you're on holiday but it hasn't happened to me at all yet.

That said, it really should be fixed as it is a fundamental thing for a PVR to do. If Humax made the loader software available on their website then those interested could upgrade. There would be lots of people who wouldn't know about the problem, these forums or the solution so only the people who wanted the software would install it.

That's an important thing to remember. There must be a large number of people who switch on and wonder why their recordings are missing. It was not until I did a search on the forum that I realised that turning off the mains supply to do electrical work was the reason. I do not watch TV every day, so had no reason to connect the two events.

I am wondering could the issue be that they don't get power cuts in Korea? Maybe Bob needs to underline the fact how common these are in the UK?

There's no power system in the world immune to power cuts simply because at the consumer level it would be too expensive to provide duplicate sources.

In the UK systems at 11Kv and under are normally single fed but with a higher reswitchable restoration at the higher voltages.

At the end of the day if someone sticks a pick in the 415V cable down your street you and your hdr (if in sby ) is stuffed


Overhead systems the world over are more vulnerable to problems but much quicker to repair.

Yes, obviously I didn't mean none. Perhaps power cuts are just far more frequent over here, so the Koreans haven't realise how important an issue it is to fix?

It's not just power cuts, though. Most owners would happily unplug the HDR to use the socket for something else and it would not occur to them that they have to switch it on when they plug it back in. Most owners will be quite unaware of why their recordings have failed - and that is very lucky for Humax.

It probably depends where you are, whether it's the UK or Korea.

I can't remember having a power cut in the last 6 years - whilst I've been at my current address.

The Humax developers were obviously concentrating on a very low standby power usage and they've done an excellent job on that front. It may well be that they are situated in an area that has a power supply as reliable as the one where I am and they just didn't consider it.

Here in the French countryside (overhead wires) we get power cuts fairly regularly, especially during heavy rain or high winds.I'd say maybe once a month on average. They don't usually last long, 30 mins or so at most, but of course any interruption is enough to disrupt things like the HDR.

Curiously I noticed when we had one the other day and the HDR wasn't in standby that, when the power came back on it resumed in full operational mode. So I guess the workaround for now is not to put it in standby if you have any important recording due!

Well said Geof P!

I'm in the suburbs of Milton Keynes and have had TWO power cuts in the last month - one around 1am for at least an hour; and another daytime for two minutes. Fortunately NONE during the ten days afterwards that I was away, so count myself lucky that the HDR was able on that occasion to perform its advertised PVR function despite the current flawed design, and that I have read this thread and realise for the future that if/when I notice a power cut to cycle the HDR!

Humax won't be getting any future money of mine unless/until this is fixed in a timely manner!

BTW: Just about every PC motherboard for years has the intelligence to know if it is being repowered after an unplanned powercut or not, so the logic/coding can't be that experimental/unproven/dangerous - and it's puzzling that $30+ PC board makers 100% account for that scenario while £250+ PVR makers can't be bothered!

MKD

I think Humax are just taking advantage of the fact that most owners don't know why they lose the occasional recordings. There is no reason for anyone to link it with the fact that they have previously unplugged the HDR for a few minutes to sort out the cables or whatever. If the subject ever gets onto Watchdog you can bet there will be a fix out in no time!

LOL, neither of those are a concern for Humax. If it is provable that it is 'not fit for purpose' then you have a right to your money back under the Sale of Goods Act - the claim is against whomever sold you the product and not the manufacturer.
As for reputation, there is a substantial fan base that will prop them up and ridicule any claim of a fault in the box. This ensures that any newcomers to places like this see those who complain of problems as the exception rather than the rule. I've yet to see anyone post an issue on here without at least a couple of pointless 'not a problem for me' responses.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the Foxsat HDR is functionally the best HD PVR currently on the market (IMO). If only they could get the stability, reliability, and performance to match the functionality I'd be happy however I think they'll want another wad of cash for that (i.e. for V2).

Yes, one would also think it would be in the Freesat box specification that a Freesat+ device would be able to resume normal recording operations without user intervention after a power cut.

Automan.

I've never read the situation to be like that. As for the 'not a problem for me' responses I don't see them as pointless at all. It gives a very good indication to whether a problem is universal to the product, or just a faulty one off. Or whether there maybe operational issues that may be overcome with regard to the end user.

But besides that I too would add my disappointment to the lack of support from humax over this major bug. I suffer power cuts on a regular basis. I'm begining to think they occur more often here than they do for a Korean peasant.

Freesat is a product invented for people who live in the most remote spots of the UK, who otherwise would have proved expensive to cover by terrestrial means.

Therefore by definition the owners of this product will suffer more power interruptions than your average PVR owner. This needs to be covered in the Freesat+ specification and Humax need to assign the necessary resources to fix the unit with confidence - its been a massively successful product for them and this is the last big blot on the product.

I used to suffer from power failures which was a right pain. Having the only PVR available that won't set the clock when power is resumed became frustrating. This really should have been fixed during that year Humax took to address foxsat issues and forumers wishlist addons.

OK credit to Bob for giving Humax input on this thread and not going quiet. Can I ask Bob, given resources allocated to UK work at the moment is on making the freeviewhd pvr, when, realistically, Korea will be able to release someone to looking at this foxsat issue, so that they can tell you one way or another if they can fix it?

3 bloody power cuts this week and it's only tuesday... Whatsmore my UPS has died a death too

Don't you just leave the machine on? When power is restored the machine goes back to the 'on' state and clock updates itself and timers work.

Or is it that a fuse box has tripped and after a power cut you have to manually flip the main switch on in the fuse box? In which case you can only get the hummy back up and running when you are physically back home. That was a problem for me - bloody annoying it was.

The problem with leaving it on is that the box doesn't do it's housekeeping at 3 am and if I remember correctly the epg data starts to become flakey over the course of a couple of days.

I think it should BE OK for the next few hours which is what matters. Some of the epg data is carried on each transponder for a limited period. Experiment anyone

Even if box is on, after a mains interuption it comes back in standby mode, so doesn't reset the clock
As per Humax, you physically have to turn the box on to reset the clock
Hence my proposal to make a one shot timer that will blip a relay with contacts wired across the on/standby switch on the front panel, thereby simulating physically turning the box on

No it doesn't. A power failure when the box is on means it will power back up in its on state when power is restored. This resets the clock and leaves it on until it is physically switched off or the power off timer switches it off.

When I go on holiday I use the following workaround. Set the power off time to 2:55 AM, the power on time to 3:20 AM and the power on channel to 999. This has been left for 2 and a half weeks on 3 separate occassions and has been fine.

The only chance of a power failure disrupting it is when it is in standby between 2:55 and 3:20. Of course I would still prefer the bug gets fixed though