My original post referred to the HDR, as launched, not the current firmware version which, apart from the Live Pause bug, has been excellent. Many users reported lockups, prior to the last OTA update - a google search will support this position.



I didn't suggest that I am experiencing frequent issues, not since the last OTA update, well over a year ago. The box is now far more reliable than my sky hd one. I also acknowledged that, even at first launch, it was better than more recent offerings from other manufacturers.

It is simply incorrect to state that "real bugs" will be experienced by all. The HDR ecosystem, and associated Use Cases, is simply too complex. I do accept that any substantial software defect would be experienced by multiple users - they were, prior to the last OTA update.
I believe, based on the symptoms, that there was a memory leak, where not all resources were properly released once no longer required. This is because the issue appeared not to arise if the box was turned off regularly. I also believe that there was a issue with radio recording - something I used to use regularly. (No longer, I now stream the non-Irish stations that I cannot receive OTA.)

Having said all the above, the HDR is now a very good PVR and easily the equal of Sky HD. With one decent "mop up" release it would be superb. I cannot understand why Humax haven't done this, well before now.

Oops I can't keep up with the moving goal posts!!
The Foxsat HDR has always been a very good PVR,and from what I have ascertained from these forums has always been superior to the sky HD version!!

There does seem to have been a long delay between the announcement of the update and the release.

As for why - meh. That's the old, old story. Humax make their money off the hardware and there is no incentive to fix the software. To be fair Humax do still issue late fixes - they cured issues with the 9200 that arose from changes to Freeview during the roll-out and that was several years after the initial release. I was actually quite impressed by that.

Still - I think that software issues in hardware would be best served by open sourcing the firmware. We have some coders working on it apparently but as usual with Open Source they are mostly interested in the excitement of adding new features.

Well, they haven't got the source to the PVR code itself.

If that was available I would be furiously coding away sorting out some of the trivial niggles and probably trying to enable remote timer setting (which I believe may be possible with the additions already available but I haven't had time to set all that up.)

Just as a matter of interest, what is the power cut bug?,

If you have scheduled recordings and leave the box in standby and have a power cut - then the box will not wake up to record. Turning it on and then putting it into standby solves the problem. It is fixed in 1.00.15 (Beta).

My position has always been consistent. Maybe if you stopped rolling your eyes you'd be better able to follow the thread.

For the record...
The functionality of the PVR was very good from day one - I have stated this many times. Indeed I originally joined this forum to complement Humax on the product. However, with use, it became apparent that the box had serious reliability issues which were finally fixed with the last OTA update on the 4th Feb of last year.

(The product is still let down by some usability issues that should be easy to fix and a very poor user manual. In my case I use a Harmony Remote Control to get around some of the usability issues.)

While that would be nice I doubt if freesat would allow it. It would be easy to comment out encryption.

Thanks for the reply.

This completely explains why Doctor Who didn't work a couple of weeks ago. When I turned on the foxsat 10 minutes into the program it started recording (must admit we were pretty annoyed at the time).

I'll update to the latest version. If I do, does it stop the FTP etc. from working?

I am more than capable of following both threads and posts.
You posted on a previous thread that initially you found your HDR to be so unstable that you stopped using it!!
(If that was the case why did you not return it for an exchange or refund?)
You also recently stated that the Samsung S7800 had LESS BUGS than the the Humax,another poster then responded with a long list of bugs on the samsung.
Occasionally you do have something good to say about the Humax but even ths is normally tempered with criticism!!
So now I'll roll my eyes once more!!

Glad to hear it. (Why don't you?)



Fair question, which I already answered. (It would have meant a round trip of 250 miles and I couldn't be ar$ed.)



Did I? Certainly didn't mean to do so.
(I have simply no idea how many "bugs" are in either. I would suspect that overall, the total number of software defects would be comparable. However, it is very evident that the number of ctitical defects on the Samsung S7800 far exceeds those in the Humax HDR.)



Only occasionally?



Here in Ireland we always warn our children to be careful about making faces as they will "stick", if the wind changes. Given how often you roll your eyes, I'd stay away from windy locations. (Just in case there is any truth in those old Faery Stories.)




Anyway, to get back to my first post on this thread. I tried to fix it, but couldn't. Here is a better attempt:
@Jepson. Strictly, your position was correct. It was the non-functional elements of the solution that caused the problem.

The latest version is compatible with V1.0.15

After upgrading you need to reapply radon's firrmware - just the .hdf will resore your previous functions.

Thanks for the reply guys.

It just may be that people who have problems with the HDR gave up posting about them when bombarded by a torrent of abuse and claims of
posted by the Humax fan club.

Yes it may be the best box on the market now and has been for quite some time but it is still a very long way from what I'd call a high quality product. It just demonstrates how low product quality is in this particular market.

There really is still no viable alternative to the HDR. I still have hopes that Echostar will sort their box out. Other than that I'm waiting on BlackGold to produce their new dual-DVB-S2 + dual-DVB-T2 card - then I can get away from using products like the HDR totally.

Whilst I have seen instances of the 'Humax fan club' at work (particularly the way certain posters immediately rubbish any other manufacturer's box that's mentioned) I don't think this was a case in point. A couple of people have posted with problems that really don't look like software. When you have been working with computers for decades you get a feel for these things (although you can still be wrong ) and it seems better to alert someone to the possibility that there is a hardware fault on their box than leave them trying to resolve a hardware fault by waiting for a software update.


This is very, very true.

The main problem seems to be that the PTB will not finalise a transmission system. Back in the day there was no real change to the transmission parameters once we moved to 625 line PAL for many, many, years.

Manufacturers could work to a fixed and well understood standard.

Now it seems that every couple of years there are changes and additions that mean that the manufacturers can never really get their products rock solid.

Of course, some will say that the continual updating of standards is a good thing if they bring more features/channels or better quality.


One solution but a very power hungry one.

I know it's off-topic but can you provide any more info on this. I had thought BG cards were pretty good on power use - and a HTPC itself certainly doesn't need to be power hungry. My current desktop is capable of drawing upwards of 450W when gaming and idles at around 40W but I wouldn't need anywhere near the same performance for a HTPC.

Not offhand but I'm positive that no HTPC can get anywhere near the low power usage of the Humax.

I would have gone that route myself instead of waiting for the Humax if it weren't for the power consumption problem.

What it needs is for someone to come up with a little peripheral or card that can be programmed to wake the PC up so that it can be in hibernate until just before recording/housekeeping. I'm not aware of such a product and couldn't find one on a quick google.

OK, thanks, you had me worried with the 'very power hungry' bit. No I wouldn't expect a HTPC to get close to the Humax power consumption figures either. I wouldn't expect it to be too bad, probably around 10-15W mark while idle, which would be OK for me.

http://superuser.com/questions/74683...th-media-cente

Brilliant!

Thanks, Andrue.

Now I know what I'll be doing when my Humax kicks the bucket (unless it last long enough for someone to bring out a really good PVR that allows remote timer setting.)

It was more than a 'couple' of users.

I have found it necessary, from many years experience, to deal with hardware firmware integration on a systematic basis, based on a wide range of Use Cases and associated test cases. One release for which I was responsible had over 800 Test Cases for the Functional reqs., and over 100 for the non-Functional ones. All were run over multiple iterations, during repeated test cycles. We still got caught with a third party
defect as it is simply impossible to cost-effectively simulate all
possible Use Cases for any complex system.

In the case of the HDR the stability issues disappeared,
following the last OTA Firmware update. The forums simply went quiet on that concern. That is strong evidence that it was
a programming issue, most likely a resource leak. We might have had a better idea, were it not for the constant attempts of a small number of posters to stifle any posts that might be perceived as in any way critical of Humax.

I agree that the HDR is the best option, right now. In fact I would rate it very highly if the remaining issues/niggles were
addressed. As it is, due to the Live Pause Bug, the other Hillels have voted with their pockets and I came home last week to find Sky multi room installed. Now that BBC3/4 are coming to the Irish EPG, the Foxsat is being relegated to the experimenters corner. Unfortunately I have little time for experimentation, so I must say my goodbyes, for the present.
It has been fun...

Goodbye - wish I could say your postings will be missed.

Basically you are saying that you had problems and an unspecified and unsupported assertion that lots of others did so. Additionally that anyone that reported that they did not must be be sort of some sort of Humax fan club. Utter tripe.

God luck with Sky, all my friends have had extreme problems with reliability. A friend is on her 4th Sky-HD box in the same period I owned the hdr for. I smell a vested and biassed interest.

Well said Graham!

Sky+ unless you are on a certain package (Not sure if its still the full one), you have to pay £10 a month just to record on it. Then good luck getting through to customer services to change your channels (One of the reasons I cancelled sky many moons ago). I would rather save the £10 a month and put up with the very little niggles that don't even bother me.