EyeTV has been sold

[Neill Massello]

Elgato has sold its EyeTV software to Geniatech Europe GmbH, owned by
Shenzhen Geniatech Inc., Ltd.

<https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/elgato-sells-eyetv/>

Subscriptions to the guide service are no longer available through
Elgato's online store, and Geniatech doesn't seem to be selling anything
at the moment.

[Joanna Shuttleworth]

Good news that they're planning EyeTV 4:
I wonder how much the upgrade will cost and what devices will be supported

[John Varela]

I just hope the new owners will upgrade the quality. EyeTV HD
hardware and software are barely usable.

--
John Varela

[A N Niel]

> > > Subscriptions to the guide service are no longer available through
> > > Elgato's online store, and Geniatech doesn't seem to be selling anything
> > > at the moment.

I see that my guide "expired" last month. But so far EyeTV3 is still
getting updates for the listings from TVGuide. Hopefully that will
continue until Geniatech gets their sales up and working.

It seems I have EyeTV 3.6.8(2407), but avaiable at Geniatech is
3.6.8(2410). Should I update? (Automatic update doesn't do it.)

[Doc O'Leary]

For your reference, records indicate that

"John Varela" <newl...@verizon.net> wrote:

> I just hope the new owners will upgrade the quality. EyeTV HD
> hardware and software are barely usable.

Unless product quality has dropped off significantly, I find that hard
to believe. I’m still using the 2.5.3 version and the HD tuner that came
with it, and it’s still recording fine on my old single core Mac mini.
That Mac’s not powerful enough to *watch* the recording, but exporting
them to a newer machine is fairly straightforward. The only troubles
I’ve had are when the signal quality is poor, so I had to try a couple
different antennas.

Software-wise, I’m not sure it’ll ever be worth paying for an upgrade
again. Just about everything is online these days, so recording
broadcast TV is becoming less and less important. I might kick out
$20-30 for a major update to EyeTV, but I’m never going to pay to get
show schedules. It’s yet another business model that needs to be
seriously rethought if it expects to survive.

--
"Also . . . I can kill you with my brain."
River Tam, Trash, Firefly

[Neill Massello]

John Varela <newl...@verizon.net> wrote:

> I just hope the new owners will upgrade the quality. EyeTV HD
> hardware and software are barely usable.

My only complaint with my EyeTV 250 Plus I had was that it died young,
cooked to death in a badly designed case. In any case, Elgato stopped
selling tuner devices for the North American market some time back.
Their only current video hardware seems to be a standard definition
digitizer. All of Geniatech's video hardware is for the European market.

As for the EyeTV software, it's much better than "barely usable". It has
some glitches and speed issues, but it does what it's supposed to and
has a pretty good interface.

[Neill Massello]

A N Niel <ann...@nym.alias.net.invalid> wrote:

> I see that my guide "expired" last month. But so far EyeTV3 is still
> getting updates for the listings from TVGuide. Hopefully that will
> continue until Geniatech gets their sales up and working.

Mine expired on 2 March, but I'm still getting updates. (I usually renew
a couple of weeks before, but I forgot this time.) I haven't yet
received a response to my message to Geniatech support asking about TV
Guide service for the United States.

> It seems I have EyeTV 3.6.8(2407), but avaiable at Geniatech is
> 3.6.8(2410). Should I update? (Automatic update doesn't do it.)

My experience is that later build numbers contain some bug fixes. I just
now downloaded and launched build 7410. No problems so far.

[David Empson]

A N Niel <ann...@nym.alias.net.invalid> wrote:

I don't know whether this is the version in question, but since December
I've been aware of a beta version that apparently fixes some issue with
some EyeTV devices running on El Capitan. I haven't updated my Mac Mini
(with an Eye TV) from Yosemite to El Capitan yet because I was waiting
to see whether this would become an official release.

The link to the page with the details no longer works, but it was here:

https://help.elgato.com/customer/portal/articles/2141030-eyetv-dtt-devices-and-os-x-10-11-el-capitan-

The fact that Geniatech specifically lists build 2410 as "for OS X El
Capitan 10.11.3" suggests they have released the beta, but for some
reason the auto update mechanism isn't working.

As I have two licences (due to my original EyeTV Hybrid dying, after
which I bought an EyeTV Diversity), I can do a test run on my MacBook
Pro (running El Capitan 10.11.3) to see whether it works.

Test results:

Works fine with my EyeTV Diversity.

The revised build is dated 2015-12-03, still badged El Gato, and still
checks for updates via updates.elgato.com. Perhaps the auto update
mechanism is temporarily broken or isn't being redirected to Geniatech
yet?

--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

[John Varela]

My EyeTV HD connects the Verizon set-top box to a USB port of the
iMac. From time to time, sometimes on launch, sometimes in the
middle of the show, the screen will freeze and sound will stop.
Sometimes closing and reopening the software will clear the problem;
sometimes it's necessary to reset the hardware. This is with v
3.6.8.

When the hardware was first delivered, it was absolutely unusable.
The symptoms were as described, and often the sound was pushed into
the treble so it sounded like the chipmunks. I returned the box to
the company and in an ensuing exchange of emails I received one that
was pretty clearly not intended to be copied to me, in which one
EyeTV employee told another that "he has the chipmunk problem". So
it clearly wasn't just me.

The replacement unit was only barely usable, as described above,
though it has improved with subsequent software updates.

Anyway, it's adequate for watching but unusable for recording,
unless you're right there watching in real time, because you never
know when it will hang.

--
John Varela

[Neill Massello]

Neill Massello <nmas...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Subscriptions to the guide service are no longer available through
> Elgato's online store, and Geniatech doesn't seem to be selling anything
> at the moment.

Geniatech EyeTV Support just responded to my inquiry: "As soon as our
new registration server goes live, you can renew your TV Guide
information."

[DaveC]

On 4 Mar 2016, Doc O'Leary wrote

> The only troubles I’ve had are when the signal quality is poor, so I had to
try a couple different antennas.

What antenna did you finally settle on?

Thanks.

[Doc O'Leary]

For your reference, records indicate that

Well, I’m currently on an old-school standard RCA rabbit-ears-and-loop
model. It’s not perfect but, as I said, broadcast TV isn’t that important
to me. A lot of what works best is going to depend on where you are and
how the digital stations get broadcast in your area. If it’s all UHF
signals, that’d simplify things; if you want to receive from multiple
tower locations, that might complicate things.

[Neill Massello]

Neill Massello <nmas...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Subscriptions to the guide service are no longer available

Geniatech's online store now has a test page for EPG subscriptions to
Gracenote. Nothing for TV Guide yet.

<http://shop-en.geniatech.eu/category/epg/>

So it's coming -- slowly.

[Neill Massello]

TV Guide EPG subscriptions (for North American EyeTV users) can now be
renewed through Geniatech's online store. Price is €17.95 (about $20
US).

<http://shop-en.geniatech.eu/category/epg/>

If you have trouble getting EyeTV to recognize your guide subscription
renewal, try re-creating your account by using the Create Account button
in the Guide tab of the Preferences. There may have been some problem in
transferring the My EyeTV accounts database to Geniatech.

If you downloaded the latest (3.6.9) version of EyeTV and had trouble
with it, try downloading it again. A bug of some kind prevented the
earlier release from launching properly.

[John Varela]

On Wed, 27 Apr 2016 19:53:22 UTC, nmas...@yahoo.com (Neill
Massello) wrote:

> If you downloaded the latest (3.6.9) version of EyeTV and had trouble
> with it, try downloading it again. A bug of some kind prevented the
> earlier release from launching properly.

I just checked for updates and the response was that "You're
up-to-date! EyeTV 3.6.8 (7407) is currently the newest version
available."

Where did you find 3.6.9? And will the change in ownership bring
improvement to the software?

--
John Varela

[David Empson]

John Varela <newl...@verizon.net> wrote:

> On Wed, 27 Apr 2016 19:53:22 UTC, nmas...@yahoo.com (Neill
> Massello) wrote:
>
> > If you downloaded the latest (3.6.9) version of EyeTV and had trouble
> > with it, try downloading it again. A bug of some kind prevented the
> > earlier release from launching properly.
>
> I just checked for updates and the response was that "You're
> up-to-date! EyeTV 3.6.8 (7407) is currently the newest version
> available."

Presumably Geniatech and ElGato haven't got the updates.elgato.com URL
forwarding correctly yet.

> Where did you find 3.6.9? And will the change in ownership bring
> improvement to the software?

https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/download/eyetv-3-6-9-7412-for-osx-el-captain-version-10-11-3/

or more generally

https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/support/eyetv-3-en/

Whether the change in ownership brings more than just "miscellaneous
improvements and bug fixes" for those with older receivers is yet to be
determined.

--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

[Neill Massello]

John Varela <newl...@verizon.net> wrote:

> I just checked for updates and the response was that "You're
> up-to-date! EyeTV 3.6.8 (7407) is currently the newest version
> available."

The last build of 3.6.8 was 7410.

<https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/download/eyetv-3-6-8-7410-is-available-for-osx-el-captain-version-10-11-3-please-download-here/>

> Where did you find 3.6.9?

<https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/download/eyetv-3-6-9-7412-for-osx-el-captain-version-10-11-3/>

> And will the change in ownership bring improvement to the software?

From the announcement of the acquisition: "We are also planning the next
generation of award-winning EyeTV 4 software with a new and modern user
experience."

<https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/elgato-sells-eyetv/>

[A N Niel]

In article <1mmd9mi.3cavvgip6gmkN%nmas...@yahoo.com>, Neill Massello

<nmas...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>
> TV Guide EPG subscriptions (for North American EyeTV users) can now be
> renewed through Geniatech's online store. Price is €17.95 (about $20
> US).
>
> <http://shop-en.geniatech.eu/category/epg/>

It came to $20.92 for me via Paypal

>
> If you have trouble getting EyeTV to recognize your guide subscription
> renewal, try re-creating your account by using the Create Account button
> in the Guide tab of the Preferences. There may have been some problem in
> transferring the My EyeTV accounts database to Geniatech.

I had to to this... After re-creating the account, THEN click the
activation link on the email you receive.

3.6.9. does refer to Geniatech internally now.

[John Varela]

On Thu, 28 Apr 2016 03:31:32 UTC, nmas...@yahoo.com (Neill
Massello) wrote:

> John Varela <newl...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> > I just checked for updates and the response was that "You're
> > up-to-date! EyeTV 3.6.8 (7407) is currently the newest version
> > available."
>
> The last build of 3.6.8 was 7410.
>
> <https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/download/eyetv-3-6-8-7410-is-available-for-osx-el-captain-version-10-11-3-please-download-here/>
>
>
> > Where did you find 3.6.9?
>
> <https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/download/eyetv-3-6-9-7412-for-osx-el-captain-version-10-11-3/>

That URL produces a 404 error whether it's spelled el-captain or
el-capitan. Starting from https://www.geniatech.eu/ one learns that
the current build is 7413. (And the web site DOES spell it
"captain".)

> > And will the change in ownership bring improvement to the software?
>
> From the announcement of the acquisition: "We are also planning the next
> generation of award-winning EyeTV 4 software with a new and modern user
> experience."
>
> <https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/elgato-sells-eyetv/>

I don't care about new and modern, I just hope the damn thing won't
hang. Or maybe the problem is in the hardware. Sometimes the only
way to clear a hang is by resetting the Eyetv HD unit.

--
John Varela

[David Empson]

John Varela <newl...@verizon.net> wrote:

> On Thu, 28 Apr 2016 03:31:32 UTC, nmas...@yahoo.com (Neill
> Massello) wrote:
>
> > John Varela <newl...@verizon.net> wrote:
> >
> > > I just checked for updates and the response was that "You're
> > > up-to-date! EyeTV 3.6.8 (7407) is currently the newest version
> > > available."
> >
> > The last build of 3.6.8 was 7410.
> >
> > <https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/download/eyetv-3-6-8-7410-is-available-f
> > or-osx-el-captain-version-10-11-3-please-download-here/>
> >
> > > Where did you find 3.6.9?
> >
> > <https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/download/eyetv-3-6-9-7412-for-osx-el-cap
> > tain-version-10-11-3/>
>
> That URL produces a 404 error whether it's spelled el-captain or
> el-capitan.

That URL works for me (Command-click on the link you quoted, with
Geniatech's misspelling intact).

> Starting from https://www.geniatech.eu/ one learns that the current build
> is 7413. (And the web site DOES spell it "captain".)

The current build is 7413, and that is the build described and
downloaded from the above page, even though it says 7412 in the URL.

> > > And will the change in ownership bring improvement to the software?
> >
> > From the announcement of the acquisition: "We are also planning the next
> > generation of award-winning EyeTV 4 software with a new and modern user
> > experience."
> >
> > <https://www.geniatech.eu/eyetv/elgato-sells-eyetv/>

Oh well, have to pay for a new version at some point. It has been a few
years.

> I don't care about new and modern, I just hope the damn thing won't
> hang. Or maybe the problem is in the hardware. Sometimes the only
> way to clear a hang is by resetting the Eyetv HD unit.

--

David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz

[Joanna Shuttleworth]

There was briefly a 3.6.8 (7415) that Geniatech suggested that I try
in order to fix a [cosmetic] bug I reported a year ago January.
I didn't, and have yet to try the current latest.
I contacted them just to see whether I got a timely reply in
English, which I did.