Humax Foxsat 500G HDR: No Standby light; seems dead

[Maurice]

Bought 2 years ago, last night it was working fine before putting it
into standby mode overnight.

This morning it would not come out of Standby (tried new batteries
in remote).
So Switched mains supply off and left for an hour or so, but when
then switching on again, no Standby light appeared, nor is the info
window illuminated.

(Power *is* getting into though, as can see the yellow & green lights
above the Ethernet socket at the back light up for 2-3 seconds).

Is there a Reset option somewhere, or is it repair/replacement
time already? :-(

--
/\/\aurice (Retired in Surrey)
(Replace "nomail.afraid" by "bcs" to reply by email)

[Maurice]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:44:16 +0000, I wrote:

> is it repair/replacement time already?

Humax Support say could do a repair, but cost likely to be around
£120, and - sadly - this one is just 19 days out of warranty...

So have bitten the bullet and ordered a direct replacement.
*(at least it's £30 cheaper than 2 years ago...)

Just a thought: If it wasn't the hard drive that was faulty, does
anyone know what the prospects are for extracting the hard drive from
the old one and connecting it up to the new (so as not to lose the
recordings we had stacked up for viewing)?
--
/\/\aurice

[Maurice]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 16:48:38 +0100, Martin wrote:

> Your guarantee isn't limited to what Humax claims it is.
>
> Your guarantee is from the retailer not the maker

I am familiar with the Sale of Goods Acts, and have successfully
argued the case on other occasions.

In this case, as we rely on the Humax for recording scheduling clashes
and out-of-hours programs, we don't want to be without a recording
facility for the duration of the argument with the retailer.

However, once my health is back to normal I aim to begin a
battle which might ultimately result in having a 2nd working Humax
for sale, so - watch this space!

[Maurice]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:44:16 +0000, I wrote:

> Power *is* getting into it though

- and I've found that if I switch the TV on (still set for Humax
input) it shows the Freesat BBC2 channel, so the tuner is OK.

But otherwise the Humax appears dead - no red/blue status light or
info in window, and will not respond to remote or the 'Standby' button
on the front.

So - still OK to watch BBC2, but no channel changing and no recording
or playing back.

But we can still watch TV via the TV's Freeview tuner, and the new
Humax is due to arrive tomorrow.

--
/\/\aurice

[Maurice]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:49:34 +0100, Martin wrote:

> Somebody posted a link here explaining how to do it.

Ah - will try to find that - thanks.

[Maurice]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 18:18:34 +0000, I wrote:

> we can still watch TV via the TV's Freeview tuner

Odd thing was that I couldn't find ITV3 on Freeview 10, where it
should be. (Slot 10 in EPG was empty - even after a re-tune.

Instead, I found it as Channel 846.

Is that indicative of a poor signal for Ch.10, so it picked it up
from another transmitter? But why 846, and not 10?

[Max Demian]

"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message
news:12mle9t02rb7ii16m...@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 18:19:41 +0000 (UTC), Maurice
> <mau...@nomail.afraid.org>

> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:49:34 +0100, Martin wrote:
>>
>>> Somebody posted a link here explaining how to do it.
>>
>> Ah - will try to find that - thanks.
>

> Be sure the power switch on the back of the PVR isn't turned to off and
> that the
> controller is set to PVR. It may sound silly but the latter solved a
> problem
> that SWMBO had using the PVR.

And you still have to obey her?

--
Max Demian

[R. Mark Clayton]

"Maurice" <mau...@nomail.afraid.org> wrote in message
news:lcdqmv$p0e$1...@dont-email.me...

> On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:44:16 +0000, I wrote:
>
>> is it repair/replacement time already?
>
> Humax Support say could do a repair, but cost likely to be around
> £120, and - sadly - this one is just 19 days out of warranty...
>
> So have bitten the bullet and ordered a direct replacement.
> *(at least it's £30 cheaper than 2 years ago...)
>
> Just a thought: If it wasn't the hard drive that was faulty, does
> anyone know what the prospects are for extracting the hard drive from
> the old one and connecting it up to the new (so as not to lose the
> recordings we had stacked up for viewing)?

This will depend on whether it is a direct replacement or the drives differ
and also whether the box knows when it is switched on for the first time and
formats the drive.

[Peter Duncanson]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 23:51:33 +0100, Martin <m...@address.invalid> wrote:

>On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 18:19:41 +0000 (UTC), Maurice <mau...@nomail.afraid.org>
>wrote:
>

>>On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:49:34 +0100, Martin wrote:
>>
>>> Somebody posted a link here explaining how to do it.
>>
>> Ah - will try to find that - thanks.
>

>AFAIR it was Peter Duncanson. I thought I had kept the message but apparently
>not.

I have a vague memory of posting such a link. I may have it somewhere,
but I won't spend time looking for it. I'd try searching the Hummy TV
forums for information:
http://hummy.tv/forum/

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

[Peter Duncanson]

I've never had to use it, but the Foxsat-HDR has a menu item for
formatting the hard drive: Menu > System > HDD Control > Format HDD

[Bill Wright]

Max Demian wrote:

>> Be sure the power switch on the back of the PVR isn't turned to off and
>> that the
>> controller is set to PVR. It may sound silly but the latter solved a
>> problem
>> that SWMBO had using the PVR.
>
> And you still have to obey her?
>

The remote being set for something other than PVR is the single most
common problem that customers have with Humax PVRs. I can now talk them
through it over the phone whilst very drunk and with my eyes closed, as
I demonstrated the other night.

Bill

[Johny B Good]

For "Real Men", the proper acronym is "SWMBI". :-)
--
Regards, J B Good

[Peter Duncanson]

On Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:22:23 +0100, Martin <m...@address.invalid> wrote:

>On Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:19:49 -0000, "R. Mark Clayton"
><nospam...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>>

>Even if it does do the formatting, how does Humax's software get onto a
>replacement hard drive?

The software is not stored on the hard drive. There is a separate
internal memory for the software. This is just the same as all those
Freeview and Freesat boxes that do not have discs for recording on.

[Maurice]

On Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:05:26 +0000, Bill Wright wrote:

> The remote being set for something other than PVR is the single most
> common problem that customers have with Humax PVRs

First thing I looked at when the SO complained it wouldn't work!

[Maurice]

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:49:34 +0100, Martin wrote:

> you can take the Hard Drive out

Now done, thanks to http://www.360panoramas.co.uk/humax/

Now I need a caddy to host this 500GB 3.5" Seagate Pipeline HD.2 drive
for USB use.

Can anyone recommend one, please?

Would either of these be suitable?:

http://tinyurl.com/kr6n6qw
http://tinyurl.com/kk9bv4d

[Maurice]

On Fri, 31 Jan 2014 17:57:31 +0000, I wrote:

> Now I need a caddy to host this 500GB 3.5" Seagate Pipeline HD.2 drive
> for USB use.

Got one of these:

> http://tinyurl.com/kr6n6qw

installed old Humax 500GB in it, connected it to new Humax, went to
Media, pressed red button and it found the USB drive.
Selected the 3rd (linux) partition ('sda3'), then 'videos', and up
came the familiar Humax presentation of recordings, which played back
fine.
(Haven't tried any of the few HD ones, nor the Info button yet.)

Many thanks for all the help and encouragement.!

[snot]

On 30/01/2014 13:44, Maurice wrote:
> Bought 2 years ago, last night it was working fine before putting it
> into standby mode overnight.
>
> This morning it would not come out of Standby (tried new batteries
> in remote).
> So Switched mains supply off and left for an hour or so, but when
> then switching on again, no Standby light appeared, nor is the info
> window illuminated.
>
> (Power *is* getting into though, as can see the yellow & green lights
> above the Ethernet socket at the back light up for 2-3 seconds).
>
> Is there a Reset option somewhere, or is it repair/replacement
> time already? :-(
>

It's probably the capacitors in the power supply.
Repair kits available - Google it.

--
Blow my nose to email me

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

[Maurice]

On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 18:08:25 +0000, snot wrote:

> It's probably the capacitors in the power supply.
> Repair kits available - Google it.

Will take a look - thank you.

(Turned out the hard drive was OK.)

[Maurice]

On Wed, 05 Feb 2014 16:09:51 +0000, Maurice wrote:

> Haven't tried any of the few HD ones, nor the Info button yet

Tried an HD recording (of final episode of DCT Pemberley), but no joy.
The Humax refuses to play back any HD recording from the USB device,
soddit, so they're all lost!

But the Info button still works...

[Maurice]

On Wed, 05 Feb 2014 16:09:51 +0000, I wrote:

> Selected the 3rd (linux) partition ('sda3'), then 'videos', and up
> came the familiar Humax presentation of recordings, which played back
> fine.

Just one question about playing back recordings from such a Media USB
drive:

If one is watching playback from the USB drive, what happens if a timed
recording starts up?

Does the recording go onto the USB drive, or onto the internal drive?

[Maurice]

On Sat, 15 Mar 2014 09:12:08 +0100, Martin wrote:

> Try it?

Yes, I have. Very interesting result; quite neat!

[Maurice]

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:33:56 +0100, Martin wrote:

> Are you going to share the result with us?

Well, no one seemed interested, so didn't want to bore... :-)

I set a scehduled recording to start in the middle of watching playback
from the USB drive.

At the appointed start time, nothing appeared to happen.
(E.g. No notification top left of screen to say "Recording starting!)

However, when the USB playback had finished I looked in Media (the system
having disconnected itself from the USB drive), and there was the
scheduled recording - finished, on the internal drive.

So, playback from a USB drive seems to be isolated from normal scheduled
recording...