I'm experiencing some problems with series links on my new Foxsat HDR. I'm a long-time user of Sky+ and a 9300T so I'm aware that there are sometimes glitches with series links due to inept broadcasters but the behaviour of the Foxsat is unusually weird.

It's early days yet - I've only had it a week - and, while most series links seem to work as expected, there've been two occasions where the next programme in the series hasn't been scheduled to record. The first happened with Holby City on Tuesday and the second with Who Do You think You Are? last night. Neither of these set next week's recording and when I set it manually as well as putting in the correct schedule it also added a schedule dated 9/1 and timed from 03:14 to 03:14 .

I'm hesitant to draw conclusions from two examples but the common elements of these two are BBC1 and weekly programmes (I think the only weekly ones I've set). I'll do some more testing but in the meantime is this a known problem and if so is there a solution or workround?

It sounds to me like your EPG is not updating itself automatically to show the next series link listing. I also recorded Who do you think you are and after it finished it has added next weeks program to the schedule list automatically.

The 03:14 to 03:14 is to do with the housekeeping and checks and updates the channels and EPG it should happen at 3am every morning. What firmware are you using on your Foxsat as my guess you are using a version lower than 1.00.15 as this is the first version that automatically updates everything at 3am.

The latest version is 1.00.21, I am using Raydons version of it which allows you to do a lot more on the Foxsat available here:-

http://myhumax.org/blog/?page_id=166

Are you sure you are setting Series Links? You need to press OK on the EPG entry and *not* Record.

Thanks for the thoughts.


That sounds plausible, but why would it not do so and, more importantly, how do I fix it? Interestingly, I have Waterloo Road set to record tonight and I notice that next week's episode isn't set to record so I fully expect the same problem tonight.


What's that (the so-called User's Manual being rather less than useful)? And why does it require a scheduled recording for the 9th January (which I've deleted whenever it appears)?


1.00.21: the version it came with.


Yes, I'm aware of the modified firmware options but I don't want to start playing with things like that until I'm comfortable with the basics.

Yes, indeed. The square symbol appears on the scheduled recording. And all other series-linked recordings have worked successfully except for the two, possibly three, I mentioned.

The next episode did set itself to record though not for about an hour after last night's programme had ended.

Neighbourhood Watched, however, this morning still had last night's episode in the schedule though in the EPG next week's episode has the record symbol next to it. I deleted last night's from the schedule and added next week's manually.

Here's another series link oddity I've noticed: I have Heir Hunters recording daily at 09:15 and for the last week all episodes have recorded as expected. Today I notice that in the EPG no episode beyond Monday is set to record. The 9300's EPG shows all next week's episodes set to record.

This is all very confusing and makes me wonder if the Foxsat is at all reliable. As well as series link issues I found it this morning on channel 500: something I would never watch. And the thumbnails on recordings never appear, even for programmes which were recorded several days ago. Add all that to the appalling remote control and UI and I'm beginning to think I've bought a pig in a poke .

I've had a 9300T for over three years and, since the major problem of locking up which Humax eventually fixed, it's been trouble-free and very useful as a backup/addition to Sky+. When I decided to cancel Sky and buy a Freesat recorder to replace it the Foxsat was the obvious choice, not least because I assumed that the UI would be broadly similar to the 9300 and therefore the learning process would be short. How wrong I was .

Sounds normal - A series link is simply a single identification and will either point to the last progtramme broadcast or the next (if there is one). Unmatched past series links are aged off after 12 or 13 weeks. The Foxsat is very reliable in it's recordings - It is possible, via a hidden menu, to display the series and programme ID's (CRIDs) and therefore identify any broadcaster error.

For a series programme to be recorded teh series CRID should match and the progamme CRID must be different (So you don't get +1 channels recorded etc).

It may be normal for the Foxsat (though as I haven't yet seen any consistency I couldn't say) but it's very unhelpful. Sky+ puts the next programme in the planner as soon as the current programme starts, and Humax's own 9300 does so at the end, and its EPG flags all programmes which are set to record. The Foxsat appears to be entirely random and often fails to set the next programme. If I see a programme from last night still in the schedule then I assume that something is wrong.


Yes, that's something else that doesn't work on my box. RED, GREEN, YELLOW, BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW, BLUE does nothing.

The Foxsat should update the series at the end of current programme or when the next item of the series appears in the EPG. In the EPG all programmes with the same series CRID and different programme CRID should be flagged.

What signal do you get on channel 999? (the freesat transponder) A signal quality there will cause problems.

Hidden Menu - You must be in exactly the correct place for it to work.

To access the Hidden Menu, press MENU on the remote and go to SYSTEM.

Choose DIAGNOSTICS and press OK. RED GREEN YELLOW BLUE GREEN YELLOW BLUE

Many thanks for the helpful post.


Excellent - thanks. All other posts I've seen say, at best, to just go into the menu .


Having enabled the CRID test I can see that all next week's Heir Hunters have, as expected, the same series CRID. Yet in my EPG only Monday's is flagged to record.


Ah, now this could be the issue. On 999 the signal is 80% and the quality flickers between 60 and 70%. For comparison, on 101 the signal is 85% and the quality rock solid at 100%.

All channels are perfectly watchable with no blocking and the dish and cables have worked perfectly for years on Sky+. Nevertheless, it may be that an improvement on 999 will fix the issues I'm having. Is it as simple as just realigning the dish or LNB slightly?

That quality should be fine. - I find that < 40% and the picture breaks up. The higher the quality the better in bad weather. I get lower values for 28.5E channels and 100%,100% for 28.2E channels. Other threads indicate the satellite at 28.5E is having power problems and another satellite has been moved to it's position (to take over?)

Will check later if all future events in the EPG are flagged or not - thought they were bit I so seldom look to future days.

OK, thanks. I may try to tweak it anyway to even things out a bit.


Thanks - that would be useful to know. I've seen the same things on EastEnders and Coronation Street: the later episodes aren't flagged. It may be that that's expected behaviour for the Foxsat but it does make things rather difficult. The main problem, of course, is that some series links are not working at all.

After further testing, it seems that when I select a series to record then all programmes of that series are flagged in the EPG, just as expected.

However, as the EPG moves along to add new days then any programmes in the series which now appear are not flagged to record. Thus when the current batch of flagged programmes has ended then the rest of the series won't be recorded. This is why the effect is most noticable on weekly programmes.

For example, a few days ago I set Casualty to record tonight 25th Aug; that programme is flagged in the EPG. This morning the next programme, 1st Sep, is in the EPG and is not flagged. I deleted the scheduled recording and added it again and now both programmes are flagged in the EPG.

I find it hard to believe that this is intended behaviour as after a week the box would stop all recordings. Does anyone else not see this?

Just checked my Foxsat - a series is flagged in response to a record command. However no existing series are shown as flagged. In the schedule. The next programme is correctly identified as the next event in the series (which confirms that the programme will be recorded).

Is your Foxsat left in standby overnight? One of the housekeeping tasks is to download a full EPG (so all will work normally is you go away for a few weeks).

I think I would check carefully your schedule for clues - something is causing the missed events.

Another question - if you go into guide - how long does it take for tje programme sound to start (If >60 secs then I would suggest a freesat tune)

.

That sounds like the behaviour I'm seeing. Just to be sure I've understood could you confirm that:
- if you set a new series link (i.e. for a programme you've not previously set to record) then the next programme in the series appears in the schedule and all other programmes in the series are flagged with the red timer icon in the EPG
- if you have an existing series link (i.e. for a programme you've already been recording regularly) then the next programme in the series appears in the schedule but not all other programmes in the series are flagged with the red timer icon in the EPG


I leave it on all the time. I learned long ago that PVRs work better when they're not put in standby. This seems to be especially true of the 9300 which will often miss scheduled recordings if placed in standby. In the case of the Foxsat, I deliberately leave it on to prevent automatic updates (the inability to switch these off being one of the annoyances and differences between it and the 9300).


I'm just in the process of tweaking the dish so this may not be a valid test. However, with the signal at 80% and quality at 60% on 999 the sound came back after 4 minutes . I'll complete the tweaking and test again.

Thanks for continuing to help - it's much appreciated.

That's the cause of all your problems. The box needs to be in sby overnight to carry out various housekeeping functions. Forget your previous experience with older pvrs. If you carry on your epg will get increasingly out of date and you won't get any firmware upgrades.

I will check later but I suspect that the initial EPG marking is only a UI response. I think a reboot would only show the next programme.


I think this is the cause of your problems - In housekeeping also all channel changes are picked up, the epg refreshed, thumbnails generated and other maintenance tasks performed. I have never missed a scheduled wakeup and in my experience any computer is more reliable if restarted from time to time. You would also save some electric. It really is designed to be left in standby.


4 mins! That is over the top - try a freesat tune - you don't need to save the results - I bet in drops down to about 60 secs.

I too have been having problems with series link (Foxsat HDR), the programmes I have had trouble with are BBC1 'Animal 24:7'. It failed to record the final episode yesterday (I say final as, although it was marked as edition 17/25, it has been replaced by 'Cash in the attic' from next week) and BBC1 'Real Rescues'. If it had 'thought' they were the final programme in the series' I would have expected the details to remain at the top of the Schedules - but they simply disappeared!!

I was beginning to think it was due to me ever increasing senior moments but, having seen Alans' posts, feel reassured that it isn't me!!

Unfortunately just come back from Spain so was not able to help with checking the crids. Normally this sort of failure is down to the broadcaster screwing up the series and programme crid codes.

I assume you do put the hdr in full sby every night. Incidentally my Foxsat-hdr hasn't missed a single recording in the two weeks I have been away.

You can turn on crid codes in the programme info dialogue on a standard box which can help a lot to explain and prevent future failures. The custom firmware Schedule display is a lot more helpfull as it displays all future recordings that match the series criteria within the current epg reach. It's no use now though as the data isn't there any more to check what's going on.

Never had a series schedule just disappear.

Check at the end of the series folders, failures like this usually generate a failed recording entry in the media list.

The item should be still in your schedule - with the last matched date. There is no such indication of when a programme is the last and this is deduced as happended 12 weeks after the last matched event.

Alan's posts don't mention disappearing schedule entries.

Isn't it 13 weeks ? (not that I ever left one there long enough to find out ).

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I tweaked the dish slightly but it's made little difference to the signal. 101 - and most channels - remain at signal 85%, quality 100%; 999 and a few of the irrelevant channels have signal 80%, quality 70%. Mind you, that was before the thunderstorm arrived .

I decided it was time to try a factory reset and after that and a freesat tune the EPG refresh time, before the sound returns, is now 31 seconds (which is about what it was when the box was first installed). I don't usually select the EPG in that way because it then updates while I'm looking at it and the response is so sluggish that it's almost unusable. Instead, as recommended elsewhere, I tend to use Schedule then Red.

I've put back all the scheduled recordings and they all correctly flag all programmes of the series in the EPG with the red timer icon and I can confirm this is retained after a reboot - it would be annoying and unhelpful if it wasn't.

One of the reasons why I did the factory reset was because of the suggestions to put the box in standby overnight: I wanted to see what the defaults are. The power off/on settings are disabled by default, and the automatic standby is enabled by default. In other words, the default settings do not place the box in standby overnight. The user's manual does say (GB5) "It is recommended to leave the product in Standby mode during long periods when not being used e.g. Over night" but doesn't say why until GB70 when it discusses software updates but doesn't give any other reason.

I deliberately don't put the box in standby overnight mostly because I don't like software being updated behind my back. I've been bitten too many times by faulty software updates (Windows, Sky etc), and spent much too long fixing the problems, to want to automatically update especially without a regression path. I'm therefore very disappointed that Humax haven't provided the ability to disable automatic updates and surprised that they haven't given that it's a feature of the 9300.

I have to say that a PVR which must be switched off overnight in order to perform effectively is a very poor design, moving towards unfit for purpose, especially as the default settings don't ensure this happens. The word "housekeeping" doesn't appear in the manual, nor does the manual state any restrictions on the thumbnails only appearing overnight and then only if the box is in standby. I don't actually care about the thumbnails - they're something of a pointless feature, not least because they only appear overnight . Perhaps .

All in all, I'm rather disappointed with the Foxsat HDR but as it will save me £34 a month to Sky (after the payback time of around six months) then I guess I can live with a few problems.

However, regardless of Humax's inadequacies, I'm grateful for the suggestion that my problems may be cured by placing the box in standby overnight. Given that it won't do it automatically, and I'm unlikely to remember to do so, what settings for the power off/on would the panel recommend?

Back to the original issue: now that I've done a factory reset and put Casualty back in the schedule for tonight, and given that Casualty will be transmitted before any overnight standby, my expectation is that when tonight's episode finishes recording then next week's episode will appear in the schedule. If it doesn't then we know that the problem is nothing to do with overnight standby.

Same here. It's 12 or 13 - I guess 13 would be three months which might make sense.

I think you misunderstand "the automatic standby is enabled by default" this would place your HDR in standby - I think after three hours of non activty.

The manual was written a long time ago - since which Humax have moved extra activities into the housekeeping process - like channel updates and a full EPG download (and I guess schedule matching would also take place here (as well as in foreground as the Foxsat could be in standby for many days). The manual is also inaccurate - mine shows on page GB16 a picture indicating that I need my dish pointing at ASTRA 1 at 19.2E.

The need to meet the sub 1 watt requirement in standby is of course a major consideration and has led to a design around power saving.

I don't use the auto standby option or the power-on power-off settings at all. When I am finished with watching TV I just point the remote at the Foxsat and use the top right green power button to put it in standby before I turn off the TV.

The point you make re standby could be equally applied to the TV, Automatic updates, etc.

The long time for the sound to return (>60) is a sign of a defective EPG in memory which could have also contributed to your problems. Couples with schedule+red and no standby would mean that the EPG wound never be freshly downloaded.

Well, yes, but who wants a PVR which turns itself off while you're watching it? Another pointless feature, I think .


I can guarantee I'll not remember to do that . I seem to remember that the critical time is 3am (heaven help shift workers with this daft feature). Would turning it off automatically at 02:59 and back on at 03:01 work?


I'm not sure what you mean about TV and if you mean Windows automatic update then that's disabled on every PC in my house. I don't understand the modern passion to always have the latest version loaded automatically, especially as the latest version is almost always inferior to previous versions and often poorly tested, if at all.


If the Foxsat only updates the EPG once a day if in standby and when the user presses Guide then that's another sign of a defective design. Surely the EPG can be updated in the background: the box has two tuners and unless one is being used for recording the other is always free.

Isn't it annoying how one discovers all these limiations only after spending £200 and lots of time ?