Glad to report the workaround is still working.

Have Pulse8 updated the software for the HD Boxes?

Not as far as I know.

The Beta-Testers may have been given something but I would have thought Pulse-Eight would have blogged that event to ensure people do not become more disheartened.

Martin

Is there a way to reset a HD500?, mine now freezes on startup I had been leaving it on to stop the long boot time but when I recenntly switched to it I was getting a frozen picture Now when swiched on from standby it doesn't seem to go further than trying to activate the tuner so is there a way at startup to reset the software?

The only way to reset the box is via the Menu system which only becomes available after Start-Up - Red Light out, Green Light on (Z500HD) with the TV channel displayed (HD500).

Sounds like you have the "Stuck in Starting" fault for which, currently, there is no user solution. See: http://forums.pulse-eight.com/yaf_po...DTR-HD500.aspx

However, as you have kept your box on rather than letting it go into Standby, you may have ended up with a corrupted Hard Disk. Putting the box into Standby allows the box to do Disk-Housekeeping and clear out any file fragments. You could try "resting" your box - disconnecting from the mains for 24 hours - and then see what it does on start-up.

Other than that you could open the box and:

a. See if any component has failed - discolouration - or a capacitor has blown - bulbous top - or there is dirt/contaimination between the tracks on the PCB or other signs of overheating/failed solder joints.

b. Disconnect the Hard disk and see it that changes anything.

We really need an enthusiastic amateur to investigate this matter and try a few basic fault-finding techniques in case Pulse-Eight are focusing too much on a more complicated fault. See Big-Les' solution for the Humax Clock Problem - http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1274989

Martin

Thanks for that Martin.it's been disconnected couple of weeks now so I'll try it again shortly

Thanks again that did the trick by reconnecting after couple weeks of it sitting in the corner,seems whatever problem there was cleared after it being inactive & memory had cleared,it had to be installed as if from new

Glad to hear your box is working again. I would recommend accepting the long start-up time to keep the hard disk properly organised.

Were your old recordings still on the hard disk?

I wonder if there is a battery/capacitor buried somewhere in the PCB that keeps some settings intact for a little while but after that time forces a reset. The software (excluding the RNIB TTS add-on) resides in flash memory so does not need a power supply.

Martin

All recordings still intack,just had to do a first time tune

Some Good News at last.

Malard (CEO of Pulse-Eight) has announced on the Pulse-Eight Forum that a solution has been found for the iPlayer malfunction and a new software build will be released in the next 24 hours.

http://forums.pulse-eight.com/yaf_po...yer-Fixed.aspx

and the last few posts on

http://forums.pulse-eight.com/yaf_po...-Solution.aspx

I assume that the build will only be for the HD boxes given previous Malard statements about software updates.

Martin

Fantastic!
Well done guys!

They certainly didn't give me any hope of life without the workaround!

Oh, dear. The new BBC RB 302 stream which has the preview for the Summer to come has a glitsch on my TVOnics DTR HV-250: pressing either Red Button 1 or Exit to BBC One gets to a blank screen and no sound.

I have found two fixes: either changing to Radio input and back to TV or if I then try an instant record and then into the library, the sound and vision reappear ...

Latest: asked the box to look for an internet download and was told there was one availble. Pressed OK to load it and now have the Service Message under Internet Download:

"New Update Available, resolves iPlayer Sound issues.
Your box is up to date with the latest software."

So frustrating as I still do have the latest software version TVOnics did V2.0.A2225.D369 which was installed months back and still must use the workaround.

Oh Pulse8, if you would have only been so kind as to have agreed to keep up the support of the DTR-HV250. I appreciate you're not a charity but my box, as must others', recognises an update which fixes the issue is available - the one published today - even though it can't incorporate it .

And you'd gone to the trouble of getting the code right for the HD boxes.

Rats!!!

Well spotted Sue_Aitch.

I confirm your problem on my HD500 - I have yet to update the software to the latest version.

I have found, like you, that the Red Button Menu Systems (Blue Button) for 302 (Red Button 2) and Red Button HD are not working as expected and if an option is selected it leaves you with a blank screen and no sound, most times. However, sometimes the menu system did work - perhaps as a result of the multiple tests I did.

"Exit to BBC1" from 302 took the box to BBC1 HD which is a bit surprising.

On my HD500, this fault situation was easily corrected by using the Channel Up/Down Button or entering a Channel Number from 301/302/303. And, for exit, the problem can also be avoided by using the Swap Channel Button (returns to previous channel) or as above.

Multiple use of the Swap Channel Button can recover the box from the fault situation but I also found that, when arriving at BBC1 HD, the box refused to accept a channel number but would respond to a Channel Up/Down command.

It may be that these issues are related to the iPlayer problem so I will be updating my box and will repeat my tests.

Martin

I have updated my software and there is still an "access from the HD red button prompt" problem and a "return" problem with 302. I will have to investigate further in the nest couple of days.

I still have a problem with the Red Button iPlayer Menu whereby the sound disappears and there is a lack of video and audio problem on exit from that situation. But it is fixed by a channel change.

However, if I use the iPlayer to play programme, the programme works ok and the return to live TV is ok too.

See: http://forums.pulse-eight.com/yaf_po...yer-Fixed.aspx

Oh the joys of technology.

Martin

So the 302 channel issues are old problems that no-one has been mentioning much for the past few months? I never touch ch 302 so would never have known.
If we have moved from the stage of iPlayer being near unusable to iPlayer working nicely like now, then we should be glad to enjoy such trivial problems by comparison!

Not exactly.

Since the Beeb is gearing up for the Red Button Summer beginning with Wimbledon on Monday, the 302 stream preview is a recent introduction. For a whole Freeviewers had no 302 or 303 in the case of Freeview HD viewers.

This is still a small problem with the iPlayer access but Tvonics HD PVR owners can now use iPlayer.

The Tvonics Red Button application seems a little limited:

HD Red Button Menu works between 101/2 and Red Button HD (303). Same MUX.
SD Red Button Menu works between 1/2 and Red Button 1 (303). Same MUX.

Red Button 1 cannot be fully accessed from 101/102 or from 303. The Info graphic shows 301 but there is no picture and no sound.

Selecting Red Button 2 from 101/102/303 appears to leave the selection at the same channel but with no picture and no sound.

Channel 302 cannot be accessed from any Red Button Menu and its Menu options give a blank screen and no sound - either remaining at the same channel or going to the selected channel.

I think 302 will have to be treated like a normal TV channel and selected from the EPG or by entering the channel number and its Red Button menu ignored.

Martin

There's been some change in that the match on 302 is mentioned on the onscreen prompts on 301 but the sound and vision when you do get there is under the Record button still!

Feedback to the BBC may be submitted via this webform http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/21937573

To submit feedback on errors in style, accuracy or grammar in Red Button Digital Text please use the http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/21937571 which replaces http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs...00/3996525.stm

I have now upgraded my HD500 to the latest software version which fixed the iPlayer problem thus what happens on my box is likely to be different to your HV250 from now on.

When I select the 302 match from the 301 menu, the 302 info-plate comes up but there is no live video and audio. Nothing changes when I start an instant record nor later when I stop it.

The only satisfactory way of accessing 302 for me is by not using the Red Button application but just selecting the channel in the same way as any other channel.

In investigating the problem my box has just lost all video and audio and so I have just put it into standby to let it recover.

Note that my iPlayer workaround for the previous software version no longer works with this latest software version that allows access to the iPlayer.

Martin

Update to my post above. Normal Tvonics service resumed.

Tried the Red Button Service on my Humax HD-Fox T2. It works ok with minor bugs.

BBC1 says "Choose Match" on its Red Button Prompt rather than "Press". BBC1 HD says "Press".

Selecting "Wimbledon" from the Red Button menu brings up 301 and the Blue Menu button prompt. Selecting the prompt shows all available matches showing on BBC1, 302, 303 and 301 plus Exit.

Selecting the match on 302 gives the correct live video and audio. Pressing the Yellow button takes the Video and Audio back to 301 with the info-plate showing 302 and the Blue Menu button available.

Selecting the match on 303 gives the correct live video and audio. As with the above pressing the yellow button reverts to 301 video and audio with the previous channel info-plate showing.

Basically I believe the Tvonics is not interpreting or processing the "application instructions" being downloaded with the TV signals and thus the Red Button application is not working correctly. The Humax does a better job but not perfectly.

Martin

It will be icing ion the cake if this gets fixed in some future TVOnics firmware version.
Not especially urgent for me but a nice challenge for a Pulse Eight programmer!
Is Pulse Eight aware of this 301-303 bug officially I wonder.

It is not a problem on the scale of the iPlayer so it must be way way down the list of priorities for Pulse-Eight.

I think that the whole interactive section of the software may be geared to just providing the Basic Red Button and iPlayer services given this issue and what abenn13 on the Pulse-Eight Forum at http://forums.pulse-eight.com/yaf_po...l-Problem.aspx has stated.

Personally, I am loathe to raise the 301/302/303 problem at the moment given that these channels can be accessed as for a normal TV channel but if the interactive services increase then it may be worth mentioning it.

Martin

I had simply thought the Red Button had been taken off 4Music.

Odd that both the HD PVRs and the no loger supported SD one shpud behave that way.

Mind you, I would still love to have the iPlayer working without the workaround route.

Upgrade to a 500 - they are only a bit over £100 - and put your DTR-HV250 on Ebay or keep as a 2nd box.