Bargain Alert: New Ferguson HD DTT/Sat Combo Box - €63 before postage

bennyineire

Hi guys, I was wondering if anybody has used the Ethernet port, I was wondering if it is possible to connect the box with my PC upstairs (I have cat5e cable all around my house) and if I can what can I do, e.g. can I access the hardrive on my PC to retrieve video files.

dulpit

John mac wrote: »

you wont have any problems so .

Awesome. And now to acquire the funds

Tony - are these in stock all the time?

Tony

dulpit wrote: »

Awesome. And now to acquire the funds

Tony - are these in stock all the time?

Sorry I cannot answer that directly as this is not a commercial interaction forum but you will see the current state of play on the product page.

newuser1

Ok
So iv went back to the last upgrade v2.14b4 instead of the latest v2.15b5. I can now access my fav while recording on rte which is more important to me than any change in new upgrade.

Tony

newuser1 wrote: »

Ok
So iv went back to the last upgrade v2.14b4 instead of the latest v2.15b5. I can now access my fav while recording on rte which is more important to me than any change in new upgrade.

Thanks for that info, very useful . I'll get onto ferguson about this.

mdfire

bennyineire wrote: »

Hi guys, I was wondering if anybody has used the Ethernet port, I was wondering if it is possible to connect the box with my PC upstairs (I have cat5e cable all around my house) and if I can what can I do, e.g. can I access the hardrive on my PC to retrieve video files.

As far as I can tell, the ethernet port is for upgrading firmware over the internet. I have tried to connect to a NAS to stream video and cant. You can only play video from USB.

Johnboy1951

mdfire wrote: »

As far as I can tell, the ethernet port is for upgrading firmware over the internet. I have tried to connect to a NAS to stream video and cant. You can only play video from USB.

It can also be used to play internet radio streams .... I hope it might be able to be used to play radio streamed over the LAN too .... have not tried with latest firmware ...

dulpit

Tony wrote: »

Sorry I cannot answer that directly as this is not a commercial interaction forum but you will see the current state of play on the product page.

Oh, sorry about that..

Tony

dulpit wrote: »

Oh, sorry about that..

Its fine don't worry about it . Its a pretty unique thread in that regard , thanks again to marclt for allowing it.

kaisersose77

Can anyone tell me does the sim side of card need to be facing upwards in this receiver or the opposite way? (don't have box atm)

And does receiver read viaccess cards? (need to activate an al jazeera sports card)

Thanks

Tonio

kaisersose77 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me does the sim side of card need to be facing upwards in this receiver or the opposite way? (don't have box atm)

And does receiver read viaccess cards? (need to activate an al jazeera sports card)

Thanks

The chip needs to be facing down. I have Al Jazeera and Cyfra cards and both work perfectly in this box

danjo-xx

LordSutch

That bloody USB port on the front is a curse

My 2nd generation Technomate 5200 USB now has the port on the back, but the 1st version also had it on the front until public opinion forced Technomate to move it to where it should be, but why do they put USB ports (for recording) on the front ? seems daft to me.

STB

LordSutch wrote: »

That bloody USB port on the front is a curse

My 2nd generation Technomate 5200 USB now has the port on the back, but the 1st version also had it on the front until public opinion forced Technomate to move it to where it should be, but why do they put USB ports (for recording) on the front ? seems daft to me.

You know of course that you could mod this quite easily yourself.

Moon54

Lol, I may have a solution, though I wouldn't recommend it for everyone.

I am going to get a right angle USB adapter, like this;
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Usb-male-left-angled-right-angle-mini-5-pin-cable-/230650307114?pt=UK_MobilePhones_MobilePhoneAccesories_MobilePhoneDataCables_JN&hash=item35b3d4622a (it's in China but cheapest I could find)

Note: the white segment on the picture is the right way around on the A side.
So angled A side should point up. Btw, that's USB A to MINI B for external 2.5" drive.
I believe they recommend a powered drive as better, but it's working OK for me.

Ahem, as a final step I was going to take a small notch out of the flap with a junior hacksaw.
Don't blame me if you void your warranty by doing that though.

STB

Or!

Take off the top of the box, extend the USB port through the inside and back of the box (making small usb sized hole) with a simple USB cable extender cable and panel mount. Then cover the original USB socket hole at the front with a USB cover (plastic insert).



Keep the USB socket away from the PSU and run the cable around the inside of the box.

For people with two much time on their hands of course and who get anoyed by USB ports at the front obviously.

LordSutch

Thanks for that STB, the three year old has pulled out the USB on a couple of occassions, hence my annoyance.

So why do thay put the USB on the front?

STB

LordSutch wrote: »

Thanks for that STB, the three year old has pulled out the USB on a couple of occassions, hence my annoyance.

So why do thay put the USB on the front?

Who knows ? Most of the OEMs put it at the front under a flap. I would imagine the idea being that they think you wont have a USB device permantly connected to it.

I havent seen the inside of the Ariva's (someone care to take a picture with the lid off ?).

That lead above is about €5. If you are going to do it, you will have to make the slightly bigger than usb sized hole first at the back and feed the usb connector through so that the port sits there and then screw into the casing. Before you even do that make sure first that the original usb port is movable so that you can connect the extender (otherwise it wont work and you are getting into different territory of soldering to boards).

If the port at the front has enough space to connect the extender then the only issue is keeping that lead away from the PSU and board and the same with the positioning of the new port at the back.

Stating the obvious, but dont try this unless you know what you are doing.

The USB hole at the front can be covered by sticking/glueing one of these in.

LordSutch

Thats great thanks STB, thankfully I am good at such things & I have re-routed wires & soldered many times before, I think the toaster was the last thing I opperated on, and it still works

I suspect the Ariva 120HD is in the minority (having the USB on the front), but I might be wrong?

bmaxi

STB wrote: »

That is exactly it. That is the behaviour of all FTA satellite boxes. The EPG Now/Next data is downloaded for the transponder that you pick by clicking into it. All channels are obviously not on one transponder.

This is the nature of there not being a one transponder epg source. It is not a fault of the box. It is how the data is presented protected on 28.2.

I dug out the old Silvercrest box today and it does populate all the channels on the EPG with now and next, so the problem is not common to all FTA boxes and is presumably relatively easy to correct. I've had a couple of different makes of FTA boxes and I don't remember it on any of them.

STB

bmaxi wrote: »

I dug out the old Silvercrest box today and it does populate all the channels on the EPG with now and next, so the problem is not common to all FTA boxes and is presumably relatively easy to correct. I've had a couple of different makes of FTA boxes and I don't remember it on any of them.

It will only populate the info per transponder - ITVs for eg, then the BBC's will on a diffrent transponder. Now next/data is not centrally kept. It populates per transponder. Do you follow ?

I have countless combo/fta boxes. They all behave the same as regards now/next.

Johnboy1951

LordSutch wrote: »

Thanks for that STB, the three year old has pulled out the USB on a couple of occassions, hence my annoyance.

So why do thay put the USB on the front?

Possibly for those of us who use USB flash sticks and like easy access to withdraw them to carry to the PC or elsewhere.

The ideal situation would be to have one USB socket at the back and another at the front, IMO.

I tried using a USB hub in the front socket, but the system will not play nice with it unfortunately
It won't recognise a USB device plugged into the hub.

Maybe I just expect/hope for a bit too much

6ix

Hi guys,

Bought one of these a couple of days ago for the parents' house - thanks Tony for the Boards discount, and thanks for all the info in this thread.

I won't be around to set it up for them until mid-late next week, but I presume the basic procedure is:

1) Plug in both satellite and aerial into the back of the box & connect to TV
2)Plug in USB powered HD
3) Scan for Saorview and Sat channels
4) Success

?

Will the latest firmware need to be updated before I do all that, or is it preloaded? What's the whole loading a channel list/editing thing about - is that to rearrange the channels from how they scan/store? Any other setup tips?

Cheers

Tony

The latest firmware and the channel list are pre loaded so you just have to scan for Saorview as it uses different frequencies depending on what transmitter you are on. Automatic scan is pretty quick

6ix wrote: »

Hi guys,

Bought one of these a couple of days ago for the parents' house - thanks Tony for the Boards discount, and thanks for all the info in this thread.

I won't be around to set it up for them until mid-late next week, but I presume the basic procedure is:

1) Plug in both satellite and aerial into the back of the box & connect to TV
2)Plug in USB powered HD
3) Scan for Saorview and Sat channels
4) Success

?

Will the latest firmware need to be updated before I do all that, or is it preloaded? What's the whole loading a channel list/editing thing about - is that to rearrange the channels from how they scan/store? Any other setup tips?

Cheers

Gerry Wicklow

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Possibly for those of us who use USB flash sticks and like easy access to withdraw them to carry to the PC or elsewhere.

The ideal situation would be to have one USB socket at the back and another at the front, IMO....

On my Technomate 6900 it has both front and back sockets. For neatness I ran a USB extension cable from the back to a slimline ext HDD which is barely noticable, but easily accessible at the side when I need to transfer stuff.

6ix

Tony wrote: »

The latest firmware and the channel list are pre loaded so you just have to scan for Saorview as it uses different frequencies depending on what transmitter you are on. Automatic scan is pretty quick

Thanks Tony, that's great.

bmaxi

STB wrote: »

It will only populate the info per transponder - ITVs for eg, then the BBC's will on a diffrent transponder. Now next/data is not centrally kept. It populates per transponder. Do you follow ?

I have countless combo/fta boxes. They all behave the same as regards now/next.

Yes I follow what you mean but that's not the way it's happening in practice, I'll give one example so as not to be too long winded.

Ch 4 on Astra 2a 10714 H 22000 is now and next on the EPG, Next is E4 on Astra 2a 10729 V 22000, also populated but if I go down to BBC 1 it is not populated. I know BBC1 is on a different transponder but why does it populate some and not others?
The Silvercrest box is set up with exactly the same channel list in exactly the same order but all three channels are populated, the only difference is one is on scart the other on HDMI, this is where I'm confused. Wish I could do screen shots on TV

fat-tony

The now/next data on satellite is only broadcast for the channels on that transponder. What you may be seeing is a difference in the software implementation across different receivers. Once you select a channel from the menu the receiver should be able to quickly populate the EPG display for all the channels on that transponder. Some transponders may have a whole list of BBC regions on them, but you may only have one region (say BBC NI) in the channel list - you may have the others deleted. Other transponders may have a mix of channels that you have included in your channel line-up and it may appear that they are present on your EPG without you necessarily shifting to them with the remote. As you navigate with the remote through the list of channels the receiver may actually tune to that transponder and populate the EPG as it goes. It's just a different software implementation - the fact is that the now/next data is specific to the channels on a particular transponder.

Where SKY and Freesat are involved there is proprietary data being transmitted on specific transponders (at a fast rate) or on each transponder (at a slow rate) which will populate their EPGs, but that data is not handled by most FTA receivers, only SKY/Freesat branded ones or ones using a PC platform or specific Linux boxes.

LordSutch

Talking of 'regions' I'm glad I have a full list of BBC & ITV regions, too many paople just tune in BBC NI & UTV with all other regions deleted. The regions are very useful (if you have them on your channel list) Personally I have ITV & BBC London as my default regions, with Ulster & the other UK regions listed further down my channel list, & included in my Faves listings. BBC Regions/ ITV Regions.

Johnboy1951

6ix wrote: »

Hi guys,

Bought one of these a couple of days ago for the parents' house - thanks Tony for the Boards discount, and thanks for all the info in this thread.

I won't be around to set it up for them until mid-late next week, but I presume the basic procedure is:

1) Plug in both satellite and aerial into the back of the box & connect to TV
2)Plug in USB powered HD
3) Scan for Saorview and Sat channels
4) Success

?

Will the latest firmware need to be updated before I do all that, or is it preloaded? What's the whole loading a channel list/editing thing about - is that to rearrange the channels from how they scan/store? Any other setup tips?

Cheers

Be aware that the manual specifically tells the user to use a separately powered external HDD.