I will look out for post from both Colin and parthena from Friday onwards to make a judgment as to proceed or not with the OAD for my unit

Can anyone who installs it onto a LP250DTR/HDMI or LP160DTR/HDMI, please post comments!

Yours hesitantly hanging ten over the abyss,

Richard

I have a t816 model running v3.7 software dating back to 2007.
I live in Catshill, Worcs and the nearest relay is Worms Ash outside Bromsgrove (about a mile away). Until recently I have had great pictures and no problems with this box however I have now lost BBC1/2/3, Sky3, ITV3, Quest and many other channels and the box will now not support watching one channel whilst recording another - both freeze and jump.
IF this box is due an over the air upgrade, will I miss it because I can't get some channels?
Many thanks

It's not due an update as it does not need one. Only the T825 units affected by the DSO issues need it.

Colin

Blackbird, I wonder if one of the tuners is kaput?

What's your postcode?

My T816 simply dropped dead a couple of months ago, I think the PSU must have worn out, that's beyond me to repair. Hard drive nearly full of treasures of course

Futaura/Colin - Just thinking, if I don't like v13.0, I can reinstall my previous version because it's one Vestel sent to me - if anyone wants it, let me know. I've forgotten the number but it's here somewhere.

parthena

I will post back on Sunday morning.

I've got one of each and will be loading it on to the more flakey of the two Friday evening. There is a set of personal set of activities I want to try before I make my decision with the better of the two.

Fataura, would it be OK for you to add this to your site. Even if it were not needed it would be great to have the knowledge that it is there if need be. Then the likes of myself (and perhaps pvteyes99?) would be more relaxed about loading V13 in the knowledge we could possibly go back to 4.8.

Futaura will hopefully comment but I recall there are some problems with reverting on one or more of the T825 versions. It could be done but it did not re-instate some one or more of the features.

Colin

Edit:- I've just located the post which refers to the above. It's #58. I don't think it applies to units with the original software but may affect your modified one?

Sorry to disagree Colin, but T816s and T810s do need an update.There are about 10 (including my Techwood) listed on Futaura's post DSO problem listing ,all with similar stuttering and jumping problems to the T825.
Mine is currently bodged, with the HDD 5V supply fed from a PC Power Supply but I still hope that Vestel will get around to updating the software for the older models.

Brian

Hmmm! I must have been asleep to have missed that. Thanks for the correction.

Colin

Who is going to be brave and be the first to download the v13 for the LP250DTR/HDMI?!!?!

I await to see how this pans out.

All the best,

Richard

I'm just under one-third through the download after 26 minutes - don't worry, you'll know sooner or later how I get on

parthena

Actually, parthena's software version is (was) v10.8, with OAD ID 006 - wasn't sure if this was specifically targetted at the Wharfedale until a few minutes ago, but it must be as parthena is now downloading the OAD . So, going back to v10.8 is definitely an option for the Wharfedale LP/HDMI models assuming v10.8 does have the Gemstar features enabled (not sure on that one, parthena?).

Whilst this is true, the T825 is more widely affected for whatever reason. There are some users with a T825 and a T816/T810 and only the T825 is exhibiting problems. IMO, it's still pretty much a mystery as to exactly what the root cause of the problem is. I have asked Vestel about this, but as yet I do not know if the T810 and T816 are affected by the exact same issue as the T825 and if a similar software fix could be applied to those.

First of all a quick update for pvteyes - standing still at the half-way point after 44 minutes

I'm not sure what the Gemstar stuff is. But if it's:

Info x 1 press = prog title
Info x 2 presses = prog info

then yes, 10.8 has that function.

EDIT - Oh heck, I think it's Now/Next, and I can't remember if 10.8 has that because I never used it Sorry fellas.

However, my new Panasonic TV has it - so why is Vestel affected when Panasonic are not?

UPDATE - Nearly two-thirds downloaded @ 1 hour

parthena

IS this update compatible with Hitachi T835 as it stutters a little at times?

Updated today? If so, which version was your Alba running before?

Freeview Viewer - Almost certainly not. Futaura will be able to advise, he has one I think.

PROGRESS REPORT - standing still for 9 minutes with a tiny black oblong at the end of the progress bar waiting to be filled up with white. I'm dreading the sudden appearance of a huge ABORTED notice on my screen... wow... "your whatsit has been updated and should reboot soon", which it is now doing...

Waiting... waiting... sizzling noises from hard drive (unless it's my mice being fried whilst chewing something back there)...

Got a picture.

Configuration menu says v13.0.

Info = one press = Now & Next programme titles but NO programme descriptions Two presses merely clears it.



parthena

Because Panasonic have paid the license fee or can afford to be sued?

I need to have a proper read up on these patents, as I've still yet to read in black and white about the extended programme info being patented. The obvious thing in the patents refers to favourite channels - although I think favourite lists are allowed, there are heavy restrictions on what you can do with them. For example, not being allowed to indicate favourite channels in the EPG, which is why v13.0 lists all channels in the EPG ignoring favourite selections. I always wondered why the favourites feature on my Sony TV is so useless - it really is a complete waste of space (and a wasted remote button) compared to the old Vestel way of handling things. I can't make my mind up whether the Sony implementation is simply bad design or Sony's way of working around the patent .

No. Vestel PVRs have always been prone to a little minor stuttering which can be caused by many things like signal interference, dropouts, heavy cpu load or heavy disk access. The v13.0 software for the T825 was to fix a rather more serious case in that it was pretty much not possible to record and/or watch certain channels at all.

As an aside, I have heard that the T835 will be getting an OAD soon, partly to remove the infamous Gemstar features, but will also contain some very nice fixes which more than make up for the loss of the Gemstar features IMHO.

Just to add that, with v13.0, the EPG is quicker to navigate. I'll post any other differences I notice.

It was quite foolhardy of me to do this because the Wharfedale had just started working glitchlessly after months of uselessness - now I've lost the Prog Info, which I used a lot (it was the Next I wasn't bothered about losing, the same applies to Favourites).

clemenzina

You can still get programme info on the EPG, library and timer screens though. Good to hear about the EPG speed - this may have perhaps been brought in from the T835 software.

I've been meaning to ask this of anybody using v13.0 - I was wondering if the power button can still be held down to reboot the machine?

Thanks for the realtime updates parthena!

I am very tempted to install this v13. Can anyone confirm if I would be able to roll back to v4.8, does this file exist as a download somewhere?

As I have previously mentioned, my LP160DTR/HDMI is working well at the moment and seem distinctly nippier since I sorted my signal strength issues out.

But I am firmly on the fence with regards to doing the do with this v13.

If I could ask for continuing updates of any testing/experiences, that would be great to help decide what I should do. Although the onscreen info is used alot in my house.

All the best, thanks parthena,

Richard

Edit - does anyone else use the LP250DTR/HDMI with the HDMI? I have been using it mainly with SCART because it was a bit flakey on the HDMI. However, I have as of yesterday reverted back to using the HDMI with a better lead to see how it goes now that the box seems to be behaving itself lately.

I wonder if the v13 will make the HDMI output more reliable.

Downloaded 13.0 to my LP250HDMI successfully but like others took a very long time to complete. Started at 10:20 and finished 80 minuted later. Searching for the update was completed in 3 minutes and the download took the remainder of the time.

I was presented with a First Time Installation after the re-boot and accepted the Auto Scan option. However surprisingly all Timers were intact.

I seem to be seeing things that I had not noticed previously. There are scroll bars bars down the RH side of the Library and Timers list. Were they always there? Was there also a PIP view in the Configuration screen, there is now? Also the configuration screen is slightly different from previously with the Low Power and HDMI resolution entries at the bottom RH side of the display.

I'm also getting the rather odd Timer display reported on one of the earlier 13.0 OAD updates. If the Info function was set when the last use of the Timers list was exited and the Timers screen is entered again there is no entry highlighted and no synopsis info shown in the info panel. However if the PR+ button is pressed (as mentioned previously) or the scroll down button is pressed 5 times then the display returns to normal. It appears that the cursor is initially placed at the top of the screen and is hidden by the info panel.

Colin

Well bad, better, and good news...

Update done but some problems along the way, download about an hour and a quarter but then after the reboot the box went through the start up sequance till it got stuck on the Please wait while Hard Drive is initialized (or something simmiler)

after a few power cycles with no success I decided to just mash the front buttons out of pure desperation, I saw "RESET" flash up on the display then instead of the Hard Drive initialization screen I got one saying the hard drive needed formating. So with a sinking feeling in my heart I said goodbye to all my program but now it on, updated and all is well.

So the moral of the story is if you have the version with USB achive the program you want to keep before you update.

As for the new firmware... it seems a bit quicker (but that could be because of the format) the the lack of program description from the infobar is a little annoying but at least you can still scroll through what on now and next on other channels without switching channels. That would've been a deal breaker for me.

also pushing the info bar seems to make the picture glitch and sometimes sound drops out for a split second. However using either the up or down then the back button works flawlessly.

(Wharfedale Dtr250hdmi from V.4.8 to V.13.0 on Emley Moor)

Yes, holding the power button does re-boot the unit on 13.0. The first time I tried it I thought it didn't. I didn't know how long to keep the button pressed and I expected a response to occur whilst the button was still pressed. I held it down for about 10s and then got up to return here and post a reply. As I got as far as the door a few seconds later the sound went dead and the TV screen was blank. After an agonising wait eventually a "Wait" message appeared on the front panel display and the unit rebooted. I tried it again keeping the button pressed for 5 seconds and it started the boot process immediately after releasing the button.

Now the question, did this work on the prior update software? I tried it yesterday for the first time as as far as I can remember and It didn't work then. However, it was just a casual attempt whilst investigating my failure to come out of LP standby and I didn't take note of the exact procedure I used. Your use of the word "still" suggest you believe it did work on version 4.8. Is that the case?

Certainly the user interface does seem more responsive that I remember it ever being on 4.8 particularly the immediate smooth start of playback. Previously there used to be about a two second delay and a rather hesitant start as the audio synch sorted itself out. However, I have fewer recordings than normal set at the moment, fewer recordings in the Library and as a result of the frequent re-boots this afternoon the unit has not been operation long since a re-boot. So I will reserve judgement on this until I've used it for a while under normal conditions.

I won't be able to continue testing the unit for a while as I'm going away to stay with my brother for a few days so won't have access to the unit. However, he has a LP160 non-HDMI version of the Wharfedale on 4.9 so I will be able to play with that.

I noticed another little quirk with the Info panel in the Timers list. If the Timers screen is accessed with the Info panel enabled and then Info is disabled the panel disappears but the Timer entries don't move up to fill the blank area of the screen. This is probably related to my earlier report on the Timer screen.

Colin