Vu+ Ultimo

minterno

hi,im having a bit of trouble with my ultimo,first of all im getting 'feeds down for maintainence' all the time so there must be some thing out there,im hoping to install project Valarie so i can manage my films and series a bit better but as i cant get it tru feeds is there a way to manuall install Valarie myself and im looking for recomendations on some skins that are easy on the eye,box is an ultimo with a 2tb drive and i have the latest vix image in,ie vix.3.0,cheers

Shezsharks

At the moment I have UPC digital plus in the bedroom.
I have an openbox s9 pvr in the sitting room, which is what Im changing to either a Duo or Ultimo with built in hard drive.
So I have a dish with one connection for this box and use Newcamd for connection for all channels.
I can save about €200 between the Duo and Ultimo but I want as little renovation work to do as possible as no idea how to change connections etc.
If I went for the Ultimo do I need it with 2 x DVB-S2 and 1 x DTT so I would have to split the satellite connection in two and use the basic UPC cable to record and receive all channels saorview, free etc.
If I got the Duo do I need to split the cable for two satellites and then add dbt-usb to get the saroview channels?
If possible then I would like to be able to vie the Vu stations on the bedroom tv as when recording two programs on UPC Digital box it has to be turned off so what would my best option be there?? Im in CO Dublin in Glenageary so if anyone is installing these and has an offer that would be appreciated too. Thanks guys.

Clareman

I've being talking a lot in the Duo thread, figured might as well start in the proper thread for my box

I tried a few different images last week, VIX, PLI and another 1 (can't remember now), after all that I went back to the Blackhole image, I'm running 1.7.8 now and it's running perfectly, I installed the fix for the youtube player, the AutoBouteque update and the 1Channel plugin, if you haven't gotten 1Channel yet, get it, it's a great little plugin that streams whatever TV program or Movie that you want from the internet.

SalteeDog

Did you try Open-AAF? Would be interested in knowing what you thought of it.

Clareman

I think I have used that on a Giga Blue box before, it's a nice basic image but doesn't have great media player functionality, imvho I think it would be too basic for an advanced box like the Ultimo

jgc115

Clareman wrote: »

I've being talking a lot in the Duo thread, figured might as well start in the proper thread for my box

I tried a few different images last week, VIX, PLI and another 1 (can't remember now), after all that I went back to the Blackhole image, I'm running 1.7.8 now and it's running perfectly, I installed the fix for the youtube player, the AutoBouteque update and the 1Channel plugin, if you haven't gotten 1Channel yet, get it, it's a great little plugin that streams whatever TV program or Movie that you want from the internet.

Have they improved the epg (CoolTV) on Blackhole yet? That's the one big reason I went back to Vix from BH 1.7.2 and the Autotimer of course.
My only complaint with Vix is the fact I cant use Mytube on it any more

Clareman

I an't see anything wrong with the EPG tbh, I've CoolEPG set to download every night at 4am and don't have a problem with it, the skin I use shows you what's on now (with a bar to show how long gone) and when you go to the actual channel it shows what's on next. If I want to set something to record I use the web interface so I can't comment on the AutoTimer as I've never had any problems with it.

Wiggy

I rescanned all tuners (2xDVB-S2 + 1xDVB-T), upgraded my FPGA, and then installed Black Hole 1.78 on my Ultimo.

Result, I have intermittent picture tearing and pixelization on DVB-T channels. This was working perfectly with the old firmware + 1.72. It reminds me of what it was like in the early days of DVB-T support on my Duo using a Hauppage USB tuner.

This was fine before the upgrade. Anyone else having issues?

Clareman

The newer image gives you different options for the region where you located, I've the same config as you and I don't have any problem, Menu, Setup, Tuner Configuration, 3rd Tuner and have it set to DVB-T, Config Mode enabled, Terresterial Provider Europe, Middle East, Africa DVB-T Frequencies and I have Enable 5v for active antenna set to off.

Wiggy

That's my config too.

What SNR, AGC and BER do you get for RTE2 HD?

Clareman

Snr 83%, Agc 37% BER 0, my Agc is changing from ~30% to 55%, getting 25fps

Wiggy

Clareman wrote: »

Snr 83%, Agc 37% BER 0, my Agc is changing from ~30% to 55%, getting 25fps

Clareman, are you definitely on Black Hole 1.78?

Clareman

Wiggy wrote: »

Clareman, are you definitely on Black Hole 1.78?

Yup,

Box
Brand: Vuplus
Model: ultimo
Chipset: 7405(with 3D)
Frontprocessor Version: 0
Total Memory: 275440 kB
Free Memory: 117732 kB
Box Uptime: 5d 3:19
Software
Kernel version: 3.1.1
Firmware version: BlackHole 1.7.8
Gui version: Sep 24 2012-vuplus_experimental
Tuners
Tuner A: Vuplus DVB-S NIM (DVB-S2)
Tuner B: Vuplus DVB-S NIM (DVB-S2)
Tuner C: Vuplus DVB-T NIM (DVB-T)

Wiggy

My SNR is a constant 99%. AGC seems to fluctuates between 2% and 94%.
I wonder if the signal is too strong?

Clareman

Dodgy cable or the tuner might nee to be reseated in the box maybe, strange to get such a high signal

Wiggy

Clareman, thanks for your help in trying to figure this out.

Did you do the FPGA update?

Clareman

Wiggy wrote: »

Clareman, thanks for your help in trying to figure this out.

Did you do the FPGA update?

I can't remember doing it so I don't think I did.

Wiggy

Clareman wrote: »

I can't remember doing it so I don't think I did.

Apparently, the FPGA is necessary for the new drivers, but if everything is working for you then I would not change anything...

Clareman

Yup, everything is working perfectly for me so I'm happy out, no upgrading for me unless something goes wrong or there's some brilliant update made available.

Wiggy

I now believe that my problems are cause by the DTT signal being too strong. Going to try and attenuate it over the weekend.


I noticed that previous backups were using a different DTT transmitter. My aerial can pick up three.


Strange how the problem only arose when I updated the FPGA, but I guess it possibly improved reception enough to tip me over the edge. Here's hoping anyway......

Clareman

Get a wire aeriel and put that between the box and incoming cable, should drop your signal a bit

Wiggy

Results inconclusive. I just bought a 20DB Variable Attenuator which should make it easier to test this.

Clareman

Try getting onto the people on the blackhole forum, they might give you some help http://www.vuplus-community.net/board/

Wiggy

Clareman wrote: »

Try getting onto the people on the blackhole forum, they might give you some help http://www.vuplus-community.net/board/

Cheers Clareman - I have a two page thread there already

http://www.vuplus-community.net/board/threads/fpga-upgrade-1-78-dvb-t-issues.9196/

Someone actually posted an Ultimo 4.4 FPGA to the thread yesterday.

I think I'll wait for the testing I do with the attenuator before downgrading the FPGA though.

Wiggy

Wiggy wrote: »

Someone actually posted an Ultimo 4.4 FPGA to the thread yesterday.

I think I'll wait for the testing I do with the attenuator before downgrading the FPGA though.

Well, the attenuator seems to have helped a bit, but not solved the problem. My signal level is now down to 87%, and the pixelisation is not as extensive or as frequent as it was.

But I can't be satisfied with anything other than perfect reception, because that's what I had before this sorry saga began.

I'm going to bite the bullet and downgrade the FPGA this evening.....

Dysman

Hi guys

Just had to come on and give a big SHOUT OUT to all who posted on the thread, I have to say it is nothing short short of brilliant.

I have been thinking of taking the plunge and getting a dual tuner linux box for a while and I had a load of questions on EPG, recording, streaming to and from the box etc etc etc.

This thread answered each and every question and gave me some deadly ideas about plugins and directed me right down to whether to go the Dreambox or the VU+ route.

Now I just need to decide if I should fork out the extra for an Ultimo - decisions, decisions :-)

Thanks a million guys

Clareman

To be honest Dysman, unless you are big into whole scene the Ultimo isn't going to really be worth it for you, when I got mine first I was really struggling to think it was worth the investment, now I'd be lost without it, I rarely watch actual TV through it now anymore, it's a complete media centre, 1channel is a godsend of a plugin and it's really simple to manage your files on it.

Don't forget it's a triple tuner btw

Wiggy

Wiggy wrote: »

I'm going to bite the bullet and downgrade the FPGA this evening.....

Downgrade failed with an error message. Don't know if it's because the FPGA file is bad, or if it's because the FPGA can't be rolled back.



This has relegated the Ultimo to a very expensive dual DVBS tuner for me :mad:

Clareman

Where about are you based? If you are near Ennis you can borrow mine or bring yours around to mine to try it here.

Have you tried the box in other rooms btw?

Clareman

I was just around at a friends house, he has gotten a new Samsung Smart TV and was setting up Saorview for him on it, I was having no problem getting it tuned and the EPG for it, but I was getting green screens and pixilation (I thought of you ), took ages to figure out what was happening. Turned out he had an old remote eye setup and there was 5v going through the cable, that was causing the problem, would you have anything like in your house? Maybe an old MMDS aeriel or something could be causing a pulse or something on the line.