It would be a better situation if the machines were branded by the people who issue the updates, so they'd get feedback drectly. And another thing, Argos put the Hitachi name on a box, but it's nothing to do with the actual Hitachi company, but some marketing operation

You have to complain to Argos or Tesco but once the warranty's up are they responsible for what happens to your machine???

Hi all, a bit of blatant advertising, but I make and sell the scart - rs232 (serial) cables for software uploading, you can get them from here or do a similar search on eBay.

Thanks for the link Gavin. This should be very useful for the T835 users who wish to "downgrade" to the stable 3.4 version but aren't too handy with a soldering iron.

It looks like Vestel are really taking the Mick now as they seem hell-bent on ensuring that every single T835 in the land is blighted by their ridiculously broken v4.8.

They are broadcasting this defective "upgrade" again (for the sixth time!) from Wednesday 27th June 2012 until Friday 29th June 2012.

What kind of muppets do we have running Vestel???

I'm not so sure Vestel are arranging these repeat OADs - it may be something that the DTG automatically do when there are spaces to fill due to lack of new software. However, Vestel certainly should have informed them of the problems and to stop any further v4.8 broadcasts .

What I can say is that Vestel are making good progress on identifying the causes of the problems and fixing them. The task has been made harder because many of the problems started in v3.9 (CVBS issue was in v3.7 too, IIRC), and AFAIK there was no public release since then until v4.6 (v4.1 is the odd one out and appears to have been built from a different branch and is more like v3.4). And there are in fact multiple issues causing similar symptoms.

Most recently the "Service is not running" issue was fixed on Friday, after Vestel sent me test software that made this issue permanent rather than random, which confirmed where the bug lied. There were changes related to EPG notification since v3.9, and I believe this is one of the causes of slow response times, and also the cause of the EPG wiping itself while viewing it, having figured out a good way to reproduce the problem on cue. Vestel are now looking into that issue, and I'm hoping this is the last big issue remaining. Still some problems with timers to fix, but so far the focus is to fix these stability problems.

Eventually, there will be a fix, and I am also doing my best to ensure that some certain old features make a welcome return in the final software fix too.

Agreed! In view of the disaster that is v4.8 I would have thought Vestel should have made the phone call needed to stop even more boxes being crippled.

Thanks for all your efforts on this Furaura. Unfortunately, I believe Vestel's antics over v4.8 have destroyed the confidence in this company of thousands of users.

They will remember this fiasco when choosing their next PVR!

Thanks for the update. Can you elaborate on these features nearer the time if they make a return.

I shan't be updating to the new release unless it contains desirable new features. I'm really not fussed about having the green button trailer booking which so far seemed to be all that 4.6/4.8 tried to offer.

I'm sure you're right, especially I found myself in a similar situation with a Sagem PVR years ago . I hope Vestel realise the damage this is doing to their reputation, even if it is indirect in most cases. However, I think people would be foolish to ignore the new HD models, especially as Argos are currently selling the T7300 for the same price as a new T835!

is it safe to enable upgrading yet has i don't want to miss out on the lastest update and don;t want to downgrade again

There is probably still a chance that v4.8 could be broadcast again, if there are free slots and the DTG have nothing better to fill them with . I have no ETA on the fix, but it is likely still going to be a few more weeks yet. I'm hoping I'll be able to distribute a release candidate to a few volunteers here to test for a week or two before the OAD is booked.

If you want another volunteer, I am willing to test on our T835.

I rescanned my T835 running version 3.8 the other day to include the new 4Seven channel.
I deleted all unnessary channels and since then the box has performed flawlessly!!
The epg is quick and fully populated, it performs quickly to commands, it deletes items quickly and records faultlessly and no longer seems to miss several seconds of the recording if multiple programs are recorded. It's like a new box!
I thought it must have picked up a new release but it's still on V3.8. If it stayed that way I'd be happy with it but I suspect it may only be temporary!

Err... I don't believe the T835 has ever had v3.8 software! The current (dodgy!) release is v4.8 while the last decent release was v3.4.

It's a while since I commented but having noticed the download was set for the end of June enabled auto update. Nothing happened so the next night tried a manual download and the box picked up and started downloading. Decided to cancel partway through since it was taking ages and it was late at night. Decided to stick with 3.4 until Futaura lets us know further. Found it strange why it missed the download!

Sorry I meant v4.8

For those of you who have downgraded from v4.6/4.8 at some stage (so already have the equipment necessary to upload software to the box), I now have a potential release candidate available for testing which should fix all new issues introduced in v4.6, and a few other things besides. It is currently being tested internally also, and if no major issues are found, v5.3 will likely become an OAD too. Of course, the main consideration is how it compares with v3.4 and that all of the problems that came with v4.6. Needless to say, I'm finding it a huge improvement over v4.8, otherwise I would be wasting your time .

I know there are a few here who have already expressed an interest in testing this, but if you can send your email addresses to me via PM or email, I'll then send over the software and more details.

Zill, I'd particularly value your opinion at this stage if you could spare some time testing it. I know you are not a fan of the green button trailer booking feature, which isn't going to be removed, but there have been some improvements to that. IIRC, everything else has been fixed apart from changes to the timer list sorting and EPG search info panel.

Thanks for the update futaura. I have now responded by direct email.

My Hitachi on V4.8 is working quite well now, NO freezing when I press the SUBTITLE, WIDE or BACK buttons. Pause and Record button work quickly most times. I have just formatted the disk though and no timers set.

I can see how the problems were missed when the software was released. I really like the Vestel PVRs, just wish they wouldn't become so slow once you start using them for what they are designed, setting timers and storing programmes!

Well, certainly some problems will return after you've set some timers . However, I'm currently exploring the possibility that the "Service is not running" problem could in fact be triggered by an aerial signal that is too strong. Since I don't believe anybody ever saw such an error with v3.4, then it may be possible a software change altered the way in which a strong signal is handled on box initialisation. Would explain why not everybody has seen that error, and the apparent randomness if people (like me) who have an excellent signal all the time, but could be bordering on being too strong.

For those of you still persevering with v4.6 or v4.8, if you have seen the "Service is not running" error message problem, next time you experience it, can you please make a note of the channel number shown on the front panel at the time, and then once you've rebooted the box and the error has gone, check the signal level for that particular channel using the manual channel scan screen and report back here?

Vestel and I are having trouble reproducing this problem, but it is looking possible that it is somehow being triggered by the aerial signal, and probably more likely with high signal levels. But it would be nice to obtain some results which either back up or disprove this theory.

This theory might be possible, however I had the service not running problem before DSO so my signal would have been lower.

I have however seen a freeview box behave completely different (unusable) after DSO (increase in signal level).

I noticed yesterday a small annoyance with 3.4. I often record an evening program that I am watching (because I have a tendency to doze off) and sometimes record another at a similar time.
Whilst watching program 1, at the time that recording 2 is due to start the whole screen goes black, then picture comes back and red record shows in top left.
I tested it again today to check if one-off glitch , problem did reoccur.
As if the box could not cope with this multi-task.

Could be that you were watching live off one tuner and it recording from the other, both tuners being set to the same channel (I'm sure this is normally the case, to allow timeshifting still on live tv). Hence when recording two started, it will have switched live tv to use the other tuner (which was already being recorded from), so that it could record the other channel.

Ok, that makes sense. Still very annoying though to get a black screen in middle of viewing(unless it is adverts!). I'll have to plan recording/viewing differently if I want to avoid this.

looks like I will be planning to update Mum's 3.4 box if the new software proves stable.

Had another occurrence the other night of problem I had in post 299/300, in which I could not stop a recording by using stop button only by pull the plug method.

Earlier in the evening viewing plans changed so I deleted the only timer in the list which was a series timer. Set up new timer for a different channel (same timeslot) and planned to watch another channel at same time. I also deleted previous recorded episodes of the prog that had been on series timer.

New timer started recording, but also the original series timer started, preventing us watching another channel. I had to pull the plug, which of course interrupted the new recording I had scheduled.

I could understand it if had it rescheduled the timer to record a repeat of episode I had previously recorded and deleted but this was a new episode. Don't understand why it would not let me stop it recording.

seems like I am the only one that has encountered this problem

Well I've been using the box regularly for at least week (still v4.8) and I've had no trouble with "Service not running", everything else is fine. The only long pause I suffer is when entering the Channel number for a Manual Retune.

I'm getting the problem of MHEG slowing to a crawl sometimes and requiring a power down. This is nothing new and I can live with it.

I've got out of the habit of setting loads of timers, so I should really set some and give it a test. I'm sure some of the annoyances will start creeping back. Just as long as it's not "Service Not Running"!