Hi

Further to my previous posting on a failed T816, I bought a replacement new Luxor PVR500-690 which is a Vestel T835 dated 02/12 with V4.6 firmware from Asda a week ago.

I am aware that there are a number if issues with V4.6 and just missed the V4.8 OTA update, which I understand is not much better, so waiting for the next stable version.

The problems I am having are listed below and wonder if they are all bugs in V4.6:-
1. Ifirst runit on the none-low energy mode and the Hard Disk seems to continue running when switched to standby.
2. Now running on Low Energy mode, find that recordings that have been watched and deleted from the Library come back to the Timer list with no date/times against them, this also happened the first day when low enery mode was disabled.
3.Some programs as in (2) eg soaps, started to record again on repeats from about 6am today which had not been set on Series Link.
4. When it starts up to record from low energy standby, sometimes the red light with clock is shown, other times the light is green with red clock.
5. Within first 24hrs, it seemed very slow to startup and delete recording (which I have read is an issue), a couple of prgrams failed to record and one 1 hr program recorded for 3 hr 30min and it seemed to lockup.
6. Following a restart, it has become faster to switch on/off and delete programs, except the startup when using low energy mode, which is as stated.

Do like the Vestel operating system, but wonder if I should have gone for another make, such as a Goodmans for almost the same price, but don't know who makes those, or wait for an update, whenever that may be.

One thing that is missing from T835 is the LED that shows when it is actually recording as if using the none low energy mode, then the clock is always on when in standby.

Thanks
Richard

I don't know who makes the Goodmans, but it isn't Vestel. Incidentally, the latest Bush SD PVRs at Argos are the same as the Goodmans. I do know a T810 and T835 owner that bought one to replace his Goodmans T810, and it was returned within days and exchanged for another T835 because of various issues that I would describe as major. So, probably worth avoiding that one . There is the Vestel T7300 at Argos (Bush Freeview+ HD Recorder) which is on offer for £170, which offers an evolution of the T835 software, so although it looks a little different, the functionality is basically the same. However, given the existing bugs in that software, I don't like to recommend it until they are fixed. Although, that said, it does not have many of the T835 issues, such as slowdown, recording glitches, etc.

Pretty much all the issues you mention are known symptoms of the v4.6 firmware, and do not occur in v3.4 (previous OAD). Startup from low power mode has always been relatively slow, primarily because of the disk initialisation phase after booting - the time this takes is directly related to how full the recordings library is.

Richard, you can downgrade to the earlier v3.4 which will greatly improve the box. See Futaura's website for the details and software:
http://www.vestelpvr.futaura.co.uk/T835.php

Is there any news of an OAD to correct all the bugs in V4.6/V4.8? If not, I think it will be a phone call to the Asda technical to complain of the issues in a new unit, not being fit for the purpose. No sign of a repeat of V4.8 yet, why don't Vestel have the firmware on their website as other do, such as Sony and Humax. Don't want to downgrade to V3.4 as this will affect the warrantee as present V4.6 is not available as a file to restore, if needed, neither V4.8 to see what improvement that would give.
Thanks

It should be Asda making the software available, in theory - Luxor is their own brand name, IIRC. Vestel "just" manufacture the box for Asda, from a pendantic point of view. The trouble is that the T835 has no RS232 port, which makes changing the software more difficult.

I have no news on an OAD, and it is certainly worth a call - the people who are selling these boxes need to know they are no good with the latest software. That said, probably Asda technical will have no clue about any of this. All I can say is that a fix is still currently being worked on.

Even if downgrading to v3.4 does affect the warranty, I doubt Asda will care or have a clue about that either. If need be, I have the v4.8 file, but it makes zero sense for me to make v4.6 or v4.8 available for download as that would be a waste of time and resources on both our parts.

Thanks "futaura" for the reply. Did speak with Asda support on Monday whi did not seem to be aware of any problems, or issues with the V4.6/4.8 firmware, or of any fix. They took my number and said they would ask their Sales people to contact the manufacture! I don't hold much hope of any response, but you never know.

I will see what the little improvement might be when V4.8 is re-broadcast next Wed., but as you say in another posting for the T835, why not issue a new version to fix the issues.

I thinks I am finding is that when fast forwarding, it will not always stop when required and just keeps going for a while, is this another bug?

Thanks

It doesn't surprise me that Asda didn't have a clue what you were on about, but all the same, the more people that report the problems or return their boxes because of them, the more chance that a solution will come I would like to hope. The current situation certainly doesn't make good business sense.

Don't get your hopes up with v4.8 because it is not much of an improvement, if any. The simple fact is that the issues have not yet been fixed, but development is ongoing to fix them. Obviously, we'd all like them to have been fixed long ago, or better still never appeared, but all we can do now is hope that Vestel fix things asap. I am confident that they will fix it, but not so confident on the time frame - we shall see.

What you're experiencing with the fast forward is most likely down to the big underlying issue that is causing general lack of responsiveness at certain times (e.g. when it is updating timers in the background) and it is not unusual for the apparent freezes to last for 30 seconds or so. You'll probably find that it is generally just not responding to the remote at all, and instead queuing the button presses until it is ready to process them, so not specifically a problem with fast forwarding.

I have experienced this behaviour many times, sometimes with the recording reaching the end and being dumped back in the Library.

Colin

Hi again

Just a another query - I have used this PVR with both low energy standby and normal standby and find that when using the latter, I assume it is the Hard Disk that is on all the time as I can feel and hear something running. Is this normal for the T835, or only with V4.6. Will see what V4.8 is like this week, otherwise I will downgrade to V3.4 as suggested.

Thanks

No, it's not normal when in standby unless recordings are taking place or there is a recording scheduled within the next 15 mins or the unit has "woken up" briefly to update the EPG and Timers list. The Vestel PVRs are unusual in that even when the unit is fully operational the Hard Disk is not powered up unless it is required for recording, accessing the HD for certain functions or housekeeping.

Colin

It's a problem unique to v4.6 and v4.8. With v4.1 and older, the HDD will be silent in normal standby most of time, occasionally spinning up while updating timers internally. What's happening in v4.6 and v4.8 is that something triggers the timers list to constantly update at least once per minute, causing the HDD never to spin down, and is a big reason for the delays and slowdown that can happen when using the box. This has been fixed in the current test release that I'm evaluating.

Hi all who have replied.

I received the OAD of V4.8 and although it may have cleared some issue, I was very disappointed as the PVR became even worse in it's operation and even slower to respond to remote.

Now back home and downgraded to V3.4, but have a few questiions:-
The response from the T835 using the 3 wire serial connection (Com) to the Scart connector gave me the following prompt
BB0
b 0x48
Testtool STTST_REL_3.2.4 running
Testtools>

I sent the v3.4 file, but after it had been sent, HyperTerminal then showed "WAIT", which the instructions say should last for about 30secs. However, all I had was the flashing "-" and after a long wait decided to disconnected from power. It does seem to have loaded ok as I receiveed the First Time Installation prompt and set up the PVR as if new and it does seem ok, except that when restarting from low power OFF state (goes fully off quicker as it semed to with v4.8 as well, not the 6mins as per instructions with v4.6), it does a Hard Disk Initialisation which it has not done before, is this normal, or do I have a problem?

Any thoughts or suggestions please?

Thanks
Richard

Firstly, the short answer is don't worry - all is as it should be .

The serial output does in fact show the software version, so if you try booting it with the serial link on, it should display 0x34 instead of 0x48, but the version number shown in the the configuration pages is equally a good a check. After WAIT, I sometimes get an OK, and sometimes not, so I just tend to leave it 5 minutes after the upload has completed before removing the power.

Regarding disk initialisation, the T835 always does this whichever software version you have - the difference is that the on screen message is hidden in v4.6/4.8. The overall boot time is identical - it's just that with v3.4 the SCART display switches on as soon as the initialisation process starts, and with v4.6/v4.8 it doesn't switch on until the initialisation process has finished. Did the T816 show the initialisation message? I forget now, but it has certainly be normal procedure since the T810 days.

The power off time is related to whether automatic updates are enabled or not. With v4.6/v4.8 the box checks for software updates each time you put the box in standby, hence it takes a few minutes to fully switch off. Earlier version used to wake up and check for software updates at 3am - I don't remember if v3.4 performed that way. You may have switched automatic updates off since downgrading - if you haven't, you probably should in case v4.8 is broadcast again. Although I hope the next version broadcast is a properly fixed version which nobody should have a reason to avoid.

Many thanks futaura for your help with these topics, much appreciated.

Although I am now running V3.4 which is much better, I am finding a few small problems and wonder if they are know issues with this previous version.
1. If using series link for timer setting for some daily programs which are repeated, say early next morning, if the recorded program is watched and deleated, the repeat appears in the timer list, and now I know it can be deleated, otherwise this get recorded.
2. The PVR seems to come on for recording, usually with it's green LED on, so in the "on" mode and then needs to be turned "off" so it goes red with the clock while recording, or back into standby if the recording has finished.
3. It also seems to just come on it's self at odd times while watching TV causing the TV to switch over. Not tracked down why, sometimes may be using a Sony PVR remote, or at other times doing nothing.

Thanks
Richard

1 and 3 are known issues. Regarding series timer recording repeats after deletion, this was improved in v3.x compared to earlier releases, but still isn't perfect as you've found.

I've never experienced 2, but I'm wondering if it is linked to 3? Unfortunately, while the box is in low power standby, it tends to react to more remote control codes than it really should - I too have noticed this with Sony remotes, but also any buttons on the Vestel remote can switch the unit on if you press the buttons enough times.

Being even more pedantic, I have to advise that the Luxor brand is owned by Vestel and not Asda. Asda is however the brand's biggest retailer in the UK and it is often mistakenly described as Asda's own brand. Vestel acquired the Swedish Luxor and Finlux brands from the receivers in 2006. Finlux in the UK is used for Vestel's direct sales.

As mentioned in a previous posting, now running V3.4, with just a few issues, but today another odd thing happened. It had been set to record some items during the day with other in the timer and when the TV was switched on a short while ago, the T835 was already on, so Scart had switched over and it was showing the First Time Installation message. Did not do a scan at first, but as there were no channels to view, had to do it. However, when done and I checked the timer, all the items for tonight and some series link ones were still in the list, which I am sure normally clear when re-scanning as I take the unit away in a caravan and have to re-scan each time out away & the back home.

Wonder if Futaura has any thoughts. Glad some progress is being made of the bugs to the V4.6/4.8 versions.

Thanks