FAQs Cumulative 5th Edition of ‘Contents’ on this post.

For all Questions and answers ‘Whisper’ converts the FAQs to a user friendly format at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/whisper/qa.html
and keeps the old FAQs up to date.


I would like others to keep use of this thread to a minimum so that the FAQs are easier to find.
However I would also like constructive comments on the FAQs and pointers to suitable posts that might be added.
See FAQ0038 for best threads for new questions.

“I only see so far because I stand on the shoulders of giants” - Isaac Newton

I will try to acknowledge source of the answers. I will also try to minimize editing of the original posts to reduce the risk that I ruin them.

See also Humax UK’s own FAQs at http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/ Click on support, then FAQ. (No specific group FAQs on 9200T as at 8NOV2005)
See also Humax Global Web Site: http://www.humaxdigital.com/global/

The questions are listed here but go to WHISPER' web site for the answers as they take up a lot of space and he indexes them better. Hopefully he will soon be adding a copy of all the questions & answers on a single page allowing you to use EDIT>FIND to look for answers related to your own problems.

Contents
Q0001: How do I record a series on weekdays only?
Q0002. Editing - How do I get the buttons on the left hand side of the Navigation'Function bar(Illustrated at top of page GB36) to work as per GB36/37?

Q0003: How to I quickly get to the start of a recording?

Q0004: How to I workaround the limit of 20 timers?
Q0005: The machine takes a long time to come out of standby and sometimes has problems when it does.
Q0006: How do I record the program I have already been watching up to 2 hours as long as no more than 2 programs will be recorded simultaneously as a result?/ Instant Recording Page GB31 of User Manual.

Q0007: How do I get it working when it is locked up with a frozen picture?
Q0008: How do I get information about the next programme quickly?
Q0009: The ‘Edit’ function (User Manual GB36 & 7) can split a recorded programme. Why would I want to do that?

Q0010: What is the best way to select and playback a recorded programme?
Q0011: The cover over the lower buttons of the remote control gets in the way sometimes?
Q0012: Why does the spec suggest that the VCR/DVD Player Scart is not a means of input?

Q0013: What does the ‘Source’ button do?
Q0014: How can I make it easier to read the Program Names on the ‘recorded programmes list?
Q0015: How can I see what programs are being recorded while watching a live program?

Q0016: All my TV or all my Radio recordings are missing when I …Menu>Recordings>Recorded Programmes?
Q0017:For quite a few channels ( mostly bbc) there are two channels in the program list, not that it is a problem, the only niggle is that the weaker of the two has took up residence in the place where I would of expected the stronger of the two to be EG BBC1 is on 800 and 1 I live in Yorkshire and the main transmitter is Emley Moor yet it is the Bilsdale tx that occupiesa channel 1 and this channel is totally un-viewable!!!
Q0018:New box switches itself off at midnight.

Q0019: I've got the aerial cable looped through, so out of the wall socket, into the 9200T and then out of there into the TV.
Now I noticed that when I'm watching via the Scart on AV1 on my TV that I see what's going on on another terrestrial channel. If I unplug the RF loop then it goes away.
Q0020: Where does it get its software updates and EPG info from? Is it another 4tv based machine?
Q0021: Which channel is my Humax picking its signal up from for example BBC1?

Q0022: Transfer of recorded programmes to the PC via USB does not seem to work properly.
Q0023: How to start watching, from the beginning, a program that is being recorded...as long as it is the only one being recorded at that time.
Q0024: What is the point in contacting Humax when many other people have the same problem?

Q0025: The only missed recordings I have had (2 of them)…
Q0026: Fitting a bigger Hard Drive/Problems transferring to /from a PC.
See: http://www.pvruk.com/2004/04/humax_pvr8000t_.html
Q0027: I set timers for two consecutive programmes on the same channel and padded them. The second did not record.

Q0028: One way to play a recording transferred from Humax to PC.
Q0029: A recorded tv programme file transferred from the Humax to a PC has no file type. What suffix should I add?
Q0030: Strange icon. This particular icon is more misunderstood than most.
In the date box on the RECORDED PROGRAMME screen for one recording there is an unusual icon for which I can find no reference in the manual. It is a yellow box, overlaid at the bottom left hand side with a green oval. Inside the oval is a white rectangle (landscape orientation)

Q0031: Some options are greyed out on menus.
Q0032: What all-in-one remotes work with the 9200T
Q0033: Help with all-in-one learning function.

Q0034: The 9200 fails to record scheduled radio programmes if the unit is left in standby.
Q0035: No sound on some recordings
Q0036: How do I know if I am running out of disk space?

Q0037: When will Humax release an update to the software?
Q0038: Where is the the best place for new questions?
Q0039: "channel viewing restricted by recording" message
If you can record two channels and watch another; why is it that sometimes when I'm recording two channels I can't watch certain other channels. Eg I was recording ITV1 and BBC2 last night at the same time and could watch BBCs1,2,3 ITV1,2 C4 but not BBC4, ITVs3,4 and C5 - for those channels an on screen message said or something like that.(Source:Post 40 by jonjoe to FAQ thread.)


Q0040: When I prss Playlist it only shows Video recordings.
Q0041: Recording stops halfway through the programme.
Q0042: How do I get rid of wavy lines on analogue Channel 5?

Q0043: Effect of lost aerial signal on recording.
Q0044: Instant Recording Problems
Q0045: Recorded programmes with dates in the future (Posted by South.)

Q0046: My Media E Linker software is not 2.1
Q0047 : How do I transfer a file to my PC?
The questions are repeated below with the answers.
Q0048 : Problem when recording channels from Multiplex 2(Post 261 to this thread by Taralabradog.)
(Problems with sound have been posted to two other threads in particular ‘Replicable No Sound..’ and ‘ No sound on recordings’)


Q0049: Upload of MP3s crashes.
After many attempts at uploading MP3's to my PVR and it always crashing when it got to about record 900 out of 1100 tracks (total size only 2.8gb) and with a lot of assistance from Humax support (including a PVR swap out which still failed), Humax have today confirmed the bug - see email below:
Q0050: ‘Time Bar’ Two functions for faster navigation. (Not mentioned in User Manual.)
Q0051: Clock/Time

Q0052: Wrong sound or No sound.
I recorded the second episode of Rome last Wednesday on the 9200T, and we got sound, but instead of the actors' voices, it was a plot summary read by an actor. Was this part of the original broadcast or did the Humax pick up another signal for the soundtrack?
Q0053: Box won’t boot/ Micom Software Explained.
Q0054: How can you simply make a separate recording containing a clip from an existing one. (Not in User Manual)

Q0055: Lockups
Q0056: How can I play back on my PC a file downloaded from the Humax.
(See also Q0047)
Q0057: Does Archiving a 9200T recording to a VCR work?

Q0058: How can I speed up the loading of EPG when I come out of standby?
Q0059: How do I update the software?
FAQ 0060: What problems does the Software Update released 21NOV2005 aim to fix?
The update is to version PGXTF 1.00.01 dated 31OCT2005
(To see your software version go Menu> System> Status> Software Version)

FAQ 0061: To whom should I report Hangups with New or old software?
FAQ0062: Can I increase the size of the partition for storing MP3s?
Q0063: How do I type in characters not shown on the editing screen, for example to rename a recording?


FAQ0064: I am watching and recording an important programme and realise that is running so late that the recording will have stopped!
FAQ0065: What if I update the Firmware and for me it is worse than the old?
FAQ0066: What do I do when told to Reset The Factory defaults?

FAQ0067: What happens to recordings in progress when there is a power cut.
FAQ0068: Why can’t I view a third channel while recording two?
FAQ0069: EPG is blank when the machine is first switched on and slow to populate. (post by Tievolu).

FAQ0070: Timeslipped program jumps to live broadcast (and dumps buffer) when a scheduled recording of the same program ends.(Post by sdesign.)
FAQ0071: Replicable No Sound.
FAQ0072: RF passthrough Signal corrupted for 7 seconds when 9200 put in standby.

FAQ0073: 'Optical Out connection does not work with MP3s'
(Post 1 by ryobi to 'Optical Cable/MP£s.......' thread 20NOV2005)
FAQ0074: Where can I get help?
FAQ0075: What are the limits on MP3 storage?

FAQ0076: When I switch the group of channels to be shown in the Guide it reverts back to the precious group next time?
FAQ0077: Where is the serial number and how can I recognise it?
FAQ0078: How do I delete all the files in Partition D1(Image/Mp3) or Partition D2(Recorded Programmes) if there is something wrong preventing normal deletion?

FAQ0079: Topup TV signal and recording problems.
FAQ0080: Lost all the recorded programmes from hard disk although the Hard Disk space is still shown as used. Powering off and a factory reset does not recover them.

Umm, whisper's web site seems to have gone AWOL - so there's no HTML FAQ at present?!? Page just gives a 404 Not Found error now.

Cliff

It seems to have moved to:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/whisper/q...s&answers.html

Nxman.

Nxman,

Thanks for that - I updated my redirect page at www.ourcottage.plus.com/faq.htm to redirect to that now (in case anyone falls an old link) and just hope it isn't moved again because all the published links here on DS will break again if it does!!

Cliff

Sorry about the change of filename. I have lengthened it (from qa.html) and other pages so that the filename is longer than 4 characters. This is so that search engines will index these pages (google seems to have a 4 character limit).
On the bottom of the Q&A page is a google search bar. Hopefully when Google reindexes the site, searching for 'loss of recordings' or other keywords will help users to find a question and the solution quicker.

Revised Q0055: Lockups (Source: Lockups thread.)

A0005: Contrary to earlier information the answer to this problem is not known.
Box locks up. TV screen is frozen. No response to pressing buttons on remote or box. If it locks up again immediately do it again but as soon as live channel appears do an immediate change of channel.

Workaround: Can be unlocked by turning off the power though according to user manual page GB5 this may corrupt the data on the hard disk if it is spinning and there is no way to make sure it will not be. If it locks up again immediately do it again but as soon as live channel appears do an immediate change of channel.

Avoid watching Multiplex2 channels live, instead, record them and play them back. If you are only getting lockups on BBC and are using the latest version of the software then reverting to the old software may help.

It is triggered by some broadcasts by some broadcasters. Number of lockups seems to vary widely between boxes but this may be because of variations in the way they are used such as:-
- Instant recording,
- multiplexes used (Particularly Multiplex 2),
- channels watched live ,
- transmitters used.
- Software version (Some people get more lockups with the old version and some with the new version. BBC lockups seem to occur mainly or only with the new version.)

If the number of lockups is unacceptable and a change of box does not reduce or eliminate them then return the box.
13DEC2005

FAQ0071: Replicable No Sound. (For other sound problems see Q0035 and Q0052)
(Extended 14DEC2005 to add post 190 by clanchief to ‘Replicable No Sound Thread.’)

A0071: Happens on all 9200Ts in the specific conditions at present. Try to avoid the worst dituations as explained..
(Post 152 by clanchief to 'Replicable No Sound Thread' 22NOV2005…and other posts to same thread.)
I had rather hoped that the ‘Replicable No Sound’ thread would become redundant, through the new software update ridding us of this problem, but the Humax list of changes does not mention this fault. I notice that other posters have already reported this fault, with the new software in the new software thread. I have also been able to easily produce it using the new software.

For those not familiar with this fault, I suspect that it is present in all boxes, though it only seems to come out in limited circumstances on certain transmitters.

For anyone who want to check if their box may occasionally produce "no sound" recordings on second recordings only on Mux2 channels, the most reliable test is to:-

1. start an instant (manual) recording 1 on More4 (ch13) - not near to the end of a program

2. start an instant (manual) recording 2 on E4 (ch14) - again not near to the end of a program

3. allow both recordings to run for one minute

4. stop both recordings

5. play the More4 recording 1 - this will have sound

6. play the E4 recording 2 - if you have the fault this will normally have no sound.

I say it will "normally" have no sound, as very occasionally this test produces a recording 2 with sound. I have not yet figured out if this is totally random, or if there is a pattern to this.

This is usually not when I have first switched the box on, but later in the day, after I have done other recordings etc. It is possible that some action in using the box can prevent this fault occurring.
***********************
Post 183 by grannygrunt to ‘Replicable No Sound…’ thread 02DEC2005 giving a concise summary.

………………….. All of us who have ended up coming to the conclusion that Mux 2 is causing both the no sound problem and lock ups have not said that it is just when you use instant record, but we have realised that it usually involves a channel from this mux. You were recording More 4 from Mux 2, then tried to record something from another Mux. Result, no sound. This problem is very hard to pin down, but always involves a channel being recorded on Mux 2 and ………. you have proved is that it doesn't necessarily have to be an instant recording, or the second recording. …………..
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Post 190 by clanchief to ‘Replicable No Sound..’ thread on 14DEC2005 offering a definitive description.

Firstly several of the more technical posters have tried to extract sound from a no sound recording by transferring the file to a PC to examine it etc. In all of the reported cases the sound has been completely missing, so it would seem to be highly unlikely that the sound from a no sound recording can ever be recovered.

Having upgraded from a VCR I also view the Humax as a wonderful piece of technology, which is simply suffering from the software glitches to be expected in any new computer device. It is for this reason I am not normally an early adopter of such devices, but in this case I decided to put up with these problems because of the major benefits of the machine and the fact that Humax has a good reputation for fixing faults.

The circumstances where the no sound fault occurs are still not fully understood by anybody, but you can tell your wife the following.

A no sound recording It has never so far been reported on a channel on a 16 QAM mux, i.e. muxes 1, B, C and D. These 4 muxes transmit about 20 out of the 30+ Freeview TV channels, including all of the BBC channels.

The channels that are at risk of a no sound recording are those on the two 64 QAM muxes i.e. muxes 2 and A. These 2 muxes transmit 10+ Freeview channels including the ITV and C4 channels and C5.

However there is only a risk of a no sound recording when making two overlapping recordings and the mux 2 or A recording is recording 2. Even this only happens fairly infrequently thus many people have not yet experienced a no sound recording, though I am pretty sure that all users will experience it over time, unless the fault is fixed. Something must trigger the no sound recording 2 situation but so far nobody has been able to figure out what this is.

Although I regularly record E4 and More4 programs, which seem to be the two channels most vulnerable to no sound recordings I have managed to completely avoid no sound recordings recently by ensuring wherever possible that I don't make mux 2 or A recordings as recording 2. Where this is impossible as in your case where you were recording ITV1 (mux2) and C5 (muxA) simultaneously I would decide which recording is more important to me, for example a program that would not be later repeated, and adjust the starting time by a minute or so, so that the program that I was most interested in started recording first, as recording 1.

I don't know if it is just a co-incidence but I have not suffered a no sound recording 2 on mux 2 or A since I started altering the start time of the program, which I wanted to be recording 1. Whatever is triggering the fault perhaps this action interferes with the trigger.

The only real solution to this problem is for Humax and ITV to fix the apparent incompatibility between the 9200T and Mux 2 and A transmissions. The fault may not be at the top of Humax's priority list as at does not occur as frequently as the lockup problem, but the more people that report it to Humax the more likely it is to be fixed soon.

FAQ0048 revised to add post 198 by clanchief to 'Replicable No Sound' thread 16DEC2005

Q0048 (as at 16DEC2005): Problem when recording channels from Multiplex 2(Post 261 to this thread by Taralabradog.)
(Problems with sound have been posted to two other threads in particular ‘Replicable No Sound..’ and ‘ No sound on recordings’)

A0048 :I received this reply from Humax today.

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your email and I apologise for the delay.

We have found there is a problem when recording channels from Multiplex 2, we are currently investigating this issue and do intend to release a software fix.

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best Regards

Michael Caughey

Note: Channels on Multiplex 2 as posted by Spoon261

Multiplex 2

ITV1 3
Channel 4 4
ITV2 6
ITV3 10
More 4 13
E4 14
UKTV Food 29
ITV4 30
British Eurosport 33
Quiz Call 37
ITV News Channel 81
Bloomberg 84
Teletext 100
Teletext TV Guide 101
Teletext Cars 103
Teletext on 4 104
***********************
The following is from Post 19 by clanchief to ‘Replicable No Sound….’ Thread on 16DEC2005
One benefit of always recording E4+1 and More4+1, is that you will completely avoid the occasional no sound recordings that you will get on E4 and More4. I have read on other forums on DS some people think that the +1 channels are a waste of space on Freeview. This may or may not be be generally true, but they do have a short term benefit for Humax 9200T owners until the no sound problem is fixed.

Err just one thing about the last part of that 0048 change...

More4+1 is NOT on Freeview so how on earth could you use that to record on a 9200 ?!?!

Confused of Brentwood

Yes it is. Have a look. Channel 31.

Pity its not FilmFour but hopefully its just a placeholder.

Oh, thanks for that - I haven't done a scan for a few days now so had missed this - seems that Digital Spy (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/terrestrial/mux/) where I normally check for Mux changes is out of date too!

Cliff

I don't think More4+1 is listed in the Radio Times yet as available on freeview either.

I've read rumours that Film Four might be coming to FV but presumably once the subscription fee goes they'll need to sell more advertising which will possibly mean the end of showing films without commercial breaks which for me is their biggest selling point. Which means by the time it arrives I won't want it which is a shame.


Regards

David

The commercial skip and replay keys combined make it a lot easier to skip commercials on the 9200T. See page GB60 for fine adjustment.

I know but I still find the ad breaks an annoying distraction (and I worked in advertising for the best part of 20 years)
especially in a film. It also really annoys me, and I notice this most on Lost on C4/E4 for some reason, when they cut to an ad break abruptly and then 20 secs after the program resumes the screen fades to black where the makers obviously anticpated an ad break being inserted <grrr>

Anyway I'll shut up now as this is way OT

Regards

David

New FAQ

FAQ0081: ‘Standby’ acting strangely. EPG stays populated. Box comes out of ‘Standby’ without delay. Does not go into proper standby mode when asked. Hard Drive keeps spinning. False message in response to some commands says ‘Cannot do the requested action while recording’.
(Post 2 by Barry to 'EPG remains populated thread' 17DEC2005)

A0081: Named ‘Thinks I am recording’ bug by. Due to a bug the 9200T thinks it is recording.
Workaround is to go into ‘Standby’ then switch off using toggle switch on back of box.

FAQ0082: TV Picture goes black for 3 seconds if a recording starts.

A0082: (Source: Posts to ‘Loss of picture’ thread by 18days and bampsan 19DEC2005).
It happens only if there is already one program being recorded and it starts to record a second programme.
No workaround known.

FAQ0083: What quality/definition is best for uploading JPG photos to Humax9200T?

A0083: (Source: Posts by tonycollinet, ian_uk. daznsaz, and jpp to the ‘Humax 9200T and JPEGs’ thread.)

Photos can be uploaded as per GB39/Digital Album section of User Manual. The higher the definition of the photos, the longer it takes and the more Hard drive space it uses. PAL TV definition is 720 x 576,

Making reduced definition copies of your photos to this quality for upload purposes will speed the upload and save space on the Humax hard drive.

Possible programs for reducing the definition of photos are ‘Picasa’ and ‘Photoshop’ and I expect there are many others. Don’t reduce the definition of your master copies as you may want the better definition for other purposes.

To enable people to search all existing FAQs in one go using the EDIT>FIND feature of Internet Explorer I have created a single web page containing them all at:-
http://www.bgls11958.pwp.blueyonder....umax9200tfaqs/

This is in addition to whisper's site where they are seperated by category.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/whisper/...ns&answers.html

Whisper... Please will you create a category 'Known Bugs' on your site

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/whisper/q...s&answers.html

and include all FAQs which seem to apply to all boxes. I assume that your categories allow the same FAQ to appear in more than one category.

New FAQ

Q0084: Episodes of stuff reaching the end of a weekly series take the name and date of whatever is being broadcast in that time slot the week after.

A0084: (Source: Post 5 by barcar to thread ‘Weekly Recordings take name/date of next instance’ 23DEC2005.)


e.g. "have I got news for you" on 16/12 is listed as "what not to wear" on 23/12
e.g. "story of god" on 18/12 is listed as "doctor who" on 25/12

There are about 6 other instances and with dates and names of programmes in the future.

Seems to happen when the name of the programme the following week is different.

I'm running on the November software version.

Definitely a bug. Reproducible incorrect behaviour.

My apologies..the correct address for whisper's site is:-

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/whisper/q...s&answers.html
Oh no it isn't!

This posting method truncates it! Here it is in two parts
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/whisper/
questions&answers.html

New FAQ

Q0085: Group of Questions on Standby/Mains switch/Power cuts. Answers have been supplied by Humax.

Q:Can a power cut sometimes be expected to ruin all or some
recordings?
A: This should not alter the recordings so long as power is restored in
time for the scheduled recordings.

Q: Can a power cut or switching off while not in standby sometimes damage
the hardware?
A: No.

Q: How should the 9200T normally be switched off to avoid such problems?
A: By pressing the stand by button.

Q: Can the 9200T be switched off without risk if it is locked up and not
responding to pressing the standby button?
A: Switch unit off by using rocker switch on rear panel of set top box,
this will reboot the unit.

Q: Can the user make sure the hard drive is not active when switching off
and if so how?
A: If there are no current recordings and no playback in progress then the
HDD is not in use except for the time-shift recording which is always on
during live broadcasts.

Best regards, Donald Makoni, Humax Electronics Company Ltd, Customer and Technical Support
Unit 1 Jubilee Road
Newtownards
BT23 4YH
Tel: 0870 247 8800

I am resigning from my self appointed task of running the FAQ thread and the web page containing a full set in numerical sequence:-

http://www.bgls11958.pwp.blueyonder....umax9200tfaqs/

You will obviously do as you please. If Whisper is agreeable he could copy my single page from the address above to his website and maintain it along with the set sorted by category.

I will leave my page up for a while and if I see someone has taken over give the forwarding address.

My own 9200T is running well and I am very pleased with it.

Edit: I should have mentioned how I treated the job:

- Don't intervene in debates where I had nothing significant tooffer myself.
- Let others have first stab at answering questions even if I think I know the answer.
-When a debate seems to have settled down with a workaround or solution then post a new FAQ.
- If there are further developments after posting an FAQ then update it.
- For the answer in the FAQ I did not attempt to consolidate the posts as I found that it was easy to lose the meaning. After all if the posts had solved the problem they were OK and I might ruin them.

Whisper picked up the new FAQs from the FAQ thread and added them to his site. This saves people reading whole threads or even several of them.
Brian 9200T

Brian

Thanks for all your work setting up the FAQ. It's a mine of information, and a great resource. Let's hope it will continue to be developed in the future by Whisper and others.

Hello Brian

Have only just joined the forum but I have taken a lot of interest in your compilation. Because of your efforts, I was able to print off a crib sheet for future reference. I can imagine how much time and effort you have put into this FAQ and I want to add my thanks.

Thankyou
Kansas